Di Daughter's Rebirth: Sheng Shi Wang Fei Chapter 52-54

Intimately holding Qi Xueyan’s hand, Qi Xueyan’s scheming could not compare to Shen Jinghshu’s now. Shen Jingshu watched as the awkward and stiff expression flashed across the other person’s face, the smile on her face became more sincere, “Xueyan, why are you not speaking?”

“Haha, Jingshu, I missed you. But, why didn’t you come find me to play? Have you been angry with me recently?” Looking at Shen Jingshu, Qi Xueyan also felt that she had lost face because of Zhang Xiangling’s matter. She had always been proud and arrogant, she never would have believed that her cousin would do such a thing!

To meticulously scheme to become a small concubine, a concubine daughter was exactly a concubine born daughter, one must really not let them out. It had almost harmed her, but fortunately the other person had disappeared, otherwise, wouldn’t her reputation have also been implicated by that person?

“Haha, I have been a bit busy lately so I did not look for you. But it does not matter now, isn’t that right? From now on we will go to school together, can’t we see each other every day? Haha …… “Compared to Qi Xueyan’s uneasiness, Shen Jingshu seemed more natural. Her innocent expression made Qi Xueyan hate her and also look down on her a bit,” Yes, we can take care of each other in the future! Qi Xueyan said the five words“ take care of each other” through clenched teeth. Looking at Shen Jingshu’s increasingly brighter and more beautiful appearance, Qi Xueyan recalled what had recently happened because of Shen Jingshu and did not have a good feeling towards Shen Jingshu, but how could she do it?

Now, she could only take one step at a time, but, she would not let the people in front of her have an easy time!  

“Haha Xueyan, you followed Master Hui to learn first. If there is something I do not understand later, you must teach me more!” Sheepishly staring at Qi Xueyan, Shen Jingshu now had an expression that showed she trusted QI Xueyan with her heart and soul!

“Definitely, let’s go!” The corner of Qi Xueyan’s mouth had a strange expression as she pulled Shen Jingshu and went in. When the two entered they naturally became the object of many people’s attention. However, compared to Shen Jingshu Qi Xueyan had started learning earlier so the people recognized her more. Everyone watched as Qi Xueyan arrived and came to say h.e.l.lo, “Qi xiaojie you came. Long time no see, have you made anything new recently?”

“Yes, Qi xiaojie I have not seen you in a few days and you have gotten much taller!”

“You have gotten so pretty that we almost couldn’t recognize you!”

……

Qi Xueyan was actually very intelligent at this age moreover, Qi furen had been very attentive towards her education and have provided education for Qi Xueyan very early. Therefore, Qi Xueyan was already a celebrity among her peers at this age. Compared to Shen Jingshu who was talentless and had been naughty and stirred up trouble since childhood, Qi Xueyan was very popular among this group of n.o.ble daughters.  

As a result, when everyone saw her come over they naturally came over to greet her.  Everyone had known this person for a long time, of course they had many things to say.  Ones did not know whether it is intentional or unintentional but Qi Xueyan did not mention Shen Jingshu to them. Shen Jingshu was left abandoned at the side if this had happened to someone else one fears that they would have felt embarra.s.sed.

However, Shen Jingshu was not the previous Shen Jingshu. Although these people didn’t think highly of her at the moment, it was only because her previous reputation was not very good. Furthermore, she had changed very much in the past six months, for some people not to recognize her was reasonable. Shen Jingshu understood this point, why Qi Xueyan wanted to do this to her was also understandable. Wasn’t it just to show a display of strength to make her not have an easy time at school? However, she was not the same Shen Jingshu as before, how could she be bullied?

Smiling as she watched Qi Xueyan and everyone chat happily as if they had forgotten her, Shen Jingshu did not mind. Just like a spectator she was completely free from any embarra.s.sment or awkwardness. Instead, she looked relaxed and unrestrained, Qi Xueyan saw Shen Jingshu’s smiling expression from the corner of her eye and felt that it was really dazzling. Qi Xueyan really wished that she could tear open the other person’s smiling face, “Haha, I was so focused on talking to everyone that I forgot to make an introduction. This is Shen xiaojie, I a.s.sume that everyone already knows her? She is prefectural magistrate Shen’s only daughter! In the future we all will learn from Master Hui. Everyone should not look down at her younger age, she is much more powerful than me!” Although Qi Xueyan was praising Shen Jingshu, because Qi Xueyan already had some fame in Jingnan, when she spoke this way everyone else believed that Qi Xueyan was only deliberately elevating Shen Jingshu to give face to the prefectural magistrate daren. After all, they had never heard that Shen Jingshu was a multi-talented person these years in Jingnan.

Everyone was well aware of the relations.h.i.+p between the Shen family and the Qi family. Although it had been a bit unpleasant for a few days, those days had pa.s.sed long ago. Everyone had also just seen Dan Yuerong and Qi furen talking, of course they still believed that the two families were the same as before. Qi Xueyan was only giving Shen Jingshu face, nothing more.  

Thinking they understood, everyone was naturally skeptical towards Shen Jingshu, but in the end she was the prefectural magistrate daren’s only daughter. Furthermore, they had heard that Shen Jingshu had been arrogant since childhood and had a bad temper. Everyone did not dare offend her,  “Haha, so it is Shen xiaojie, pleased to meet you!”

“It is my good fortune that I will be able to study with Shen xiaojie in the future. In the future, I hope Shen xiaojie will give a lot of  advice!”

“Yeah, to get praise from Qi xiaojie, Shen xiaojie must have extraordinary talent. I look forward to seeing Shen xiaojie’s talent!”

……

Because of her ident.i.ty, of course, everyone gave Shen Jingshu face. Although there were a few who were unconvinced, on the surface they were polite. Only one person seemed to have some hostility towards Shen Jingshu, when Shen Jingshu stared at that young girl she saw that the girl was and actually delicate. Compared to herself, the girl was a bit older, perhaps seven or eight years old. Shen Jingshu had of course seen the look of disdain that the girl had thrown at her a moment ago. Later, Shen Jingshu found an opportunity to ask about this person’s ident.i.ty, she learned that this person’s surname was Liu, it seemed that she was the Xiaojie of a merchant family.  Shen Jingshu did not remember what she had done to the other person, but she would take this matter to heart.  

There were not too many matters on the first day of school, Master Hui briefly explained the curriculum and a few requirements. Shen Jingshu listened carefully and had to say that Master Hui was a good teacher but also very strict, the teaching was also very personalized.

The courses were divided into several types, there were educational cla.s.ses as well as skill cla.s.ses.  Studying book knowledge was required, there was also needlework, chess skills, calligraphy, painting, dance, Qin… all kinds of courses were available, there were even some basic medical treatment courses. Shen Jingshu felt that the medical treatment course was very interesting and of course, choose that one. But she did not know that this selection would a.s.sist her greatly in the future!

Although Shen Jingshu wanted to study all of these courses, she knew that she was too young, not to mention, she did not want to attract too much attention. Therefore, she would only study medicine, needlework, and calligraphy.  As far as dance was concerned, in Shen Jingshu’s opinion, it was only something that could be used in a few occasions. It was not useful for improving oneself, so she would not learn it. As for Qin, her mother played very well, if she wanted to learn she could have Dan Yuerong teach her at home. There was no need to attract attention at this school, there were others. Shen Jingshu’s home already had two masters, it was absolutely unnecessary to learn outside her home so as to avoid exposing herself too much. Shen Jingshu wanted to hide the cards in her hands to avoid suffering a loss in the future.

This life’s Sheng Jingshu only wanted to enrich herself and make herself more intelligent. Furthermore, if she could learn a few skills, this would also prevent her being looked down upon when she grew up. It would make it difficult for her mother-in-law and others to nitpick her.  The purpose of her attending school was to get in contact with more people and learn more, so as to avoid herself being limited to the small corner in the residence. If she were like that, how could she protect her family?

It had to be said that Shen Jingshu’s selections still left many people astonished. The majority of these n.o.ble daughters choose dance, painting, and qin because those skills would catch a capable person’s eye,  it had to be said that these daughter’s selections were very purposeful. The daughter’s learned these things only to have more capital available to gain more opportunities to make everyone pay attention to them in the future to increase their bargaining chip. Shen Jingshu’s selections surprised everyone, even more so when she choose medical treatment, it was even more difficult for everyone to understand. However, Shen Jingshu presently had no reputation, they a.s.sumed that she was afraid of making a fool out of herself and picked these courses.

But Qi Xueyan was a little strange, finally she could not help but ask, “Jingshu, why are you studying medicine?” Qi Xueyan thought it was tolerable for Shen Jingshu to study other things but to study medicine, Qi Xueyan thought it was really strange.

“You also know that my mom is pregnant now. I want to learn so that I will be able to take care of her later!” Randomly finding an excuse, Shen Jingshu could not say that she had eaten several bitter medicines in her previous life. When she was an orphan in the capital, Guo Yuanshuang frequently used her poor health as an excuse to refuse to let her go out. When she had first arrived her health was not good and she frequently fainted. Guo Yuanshuang declared that because she lost her parents she could not withstand repeated blows which caused her health to be bad. In her previous life she had also believed that she had some illness. She also believed this in the past life, but what kind of illness would not get better no matter how many bitter medicines she ate?  

Although Shen Jingshu was simple in the previous life, she was not stupid, she was only led astray by people. To have the opportunity to return in this life, she had carefully distanced herself from everything that happened during her past life and naturally discovered many flaws!

So, to now have this reason to study medicine, how could she not learn?

Although it was not necessarily superb medical skills, it was also good to be able to defend herself, right?

“Really? But does Shen furen not have a doctor to take care of her? You are still young, what can you do?” Of course Qi Xueyan believed Shen Jingshu’s explanation. In the end she was young, how could she think so much?

“Haha, I want to exhaust my strength. You also know that it was not easy for my mom to get pregnant, I am worried.” Showing a bit of worry on her face, because Qi Xueyan knew a little about Shen furen’s matter, she didn’t ask any more questions. “That being the case, then you must study well. Maybe if I have some minor ailments later on, I can look for you!”At any rate, Qi Xueyan did not really care about  Shen Jingshu learning this, she just didn’t want Shen Jingshu stealing her limelight.

