Aside from one red envelope containing two liang of broken silver, the rest of the red envelopes were quite hefty. Clutching the silver in her hand, Li Xia tossed the two liang of silver out, "Qiu Ling, I smell roasted chestnuts. Go and buy some." Qiu Ling accepted the silver and went to purchase the roasted chestnuts.
Li Xin opened her envelope to find it contained five liang of silver. Just like Li Xia, she gave the silver to Li Yu, "Sister Yu, go to the Beauty Bliss Shop and buy some snacks."
The two sisters shared a knowing smile. Without saying a word, they knew the scanty envelope had come from Aunt Lu. Her stinginess was indeed undisguised.
Upon returning home, Li Hui called Li Xia aside. Seeing the two had something to discuss, Li Xin returned to the Fuqing Courtyard with her maid.
In the study, Li Hui told Li Xia that Zhang Hu no longer needed her guidance.
"Is it because Big Brother is afraid I might overwork myself?" Li Xia's words made Li Hui roll his eyes involuntarily.
"I'm afraid you might torment Zhang Hu to death," Li Hui retorted. Zhang Hu was competent enough to handle affairs in the household and outside, assisting Li Hui. Li Hui could not let Li Xia torture him.
Thus, during their New Year's visit to the Beining Marquis Manor, Li Hui specifically requested Old Marquis Lu to arrange for an experienced soldier in the manor to guide Zhang Hu.
Li Xia did not agree with Li Hui's words; she believed what she was doing was for Zhang Hu's benefit. Only life-and-death situations can truly awaken a person's potential. During the apocalypse, she had been taken on missions as soon as she learned to use her abilities. She had to fight in designated areas and couldn't return to base until she completed her tasks. Many times, she had broken through and become stronger in the face of life and death.
The expression on Li Xia's face, as if there was no quick growth without experiencing life and death, caused a pang in Li Hui's heart. In places he didn't know about, his little sister must have suffered a lot and endured many hardships to gain her current abilities.
He reached out to tousle Li Xia's hair, "From now on, eat when you want, play when you want. Leave all these matters to me."
"Okay, I'll listen to Big Brother." Li Xia did not argue with Li Hui.
Seeing Li Xia's agreement, Li Hui stood up and handed her a box. Inside the box was a heap of silver. "If it's not enough, come and get more from me."
Li Xia happily hugged the box and left. When she reached the vicinity of the Plum Blossom Pavilion, she saw Qiu Chan nervously sweeping the same spot over and over with a broom.
"Qiu Chan, what's wrong?" Hearing Li Xia's voice, Qiu Chan anxiously moved closer.
"Young Mistress, Auntie Mei has found out."
Upon hearing Qiu Chan's words, the smile on Li Xia's face froze for a moment, but she quickly smiled again, "It's okay."
Li Xia hugged the box and walked into the room to see a somewhat displeased Auntie Mei. She clutched the box and unconsciously took a step back, "This is what Big Brother gave me."
"Do you want to hand it over yourself, or should I get it?" Auntie Mei said calmly.
Li Xia stepped forward and opened the box. Inside was a heap of silver, about a thousand liang. She took out the red envelopes one by one from her person, opened them, and inside were many gold leaves.
Auntie Mei tapped the table, and Li Xia reluctantly took out her purse. From inside the purse, she took out rolls of silver notes and, with some reluctance, put them on the table. She watched as Auntie Mei took everything away.
Li Xia tugged at Auntie Mei's sleeve, "Auntie Mei, leave some for me." This was so much silver, not leaving a single bit was too cruel, right?
Li Xia's pitiful expression left Auntie Mei both irritated and helpless. As mentioned before, Li Hui had obtained the recipes researched by Li Xia and Li Xin, which had earned them a decent amount of money. Aside from nearly ten thousand taels of silver given to Auntie Mei, Li Xia had about one or two thousand taels in her own hands. Plus, the occasional supplements from Li Xin and Li Hui, Li Xia had at least five thousand taels of silver.
However, Auntie Mei discovered this morning while cleaning Li Xia's room that apart from the hundred taels still in Qiu Shui's hands, the rest had all been spent.
