Archives: FS

After the Gu family’s mule carriage had gone for a while, Gu Fei saw a silver shop on the street and hurriedly called Gu Qing: “Brother, stop for a moment, I’m going to the silver shop to take a look.”

Mrs. Chen looked at the silver shop and nodded: “I have to buy some jewelry. It’s not good for a girl at this age to have no accessories.”

Gu Fei turned around: “Mom, I’m not buying jewelry, I’m just going to take a look.”

With only this little money in her hand, how could she dare to buy jewelry? She had other purposes in the silver shop.

Several women got out of the car and entered the silver shop.

The waiter in the shop saw people coming in and quickly looked at them. They were all wearing brand-new clothes. The clothes were not good, but not bad either.

It was the level of ordinary people in Ping’an City.

This kind of family likes to buy some silver hairpins, silver bracelets, or some jewelry made of low-grade jade.

The staff smiled and walked forward: “Ladies and young ladies, please come this way. Our store has just received a batch of newly made silver hairpins with novel styles. They are both luxurious and beautiful to wear when visiting relatives and friends during the New Year.”

Gu Fei smiled and said: “I don’t want silver hairpins. Do you have beads in your store? I want to see some beads.”

The staff still smiled, “Miss, do you want to buy pearl flowers? Or just buy beads and set them with jewelry yourself?”

“I want to see pearls.” Gu Fei said straightforwardly.

“Please come this way, ladies.” The staff led Gu Fei and the others into a small door next to them and saw several wooden tables inside. The tables were divided into many small grids, and each small grid had a pearl flower, and some were single pearls.

The staff saw that Mrs. Chen and Lian’er were staring at the pearls, and he knew that they must have never seen them before.

Gu Fei saw a white bead necklace. Each pearl was about one centimeter in diameter, had a good luster, was almost the same size, and was relatively round. The price was four thousand five hundred taels of silver.

The staff next to him saw Gu Fei looking at the pearl necklace and said: “This pearl necklace has a total of 108 beads. It was not easy to get them of similar size and color, so the price is a little higher.”

He smiled and said: “This is how pearls are. The valuable one is worth a thousand gold.”

“Of course, the ones with poor appearance and small size are naturally not valuable. They are sold by tael. The smallest rice pearl is only a few taels of silver, which is not valuable.”

“There are four words to choose pearls: bright, round, big, and colorful.”

He pointed to a white pearl and said: “This pearl is almost a perfectly round shape and not small. What’s rare is that the luster is particularly good, but it is not even eight points. As the saying goes, seven points of pearls and eight points of treasures. If this pearl is a little bigger, it will not be this price. It will be at least 1,000 taels.”

Gu Fei took a look and saw that the white pearl was priced at five hundred taels.

Looking at the side, there was a pearl with a diameter of more than one centimeter. It looks big, slightly larger than lotus seeds, with a light pink color, and a price tag of two thousand taels.

She was excited when she saw it and asked the waiter: “Do you also collect pearls here?”

The waiter nodded: “Of course we do, but the price we collect and the price we sell are still different.”

Gu Fei understood that it would be cheaper to collect it than the marked price, otherwise, there would be no profit, so why sell it?

After a round, Gu Fei had an idea of ​​the price of pearls.

Mrs. Chen didn’t know what Gu Fei meant. Seeing her daughter’s plain head, she watched Gu Fei walk away, called the staff, reluctantly spent ten taels of silver, and bought a pair of beads strung with small pearls.

Mrs. Chen thought that the money was earned by her daughter. Now that the family has a house to live in and a piece of land, life can be lived, so she should let her daughter dress up beautifully.

 

Lian’er didn’t dare to ask any more questions. The two of them walked to the clothing store next door and saw that Mrs. Chen had already bought a lot of clothes, which made the shopkeeper smile.

Seeing Gu Fei coming, Mrs. Chen felt relieved and waved to Lian’er: “Come here, I’ll buy you a set to wear for the New Year.”

Lian’er stepped back quickly: “I don’t need it, I’ll just wear the old ones.”

Gu Fei looked at Lian’er, who was wearing a gray cotton jacket and cotton pants, with holes in several places, revealing the cotton inside.

