At the Qinghe Villa, Shen Yin brought Zhengzheng upstairs to check on the ready-to-wear dresses, waiting for customers to come pick them up.
Shen Yin was not busy at the moment. Under her management, the clothing studio was running smoothly, taking orders regularly. She would sometimes give Wang Nannan some suggestions, and she would also take a look at the fabric selection. The customers were quite satisfied.
The furniture studio was temporarily paused. Master Kang was slowly working on it, and Shen Yin couldn't help much now. She couldn't just spend every day taking care of Zhengzheng without anything else to do.
There was no one else in the store, so Shen Yin thought that if any customers came to pick up dresses, and she was not downstairs, they might be confused. So she brought Zhengzheng downstairs to play.
The five Tibetan mastiffs at the entrance were lined up. Shen Yin was really afraid that the customers would be scared off by the dogs.
And they did scare someone - Qi Ji, who stood far away at the entrance, didn't dare to come in. But Xue Jingrui walked in front, and Qi Ji followed behind him step by step.
Seeing the little girl so frightened, Shen Yin asked the dogs to scatter a bit, not blocking the entrance.
Except for Huahua, the other four dogs understood, and Qi Ji felt a bit more at ease.
"Pretty sister," Qi Ji called out.
"Qi Ji is here," Shen Yin responded.
Xue Jingrui and Shen Yin weren't very familiar, so he said a bit stiffly, "Sister-in-law, please bring her upstairs to get a wedding toast dress. Will it be ready by next Friday's wedding?"
"It will be ready. Qi Ji, come up with me, let me take your measurements."
Shen Yin led Zhengzheng, who was a bit slow climbing the stairs, but Zhengzheng just kept smiling at Qi Ji.
Qi Ji couldn't resist, and reached out his hand. Zhengzheng actually held Qi Ji's hand. With one hand holding his mother and the other holding Qi Ji, climbing the stairs became much easier for him - he's so smart.
The stairs were wide enough, and Qi Ji, who normally liked children, was a bit excited to be in such close contact with the well-behaved child.
"Zhengzheng, please sit here, while Mommy takes the measurements for the aunt, okay?"
Zhengzheng nodded and climbed onto the sofa, the movement a bit difficult, with his right leg first, then the left, finally sitting up.
Shen Yin went to get the tape measure, but Qi Ji was entranced by Zhengzheng's every movement, like a little adult, trying to lean on the sofa but unable to, his legs just dangling.
The cute baby tried several times before giving up, his legs swinging back and forth. He was only sitting on the very edge of the sofa.
So adorable, Qi Ji realized for the first time how thoughtful children could be. When she drew babies before, she often lacked inspiration, but now she felt like she knew how to draw them.
"Do you like children?" Shen Yin noticed Qi Ji's eyes never leaving Zhengzheng.
Qi Ji shyly nodded.
"If you like them, have one. Sometimes taking care of them can be tiring, but often they can also heal me."
Qi Ji's smile faded. She really wanted a baby, but she and Xue Jingrui's marriage was arranged, without love, so they couldn't have a child. This wish seemed so distant, maybe in the future.
"What's wrong, don't want one?" Shen Yin asked.
Qi Ji felt that Sister Shuyi and this sister in front of her were both very warm and understanding, even though she had only met them a couple of times, there was a certain charm that drew her in without hurting her.
"I feel now is not the time. Jingrui and I had an arranged marriage, no love, he still has someone he likes. So I treat him as a brother for now. When the family business is stable, we'll get a peaceful divorce."
Shen Yin wanted to say something, but each person's situation is different, she didn't know how to advise this young lady about arranged marriages and marriage issues as an experienced person.
In fact, Qi Ji understood that arranged marriages rarely have good outcomes. Her parents had an arranged marriage, polite and distant, with no love, just a familial affection.
Since that's the case, it's better for her to treat Jingrui as a brother from the start, so there won't be any awkwardness after the divorce.
"Matters of the heart should be natural. You're still young, don't think too much. If you're bored, you can come play with Zhengzheng anytime."
"Really, sister?" Qi Ji smiled.
Shen Yin nodded.
"What style of wedding toast dress do you like?"
"A nice one," Qi Ji said with a smile. She hadn't been married before, so she didn't really know.
"Should we ask Xue Jingrui?" Shen Yin asked.
Xue Jingrui was sitting downstairs, looking at the decor, feeling it was quite nice. When he turned around, he was attracted to a red wedding dress across the room.
The wedding dress was beautiful, with a unique style. Especially the embroidery, so vivid, every stitch, every thread, outlining a kind of beauty.
Xue Jingrui didn't understand much, but he felt the embroidery stitches were fine and the colors were elegant. Against the red background, it was stunning. What was remarkable was that the embroidery was not just a little bit, but a lot, large and small, decorating the wedding dress.
[Xiuhe, the wedding dresses in this shop are so exquisite, where did they get them custom-made?]
[Jingrui, are you stupid? Look at what kind of shop you're in, and you're asking where they got the custom-made?] Chang Zhiyuan replied.
[Clothes are clothes, embroidery is embroidery. Look at this embroidery, it's so beautiful, even I, who know nothing about it, can see it.] Xue Jingrui said, and even took a close-up photo of the embroidery and sent it to the group.
[Zhiyuan is right, you don't even look at what kind of shop you're in, and you don't look at whose wife runs the shop.] Xu Xiuhe said proudly, he hadn't realized how beautiful the wedding dress was before, but thinking about it, his wife did come from ancient times, of course the embroidery would be extraordinary.
[...]
[...]
[By the way, did you go order the wedding toast dress?] Chang Zhiyuan asked.
[Yes, they went upstairs. By the way, Xiuhe, why do you have so many dogs at the entrance, and they're all Tibetan mastiffs? I'm scared just looking at them, Qi Ji didn't even dare to come in, won't it affect the sister-in-law's business? People have to go around.]
[Did you see it interfere? Did the mastiffs bite you?] Xu Xiuhe retorted.
[Jingrui, this is where you don't understand, you can never underestimate a woman's love for beauty. For beauty, they'll go through fire and brimstone, as long as the sister-in-law's work is good, even if there were ten dogs at the entrance instead of five, people would still come to place orders.]
This point Xu Xiuhe agreed with, he was now worried every day that his wife was working too hard. If it's really necessary, should he buy a few more?