This was just right, seeing her make this stupid choice, how could she fight with her later?

“I’m only learning the basics, how can I be a doctor?” Looking rather embarra.s.sed, although Shen Jingshu said this, she was determined to study hard.

“So it’s like that, we won’t study together often because we are studying different things.” Compared to Shen Jingshu who only choose three subjects, Qi Xueyan actually wanted the limelight first and choose six subjects. She chose the four arts( Qin, Go, painting, and calligraphy), dance, and needlework. When Qi Xueyan had chosen, everyone looked at Qi Xueyan in a different light, it had to be said that Qi Xueyan felt very proud now.

She originally only had a basic foundation so she did not relax at home and studied during the New Year. Although it was somewhat difficult,  she was determined to grow up and be a superior person. Of course she had to work hard!

Mother’s words were not wrong, if she became a talented woman, in the future she would have a better way out. Qi Xueyan had always known that she had to work hard!

Shen Jingshu looked at the undisguised superiority on Qi Xueyan’s face and felt that the other person was no good but followed along with her and said,  “It doesn’t matter. We both are taking needlework and calligraphy and can study together, it will be alright! Who made me not learn anything, isn’t only my calligraphy barely pa.s.sable?” Shen Jingshu’s words reminded Qi Xueyan that Master Hui was willing to accept Shen Jingshu because of her character. Looking at Shen Jingshu’s dull appearance now, Qi Xueyan’s self-confidence suddenly swelled. “It’s all right. Jingshu you’ve only just started to learn so it’s like this. Later, it will be fine.”

“Xueyan, I really admire you. You’ve learned so much and you are not much older than me, how can you be so much better than me?” Looking at Qi Xueyan with a look of adoration, Shen Jingshu’s face was crowded with defeat. With her this way, of course it made Xueyan very satisfied, “I just started learning a few years earlier than you. You are so smart, I’m sure you will  surpa.s.s me in the future!” Although she said this, Qi Xueyan was proud and arrogant. It was only natural that she was eager to be one head above everyone. Otherwise, she would not have chosen so many subjects today, she obviously wanted to surpa.s.s everyone and restore the Qi family’s reputation.

“Ai, how is that possible? Xueyan, you are so smart, how could I surpa.s.s you?” Sighing, Shen Jingshu had the appearance of someone who had been hit, “Just a moment ago I saw that you all chose at least four subjects, I chose the least. Xueyan, what do you think I should do?”

“It’s all right Jingshu, it’s fine. They all came earlier than you, wait until you have been here for a year or two, naturally you will be able to!” Perhaps because of Shen Jingshu’s weakness at the moment, Qi Xueyan’s self-confidence expanded and she did not reject Shen Jingshu.

“Really Xueyan?”

“Really!”

“Then won’t everyone will look down on me? Just a moment ago I could see that they all looked at me with strange eyes!” In fact, Shen Jingshu knew the consequences of her selections,  but she came here to learn useful things. Why would she waste time learning those things here when she could learn them better at home? What’s more, she was still young now. She did not want to be too flashy to avoid having trouble in the future.

“No, everyone was just a little puzzled about your selections, but it doesn’t matter, it will soon pa.s.s.”

“Really?”

“Trust me!”

“Xueyan, you’re the best. If there is something I don’t understand in the future, you must teach me!”

“Alright!”

……

In the end, it was a child. Under Shen Jingshu’s efforts, the relations.h.i.+p between Qi Xueyan and Shen Jingshu suddenly improved. However, it was only because Qi Xueyan knew that Shen Jingshu could showcase her own cleverness that she talked and laughed with Shen Jingshu. She only wanted to let everyone know that Shen Jingshu was not as good as her!

Shen Jingshu knew Qi Xueyan’s thoughts to a certain degree but she did not care. At any rate, she herself knew best. She would conceal her strength now for the sake of a better future. She was manipulated in the previous life because she was completely exposed to the enemy and she did not have a scheming mind. So in this life, she must learn to hide her talents so that the enemy would relax their vigilance and she could give them a fatal blow!  

How the Qi family and second uncle’s family hurt her, she would never forget in this lifetime!   Although she was still young, she would wait. She would work hard until the day she could counterattack. By then, she would be sure to make them pay the price!  

Shen Jingshu did not care what everyone thought of her choosing these subjects but she did not think that Master Hui would be astonished, “You chose medical treatment?” When the course was first offered, Master Hui knew that it would not be very popular among these Confucius people but she did not think that among the few people who chose to study it, there would be Shen Jingshu.

She also thought that this child’s selections would be the same as many people. After all, her status was very high.

“En, Mom’s health is not good. I want to learn a bit so that I can heal her a little in the future.”

“Child, learning medicine is no joke.” Master Hui set up this course, naturally she had her own reasons.  But, it seemed that she attached great importance to medical skills.

“Master Hui, I know. You can rest a.s.sured that I am not kidding. I am serious about learning.”

“You will not learn medicine overnight, it may also be more difficult to learn than the other courses. With it being like this, do you still want to learn?”

“En, no matter what I will persevere. Master Hui can rest a.s.sured!” The young girl’s eyes were very resolute without the slightest impurities when Master Hui saw them she was surprised. A peculiar emotion streaked across her heart and she finally laughed, “Then alright. Since you have decided, then study hard. But I explained earlier that this medical treatment course will be personally taught by me.  I am very strict, if you don’t study well, you will not be able to pa.s.s when the time comes!” Shen Jingshu never would have antic.i.p.ated that Master Hui would personally teach her, even more, she never would have thought that Master Hui actually knew medicine. “Master Hui…” because she was so surprised, Shen Jingshu was temporarily silent for a moment and didn’t know what to say.

“Is it very shocking? You didn’t think that I would be knowledgeable in medicine?”

“Previously I was still shocked as to why Master Hui would offer this course, I now understand it.” However, Shen Jingshu did not expect that Master Hui not only knew medicine, but that her medical expertise was so high. However, now that this course was offered, it was certainly not bad. She just did not know how much she could learn in the future!

“Then, why do you think I offered this course? ” Looking at this bright child in front of her, Master Hui had only thought that Shen Jingshu had an intelligent base, but now she discovered that this young girl’s thoughts were very meticulous and very bright. Maybe she could inherit her legacy in the future! Master Hui could not help but smile thinking of this possibility, she really did not think that she would be able to meet such a child that would make her have this kind of idea.  

“I can only guess and don’t know if I’m right. ”

“You say it so I can hear.”

“Master Hui’s medical skills are exceptional, surely you want to showcase what you have learned right? Now that you have opened a school, doesn’t Master Hui want people to inherit what you have learned?” After coming in contact with each other a few times, Shen Jingshu happened to learn that Master Hui was actually very knowledgeable in quite a few subjects. Otherwise, why would so many people want her to be their master? However, the students she accepted were all carefully selected. She had thought that these people might be too old-fas.h.i.+oned, but after seeing them today she could not help but say that all the students that  Master Hui selected were not lacking in talent!

Perhaps her talent was the worst, only, she did not know why Master Hui selected her.  

In fact, there was some doubt in her heart but Shen Jingshu did not ask. She was no longer the inquisitive child from before, she knew that it was better not knowing than knowing some things.   And some things, it was better to wait.

Master Hui certainly had her reasons for selecting people, although her foundation was the worst, Shen Jingshu did not believe that her talent was lacking. In her past life she did not work hard enough,  she believed that through her hard work in this life, she would certainly have a different outcome!

“You said a lot.  Now that you have chosen,  you must study hard. Otherwise, you can’t blame me if you can’t stay in school, do you understand?” Perhaps Master Hui’s words were somewhat strict, but Shen Jingshu knew that Master Hui only said it for her own good. Seeing everyone glancing at her with some misgivings, Shen Jingshu only smiled,  “I understand Master Hui.”

“En, then you get acquainted with the environment first and formally attend cla.s.s tomorrow. I look forward to your performance!”

“I won’t let Master Hui be disappointed!” Shen Jingshu’s confident smile made her whole body look bright. She looked like a talented person, previously it was only because she was naughty that people ignored her appearance. Now that her personality and has changed and temperament had changed it was easy to recognize her brilliance, that was why Qi Xueyan had become more uneasy and more hostile towards her.

A woman’s heart was always keen, although Shen Jingshu had hidden very well, even if she hid her brilliance, where could she really hide it?

Some people who had just taken joy in Master Hui’s strictness towards Shen Jingshu’s a moment ago looked at Shen Jingshu’s smiling face now, and felt somewhat uncomfortable.  Some even seemed to be involuntarily looking at her, they all felt attracted to her, even Qi Xueyan looked at Shen Jingshu’s appearance. Seeing Master Hui’s satisfied expression, Qi Xueyan felt jealous.

Shen Jingshu, what are you relying on for Master Hui to treat you well? I worked hard for a long time to get Master Hui’s praise and approval, why is Master Hui only paying attention to you?  

Is it only because you are the prefectural magistrate’s daughter? Even Master Hui wants to fawn over you?

Yes, it must be!

But your status is only a bit higher than mine, besides that, how could you compare to me? Regarding talent and learning, how are you my opponent?

I will not let you surpa.s.s me!

Resentful in her heart, Qi Xueyan could not bear to see Shen Jingshu being valued by Master Hui, she quickly smiled as she walked up, “Master Hui, have you seen the courses I chose? I have been continuously working very hard these days,  I will study hard!” Because she had selected many courses just a moment ago, Qi Xueyan received praise from everyone, of course she wanted Master Hui’s praise now. However, she did not antic.i.p.ate that Master Hui would only glance at her quietly with her brows slightly wrinkled. This kind of look made Qi Xueyan very uncomfortable, “Master Hui what’s wrong?”

