Rebirth: Contract Husband Falls in Love with Me
Chapter 284 - 143: A Sense of Not Belonging

Chapter 284: Chapter 143: A Sense of Not Belonging

"Great Aunt, where are we heading to?" the coachman asked with a smile.

Shi Yumei glanced at Sang Wan and said, "You should be asking your Great Madam! Your Great Madam is the rightful mistress of the Shi Mansion! How tactless can you be, not even understanding this bit of etiquette? Are you not afraid that Great Madam will make you pay for this later!"

"I have never been around Qingzhou City, and there’s nothing I need to buy. Let’s just listen to eldest sister!" Sang Wan replied with a faint smile, neither too soft nor too forceful.

"I don’t have any objections either. I’ll follow eldest sister’s lead!" Shi Lian also hurriedly said with a smile. In truth, she was the one least daring to offend the eldest sister. If eldest sister were to hold a grudge and say something in front of their mother, she would be left without anyone to speak on her behalf! If not for acknowledging the face given by Sang Wan and understanding her reason for the invitation, Shi Lian would not have stepped out.

Shi Lian decided to just play the part of an accompaniment obediently today, not daring to utter any more than necessary.

"Let’s head to Guanghe Street in the east of the city; I want to check out the jewelry there!" Shi Yumei then ordered.

"Yes, Great Aunt!" The coachman replied crisply, cracked his whip, and the carriage smoothly made its way toward Guanghe Street.

This street was famous for its gold and silver shops, and cosmetic and rouge stores. The wide and straight avenue was lined on both sides with shops big and small, teeming with bustling traffic and the clamor of crowds, making it extremely lively.

Shi Yumei gently lifted a corner of the carriage curtain to peek outside and immediately her spirits lifted as she sighed, "It’s still as vibrant as it used to be, unchanged! Oh no, it’s even busier than before. It seems there are many more shops than before! Look at these storefronts, tsk tsk, truly incomparable to other places!"

After Shi Yumei’s remarks, there was silence. Both Sang Wan and Shi Lian did not respond.

Sang Wan treated her with respect from a distance. Having to endure daily sarcastic comments was already a challenge, and she had no duty to actively flatter and please others; Shi Lian, on the other hand, did not wish to stir up trouble and thus kept quiet as well.

The scene became slightly awkward for a moment. Sang Wan and Shi Lian subconsciously glanced at each other and saw a hint of helplessness in each other’s eyes.

Shi Lian hastily forced a laugh and said, "Eldest sister is right..."

Although Sang Wan and Shi Lian did not communicate directly, the tacit understanding between them did not escape Shi Yumei’s notice. Knowing that the two usually got along and that she herself was not particularly close to either of them sparked an abrupt sense of loss and emptiness in Shi Yumei’s heart, as if she did not belong and was an outsider.

Shi Yumei could not stand feeling like this. With a sour heart, she huffed disdainfully at Shi Lian, "Right about what? What did I say right? What’s that? You can’t remember, can you? It seems, little sister, that you are quite familiar with these outside streets!"

"Eldest sister... you’re joking... I’ve only been out on the streets for the third time, I really don’t know much..." Shi Lian replied in a fluster, barely managing a smile.

"If you don’t know, then don’t blindly agree! Do you even understand what I’m talking about? Stop being pretentious!" Shi Yumei glared at her, annoyed, and went as far as to mock Sang Wan as well, "Our Shi family has always been forthright. Don’t follow in the footsteps of irrelevant people who say one thing but mean another!"

Shi Lian’s face turned beet red, and she bowed her head, unable to speak further, stealing a pitiful glance at Sang Wan.

Sang Wan did not bother to argue with Shi Yumei about what had been said, treating herself merely as a manager, and simply smiled, "This area is indeed bustling. Shall we go down and take a look?"

"No!" Shi Yumei, seeing Sang Wan’s nonchalant attitude, was even more irate and raised her voice, "Move faster! Stop at the Qiongfang Pavilion!"

"The Qiongfang Pavilion... isn’t that located near the apricot grove in the south of the city—" the coachman was taken aback.

"Yes! That’s where we’re going! What about it?" Shi Yumei replied even more irritably.

"Yes, yes, we’ll go right away, right away!" the coachman mentally cursed himself for speaking out of turn and quickly spurred the horses on. He thought to himself that he would just go wherever Great Aunt wanted to go, even if it meant driving the carriage in circles around Qingzhou City; if even Great Madam wouldn’t argue with her, who was he to get scolded for speaking unnecessarily!

Neither Sang Wan nor Shi Lian objected. After all, the outing wasn’t their idea or goal. Whatever Shi Yumei fancied doing was up to her! As long as the day passed by safely, all would be well.

The Qiongfang Pavilion was a renowned silver shop in the city, specializing in high-quality jewelry business, founded over ten years ago by a merchant from Fujian. Now the Fujian merchant’s entire family had settled in Qingzhou. The silver shop had always been consistently stable in its operation; although very low-key, it was the sort that made a fortune in silence. It had a significant reputation in Qingzhou’s high society and earned at least several hundred thousand taels of silver each year.