Mrs. Chen glared at her: “How can you not need it? You are a member of my family. If you wear tattered clothes, it will be a bad reflection from our family.”

Lian’er stopped talking. Mrs. Chen picked a plum yellow jacket and a green cotton skirt for her and asked her to change into them.

Otherwise, if she wore tattered clothes and walked on such a busy street, it would affect the city’s appearance.

After buying clothes, the family got on the mule carriage, and Gu Qing drove forward.

Gu Fei lifted the curtain of the cart and secretly glanced at the tea house. She happened to see Xiao Yu standing by the window. Gu Fei’s heart trembled, and she quickly lowered the curtain and retracted her head.

*

Xiao Yu stood by the window of the tea house, watching the mule cart go away, and squinted his eyes.

He turned around and looked at Shitou: “Tell me, what method can we use to get the blood-dropping device?”

Shitou said helplessly: “Young Master, Miss Xiao Fei swore a poisonous oath, so she will not give it to you.”

“We can’t just steal or rob.”

Xiao Yu stared at Shitou, and suddenly his eyes lit up: “You’re right, it’s not easy to rob, but stealing will work!”

“In this way, she won’t be considered to have violated her oath, and she won’t have to suffer from a broken stomach.”

Shitou stared at his master with his eyes wide open: “Are you serious?”

Xiao Yu coughed lightly: “It’s not stealing, it’s called secretly buying, we can just find the thing quietly and give her some silver later.”

Shitou looked at Xiao Yu and asked carefully: “Young Master, who are you going to send to steal?”

Don’t let me go!

Xiao Yu stared at him: “Who else but you?”

“You are my most trusted confidant, and I trust you the most.”

Shitou wailed in his heart: “Young Master, I have never tried to steal, I can’t do it!”

Xiao Yu stared at him sinisterly and said: “You have to learn if you don’t know. I know you have a way. You have more tricks than anyone else.”

Shitou complained: “Young Master, I am an honest man. How can you say that to me?”

Xiao Yu glanced at him sideways: “I don’t care. Anyway, you have to do it tonight, I want to see the thing tomorrow.”

After that, Xiao Yu walked out.

Shitou followed with a sad face: “Young Master, but I don’t even know what that thing looks like, how can I steal it!”

Xiao Yu paused: That’s right.

He thought for a moment: “You’re right, you’re too stupid, maybe the thing is right in front of you, but you don’t know it!”

“Think of a proper way, I’ll go with you tonight.”

He has seen countless kinds of hidden weapons and has simulated dozens of blood drops in his mind, and there is always one that can match.

Shitou was shocked, their dignified young prince was going to be a thief!

If this was known by others, what would happen.?Especially their princess.

Their princess was so gentle and kind, if she knew that their young prince was going to be a thief, he doesn’t know how sad she would be.

“Young Master, you must not. I will go tonight, you can’t go.”

As he was talking, he had already walked outside. Shitou shut up and stopped talking, but he was worried in his heart.

He really shouldn’t have said too much just now, and Shitou was very upset.

 

Gu Fei thought about it quickly.

Although this young man looks overbearing, he should have a good heart, otherwise, he wouldn’t lend her money, and he wouldn’t help her and her father when they were beaten at the gate of the Jiaofang House.

Some nobles, like the Marquis, don’t even want to glance at the poor people, as if looking at them more would dirty their eyes.

Besides, this young man could wear silk, his identity was not ordinary, he could catch her without anyone noticing and force her to hand over the gun, but he didn’t, but sat here to talk to her.

This shows that he was not the kind of person who robs and kills.

Gu Fei rolled her eyes, took out a handkerchief, covered her face, and cried: “If you want my life, take my life, even if I die, I will not betray my promise to my master.”

Damn it, what should I do if I can’t squeeze out tears?

Gu Fei reached down with one hand and grabbed her thigh fiercely, tears bursting out.

She quickly took away the handkerchief and looked at Xiao Yu with tears in her eyes: “I know that you are a nobleman. For people like you, my life is nothing and can be taken away at any time.”

“Go ahead, young master – woo woo woo, father, mother, I’m sorry, your daughter can’t be filial to you.”

“Also, 80-year-old grandma, you must hold on when I’m gone, don’t be sad.”