Qi Xueyan was very unhappy about not receiving praise and only thought that Master Hui was biased, but she never would have thought that Master Hui would only say one sentence, “Young people should guard against pride and impatience. You can not show off everything and can not be greedy. You have chosen so many, I hope you will be very diligent and proficient. It is still better to concentrate on a few and become proficient.” Master Hui’s words undoubtedly showed that she did not agree with Qi Xueyan selecting so many courses because she believed that there was no way Qi Xueyan could succeed. Qi Xueyan was a hot-blooded junior, naturally she was not convinced, especially in front of Shen Jingshu, “Master Hui, I have always worked very hard and have always wanted to study well. To choose so many, I naturally have a reason, I believe I can do it!”

“Since you insist, then I hope you can do it!” Her eyes were somewhat disappointed. In fact, Master Hui actually still thought highly of Qi Xueyan and thought that this child was intelligent. However, now it seemed that Qi Xueyan’s vanity was still very heavy. Furthermore, she sometimes appeared a bit impatient and could not calm down. In contrast Shen Jingshu, although a bit younger than Qi Xueyan, her personality was not the same. Not only did she know what she wanted, she also knew what to choose. This kind of person would certainly be successful.

It seemed that she had misjudged Qi Xueyan, it was certainly possible for her to have achievements, but now…

Master Hui doubted if Qi Xueyan had the ability to take six courses. With Qi Xueyan studying hard and learning many different things,   it would be difficult to master everything. Qi Xueyan did not know how to choose, today was just to catch people’s attention and show up everyone. This type of person who gave up their long-term interests for short-term vanity were doomed to not be able to succeed. Even if they succeeded, it was only to pay for their so-called vanity!

Master Hui had always been very good at judging people, although Qi Xueyan was somewhat vain before, at least she still knew what was appropriate, today was the first time she had acted like this.

In the end, Master Hui did not understand what exactly made Qi Xueyan make such a reckless decision, however,  Master Hui was able to see Qi Xueyan’s weakness this time. She had warned her today and hoped that Qi Xueyan would listen and correct it. However, she never would have imagined that Qi Xueyan would be so stubborn, Master Hui’s heart was somewhat disappointed towards Qi Xueyan.

Had she misjudged this person? In the past, Master Hui focused on nurturing Qi Xueyan, but after today’s matter, Master Hui had to rea.s.sess.

……

Qi Xueyan naturally did not know Master Hui’s train of thought, but she used to be the student that Master Hui was fond of. Master Hui had always taken good care of her, which made Qi Xueyan feel very honored. But today, Shen Jingshu came and Master Hui’s att.i.tude towards her changed immediately. Although Master Hui was not saying anything at the moment, didn’t her words from a moment ago disagree with her choosing so many subjects?

Pointing this out in front of so many people, wasn’t this not giving her face? Why did Master Hui think she would not do well? She clearly had some knowledge in these, how was it possible for her to do badly?

Although Qi Xueyan tried to cover up her very unhappy heart, her face still showed a little dissatisfaction, “Master Hui rest a.s.sured, I will work hard. I will not let you down nor will I let everyone down!” She looked down on her right? She must learn everything, then she would see how these people could look down on her!  

“En, I hope to see your progress!” Looking at the dissatisfaction on Qi Xueyan’s face, Master Hui knew that Qi Xueyan was determined to strive for superiority.  She was very disappointed and did not say much, she only turned around and left. Qi Xueyan watched at Master Hui act like this and her heart filled with anger, “Master Hui, take care!” Wasn’t she only a teacher? What’s so great about that? She would surely make the other person regret her actions towards her today!

Shen Jingshu looked at Qi Xueyan’s unresigned face and knew that Qi Xueyan’s ambition was high, she did not like other people looking down on her. However, in Shen Jingshu’s opinion, Qi Xueyan was certainly a bit reckless this time.  After all, Qi Xueyan was still young, she was still establis.h.i.+ng her foundation. At this time, the most taboo thing was being too greedy, it was very easy to not learn anything.

It was only a pity that Qi Xueyan misunderstood Master Hui’s words of wisdom. However, Shen Jingshu did not plan to remind her because she knew that if she reminded her of it she would not obtain any benefits.  Instead, she complained,“Xueyan, there is nothing to do today, let’s go back!” She did not plan to say much as her and Qi Xueyan did not have a big relations.h.i.+p. Qi Xueyan had been very arrogant in the past life and it dragged her family’s blessing, she could not have such good fortune in this life!

“En, let’s go! “Smiling, Qi Xueyan’s eyes were very envious towards Shen Jingshu. In her opinion, Shen Jingshu was not as good as her in any respect, but Master Hui actually took the initiative to question Shen Jingshu today. Qi Xueyan’s heart was vigilant!

This won’t do, she would not let anyone surpa.s.s her!

Determined Qi Xueyan now regarded  Shen Jingshu as an opponent more and more. In the days that followed, she would certainly make Shen Jingshu stumble!

Shen Jingshu expected this but did not care!

In this life, she will not be foolish and be continuously bullied by the other person!

……

“Jingshu, I still have some things to do, I will not go with you.” At the door, Qi Xueyan deliberately stopped and did not wish to touch Shen Jingshu.

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow!” The other person did not want to touch her, she also did not want that, Shen Jingshu cheerfully left. When she returned, as expected, Dan Yuerong was already anxiously waiting for her. “Shu-er, how was your first day of school? Have you gotten accustomed to it? Are your cla.s.smates nice? Was Master Hui very strict?” Dan Yuerong was very worried as this was her daughter’s first time leaving home. In fact, she was more inclined to find a teacher to teach Shen Jingshu at home, but since Shen Jingshu had this desire, she was not willing to make her daughter unhappy.  

“Mom, there was nothing to do today, other than choosing courses that you were fond of.”

“Oh, really? What courses did Master Hui offer?” Dan Yuerong became interested when she heard Shen Jingshu’s words.

“A lot of them; there is the four arts: qin, go, calligraphy, painting, and dance, medical treatment… but I did not dare to choose so may, I only chose medical treatment and calligraphy.” Mentioning the affairs at school, Shen Jingshu was very happy. She was not studious in her past life which resulted in her not having this opportunity in the past life. However, in this life, she will substantially enrich herself and not allow herself to be that mediocre person who was easily manipulated in the past life!

“Calligraphy is not bad, but medical treatment…do you like it?” Dan Yuerong did not oppose Shen Jingshu learning medical treatment but she was curious about her daughter’s choice.

“Mom, I want to learn something useful. I can take care of myself later, take care of daddy and mom, and I can take care of younger brother. What do you think?”

“You this child…” When listening to her daughter say this, Dan Yuerong naturally did not say anything. She asked Shen Jingshu questions about her first day of school and she didn’t say anything. Only when she was alone with Shen Wenhua in the evening did Dan Yuerong express her doubts, “Wenhua, do you think Shu-er can learn medical treatment?” Didn’t the average woman learn qin, painting, and dance? Those would allow her to express herself and establish herself a reputation in the future. In addition, Da Chu’s customs were not so old-fas.h.i.+oned,  many women understand how to read and write as talented women tended to marry better. Dan Yuerong was also a talented woman, she was proficient in all of the four arts and dance. However, after she got married, she rarely performed.

“If Shu-er likes it than it is fine, the child is still young, let her choose what she likes. Not to mention, our Shen family’s daughter is not like other family’s daughters, how can we restrict her?”

“You, if you spoil her how would that be good in the future?”

“I  only have one daughter. If I do not spoil her, who will? What’s more, Shu-er is sensible now, we don’t have to interfere too much. If she is happy then good!”

“You’re right. She’s still young right now, it won’t be too late for her to study those things later.”

“Studying is good, but if she doesn’t like it, you can not be unwilling.”

“You, if you spoil her like this in the future, won’t other people laugh?”

“How could my, Shen Wenhua’s daughter, not know anything? Shu-er is loveable and clever, if she wants to learn something, what’s difficulties will she encounter? You shouldn’t worry about it, nature will take its course.” It had to be said, Shen Wenhua was indeed a good father, otherwise, how would Shen Jingshu have such freedom?

“Alright, I will listen to you!” Smiling, Dan Yuerong was not a person who liked to force her child. Shen Jingshu was sensible and clever, she had also become increasingly more affectionate towards this daughter, how could she be willing to restrict her?

If her daughter was happy, good. Her daughter was still young, there was still time if she wanted to learn in the future.

……

In this way, Dan Yuerong and Shen Wenhua did not interfere with Shen Jingshu’s course selections, nor did they say anything about what she chose. As a result, Shen Jingshu felt very gratified, if she were not born into this type of family, if she wanted to study medicine,  she was afraid that she would have to suffer many twists and turns. After all, it was very rare for women to learn medicine. Even more, she was a woman from a wealthy family, learning this, there would always be many people with opinions.

However, Shen Jingshu did not care, she still happily went to school as she did before. Every day she would carefully study her selected courses.  She had been practicing calligraphy for the past six months, therefore compared to her peers, her penmans.h.i.+p was much more firm and resolute. Of course she had acc.u.mulated this disposition from her past life, other people naturally were unable to match it. Therefore, she was not worried about calligraphy.  As for scholarly knowledge, she had read many books and did not feel it was hard. So even though she was studying three subjects on the surface, she spent most of her time in medicine.

After all, this was a brand new subject,  Shen Jingshu found it very strenuous at first, but she was willing to spend time. Therefore, she quickly went to buy a book on medical herbs, gradually, she also made progress. Master Hui could naturally sense it, on this day when cla.s.s was over, Master Hui stayed behind and approached her,“Shen xiaojie, have you recently been learning pharmacology?”

“En, these are so unfamiliar so I bought several books because I wanted to understand a little.”

“Not bad, learning medicine without pharmacology is not enough. It’s a basic acc.u.mulation,  you take this book back study it well. Finish it within a month, will there be any problem?” The book Master Hui gave Shen Jingshu was “100 Herb Cla.s.sic”, which described in detail the appearance medicinal effect of herbs.  To complete it within a month was burdensome, this was not an easy task for a beginner.

Shen Jingshu looked at the book Master Hui’s hand and saw a smile on the other person’s face, after thinking a bit, she finally took it. “Master Hui, I don’t know much about medicine and it will be hard to learn, but I will try my best!” Shen Jingshu was actually very smart, but she did not utilize this intelligence before. Now, she would use it for her benefit and also needed to slowly develop it.

“En, just tell me when you’re finished,  I’ll give you a test!”

