Transmigration: A Farm Girl’s Brocade
Chapter 296 - 187 Heavyweight Guest_1

Chapter 296: Chapter 187 Heavyweight Guest_1

Qian Yixiu once again felt a surge of secret delight. This time, it was her stepmother who had suggested sending her own works to the North, which would give her the perfect excuse to go on a trip. Having been in Daqian for so many years, including her time as a ghost, which amounted to nearly a decade, the furthest she had been was Xizhou Mansion, not even setting foot beyond Ji’an Province.

Next year, once everything at Jinxiu Embroidery Workshop was settled, she would be able to broaden her horizons in Capital City.

Unaware of the little schemes in Qian Yixiu’s mind, Cheng Yue smiled contently upon hearing her daughter’s agreement to her request. In her view, as long as the embroidery made it to the North, Brother Jiang there would surely get to see it.

The mother and daughter had their midday meal in a side room on the first floor: a simple spread consisting of steamed fish, velvety mushrooms, oily eggplant cakes, plus a soup of winter melon hooked with gold—it was an ordinary set of three dishes and a soup.

But as she sat at the carved table beneath the red window, with the occasional chirping of birds from the corridor, facing her beautiful and elegantly eating stepmother, Qian Yixiu felt as if she was dreaming. It felt as if she had not crossed into the poor third wife’s side of the Qian family in the countryside, but rather entered an aristocratic household.

Suddenly, she heard the voice of Bai Zhu at the door, "Miss Manting and Miss Duoduo have arrived."

Dressed in red clothes and pants, little friend Duoduo thundered in, disrupting the original artistic mood.

She said in a loud voice, "Sister Embroidery, don’t you like Duoduo anymore? Ting Gu and I have come to visit your home, and you haven’t come out to play with us."

Just as she finished speaking, she was startled by the furnishings in the room, exclaiming, "Oh, how beautiful, and there are stairs..."

Qian Manting followed in, calling out "Sister Embroidery," but she was astounded by the sight of Cheng Yue—it was her first time laying eyes on her.

Little friend Duoduo laughed and said, "See, wasn’t I right? Doesn’t Auntie Manjiang look even more beautiful than a fairy?"

She puffed herself up as if Cheng Yue was her own stepmother.

Cheng Yue smiled at them, dabbed at her mouth with a silk handkerchief, and then rose to ascend to the second floor.

Duoduo wanted to follow, but she was stopped by Qian Yixiu, who said, "Eat a bit more rice first; here is some delicious steamed fish."

Nowadays, their family raised fish in a pond, and they ate fish more often than meat.

Duoduo made a face of disgust, "Fish isn’t as tasty as pork; it has an annoying fishy taste."

Meanwhile, Miss Manting couldn’t take her eyes off Cheng Yue as she climbed to the second floor, staying transfixed until she could no longer be seen. Unconsciously, she straightened her back even more than before and also took out a handkerchief to dab the corners of her mouth.

Qian Yixiu quickly finished the rice in her bowl and took the two children to her Lianxiang Water Pavilion.

On the way, Qian Manting was still speaking to Qian Yixiu, "Sister Embroidery, why don’t you try to learn from Auntie Manjiang? She’s so refined, but you..."

Qian Yixiu laughed casually, "I’m just a little peasant girl, I can’t possibly imitate her even if I tried."

The Lianxiang Water Pavilion was small, with only six rooms front to back. To the west was a view of the lake, and in front, a path paved with pebbles was flanked by potted plants, with trees planted on the other two sides. Behind the house were planted a few peach trees; Qian Yixiu planned to graft branches from the peach trees of Cave Sky Pool here.

According to Qian Yixiu’s request, no walls were built around Lianxiang Water Pavilion; the windows opened to a view of West Lake’s beauty, and stepping outside for just a dozen paces brought one to the lakeside of West Lake.

Qian Sangui wanted to indulge his granddaughter while also fearing for her safety being so close to the lake, so he had a covered walkway built there.

After touring the interior, the girls sat down under the walkway to jump rope and fold handkerchiefs, playing for an entire afternoon. Come dinnertime, Qian Yiduo wanted to take Qian Manting to the front yard as the mother-daughter’s meal lacked any large pieces of meat, but Qian Manting clearly did not want to leave.

Qian Yixiu smiled, went back to the house to fetch two embroidered silk handkerchiefs, and gave one to each of them, saying, "These were embroidered by my mother; I’m offering each of you one."

"So beautiful!" Little stars sparkled in Qian Manting’s eyes. Possessing something from her idol, she was content and willingly followed Qian Yiduo to the front yard.

That evening, after seeing off the guests, Qian Yijin especially came to Wangjiang Building to see his mother and sister. Seeing that his mother had no discomfort living there and that his sister adored the place, he was relieved. He also asked them to wait for him to come over the next morning, and then they would go to the main courtyard for breakfast together.

The young master, now like a little man, was diligent in his studies and learning to be upstanding. He was considerate of his mother and sister, helped Grandfather Sangui manage the house, and showed care for other family members, handling every task with due diligence.

The next morning after waking up, Qian Yijin led Tiaotiao through the House of Animals, as the other members had gone into the mountains a few days before.