“And my 3-year-old niece, I can’t love you anymore, woo woo woo -”

The veins on Xiao Yu’s forehead were throbbing. Does this mean that she has old people above and young children below, so she was pretending to be pitiful?

He just scared her a little, but she started crying.

As if he bullied her.

Is it that serious?

Weren’t she very brave before, and not scared of anything?

Xiao Yu was upset by Gu Fei’s crying and yelled: “Stop crying, I didn’t say I’ll kill you now.”

Gu Fei stopped crying obediently, blinking at Xiao Yu with a pair of wet eyes: I’m so pitiful, I’m so pitiful, let me go.

Xiao Yu couldn’t stand being stared at by such pitiful eyes, his heart skipped a beat, and he avoided Gu Fei’s eyes in a panic.

Shitou, who was standing in the corner, had tears in his eyes again.

Gu Fei looked a lot like his sister, who was also sold since childhood. Every time he saw Gu Fei, Shitou thought of his sister.

He hesitated for a moment and said to Xiao Yu: “Master, how about we talk about this later?”

It was not good to force a little girl like this.

Xiao Yu didn’t know what to do. This girl wouldn’t take any soft or hard words, and he couldn’t kill her.

Since he was young, his mother taught him to be kind, not to bully others by taking advantage of his power, and not to take human life lightly.

After hearing what Shitou said, Xiao Yu waved his hand impatiently: “Okay, okay, stop crying, go away, I hate crying women the most!”

When his mother cried, he was flustered, and when this girl cried, he was also flustered, and a little weak, feeling that he had become a bully who oppressed innocent people.

Gu Fei stood up and bowed as if she had been pardoned: “Thank you, young master, you are a good person.”

After giving Xiao Yu a good person card, Gu Fei bowed to Shitou again, smiled at him gratefully, and then went out quickly.

Lian’er was waiting outside the door. Seeing Gu Fei coming out with red eyes, she asked hurriedly: “What’s wrong with the young lady?”

Gu Fei took her away without saying a word.

Gu Fei only felt relieved after she left the tea house.

 

Gu Fei lowered her eyes and shook her head: “I don’t know how the gold was purified. The gold, the telescope, and the blood-dropping device were all left to me by my master before he died.”

Xiao Yu frowned: “Your master died?”

This was troublesome.

Gu Fei nodded, trying to look sad: “Master passed away last year. He was a weirdo, but also a kind master.”

She showed a look of reminiscence on her face: “It seems that there is nothing in the world that he can’t do. He has gold, but he doesn’t use it. He wears tattered clothes and begs on the street every day.”

“I felt sorry for him and gave him alms several times. He taught me some punching and kicking skills so that I can protect myself.”

“Strictly speaking, I am not his disciple, because I didn’t learn anything except some punching and kicking skills.”

Xiao Yu frowned more and more. In this way, this girl doesn’t have the skills of her master at all.

“Master gave me the blood-dropping device before he died, and told me that it was very dangerous and could easily hurt me. I should not use it unless I was in a life-or-death situation.”

Xiao Yu leaned forward: “Where is the blueprint of the blood-dropping device?”

“There is no blueprint.” Gu Fei shook her head, her expression very sincere: “Master said that he spent his life’s hard work and countless rare materials to make a blood-dropping device. He lost everything for this thing, and his wife left him because of it. He was furious and burned the blueprint.”

“He originally wanted to bury this thing with him, but he couldn’t bear that his life’s hard work would not see the light of day, so he gave it to me.” Gu Fei sighed after saying this. It was tiring to make up a story.

Xiao Yu was silent for a while, and his fingers gently tapped the table: “In other words, there is no blueprint for this thing, and there is only one in the world?”

Gu Fei nodded.

“What a pity.” Xiao Yu looked at Gu Fei: “Name a price for this blood-dropping gun, I want it.”

As long as he got the thing, he believed that he could always find someone to copy it.

Gu Fei’s face changed: “Young Master, I’m so sorry, I can’t give it to you.”

“My master forced me to swear a poisonous oath when he was dying that the blood-dropping device must not be given to others, otherwise I would die of a ruptured stomach.”