“Good! Thank you Master Hui!” Shen Jingshu did not expect Hui Master to give her a book,  Shen Jingshu knew that this was an opportunity, a chance to learn to get even more opportunities.

Although Master Hui only taught basic medical knowledge in this course, Shen Jingshu knew that Master Hui knew more than this. Her goal was not this simple knowledge, therefore, she worked very hard these days to make Master Hui see her and notice her. Now that she had reached this goal, how could Shen Jingshu not be happy?

Laughing as she left, Shen Jingshu’s heart was quite excited, she believed that that the efforts of the the past few days had not been in vain. Shen Jingshu could not help but feel a little more sense of accomplishment, her heart was full of a fighting spirit but she did not antic.i.p.ate that Qi Xueyan would be waiting for her that day. “Jingshu, why did you take so long to come out? I heard Master Hui asked you to stay behind, what did she say to you?” Qi Xueyan obviously came to inquire about news,  Shen Jingshu looked at the other person and immediately became vigilant, things had to be concealed well!

Qi Xueyan naturally did not notice Shen Jingshu’s actions, but she was very dissatisfied with Master Hui’s special treatment of Shen Jingshu these days, especially when she heard Master Hui ask Shen Jingshu to stay behind today. She certainly wanted to ask about it clearly, “Did anything good happen? I can see that you are happy, can you tell me? Good friends should share with each other! Jingshu, you will tell me, right?”

Looking at Qi Xueyan’s envious and probing expression, Shen Jingshu did not feel comfortable. She did not like this feeling, she found Qi Xueyan increasingly more unbearable today. “Nothing, hehe. Let’s go!” Pretending not to care, Shen Jingshu’s expression was calm and Qi Xueyan couldn’t see anything unusual, but Qi Xueyan still didn’t feel relieved. “Jingshu, don’t you think of me as your friend now? Why didn’t you say anything to me?” There was a hurt expression on Qi Xueyan’s face, if this were seen by the former ignorant Shen Jingshu, surely she would have been tricked. But now, how could she still be fooled by Qi Xueyan?

“It’s really nothing. Master Hui only asked me to stay behind to inquire about my progress. You also know that most of the people here have a foundation, I just came and I don’t have any background,  Master Hui was afraid that I would not be able to keep up.” Shen Jingshu would never say anything about the medical knowledge Master Hui had given to her. She intended to study medicine, but she did not intend to let others know how much she was learning. For the most part, most of Master Hui’s lessons were only on medical treatments for the body, others were mentioned less, but Shen Jingshu was not worried.

In learning medicine, Shen Jingshu only wanted to make herself more capable of self-protection. She did not want to be as useless as before where she was controlled by other people with no way to resist,  the only thing she could do was desperately face death.

“Are you telling the truth?” Looking at Shen Jingshu’s dim expression, Qi Xueyan naturally believed it. Qi Xueyan understood what kind of person was Shen Jingshu before. Although Shen Jingshu had made some progress, how long had it been? She was not a true genius anyway.

“Of course it’s true, why would I lie to you? You don’t know, but I was really afraid that Master Hui would scold me a moment ago.”

“Relax, it’s okay.  You’ve just started learning, learning slowly is fine. When I first came wasn’t I the same? Going slow is fine, don’t worry!” Qi Xueyan did not want Shen Jingshu to progress too fast, how would she be judged if she were surpa.s.sed?

“En, it can only be like this now. Ai…” With a look of defeat, Shen Jingshu showed how hard she studied, this made Qi Xueyan very satisfied, “let’s go back!”

“En!”

……

The days at the school were fulfilling and happy. Shen Jingshu did not have many cla.s.ses but she studied hard. Calligraphy was not a big problem but she had to spend a lot of time studying medicine. But in regards to needlework, she had not made much progress.

Today the master had asked them to embroider a small bird, Shen Jingshu had tried very hard and her hands were full of pinholes. The pain was severe, but the result was…

When Qi Xueyan saw this, she felt it was very humorous. Every time she saw Shen Jingshu’s embroidery she felt amused. “Heavens, Jingshu, what did you embroider? Is that a bird? Why does it look like a chicken to me?” Qi Xueyan’s voice was not low, almost all of the people there could hear it. Everyone heard Qi Xueyan say this and all came over at once to take a look at the “bird” Shen Jingshu embroidered. “ Shen xiaojie, is this really a bird? Why does it not look like one to me?”

” Shen xiaojie, master commanded us to embroider a magpie, not this!”

” Shen xiaojie, magpies are white here. You are not using the right color!”

“En, and the size seems too small. Shen xiaojie, you should pay more attention!”

……

Although some people were laughing maliciously, some were seriously giving guidance to Shen Jingshu. After all, her status still meant something and she had not been arrogant and was very amiable these past few days, many people wanted to make friends with her.

Shen Jingshu became the focus of everyone’s attention. Listening to everyone’s guidance or ridicule, she filtered their ident.i.ties and found that those who ridiculed her all had intimate relations.h.i.+ps with Qi Xueyan.

It seemed that Qi Xueyan certainly planned this behind her back, did Qi Xueyan think she wouldn’t know? She still wanted to deliberately ridicule her?  Looking at Qi Xueyan, although her face still looked caring, the mocking and proud look did not escape Shen Jingshu’s eyes. Because Shen Jingshu and Qi Xueyan sat very close to each other, some of their cla.s.smates pretended to discover Qi Xueyan’s work. They immediately appeared somewhat astounded, “Look, the magpie Qi xiaojie embroidered looks really lifelike, it makes me want to capture it !” Someone deliberately mentioned Qi Xueyan’s embroidery work which caused everyone to turn around and look, wasn’t it very different compared to Shen Jingshu’s?

“ Qi xiaojie’s embroidery work is getting more and more exquisite.”

“Look at this magpie, it looks real. Qi xiaojie, can you give me some advice? I don’t know how to do it. I always feel that I am not doing it right and that my magpie doesn’t seem lifelike!”

……

Qi Xueyan clearly understood the importance of embroidery so she spent a lot of time on it. She had been able to embroider like this from a very young age, of course it was pretty good. Listening to everyone’s praise, Qi Xueyan felt that she had finally pushed Shen Jingshu down a bit, how could she conceal the smile on her face? “Of course I can share some advice. If you want to embroider this magpie well, you should observe nature more and also practice drawing more. As for the magpie’s eyes, they should have a bit of a l.u.s.ter, you should embroider it with white lines and it will be better … ” Qi furen had taught Qi Xueyan all of this before and Qi Xueyan had carefully remembered. She was very happy at the moment, of course she was willing to guide others

“Oh, so that’s how you do it, no wonder!”

” Qi xiaojie is really observant, I never thought about it before.  It’s no wonder that my magpie is not lifelike.”

“Yeah, master said I still have to work hard, but Qi xiaojie is really intelligent, it makes me really envious!”

” Qi xiaojie, you have learned so much and have mastered every subject, you’re really smart!”

……

At that moment, the contrast between Shen Jingshu and Qi Xueyan became crystal clear. Qi Xueyan was especially pleased with everyone’s praise but at the same time she still did not forget to look at Shen Jingshu’s expression. Seeing Shen Jingshu sit there peacefully, it seemed that Shen Jingshu was unhappy because she was left out. Qi Xueyan became even more excited,” Jingshu, what’s going on with you? Are you unhappy? Haha, it is alright. You’re weak in embroidery so just work harder later, don’t worry!”Smiling as she held Shen Jingshun’s hand, Qi Xueyan could not let her go so easily!

Humph, Do you think you can fight with me? This is only the beginning, I will surpa.s.s you in everything to make you always live under my halo!

“Xueyan, how can I learn it well? Your magpie is embroidered really well, but mine …” disappointedly looking at her own embroidery, Shen Jingshu did not know what was wrong.  Since her rebirth, it seemed like she had learned everything fast but this embroidery never seemed good.

Was this “You win some, you lose some”? She had made great progress in other areas, so was she doomed to fall in embroidery?

Thinking this way, Shen Jingshu was relieved. Deep in her mind, she was actually not very concerned with embroidery.  Instead of spending so much time learning this, it was better to learn more useful things that would help her in the future!

Thinking this way, how could Shen Jingshu learn to embroidery well? Whether it was her previous life or this life, she was not particularly fond of embroidery!

Although she was not very interested in embroidery, but in other people’s opinion, Shen Jingshu was still working hard at it. At the moment, she seemed to be hit hard and her face was full of frustrations, this made Qi Xueyan even more excited. “You’ve just learned it, it’s okay. If you have something you don’t understand later, you can come to me and I will teach you!” In the school, Qi Xueyan had always kept a good relations.h.i.+p with Shen Jingshu, on this point, she was not stupid.

“Xueyan, you are so good to me!”

“We are good friends. I should help you!” Appearing like sisters, Qi Xueyan wanted everyone to see that their relations.h.i.+p was good so that everyone would respect her more. But secretly, she would always hint that Shen Jingshu’s temper was not and that she was quarrelsome because she did not want Shen Jingshu to have too many friends.

In the past life, Qi Xueyan had always done this, as a result, Qi Xueyan was Shen Jingshu’s only friend throughout her childhood. However, in this life, Shen Jingshu took the initiative to come to the school to study and never showed off. So, even though Qi Xueyan sometimes slandered her, this did not prevent Shen Jingshu from making friends!

After this matter, Shen Jingshu’s mood was very “bad”. Someone came over at that moment, ” Shen xiaojie, Qi xiaojie just embarra.s.sed you in such way, don’t you feel angry?” The person speaking was senior official Yang’s daughter, Yang Huilan. This person’s face was quite beautiful and she was a few years older than Shen Jingshu. Because this person had the same cla.s.ses as Shen Jingshu, Shen Jingshu had seen and spoken to her many times. But today, she had taken the initiative to come over and speak to Shen Jingshu for the first time.

“Hehe, why would I be angry about it? I’m not good at embroidery”, Shen Jingshu smiled uncaringly as she looked at the person in front of her and tried to recall her ident.i.ty.

