Huo Shao Ting glanced at her coldly, and Huo Mei Shu felt a chill down her back. She hurriedly stopped talking and took the skirt inside.
"Sister-in-law, thank you so much, I love it!"
When she handed the skirt to Rong Dai, she gave her a light hug to express her gratitude.
Rong Dai smiled lightly. This young girl had an honest personality that was quite different from the modern way of thinking. Her emotions were often written on her face.
Although the young girl was trying to conceal it, Rong Dai could still clearly see the hint of loss and sadness in her eyes. Of course she wasn't dissatisfied with the skirt itself.
"Sister-in-law, go to bed early. I'll get going first."
Huo Mei Shu didn't linger. She turned around and left the embroidery room.
Rong Dai carefully hung up the skirt and folded up the quilt cover she had finished embroidering.
She had originally intended to finish the whole quilt, but thought that the elderly lady might not like her work.
She had only embroidered the quilt cover, leaving the rest for her mother-in-law's friend to commission someone else to do.
Huo Shao Ting stood leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, waiting for her to finish. The husband and wife then went downstairs to the bedroom.
"Shao Ting, does Mei Shu have someone she likes?"
As she came out with a hairdryer to blow dry her hair, she saw Huo Shao Ting emerge from the bathroom. Thinking of how the young girl had been quite attentive to her recently, she brought it up.
Huo Shao Ting walked over and naturally took the hairdryer from her. Rong Dai sat to one side and let him blow dry her hair. After all, being served by her beloved was a kind of enjoyment.
"Gu Chengyan."
He answered bluntly.
Rong Dai was a little exasperated. This guy's answers were always so concise.
He was the young girl's elder brother, so how could he be so calm about it?
Back in her past life when she had taken a liking to the Emperor when he was still a prince, her elder and second elder brothers had been extremely anxious, repeatedly going to the Emperor to investigate.
Yet this guy was not only indifferent in his answer, but didn't seem to care much either.
"What kind of person is he? Mei Shu seems to really like him."
Thinking of how the young girl had painstakingly prepared for the concert, it was evident she desperately wanted Gu Chengyan to come.
She was actually quite curious what kind of man the young girl with this kind of personality would fall for.
"Tone deaf, a fool."
After thinking briefly, Huo Shao Ting threw out these words as his evaluation.
Rong Dai: "......"
It seemed there would be no further answers from asking him. What kind of comments were these?
"Do you have a way to get him to come? I can see Mei Shu has been distracted these past few days. To be honest, I'm very fond of her."
Rong Dai turned her head, her bright eyes looking at him as she gently asked.
Huo Shao Ting's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "You're fond of her?"
There was a hint of jealousy in his tone. He put down the hairdryer and leaned in to kiss her.
"Shao Ting... mn..."
Before she could explain, she was engulfed in his scorching heat and passion.
The next morning, Rong Dai awoke to soreness. Huo Shao Ting was still at her side, his deep eyes reflecting her image.
Her cheeks immediately flushed red, and she glared at him resentfully.
Huo Shao Ting paid it no mind. His large hand tidied her disheveled hair, and he leaned down to kiss her forehead.
Rong Dai paled in fright, her cheeks and ears turning bright red. Clutching the thin quilt tightly around herself, she looked at him warily, her eyes tinged with alarm.
"Time to get up."
Although Huo Shao Ting missed the intoxicating feeling of their intimacy, he cared more about how she felt.
"It... hurts."
These two words slipped from Rong Dai's mouth.
As soon as she said it, she regretted it.
How could she, a queen, utter such melodramatic words?
Rong Dai was instantly mortified and annoyed with herself. It was as if Huo Shao Ting could read her thoughts - he pressed down on her and gently admonished in a volume only the two of them could hear:
"Rong Dai, remember, I am your husband. As long as you don't cross my principles and moral bottom line, any of your requests to me are reasonable."
Rong Dai's heart pounded wildly. Although she was gradually getting used to his way of expressing affection, it still made her inexplicably nervous, still giving her that fluttering feeling of new love.
"Including acting coquettishly."
He paused for a moment, a wicked smile on his handsome face.
Rong Dai felt both shy and indignant. Seeing him continue to talk like this, she was so angry she wanted to scratch him.
After some frolicking, the husband and wife finally came downstairs. At the dining table sat only the mother-in-law and young sister-in-law.
Huo Shao Jie had been busy preparing for the new drama he was filming these days, practically vanishing without a trace.
After breakfast, Rong Dai went upstairs to bring down the finished quilt cover for her mother-in-law.
"I've only embroidered the quilt cover for this longevity quilt. I'll have to trouble Mother to get your friend to commission someone else for the rest. I'm afraid if I do it all, the elderly lady might not like the effect."
Rong Dai spoke tactfully with a gentle voice.
As Lu Zheng looked over the exquisite embroidery on the quilt cover, she couldn't help but glance at Rong Dai admiringly. "Rong Dai, your embroidery skills are incredible!"
"I'm glad if Mother is satisfied." Rong Dai smiled humbly, though she was well aware her embroidery skills were exceptional.
"I'll go bring this over now then. I didn't discuss payment beforehand, so Rong Dai, how much do you think is fair? I don't understand this industry, but your skills are better than those at the embroidery shop. I was thinking of using their prices as a baseline, what do you think?"
Rong Dai had been about to go upstairs. Hearing her mother-in-law ask this, she halted her steps.
Although she had no reputation here, she didn't want to denigrate her skills either, so she nodded. "You can decide, Mother."
Lu Zheng nodded and happily went out after tidying away the quilt cover.
Rong Dai went upstairs to fix the clasps on the young sister-in-law's skirt, then started on the online orders she had received.
The rest didn't have any special requirements, mostly handkerchiefs. They didn't come with base diagrams either.
However, there was a base diagram of a pine tree on South Mountain that came with very detailed requirements.
"Looks like this is an expert."
Rong Dai was an expert herself, so she could discern this ruse with one glance. She wasn't surprised someone from the industry had placed an order.
Rong Dai spent the whole morning in the embroidery room. After finishing the sister-in-law's skirt and some orders, she stretched and went downstairs to the kitchen.
She took some common medicinal ingredients, rinsed them in hot water, then added them to tea water to simmer. After it cooled down somewhat, she soaked her hands in it. She wrapped the dregs in a cloth and squeezed out the moisture, then pressed the warm bundle over her eyes.
"Sister-in-law, what are you doing?"
Huo Mei Shu came downstairs for water and saw her like this, so she asked.
"Maintaining my eyes and hands. I embroider a lot, so this is a method passed down by a court physician from the pal... from a palace. It's very effective."
Rong Dai caught herself in time.
In her past life when she was in that cold palace place, she lacked everything. She could only rely on embroidery to make a living. Naturally she had to take good care of her eyes and hands.