Xiao Yu squinted his eyes and looked at Gu Fei: “100 taels.”

Gu Fei shook her head.

Xiao Yu said slowly: “I’m talking about gold.”

Gu Fei continued to shake her head.

“200 taels–”

Shaking her head frantically.

“500 taels–”

Gu Fei almost couldn’t hold it back. Five hundred taels of gold was equivalent to five thousand taels of silver. It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t tempted. However, she knew very well that the pistol gun must never be leaked out.

If it was leaked out, there would only be more trouble.

She gritted her teeth: “Young Master, don’t add any more. No matter how much money you offer, I won’t sell it.”

“I must do what I promised my master. Young Master, I’m sorry. Although I said that I would repay you if I had the chance, I really can’t do this.”

Gu Fei stood up and made a gesture to leave.

Xiao Yu glanced at her: “Did I let you go?”

Gu Fei’s mouth twitched, and she had to sit down again.

Xiao Yu knocked on the table with one hand and said nonchalantly: “What if I said that I must have this thing no matter what?”

Gu Fei looked at him pitifully, “Young Master, please don’t force me.”

Xiao Yu snorted coldly: “Is this considered forcing you? Aren’t you afraid that I will kill you? If I kill you, that thing will naturally be mine.”

 

When Gu Fei turned around, she saw Shitou standing behind her and bowed to her: “Miss Xiao Fei is difficult to find.”

Their prince took them to Young Master Su’s manor outside the city early in the morning, but when they asked about her, they said that Gu Fei’s family had moved to another place.

Fortunately, it was not far away. When they went over, they saw a big lock on the gate of the courtyard.

After asking around, they heard that people saw Gu Fei’s family driving a mule carriage out, and it seemed that they had gone into the city.

Their prince’s face turned black, and he rode his horse back to the city.

After turning around a few times on the street, they saw Gu Qing guarding a mule carriage and sitting on the street.

Finally, they found Miss Gu Fei, otherwise their prince would be furious.

Gu Fei asked doubtfully: “What do you want to see me for?”

Shitou smiled and said: “It’s our young master who wants to see Miss Fei. My young master is just outside the door. Miss Xiao Fei, can you please meet my young master?”

Gu Fei frowned. What did Shitou’s young master want to see her for?

Could it be related to the telescope?

At that time, she was in a hurry to rescue Lanzhi. She knew that this young man had everything. She could only impress him with new things and ask him to help. She didn’t think too much for a while.

Gu Fei thought for a while and said to Mrs. Chen: “Mom, I’m going out for a while. I don’t know how long it will take. I’ll go home by myself in a while. You don’t have to wait for me.”

Mrs. Chen remembered Shitou. He was the one who lent them money to get Gu Fei back. He should not be a bad person. She hesitated and turned to look at Lian’er: “You go with Xiao Fei.”

It was always uneasy for a girl to be alone outside.

Lian’er nodded and followed Gu Fei.

Gu Fei walked out of the cloth shop and saw several horses parked outside.

Xiao Yu sat on the horse with an impatient look on his face. When he saw Gu Fei, his eyes lit up, and he raised his propped-up chin: “I have something to talk to you about.”

Shitou hurriedly said: “Young Master, there is a tea house next door. Why don’t we go to the tea house to talk? It’s cold outside.”

Xiao Yu got off the horse, threw away the whip, lifted his robe, and walked up the steps.

Gu Fei and Lian’er followed Xiao Yu into the tea house.

The waiter took them to a private room, served them a pot of tea and some snacks, and then was driven out by Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu’s other servant Zhuzi was guarding the door. He didn’t let Lian’er in. Only Xiao Yu, Gu Fei, and Shitou were in the room.

Xiao Yu looked at Gu Fei from head to toe and nodded: “After cleaning up, you look better than before.”

Gu Fei rolled her eyes in her heart: “Young Master, why did you ask me to–”

Xiao Yu didn’t say much and got straight to the point: “Two things. First, I’ve taken a fancy to your hidden weapon, the blood-dripping device. Name a price.”

“Second, I want to see your master.”

Gu Fei’s pupils shrank slightly. She remembered that she had only told Uncle Ma about the gun and her master.

“Is Uncle Ma your person?” Gu Fei squinted her eyes and asked.