Yang Huilan was senior official Yang’s only daughter. Although senior official Yang was one rank lower than her father, his character was upright. So, Yang Huilan’s character was also frank, Shen Jingshu thought that having a relations.h.i.+p with this person was not bad and tried to make friends with her.  

“Shen xiaojie is magnanimous.” Smiling, Yang Huilan did not say anything else about it and came closer, “It will be time for calligraphy cla.s.s soon, let’s go together. I was on my way just now!” Yang Huilan was much taller than Shen Jingshu, standing in front of Shen Jingshu, she was one-head-taller than Shen Jingshu. It made Shen Jingshu have to look up at the other person, ”En, ok! Let’s go!”

Not far away, Qi Xueyan was originally discussing tips with everyone, but when she saw  Yang Huilan and Shen Jinshu talking closely, she quickly came over, “Jingshu wait for me, I’m also going with you!” After saying goodbye to everyone Qi Xueyan joined the two, Qi Xueyan also wanted to make friends with Yang Huilan. However, this Yang Huilan had always been lukewarm towards her and their friends.h.i.+p had only been so-so. Seeing Yang Huilan actively talking to Shen Jingshu now, Qi Xueyan was not at ease.

“Let’s go together!” Without any ill feelings, Shen Jingshu smiled and waited for Qi Xueyan. Along the way, she chatted and laughed with Qi Xueyan. Seeing this, it made Yang Huilan feel very curious, she felt that Shen Jingshu was really interesting.

Arriving at the calligraphy cla.s.sroom, Yang Huilan actually took the initiative to sit beside Shen Jingshu. This was rare, Shen Jingshu smiled at her and Yang Huilan also gave a smile in return. During the cla.s.s, although the two people didn’t talk much with each other, they shared some opinions anyway. Shen Jingshu peeked at Yang Huilan’s calligraphy and saw that her calligraphy was full of ease. From her calligraphy, Shen Jingshu can tell that Yang Huilan was a broad-minded girl, Shen Jingshu naturally hoped that they could be friends.  

In the previous life, because of Qi Xueyan, she almost had no friends and the people she met were not very sincere towards her. Later, when her parents died, others naturally paid less attention to her. She was really lonely at that time. So, in this life, she wanted to have many friends so that she could have friends to lean on in the future,  wouldn’t that be good?

Moreover, she wanted to let Qi Xueyan know that she could friends other than her! “

The relations.h.i.+p between the two became much closer after Yang Huilan took the initiative to greet her. Shen Jingshu and Yang Huilan learned embroidery and calligraphy together which resulted in them spending a lot of time with each other. Furthermore, their personalities were very complimentary and they soon became good friends. After Shen Jingshu got to know more about Yang Huilan, she found that Yang Huilan was a very sincere person and a real straight shooter. There was no need to worry when dealing with this kind of person, and one did not have to scheme too much. Instead, it was easy to get along, Shen Jingshu was very happy.

Yang Huilan was Shen Jingshu’s first true friend, Shen Jingshu cherished it very much. However, Shen Jingshu did not antic.i.p.ate that she would meet another nice person in medicine cla.s.s.

On this day, Shen Jingshu was seriously listening to Master Hui’s lecture, as usual, today’s lesson was still on basic knowledge. Although Master Hui set up the medicine cla.s.s, she did not teach too much. This made Shen Jingshu very satisfied because she did not want others to know too much about her hidden strengths.

“Jingshu, what’s the characteristics and efficacy of licorice?”

“Licorice, nickname: sweet gra.s.s, sweet root. The outer layer varies in thickness and its rind is umber or beige. The rhizome is cylindrical and has bud marks on the surface. There is marrow in the middle of the section. It has a slight scent which is sweet and special. The basic functions are fever-reducing, detoxicating, expel phlegm, cough-relieving, and for abdominal stomach …… ” Shen Jingshu answered without hesitation, many people were somewhat surprised and admired Shen Jingshu’s knowledge.

“En, you answered very well. Next, we will look at wolfberry…” Master Hui’s lecture was not fast and she liked to show examples. However, the course was very interesting and Shen Jingshu listened carefully, but she did not think that she had already attracted someone’s attention.

Since rebirth she was very sensitive, these several days she had always felt that someone was watching her secretly. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a thin and weak girl. The girl had a very slim body and a soft face, she seemed older than Shen Jingshu. Every time Shen Jingshu saw this girl, she couldn’t help thinking about an idiom: thin as a willow branch. Everyone who saw her would think that she was too thin.

This girl always seemed to peek at her frequently these days, but when Shen Jingshu looked at her, she avoided the eye contact and her face was somewhat flushed. It seemed that she was a somewhat reserved and shy girl. When Shen Jingshu saw the other person’s appearance, she did not say much. Today’s cla.s.s was over and Sheng Jingshu was preparing to leave, but she didn’t expect that at this time, the girl opened her mouth. “Shen xiaojie, I didn’t understand today’s lesson. Er…you… Can you teach me?” This girl was one of her few medicine cla.s.smates and she looked delicate and small, it really made people take pity on her,”What confused you?” Smiling, Shen Jingshu answered, she quite liked this girl. From her face, she saw sincerity, which was much better than Qi Xueyan’s hypocritical expression.

“Just some of the herb properties Master Hui just taught, I, I don’t remember. Can, can you repeat it? ” The little girl was quite shy and not very brave. Shen Jingshu looked at her and smiled. “Haha, of course!”

“If that’s the case, I will have to trouble you…” The girl carefully asked a few questions and Shen Jingshu patiently answered. She immediately smiles and seemed a bit less embarra.s.sed, “Shen xiaojie, I really must thank you. Can I come to you if I have some questions in the future? ” Although she looked older than Shen Jingshu, looking at her careful expression, it really made people feel that she was younger.

“Certainly.”

“Shen xiaojie, you are very nice!” Shyly smiling, she was really an innocent child.

“It’s okay. We will be studying together in the future, we should help each other. By the way, are you Kong xiaojie? “

“Shen xiaojie knows who I am?” Not expecting Shen Jingshu to recognize her, Kong Xinhe was somewhat surprised. She was not the daughter of some official family, on the contrary, she was only the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Although her family was wealthy, Kong Xinhe knew that her status was much lower than those from official families. Although she can here to study, but deep in her mind, she still felt inferior. From the beginning, she admired Shen Jingshu’s confidence and wanted to get close to her, but was embarra.s.sed and did not dare to. She was afraid of being looked down upon and did not dare to speak to Shen Jingshu. She was glad that she finally had the confidence to speak to Shen xiaojie. It seems pretty good because Shen xiaojie was a very nice person!

“Of course I know you, how could I not know you after we have studied together for so long?” Shen Jingshu answered with a smile. Seeing the other person’s careful expression, she could not help but think of her former self. When she lost her parents and stayed with the Shen family in the capital, wasn’t she just like this? At that time she was still young and did not understand anything, she had no choice but to endure being bullied by people. Looking at Kong Xinhe now, Shen Jingshu sympathized with her from the bottom of her heart. She would not reject her.

At that time she was helpless and lonely,  how could she reject a person who was in the same predicament now?

” Shen xiaojie, you are so nice. Then…can we be friends?” Although the status of a businessman in Chu was not low, it was still one step lower than an official family. Furthermore, because of Kong Xinhe’s introverted personality, she did not have many friends. It was hard not to feel ashamed.  

“Of course. Aren’t we friends now?” Smiling, Shen Jingshu watched Kong Xinhe act this way and knew that Kong Xinhe was sensitive and introverted. Although she was older than Shen Jingshu, she seemed to be more timid.

“Of course we are friends. Shen xiaojie. I am very happy!”

“Since we are friends, call me by my name. My name is Shen Jingshu. How about you?”

“My, my name is Kong Xinhe.”

“Xinhe, it’s a very nice name!”

“My mother said that when I was born the lotus in the pond blossomed, so, she gave me this name.” Kong Xinhe was very happy to be praised.  

“Xinhe, nice to meet you!”

“Jing, Jingshu. Nice to meet you too!” After all, this was the first time that she had spoken to Shen Jingshu, Kong Xinhe was very nervous.

“Come on, I’ll introduce a friend to you later.”Shen Jingshu left the cla.s.sroom holding Kong Xinhe’s hand. This girl was very simple and somewhat similar to Shen Jingshu in the past life, Shen Jingshu liked her very much.

“Ok!” Shyly smiling, Kong Xinghe was truly introverted. In addition, because of her health, she was always afraid of others looking down on her so she didn’t contact many people in school. It was the first time she had spoken to Shen Jingshu today, she did not expect to become friends with Shen Jingshu do easily, she was really happy!

…

Yang Huilan was waiting for Shen Jingshu and did not expect Shen Jingshu to bring another person when she came out,”Jingshu!”

“Did you wait a long time? Just now I was a little busy and got held up. “

“No, I just came here. This is… ” Kong Xinhe didn’t talk much, so it was normal for Yang Huilan not to know her.

“This is Kong Xinhe, we study medicine together.”

“Oh, so it is Kong xiaojie. h.e.l.lo, I am Yang Huilan.” Yang Huilan was generous, seeing Shen Jingshu lead Kong Xinhe over, she understood Shen Jingshu’s intention.

“h.e.l.lo, Yang xiaojie.”

“Just call me Huilan, Jingshu calls me that too. From now on, we are all friends!” Compared with Kong Xinhe’s prudence, Yang Huilan was much calmer. Kong Xinhe smiled and greeted Yang Huilan, the three girls then chatted with each other.

Although Shen Jingshu knew that Kong Xinhe was a merchant’s daughter, she did not disdain her. Instead, she talked generously and smiled a lot. She also promised to visit her at her home a few days later. Kong Xinhe was still worried that she would be despised, but now she was completely relieved.

Haha! She did not expect that she would make two good friends, furthermore, they did not despise her. This was really good!

Kong Xinhe had little contact with others because of her status and health,  she was relieved now.

…

The three girls had a lot of interests and hobbies in common so they became good friends really fast. Shen Jingshu was very happy, but when Qi Xueyan saw, she was not happy. “Jingshu, have you and that Yang xiaojie and Kong xiaojie gotten very close recently?”

“Yeah, Huilan and Xinhe are nice. What’s wrong?”

