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  After eating a few pastries and finishing a cup of tea, Hua Rujun suddenly felt that everyone was busy while she had nothing to do. Was it because women who stayed at home were so idle that they had the mind to nitpick and find fault?

  She wiped her mouth, propped herself up against the table and got up. She also had to find something to do. Finding a suitable piece of jewelry for Zhen Niang from several boxes was a good way to pass the time. She had never carefully examined those pieces of jewelry before, so she might as well take a look while she was at it.

  Qī Yòu returned home early today. He first went to the main hall to pay his respects to his grandparents and chatted with them for a while before coming back here.

  His footsteps quickened slightly, and he was somewhat curious about what Chu would teach Zhen.

  As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, Qiyou's footsteps paused for a moment. Although he had been living here for days, every time he entered, he felt a kind of freshness.

  Fresh flowers were planted in small patches in the yard, leaving a path wide enough for four people to walk side by side. A few bright colors were also added around the big trees, and on the table under the tree was placed a vase with several branches of peach blossoms that seemed to have been picked from somewhere.

  Just leaving for one day, he felt that the whole yard was alive.

  "The slave has seen the young master."

  "No need for thanks, is it like at first?"

  "Go back and tell your husband, I've gone home."

  The door was not closed, Hua Ru heard the footsteps and turned back to see who it was. She stood up with a smile when she saw the person coming towards her, "I knew it was you from the sound of your footsteps. What brings you here so early today?"

  "It's nothing now, but when it gets busy, it may be several days before you can return." Qi You looked at the jewelry laid out all over the table and felt dizzy, "What is this for?"

  "Do you remember what was said yesterday?"

  "Really?"

  Hua Ru helped him sit down at the table and reminded him, "Lao Fengxiang."

  "It was just something said at the time, no need to really do it, let alone that this is your dowry."

  "I always keep my word." Putting down the golden hairpin in her hand, Huajun Chu looked puzzled, "You're not happy about it?"

  "Qi You didn't explain, he was least good at explaining and rarely had the opportunity to explain. But the person in front of him was like before, his own, closing his eyes, Qi You said slowly: 'The dowry is what you brought from your mother's house, you can only leave it for the children. If I still need you to give me face, I'm too incompetent. Zhen Mei's gift, I'll go prepare, your jewelry, keep it.'"

  "Is it for the man or wanting to marry a wealthy family? Isn't there a heart that wants to take her dowry as his own? Seeing Qiyou's face becoming increasingly unsuitable, Hua Ruochu hastily added, "I know you're not this kind of person, I just heard some such words on the day of our marriage."

  The air that had been stuck in his heart finally dissipated, and he picked up the jewelry one by one and put them into the sandalwood box. The words that came out of his mouth were casual, but they revealed his pride: "They are them, I am me. If I even have to use your dowry, what face do I have left to live in this world?"

  It's also too much, Hua Ru pressed down on his action, "If you must go and prepare a copy I won't oppose it, but if I want to give a gift to Zhen Mei you can't stop me, Qi You, I quite like Zhen Mei, it's rare to see someone so clean, especially in a noble family."

  This time, Qiyou didn't say any words of refusal again. He looked at her, comparing one by one, and muttered to himself. Those annoying things gradually dissipated from his mind, leaving only the person in front of him.

  "Qī yòu, zhè ge yàng?"

  Translation: "Is this okay?"

  A butterfly-shaped ornament made of pure gold, with a blue gemstone inlaid on each side, like two eyes, very lively. Qiu Yu moved his line of sight up and said, "I haven't seen you use it before."

  She tapped her fingers on the two gems and looked at the golden part, then Hua Ruochu couldn't help but show a hint of disdain. "I don't like gold ornaments, it's a pity about these two gems. Besides, I'm already married now, so it's not suitable for me to wear this kind of maiden hair accessory anymore."

  "Not worse than Lao Feng Xiang."

  "That's for sure, Lao Feng Xiang's advantage lies in its innovative designs, but in other aspects, it's not much better than others. Although the styles are innovative, they lack the true weight of old Lao Feng Xiang. A century-old brand can't just rely on a few new designs to stand firm."

  She heard the disdain for Lao Fengxiang in Chu's words, and a smile appeared in Qi You's eyes. She didn't tell her that all the women in Taiyuan took pride in wearing Lao Fengxiang, and its light was something that couldn't be bought even with silver.

  "Is this for Qi Zhen?"

  "Ah, keeping this here is just collecting dust. It's better off being used by a young girl. This seems to be a pair, can you help me find the other one?"

  Qiu You's eyes were sharp, and when she saw one, she caught sight of another. She hooked her hand to pick it up and handed it over to her, "It looks better than Lao Fengxiang's."

  "That's for sure, my mother found the most famous master in Yangzhou to make it, and I also drew a pattern... drew two patterns, didn't expect that master's craftsmanship would be so good, what he made was much more beautiful than what I drew."

  Qī Yòu took advantage of her unintentionally exposed weakness and naturally picked up the conversation, "Which two are your paintings?"

  Hua Ru was a bit guilty and didn't dare say that most of them were just painted designs, so she casually picked out two of them and said, "Just these two, aren't they nice?"