Xiao Yu nodded nonchalantly: “I sent him to monitor you. Who told you to have those strange things? The telescope is simple. I asked someone to make it. But I showed the gold bar to someone else. It’s very pure. How did you refine it?”

Gu Fei lowered her eyes, her heart was filled with turmoil.

So, from the moment she gave Xiao Yu the gold bar and the telescope, he had doubts about her, so he arranged for Uncle Ma to monitor her all the way.

However, it was a blessing in disguise. If it weren’t for Uncle Ma, she wouldn’t know if they could reach Ping’an City.

It seems that she was still careless. She must be more cautious in the future.

 

Mrs. Chen smiled.

She was really satisfied with Lian’er. She was capable and loyal to Gu Fei.

She winked at Li Chunhua, who stood up and pulled Lian’er up. Mrs. Chen smiled and said: “You, girl, our family is not wealthy, so you don’t have to kneel all the time. Okay, let’s go to the city later.”

After dinner, Lian’er and Li Chunhua cleaned up the dishes and Lanzhi wiped the table.

Gu Fei pulled her mother into the house and handed her a few silver bills: “Mom, you will still be in charge of the family’s money in the future. I didn’t give it to you on the road because I was afraid it would be lost.”

Mrs. Chen was shocked when she took it. She still recognized a few numbers. The total amount of these silver bills was two hundred taels.

“So much?”

Mrs. Chen thought for a moment: “I’ll take some out for use first. I’m afraid of losing so much money. I’ll ask you for more when I spend it all.”

She took out a fifty silver note and gave the rest back to Gu Fei.

Gu Fei put it in her sleeve and took Mrs. Chen’s arm: “Mom, let’s go. We’ve been here for a few days and haven’t had a good look around Ping’an City yet.”

Mrs. Chen was also happy: “Let’s go, let’s get some clothes back. It’s the New Year, and we all have to buy new clothes.”

After a while, the family drove three mule carts into the city.

First, they went to the government office to get Lian’er’s indenture. Mrs. Chen took some silver notes and sent Gu Zhang, Gu Erlang, and Gu Sanlang to buy charcoal basins and candles. Then she asked Gu Qing to drive the carriage into the cloth shop.

As soon as she entered the clothes shop, Mrs. Chen felt uncomfortable.

She didn’t realize it on the street before, but this cloth shop was mostly populated by women.

Women from the south wear long quilted jackets, fur coats, or skirts in winter. Some wear quilted capes or fur coats outside, and take them off when they enter the house.

They look slim and graceful.

They were not like those from the north, wearing sheepskin coats and cotton pants, which were as rustic as they could be.

Gu Fei pulled her mother and whispered: “Mom, why don’t we buy clothes and buy ready-made clothes? We can’t make the southern styles for a while, and there is no time to make clothes for so many people in the family.”

“Just buy some flowered cloth for Xiao Cao.”

Mrs. Chen hesitated, then said: “Okay, then let’s go and look at the ready-made clothes.”

Several people turned to the other side to look at the ready-made clothes.

There were all kinds of ready-made clothes hanging here, not only fine cotton but also silk brocade, with various colors and patterns, which were dazzling.

The girl at the counter smiled: “What do you ladies need?”

Mrs. Chen pointed at Gu Fei: “Find two clothes for my daughter to wear at this time of year.”

The girl finally understood Mrs. Chen’s hometown dialect and said with a smile: “Oh, this little girl looks like a flower, she must dress up well.”

She brought several sets, Gu Fei tried them on, and finally, Mrs. Chen decided to buy two sets, one of which was a quilted long jacket with red florals, paired with a scarlet long skirt, and this festive set was kept for the New Year.

One set was a lilac long jacket with a lilac long skirt.

Gu Fei put on this outfit, which was a perfect size. Mrs. Chen looked at it from left to right and wondered why her daughter was so pretty. Well, it was her fault.

Mrs. Chen did not let Gu Fei take it off: “Just wear it like this. Don’t wear the sheepskin coat. It makes my daughter ugly.”

Gu Fei was happily looking at herself in the big bronze mirror when a sudden voice sounded behind her: “Miss Xiao Fei——”