“I heard that Yang xiaojie always offends people with her words, you should be careful. This kind of person is not a sincere friend.”

“Really?”

Haha, Qi Xueyan, are you trying to play that trick again? In the past, you were like this, you disparaged me in front of others. Now, you also disparage me in front of others. Did she want her not to have any friends? You want me to foolishly believe you so that I will push others away, and end up utterly isolated. Is it possible that I would be as stupid as I was in the last life?  

“Of course it is true. Didn’t you see that she has no friends and has always been alone? Jingshu, I will not hurt you, you should pay more attention from now on. Don’t be ignorant of others betraying you!” Based on your expression, I’m supposed to take you as a good person? Qi Xueyan’s words resembled those of someone who was reporting back to their master. Shen Jingshu scorned her in her mind, but replied: “En, I know, but Huilan is not that kind of person.”

“You are easily fooled.” Seeing that Shen Jingshu did not listen to her words, Qi Xueyan was unhappy, ” You should still pay more attention from now on, Ok? And don’t tell her anything, do you understand? If she betrays you, don’t complain and cry! “

“I know. Don’t worry, I know what I am doing!” Ha ha, wasn’t the person who betrayed me you? Qi Xueyan, Qi Xueyan, you really can’t endure my life getting better, right?

“By the way, as for that Kong Xinhe, I heard that her health is very bad and that she is the daughter of a merchant. She is timid and weak, why did you walk together with her? Isn’t that lowering your status? ” Qi Xueyan was very conceited, of course she looked down on a merchant’s daughter like Kong Xinhe. But when Shen Jingshu heard this, she immediately became displeased, “Xinhe is very a nice person, don’t talk nonsense!” The expression on her face immediately changed. Qi Xueyan did not realize that these two people had such a position in Shen Jingshu’s heart. Qi Xueyan was very uncomfortable at the moment,”Jingshu, are you angry with me? Or do you think I shouldn’t have said that? But I’m saying it for your own good, I’m afraid you are being deceived! Is it possible, is it possible you only care about them and don’t care about me, your friend? Or do you not regard me as your friend now? ” After saying these, she showed a hurt expression. Qi Xueyan cunningly took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears, it seemed like she had been treated very unjustly.  

“Xueyan, I didn’t mean that, you shouldn’t misunderstand!” Seeing Qi Xueyan “hurt”, Shen Jingshu quickly comforted her, “I do care about you, we have been friends for so many years, how can I not care about you?”

“Then why did you not listen to what I just said?” Qi Xueyan wanted to persuade Shen Jingshu so that Shen Jingshu could not compete with her in the future.

She wanted to control the person in front of her!

“No, I remembered what you said, You can rest a.s.sured that I will not be betrayed.”

“Really?”

“Really, you can believe in me, I know what’s good and what’s bad in my heart!”

“You should pay attention from now on, they have bad intentions!” If Shen Jingshu had other friends in the future, how could Shen Jingshu obey her words?

“En, I understand. Let’s go home.”

“By the way, do you want to come to my house to play? Gege came back today!” Suddenly remembering Qi Shaodong’s instructions, Qi Xueyan did not dare to neglect them.

Because of the incident last time, Qi Shaodong felt disgraced so he had been staying with the Qi family in the capital since the New Year and hadn’t come back until now. He wanted to wait until everyone forgot about that matter so that he could avoid being mocked!

“No, mom told me to come back early today, maybe I’ll come some other day.” What did Qi Shaodong coming back have to do with her? She was not the silly girl who liked Qi Shaodong from before, why would she still kiss his a.s.s?

“But Gege said that he brought you a gift!” Although Qi Shaodong was previously annoyed with Shen Jingshu, Qi furen properly mollified him afterward. Qi Shaodong certainly still wanted to have a good relations.h.i.+p with Shen Jingshu.

“But I have to go home early!” Hesitating a bit, Shen Jingshu did not care about the gift, but she did care about Qi Shaodong’s att.i.tude. Didn’t Qi Shaodong take offense to the things that happened last time? It had not been a long time since that incident, why would he act like this again?

Was this person actually this thick-skinned? Or very scheming?

“But Gege brought you a very good gift, don’t you want to have a look?”, Qi Xueyan asked while pulling Shen Jingshu’s hand. Earlier, Qi Shaodong had told Qi Xueyan to bring Shen Jingshu to their home. Although Qi Xueyan was not willing, she still had to bring Shen Jingshu over.  

These days, Shen Jingshu, Yang Huilan, and Kong Xinhe were very close. Shen Jingshu had been somewhat cold towards Qi Xueyan, she did not want this to continue, Shen Jingshu’s good friend could only be her! How could it be someone else?

“But…” Shen Jingshu was still hesitating, but Qi Xueyan took her hand and started pulling her away without saying anything. Shen Jingshu felt that even if she refused, the other person still insist on taking her. It’s not bad if she agreed this time, in case the next time she was caught unprepared, “Wait a second Xueyan!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I have to go back and tell my mother so she will not be worried.”

“En, well, let Chun Xiao do it, you can sit in my carriage!”

“Sure!”Shen Jingshu instructed Chun Xiao to go back and inform Dan Yuerong to prevent her from worrying. Chun Xiao quickly nodded, ” Xiaojie, nubi understands. Nubi will go tell Furen and then I will come back to look for you!”

“Do not worry, take your time!” After speaking, Shen Jingshu climbed onto Qi Xueyan’s carriage and went to Qi fu. Along the way, Qi Xueyan enthusiastically talked to Shen Jingshu. During that period, she did not forget to continue slandering Yang Huilan and Kong Xinhe. Shen Jingshu merely pretended not to hear, Qi Xueyan saw Shen Jingshu’s reaction and felt very uncomfortable, but did not say anything.

Humph, wait and see. I want to know if you really can become good friends?

“Oh, Jingshu, you coming? Come here, take your seat!” Qi furen rarely saw Shen Jingshu come here and was very happy to receive her. She wanted Shen Jingshu to stay to have a meal together, but Shen Jingshu refused. “Qi furen, my father has been busy recently, I have to accompany my mother to eat. I don’t want my mother to eat alone!” This excuse was very good, so Qi furen didn’t persuade anymore. “Jingshu is really a filial child! You’re much better than my Xueyan!”

“Mom!” Seeing Qi furen praise Shen Jingshu, compared to her she was much better, Qi Xueyan was very dissatisfied.

“Look at this child, still don’t agree with that, huh?  Hehe, if you want to accompany with Shen furen, I won’t persuade you to stay anymore. Just make yourself at home. If you want to eat something, just tell me, I’ll have servants prepare it for you.” Since the last time, Qi furen has clearly felt that the relations.h.i.+p with the Shen family is not as good as before. Although Dan Yuerong’s performance was same, Qi furen was not a fool. She was embarra.s.sed deep in her mind. So this time she was very glad to see Shen Jingshu coming here. Soon, Qi furen called Qi Shaodong to come.

“Sister meimei!” Haven’t met for days, Qi Shaodong seems to be taller, and matured. The boy of this age grows very fast. Shen Jingshu observed him, and naturally found the change of him, “Shaodong gege, long time no see.”

“Yeah, I have been in the capital these days. It’s really some days since we met last time. Shen meimei, did you miss me?” Looking at Shen Jingshu, Qi Shaodong felt a bit of resentment towards her, but thinking of Shen Jingshu’s goodness to him over the years, and the cute appearance, Qi Shaodong’s anger faded.  What’s more, Qi furen exhorted him and let him know that he could not offend the Shen family. Qi Shaodong was sensible, so he treated Shen Jinshu nicely. But in his eyes, there were less true emotions.

“Of course I do miss you! How are you doing these days, Shaodong gege?”

“I am very good! Oh, Shen meimei, I brought you a gift. Hope you like it!” Qi Shaodong took out a box as he was speaking. Shen Jingshu smiled and opened it. It was a pair of lovely pearl flowers, light blue, very suitable for Shen Jingshu.

“Do you like it?” This gift was for girls. Qi Shaodong bought it according to Qi furen’s opinion.

“I like it very much, thank you Shaodong gege!”

“I’m glad you like it.” Qi Shaodong smiled. Saw Shen Jingshu playing with it seriously, he was relieved.  Qi furen saw this, her face was gratified too. “Well, you guys have fun, I have things to do. See you later.”

“See you, mom).” Qi furen is intentionally giving some s.p.a.ce for these children. Shen Jingshu knew this quite well. She gazed at Qi furen leaving and smiled as if nothing had happened. Shen Jingshu covered the lid of the gift box and continued listening to Qi Shaodong talk.

Qi Shaodong spoke about his experiences in the capital with smiles. Watching the mellow face of Shen Jingshu, he found that Shen Jingshu was more and more beautiful these days. A boy was always growing up. Some ideas naturally gradually generated, it’s just that he did not understand it yet.

“Shen meimei, I heard that the school started, do you adapt to it?”

“En! very well!”

“How is your study? You have just joined, so if you have something don’t understand, you can ask Yan-er, she can teach you!”

“I know, Shaodong gege. Xueyan has helped me a lot!”

“You are good friends, it is essential to help each other.”

“Yeah, Jingshu, you can ask me anything. In fact, you can also ask gege. Gege, would you agree?”, said Qi Xueyan.

“Naturally!”

“En. I know!”

……

Although these children were talking and laughing, there was a gap between them. The previous days were long gone.

Many things changed. It seemed that they were amiable, but the deep down in their heart, they had grudges against each other. The seeds of hatred had been buried gradually.

They were unable to go back.

……

Leaving from the Qi household, Shen Jingshu looked back at the gate of Qi household and let out a sigh of relief. In fact, Shen Jingshu did not want to come. Every time she came, she had to be careful. She had to work hard to hide her emotions and smile to those she hated. If she can, she really wanted to tear away their mask!

However, how is it possible?

“Xiaojie, let’s go back, Furen will be worried.”    

“En, let’s go!”

……

Since Qi Shaodong had come back, Shen Jingshu would meet him inevitably. In addition to Qi Xueyan’s contribution, Shen Jingyu occasionally encountered Qi Shaodong herself. Every time, Qi Shaodong was kind to her. However, Shen Jingshu saw the ambition from his eyes. His invitations were more and more obvious and she was more and more vigilant.