  Qiu You picked it up and turned it over, looking at it carefully, then nodded, "Put it on and let me see."

  This ambiguous attitude, Hua Ru took off the few hairpins on her head and inserted the golden hairpin in her hand into her bun.

  Her hair was tied too loosely, and after trying several places, it still didn't stay in place. Just as Hua Ru was about to go to the dressing table to fix it, she saw a man sitting across from her stand up and walk behind her. Without saying a word, he firmly inserted a golden hairpin with a few strands of flowing silk into her hair bun, right next to her scalp. Another one was a small hair clip, gold at the bottom, with a red gemstone on top. When it was inserted into her hair, covering up the golden part, the red gemstone dazzled and caught everyone's attention.

  It's just that he didn't notice the accessories like Qi You, and at this time, he also felt that it was reasonable for Lao Fengxiang to look down on him. This small one is far from comparable to those of Lao Fengxiang, and he too had never seen gemstones made into such beautiful accessories before.

  "Is that all right? No jumping words. After a while, I didn't hear any movement, and Hua Ru Chu couldn't help but ask, her hand reaching up to touch her head, only to be grasped by a man's hand - a thick, warm hand with calluses on the tiger's mouth and a slightly rough palm, characteristics that only come from years of gripping a sword."

  "Jewels are indeed more beautiful than gold ornaments."

  Ignoring the awkwardness between them at this moment, Hua Ru Chu's face was filled with joy of being recognized, "See, I told you that gold accessories are too tacky. My mother insisted on preparing so many for me, saying that old people like the luxury and extravagance of gold. On normal days when I go to the main courtyard, I always wear gold accessories."

  "You like it, use what you like in the house."

  "Alright, okay."

  The man stood right behind her, extremely close, and his entire body was enveloped in his breath. Hua Ruoyan felt very uncomfortable and struggled to free her hand that he grasped, but couldn't break free.

  What is Qiyou thinking? Is she playing a game of blushing and heart racing with her? Or, does she want to play a game of capturing hearts?

  Qī Yòu seemed not to notice her unease, his hand reached out from her shoulder, picked up another pearl-inlaid hairpin and said "This one looks good too."

  Hua Ru grabbed his hand and refused to put it on her head, "Golden, red, and now white, this head is going to be a color palette!" "This one suits Zhen Mei very well, I think I'll give it to her."

  Qī Yòu's line of sight shifted towards the pair of butterflies placed on one side, "One pair is enough."

  Taking this opportunity, Hua Ru Chu pulled the man's hand to sit down beside her. The face-to-face conversation finally made her feel more at ease. She readily agreed, as she wasn't a very reserved person anyway. "Alright, then give that butterfly hairpin set. There's a small box on the dresser, can you help me get one?"

  Although he knew her stubbornness, Qi You still let go of her hand and got up to the dresser, as if his original nature couldn't be forced, he could only make her willing, even if... He wasn't so confident, but he always wanted to try, wanted to keep this person, wanted her heart to have him, as for the obstacles between them, he would always find a way to solve them.

  Hua Ru's eyes were complex as she looked at the man's back, many thoughts flashing through her mind. However, in the end, she lowered her head and slowly put each piece of jewelry into the box, as if every item she put away also smoothed out the turmoil in her heart.

  "Come on, Master, it's time for dinner, Miss Zhen is still waiting."

  "Take good care of yourself, we'll be right back."

  "Yes."

  She swept the remaining jewelry into the box and was about to leave after putting it on the dresser, but she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and her footsteps paused for a moment, feeling an urge to remove the hairpiece from her head.

  "Let's go, don't keep Qi Zhen waiting."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Qi You clearly saw that Chu's palm had clenched into a fist, and then she turned her head back, with the same smile on her face as when she usually faced him. It wasn't absolute sincerity, but nor was it mixed with much falsehood. Upon careful consideration, it was probably just slightly better than how she would treat a stranger.

  Inside the flower hall, Qi Zhen was anxiously waiting. Yun Shu told her that her brother had already eaten and she hadn't had a meal with him for a long time. She didn't expect to have such an opportunity as soon as her mother left, it's great.

  Brother must be very fond of sister-in-law. Since brother got married and returned to the house, it's obviously earlier than before and more often. This is really good.

  In her heart's small dark corner, the little girl couldn't help but think that it would be better if mother took a long time to come back.

  The sound of greetings from outside brought Qu Zhen's attention back, and she quickly got up and walked to the back of the screen. When she saw Qu You crossing the threshold, her face was filled with unrestrained joy, "Brother, you're here."

  Qī Yòu's eyes were gentle, but his expression and tone were still the same as usual. He nodded slightly and said faintly, "Is it okay here with sister?"

  The little girl wasn't intimidated by her brother's coldness at all, and followed him inside while chatting happily, "Sister-in-law is very good to me, and even let the maid teach me how to make pastries. Brother, look, I made this green bean cake."

  P: The upstairs is renovating, it's so noisy that I couldn't code at all... Taking advantage of the relatively quiet moment to code for a while, I finally managed to produce 3,000 words in fits and starts. It's really worrying, if this continues, my updates will be affected!! If you like this work, welcome to subscribe and reward me, your support is my greatest motivation.

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