In Pei Jing's eyes, the conditions that looked rather difficult for Zhi Xia were not a problem for her at all. She still had her own space, and he was often not at home, which was the best for her.
Before leaving, Zhi Xia asked him again, "Pei Jing, do you feel I'm troublesome?"
Pei Jing was stunned by her question again, and said, "No, I just feel that if you have any problems in the future, you can discuss them directly with me. If you have any opinions, you can also let me know. I will try my best to satisfy you."
He felt that Zhi Xia's mind was still hard to guess, unlike his several nieces at home, whose thoughts could be seen at a glance.
"I won't be like this anymore. It's not really your fault, it's my own fault, but I'm fine now. After we get married, let's live well, okay?" Zhi Xia smiled beautifully, her voice gentle and sweet, her skin fair and translucent. Compared to a month ago, it was a world of difference.
Pei Jing was distracted. He nodded, "Okay."
"Then I'll go back first." Zhi Xia was obviously happier after getting an answer. She turned around and walked outside.
Watching her cheerful back, Pei Jing shook his head with a smile.
Sure enough, she was still a child. She acted on impulse. Her joy and sadness could change in an instant.
When Zhi Xia went out, she happened to meet Pei Xiang who had just returned from outside. "Auntie, you came to see my uncle..."
The girl's sweet smile made Zhi Xia's already good mood even sweeter. "Yes, did you just come back from outside?" She greeted her affectionately, and then heard Pei Xiang say, "Yes, I went out for a walk, and I happened to have something I wanted to ask you, I don't know if it would be convenient."
"Of course it's convenient. What do you want to ask me?" Zhi Xia wondered.
Pei Xiang thought of her mother's words and said, "Are you going home now? I'll come to find you later, and then we can talk."
"Okay, I'll wait for you at home." Zhi Xia said.
The old master was taking a nap in a recliner in the yard. Mrs. Zhou and the old madam were nowhere to be seen, so Zhi Xia went back to her room alone.
She spent a long time in her personal space selecting several colorful skeins of yarn. She planned to use bright red as the base color and other colors to make patterns, to knit a sweater for Wen Qing.
With the current weather, it would be suitable to wear morning and night soon.
It didn't take long to knit something for a two-year-old child. If she kept working, she could finish it in a day or two, so she could give it to Wen Qing before she left.
She started knitting as soon as she made up her mind.
After knitting two rounds, Pei Xiang came over.
Knowing that she was coming over, Zhi Xia didn't close the door. But Pei Xiang still knocked first to let Zhi Xia know she had arrived before coming in.
A polite girl was naturally likable.
Pei Xiang came in and sat down in front of Zhi Xia. "Auntie, you're knitting a sweater? It's so small, it must be for Wen Qing, right?"
"Yes." Zhi Xia looked up at her and smiled, but her hands kept moving without stopping at all. "Didn't you say you wanted to ask me something? What is it?"
"It's nothing much. I just feel that you have a nice fragrant smell on you. Could you tell me what it is? I want to buy some to use too, or I could trade something with you for some." Pei Xiang said shyly with a smile.
Zhi Xia stopped knitting for a moment. She carefully put the things aside first, stood up and smiled, "What's this for? No need to buy it. You won't be able to buy it anyway, because I made this little thing myself when I was free. Since you like it, I'll give you a bottle."
Taking advantage of opening the drawer, Zhi Xia took out a bottle of fragrant oil from her personal space. The white porcelain bottle had an iron lid. After removing all the packaging to make sure there were no flaws, she handed it to Pei Xiang, "It's this. Just dab a little bit with your finger and apply it behind your ears to give off the fragrance. This is jasmine. Try it."
Pei Xiang took it happily. She first complimented how nice the bottle looked before opening it to smell it. She nodded satisfactorily right away, "It smells so nice. Auntie, you are so capable."
"These are just little gadgets. I picked up this bottle when I was a child at the landlord's house. Back then, many things were thrown all over the place. I brought back anything I thought was nice looking." Zhi Xia explained, giving the bottle a backstory too. Of course, it was just a bottle of solid fragrance balm.
Pei Xiang took out the gift she had prepared early - a white handkerchief printed with plum blossoms. "Auntie, I don't know how to make anything. My classmate's parents went to Haicheng. I asked him to help me bring this back. Don't look down on it."
"Then you should keep it for yourself." Zhi Xia didn't dare accept it. It may be a small thing, but being brought back from Haicheng meant it must be precious.
"I have more at home. I got this specially for auntie. Don't push it back to me. I'm going back first and will come to play with you another day." Pei Xiang refused to take it back and ran off after saying that.
Zhi Xia was left standing there holding the handkerchief. After a while, she suddenly laughed.
She really was a good girl who didn't like to take advantage of others. She was much better than the two siblings of the eldest branch.
Pei Jianguo also had a younger sister. Zhi Xia didn't have much contact with her in this life, and they didn't have any conflicts either. But from occasional observations in her previous life, the little daughter of the eldest branch was not a fuel-efficient lamp.
She was not that smart, but she did have her own set of ways to be willful and stubborn.
But that was none of her business. Zhi Xia folded the handkerchief neatly and put it away in the drawer before continuing to knit the sweater.
After an afternoon, a considerable length of the sweater was knitted.
Hearing voices outside, Zhi Xia got up and went out.
An Jingzhi was pushing a bicycle in the yard and said to the old master: "Dad, Meiyun is dead!"
His expression was very complicated, mostly disbelief. The person who was still lively and jumping in front of him a few days ago lost her life in just a few days.
But people from the monastery specially came to inform him. Meiyun was bitten by a venomous bug in broad daylight and could not be saved. He saw the corpse with his own eyes, so he had no choice but to believe it.
No matter how much he disliked this granddaughter, a living person's life was gone. The old master still had to ask about it.
Learning that she was bitten by a venomous bug, the old master also had complicated feelings.
After a while, he said, "After all, we raised her for a period. Now that her life is gone, we won't dwell on the past. The Gao family still has relatives in Anle Village. Doesn't she still have two siblings? Notify them to take the corpse back."
An Jingzhi hesitated for a moment, and said, "Dad, as you said, Meiyun is gone, and the past is over. When she was alive, she hated the Gao family the most. Shouldn't we at least..."
"Foolish." Before he could finish speaking, the old master scolded him in a low voice, "Jingzhi, you're already forty to fifty years old. You can't be more muddleheaded as you get older, can you? Zhi Xia is getting married the day after tomorrow. What would it mean to have a corpse in the house? Or are you saying that even in this situation now, you still want Zhi Xia to yield to her? Don't forget that she just tried to harm Zhi Xia a few days ago. How would that make your own daughter feel if you act like this?"
In principle, the dead deserve the most respect from the living.
But Zhi Xia's situation was special, and Gao Meiyun was too vicious and lost the hearts of others, so even the old master could not agree to let Zhi Xia yield.