It was peaceful for the better part of a year. The relations.h.i.+p with the Qi family was just so-so. The two families still maintained the peace of the surface, and the intercourses were still relatively close.

Day by day, Shen Jingshu was trying hard to learn and enrich herself every day. Her medical skills had greatly improved, but her progress in embroidery was not great. The teacher who taught her embroidery felt quite helpless, but she taught her resolutely because of her status.

Time flew,  Dan Yuerong’s belly was getting bigger and bigger. These days,  Qi laoye‘s career was very unsatisfactory. Since his annual appraisal was “bad”, there is no way for him to be promoted. Since then, Qi laoye always made mistakes and provoked his boss. Qi laoye was uncomfortable in his mind and often rebuked Qi furen and Qi Shaodong. He blamed his bad luck on his son and always reproached him. He became a womanizer, and increased the number of concubines he had, Qi furen was really upset!    

However, compared to the Qi family, the Shen family was smoother. Shen Wenhua’s annual appraisal was “excellent” every year but he did not want to return to the capital and  had been staying in Jiangnan. Although Ruan momo was in the house, she acted normal and took good care of Dan Yuerong. In the blink of an eye, it is time for Dan Yuerong to give birth.

On this day, Dan Yuerong was walking in the yard, as usual, looking at Dan Yuerong’s stomach, Ruan momo wrinkled her brow. “The date of the furen‘s child labor is near, I am ready. Furen should walk more these next few days so that you can give birth to the baby easier!”

“Momo, I understand.”

“Furen, I have been looking for shaoye‘s wet-nurse recently, and now there are already a few candidates. Furen, do you want to take a look at them personally?”

“I believe in your judgment. Momo, you can decide it!”

“I still recommend Furen to take a look on your own. A wet-nurse is very important she may serve shaoye in the future!”

“En, okay!” Walking, Dan Yuerong felt a pain in her stomach. She frowned and her face turned pale. Rong momo saw it, and she was worried. “What happened to you Furen?”

“I…my stomach…I am afraid that I am giving birth.” Dan Yuerong had experienced delivery before. Based on the pain she felt, she knew that it was time.  

“Furen, don’t worry! Let me help you to go back and lie down!” Looking at Dan Yuerong’s face, Rong momo frowned and carefully supported Dan Yuerong back. Rong momo didn’t  forget to ask others to call the midwife. “Boil the water! And call the midwife! Furen is going to give birth!”

“Yes!” Methodically, servants run to fetch the person. These days, under the discipline and training of Rong momo, there was no chaos. In a while, water began to burn, and the midwife also came. Dan Yuerong’s face turned paler by the pain.

“Furen. Don’t worry, labor will not happen immediately. You should eat something to fill your belly first, otherwise you will not have any strength!” The midwife checked Dan Yuerong’s situation and found it was still early. There was some time for orderly arrangement. Although Dan Yuerong was in so much pain that she had no appet.i.te, she knew that it would be some time before she gave birth and could only eat something.

“Furen, should we call laoye back?” Looking at the painful looking Dan Yuerong, Rong momo made this proposal, but she did not antic.i.p.ate that Dan Yuerong would refuse. “I’m fine. The pain just began and it is still early. Laoye is busy, don’t call him to come back now.” She did not Shen Wenhua to come back so early and worry about her, Dan Yuerong hold back the pain.

“Then, Furen eat something first!” Seeing Dan Yuerong refuse, Rong momo didn’t say much. Rong momo arranged things at the side and did her best in case of any mistakes happened.

This was the first household’s eldest son, no mistakes could be tolerated!  

  ====

“Ah!” The shrill cry made those standing at the door feel anxious and extremely tormented.  

“How is Furen? It has been such a long time, how can there be no news?” The child was really tossing. It had already been over three hours, how…

When Shen Wenhua heard Dan Yuerong screaming, he was really worried.

“Laoye don’t worry. Giving birth is like this, we can only wait.”

“But Furen has been in pain for such a long time, it can’t possibly be okay, right?”

“No. Laoye, rest a.s.sured. Furen’s fetus is very good and she has been well taken care of these days, nothing will happen.”

“Ai … …” The woman he loved was suffering inside but he could not do anything to help, Shen Wenhua could only wait outside anxiously.  

“Laoye should sit for a while, all childbirth is like this. Some people are in labor one day and one night and still will not have given birth, you don’t worry!” When the servants saw that Shen Wenhua was nervous, a few naturally came to comfort him. Although Shen Wenhua understood, how could he not be nervous hearing Dan Yuerong scream?  

“Ai…” Welcoming a new life was a joyous occasion, but Shen Wenhua was also reluctant to have his wife be exhausted. His heart was tense and he could not go in, Shen Wenhua could only pace back and forth in front of the door.

Shen Jingshu was watching from the side and was worried. This child was not born in her previous life so she did not know how this situation ended. Therefore, she was also anxious after not seeing Dan Yuerong come out after such a long time. “Dad, nothing will happen to mom right?”

In the previous life her mother had not given birth to a child but this life was not the same.  Then, would mother be safe?

She knew that a woman giving birth was like taking a trip to the gates of h.e.l.l and that Dan Yuerong’s health was not good, Shen Jingshu really could not be at ease.

“Rest a.s.sured, giving birth is like this. Do not worry.” Although he was anxious himself, Shen Wenhua still had to comfort his daughter as he did not want her to be afraid.

“Really?” Shen Jingshu knew that Shen Wenhua was only comforting her, she was not a real child who would believe that Dan Yuerong was ok.

Mom had been in pain for such a long time,  why wasn’t there any news yet?

Dan Yuerong had been screaming continuously, it really made the people waiting outside anxious. Pacing back and forth, one hoped it good soothe their mind.  

The two people were already worried, but after seeing the b.l.o.o.d.y water come out one basin after the other, the two were even more worried. Shen Wenhua could not take it anymore and quickly pulled someone aside, “What happened to Furen, why is there so much blood?”

“Laoye, Furen is not dilated yet, nubi still has to get hot water!”

“Did Furen have a problem? Is she okay?”

“The fetus is very big so it has not been born yet,  Laoye don’t worry…”

“Then you go, properly take care of Furen!”

……

Dan Yuerong’s labor was very strenuous, Shen Wenhua and Shen Jingshu’s hearts slammed at the door. As a result, Dan Yuerong never dilated. Later, the doctor couldn’t stand it and couldn’t wait and finally gave Dan Yuerong medicine to induce labor. When she was dilated, Dan Yuerong’s screams became even louder.

“Dad, is mother in a lot of pain?” Was it painful to have children?

“It should be fast, don’t worry.” Just a moment ago, the midwife had said that the fetus’ position was very positive, but the fetus was a bit too big so it was not good. These past few days, Shen Wenhua had always made sure that Dan Yuerong received meticulous care,  Dan Yuerong’s health was pretty good so there should not be any big problem.

“En! “Everyone waited anxiously. Finally, after dark, they heard the sound of an infant crying.”Waaaaaaaa……..”

“Daddy, can you hear that? Has younger brother been born?” Excitedly pulling Shen Wenhua’s hand, Shen Jingshu felt tears quickly coming out.

Finally, she had a blood-related younger brother. From now on, she would not be lonely.

“Seems like it. Go, let’s go and see!” The father and daughter happily walked towards the door. At that moment, the door opened and the midwife came out holding a child with a smile on her face, “Congratulations Shen laoye, it is a chubby young master, he is very cute!”

“I, I have a son?” Looking at the clothed wrapped infant, Shen Wenhua was not able to respond for a moment.

He had originally believed that he would not have any more children in this life, to have a child today, how could Shen Wenhua not be happy? With this child, he and Rong-er could straighten their backs and would not have to worry anymore.  Shu-er would also have someone to depend on in the future, this was truly great!

“Isn’t it? It’s a white, chubby little boy, he looks really good. Does Shen laoye want to hold him?”

“Haha, alright!” Carefully holding the baby, Shen Wenhua was very happy and had someone reward the midwife with twelve silvers. The midwife immediately said many more congratulations, Shen Wenhua was even happier.

“Congratulations daddy!” Shen Jingshu stood on her tiptoes to look at her younger brother and found that her brother was really cute. He was white and tender,  although his eyes were not open, it really made people want to touch him!

“Haha, Now, Shu-er has a  younger brother. Haha, you have all worked hard today and will be rewarded, each person will be given 10 silvers! ” Shen Wenhua was very pleased today, naturally he was also generous. He had finally gotten a son after so many years, Shen Wenhua was all smiles.

“Thank you Laoye!” There were many happy events in the household and they had also gotten money. To get 10 silvers all of a sudden, all of the servants were very happy and said congratulations many times. Holding the baby, Shen Wenhua thought of his beloved wife and prepared to enter the room,” how is Furen?”

“Furen is tired, she is already asleep.”

“En, I’ll go in and see Furen!”

When he went in he saw that the people inside were in the middle of cleaning up, the air still had a faint smell of blood. This caused Shen Wenhua to frown when he smelled it,”is Furen ok?”

“Laoye please rest a.s.sured. Furen is only tired and her body is a little weak, after having a good rest she should be fine.”

” That’s good!” Going over to look at Dan Yuerong, sure enough, Dan Yuerong’s complexion was pale and her eyebrows were slightly furrowed in her sleep, it was clear that she was not sleeping peacefully.

Handing the child to Ruan momo, Shen Wenhua walked over and picked up Dan Yuerong’s hand.  His heart was filled with grat.i.tude, but Dan Yuerong was asleep and couldn’t hear him, “Rong-er, thank you!”

……

Shen Wenhua loved his son, it took him one day and one night to finally come up with a good name. The child was called Shen Zihan, and his childhood name was Hang-er. For the moment, the Shen household was filled with a celebratory mood and every face within the household had a never-ending smile.

“Look at this child, he really looks like Laoye!” Dan Yuerong had painstakingly given birth to this son and had only glanced at this child before falling asleep. Now that she had woken up, of course she wanted to embrace him.