"If you want money, fine, speak up. Where did you spend those five thousand taels?" Auntie Mei sat back down, waiting for Li Xia to spill it all out.
Li Xia pondered how she had spent so much. Half of it was spent by Qiu Ling on gathering information. She herself had spent a portion on compiling a list and smoothing over relationships, and the rest was spent on food.
"Have you thought it through?"
"Auntie, you know I love to eat. I just ate a bit more because of my cravings." Li Xia hugged Auntie Mei's arm, pretending that she had simply been careless with her eating and thus spent all the money.
Auntie Mei had a 'you expect me to believe that?' look on her face.
"Auntie, I swear to Heaven. I haven't done anything wrong. Please spare me." There were things that Li Xia didn't want Auntie Mei to know about, nor did she want her to worry. She just hoped that her dear mother could live happily.
Seeing that Li Xia stubbornly refused to say anything, Auntie Mei took several deep breaths to suppress her worries. "Starting from tomorrow, you must write 100 characters each day." After saying this, Auntie Mei got up and left, not giving Li Xia a chance to argue.
After Auntie Mei left, Qiu Shui carefully came in and directly knelt in front of Li Xia. "Miss, it's all my fault." If she hadn't told Auntie Mei, Li Xia wouldn't have been punished.
"Get up, stop kneeling." Li Xia didn't like to see people kneel.
Qiu Shui stood up, hanging her head, ready to accept her punishment.
"Alright, it's not your fault." She had let her guard down. Since the last time she was hurt, every time Li Xia used her wind power, she would feel a dull ache. This forced her to take more time to rest and recover. As a result, she had been somewhat lax in front of Auntie Mei. It was only a matter of time before Auntie Mei discovered it. Fortunately, she only discovered that she had spent all her money, not anything else.
However, Auntie Mei's punishment was too harsh. She didn't leave her a single penny. Life without money is hard.
Early on the second day of the New Year, Li Xia was woken up by Qiu Ju, who was sent by Auntie Mei. She watched Li Xia write characters until Li Xin sent Dan Mo to inform Li Xia to get ready; they were going to the Lu residence.
On the second day of the New Year, the bride is supposed to return to her parent's home. Since Mrs. Lu wasn't in the capital, Li Hui and Li Xin decided to go to the Lu mansion on behalf of their mother, Mrs. Lu. Li Xin knew about Li Xia's punishment early in the morning and specifically asked Li Xia to go with them.
Going out as a guest means no writing. Li Xia put down her pen, changed her clothes, and happily went to the Fuqing Courtyard.
Seeing Li Xia leave, Qiu Ju, who was left behind, didn't mention that Auntie Mei had anticipated this and specifically instructed her that upon returning from her visit, Li Xia would need to continue writing.
On the way, Li Xin secretly handed a silver note to Li Xia. "Keep it safe, don't let Auntie Mei find out."
Li Xia took the note and hid it in her sleeve. "I'm truly lucky to have such a wonderful sister like you."
"Flatterer," Li Xin replied, hiding her smile behind her hand.
Inside the Lu residence, Lu Madam, Young Madam Lu, along with the young ladies of the Lu family, returned to their maternal home. Old Madam Lu was waiting at home for their arrival. After paying his respects, Li Hui proceeded to the front yard to converse with Uncle Lu and Cousin Brother Lu.
Old Madam Lu, feeling the warmth of Li Xin's hand, nodded contentedly.
The fur outfit that Li Xin was wearing was a gift from Old Madam Lu. "The weather has turned significantly colder in the past few days. I'm grateful for the fur from Grandma."
"I have plenty more furs here. I'll make a few more pieces." Saying this, Old Madam Lu was about to have Yue Chu rummage through the storeroom again.
"Grandma, it's the New Year. Let Sister Yue Chu rest. We can't have her turning the storeroom upside down during the New Year," Li Xin quickly intervened. Besides, she still had plenty of furs on hand. If she made them all into fur coats, she could wear a different one every day throughout winter without repeating.
"All right, no more about the furs. Have some snacks."