“You, the doctor said that your body is weak. You must take a 2 month confinement period, it is better to hand over the child to me!” Giving birth to this child had certainly been a bit hard on Dan Yuerong, how could Shen Wenhua be willing to allow Dan Yuerong to suffer?

“That’s right, Wenhua, have you told mother about this child? ” Although the capital was far, now that this child had been born it was better to go and peacefully announce it.

“Do not worry, I have already written a letter to tell mother. Mother will know soon, it will certainly make her very happy!”

“Yes, mother has waited for many years and finally has a di grandson, she will certainly be happy!” Dan Yuerong had no doubt that Old madam would be fond of this child. Now, she could only hope that this child would make Old Madam hold less of a grudge against her. Otherwise, when they came in contact later, it would be troublesome.  

“This is natural.”

” Wenhua, what do you think the child’s name should be? “

“Do not worry, I have already thought about it when you were asleep, he is called Shen Zihan, little name Hang-er, what do you think?”

“Zihan, Zihan… Naturally, it is excellent, it is very suitable for this child! But, does mother agree with this name?”

“Do not worry, I already told mother when I wrote the letter, she will not object! ”

“That’s good. Ha ha, Hang-er has a name, it is what your father picked out, do you like it?” The baby had just been born and his eyes had not opened yet, he only knew how to sleep all day long. Dan Yuerong stroked the child’s fair little cheek but did not expect that Hang-er would not give her face, “Waa…”

“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Dan Yuerong was really worried when the child suddenly started crying.

“Furen, I’m afraid young master is hungry, this old servant will take him to the wet nurse.”

“En, alright. I will have to trouble Momo.” Reluctantly handing over the child to Ruan momo, although Dan Yuerong wanted to get close to her son, she could not bear to hear her son cry.

Seeing his wife’s pale face, Shen Wenhua pulled his wife’s hand as a look of pity flashed across his face, “Rong-er, it’s been hard on you.”

“Wenhua, I am very happy that I could give birth to Hang-er!” Dan Yuerong knew that if she really had not been able to give birth again, it would be impossible to stop Shen Wenhua from bringing in a concubine. When the time came and she faced pressure, even if she is unwilling to compromise, when the time came and there were many people in the household, wouldn’t her and Shen Jingshu suffer?  

Therefore, with the arrival of this child, Dan Yuerong could stand upright. At least when facing Old Madam Shen in the future, she did not have to worry too much.

“You have suffered, thank you!”

“This is what I should do. I have made you wait for a long time, I have always felt very guilty.” With the man she loved acting this way towards her, she had been unable to give him what he really wanted, how could she not worry?

After waiting for so many years, she had finally given birth to this child, it was worth all the suffering she had endured.  

“You, carefully lie down. Your body has suffered a loss this time, you much carefully nourish it, you can not overstrain yourself.”

“En! Right, where is Shu-er? Has she seen Hang-er?” Thinking of her daughter, Dan Yuerong was still somewhat anxious.

“Don’t worry, Shu-er has already seen him. But, you have been asleep since you gave birth to Hang-er, I sent Shu-er to school and then let her have a rest. You have been asleep for an entire day and night, Shu-er does not know that you have woken up,  and you are not here anymore. I know you are awake, but I can guess that she will come soon.”

“I am also very tired, I have made you worry.”

“So, you must carefully recuperate. If there is a matter during your confinement period hand it over to Ruan momo,  do you understand?”

“I understand Wenhua! “The husband and wife had not spoken for long when Shen Jingshu ran in as expected. Although she was anxious about Dan Yuerong, Shen Wenhua had let her properly rest. She knew that Dan Yuerong was tired and had now woken her up. Now that she knew Dan Yuerong was awake, she quickly came over, “Daddy, Mom! ”

“Slow down, don’t fall.” Seeing his daughter run so anxiously, Shen Wenhua smiled.  Although he told Shen Jingshu to slow down, his tone did not have the slightest bit of reproach.  

Mom, you woke up? Do you feel uncomfortable? Are you hungry?”

“Look at this yatou, she is getting more and more attentive. Don’t worry, I have already eaten. I feel much better after sleeping. I’m fine.” Shen Wenhua had already prepared for people to make her something to eat, she ate as soon as she woke up. Although she did not eat much, she was not hungry at the moment.

“It’s good that Mom is awake.” Sitting at the side, she could see that although Dan Yuerong’s complexion was not good, but it was not bad, Shen Jingshu was relieved.

These days she had been studying medicine, Shen Jingshu had gradually learned to look at people’s complexion. Giving birth this time, Dan Yuerong’s body was very weak, after carefully nouris.h.i.+ng it, it would be fine in the future.

“This child has become increasingly more considerate, come here!” Indicating for Shen Jingshu to come over, Shen Jingshu obediently went.  Dan Yuerong pulled her and smiled as she asked, “Have you seen your didi? “

“En, I have seen him. Didi is very cute!”

“Does Shu-er like Didi?” There was a baby in the household, Dan Yuerong was still worried that Shen Jingshu would not be used to it. Sometimes children could be very narrow-minded, she was afraid of what her daughter thought.

What she did not antic.i.p.ate was that her daughter was already an adult, how could she care about this? Moreover, Shen Zihan was someone she could rely on in the future, these two siblings could mutually support each other. In her past life, Shen Jingshu tasted bitterness and loneliness.  In this life, she looked forward to a few blood-related relatives.

“Of course I like him, Mom, Didi is good looking.”

“Then in the future, Shu-er can help Mom take care Didi!”

“Mom don’t worry!” Patting her little chest, of course Shen Jingshu wanted to carefully take care of Shen Zihan. This was her blood-related Didi,  in the past life she and her Didi were not fated. For him to be born safely in this life,  of course Shen Jingshu was happier than anyone!

“Right, Mom, where is Didi?” Not seeing Shen Zihan, Shen Jingshu really wanted to hold him.  

“Didi is hungry, does Shu-er want to go see?”

“En!” Nodding, how could Shen Jingshu dislike such a cute child?

“That’s good, in a while I will let the wet nurse bring him over.” When Shen Zihan finished drinking his milk, Dan Yuerong let Ruan momo bring him over. The little guy was very well behaved, he went straight to sleep after eating, there were some small bubbles on the side of his mouth, it was really cute!

“Haha, Didi is really cute, but why is Didi always sleeping?”As a child, she would not understand, Shen Jing could not show that she understood too much.  

In her previous life, she had seen Shen Wenli’s children, but she did not think that those children were as good looking as her Didi!

“Didi is still young. If he is tired, he will naturally go to sleep.”

“Oh, so it is like this!”

 ===

Shen Wenhua had more news about a son. Soon everyone knows. On the second day, many people came to give gifts, which shows the status of this child. Shen Wenhua and Shan Yuezhen chose to pick up, and the two were happy. On the day of the third wash, they also invited a lot of relatives and friends, and suddenly Shenfu could be busy.

“Congratulations to Shen, the master is happy!”

“Hey, this young master is carved out with a master of Shen, and will definitely make a living in the future!”

“Oh, this looks like it is very good, white and tender, not like a newborn, Shen is so blessed!”

“Congratulations!”

……

Everyone quickly heard the news of Shen Wenhua having a son, on the second day many people came to deliver gifts. This child’s status could clearly be seen, Dan Yuerong and Shen Wenhua were both very happy. On the third day, they invited over many friends, Shen fu was immediately surrounded in excitement.   

“Congratulations Shen laoye on having a son!”

“Haha, this small Shaoye and Shen laoye look alike, in the future he will certainly have prospects!”

“ Look at this appearance, he was certainly born excellent. He has pale and tender skin, he does not look like he was just born. Shen laoye is very fortunate!”  

“Congratulations, Congratulations!”

……

Shen Wenhua served as the second prefectural magistrate, naturally his connections were not average. What’s more, these many years he only had one wife, only one woman. Everyone naturally understood the significance of this son to Shen Wenhua, so there are many people who came to congratulate him on this day. One by one they look at Shen Zihan’s small appearance and were really envious.

The had no choice but to say that Shen Zihan was very good looking. Now that he had opened his eyes; his eyes were dark, bright, big, and s.h.i.+ny. His small face was round and smooth, really cute. Although he had not matured yet, but like this, he looked like Shen Wenhua.

“Shen laoye, congratulations.” Qi laoye had also come there today. Seeing that Shen Wenhua also had a son, he did not know what to think. Recalling the matter that happened between the two households a few days ago, Qi laoye now felt uncomfortable facing Shen Wenhua. But, he couldn’t not come. He had to follow etiquette and send a gift and say congratulations, afterward, he did not have anything else to say.   

“Shen laoye, can I go see Shen furen?”

“Of course it’s ok.”

“That’s good!” Qi furen had also come today and had also brought her two children. Previously, she used to flaunt her son and daughter in front of Dan Yuerong’s face, of course she also showed off in the capital. But now that Dan Yuerong also had a son and Shen Wenhua’s unique doting, Qi furen could not tell what she felt.

Why was she more fortunate than her?

Qi furen was also very envious of Dan Yuerong at times,”Right, is Jingshu here? Why don’t I see her?”Qi furen had brought her two children, of course, because she wanted them to meet Shen Jingshu.  

“Jingshu is with Rong-er, Rong-er is now in her confinement period, Jingshu always accompanies her.”

“Haha, then we will go over.” Knowing that Shen Jingshu was there, Qi furen wanted to bring Qi Shaodong over, but Qi Shaodong was now ten years old. And his age was getting older so it was very inconvenient to do many things. Now that Dan Yurong was in confinement, it was not convenient for Qi Shaodong to go, “Dong-er, you wait here. Yan-er, you and I will go to see Shen furen.” Although she wanted to manufacture an opportunity for Qi Shaodong and Shen Jingshu, Qi furen knew that it as not good to be too obvious.

“Okay, mother!” Qi Shaodong certainly wanted to look for Shen Jingshu. Since that days, he had grown up gradually and he had gradually understood his feelings towards Shen Jingshu. However, Shen Jingshu was neither salty or indifferent towards him, Qi Shaodong felt very anxious.

When would he be able to capture a piece of Shen meimei’s heart? Shen meimei was really great, he did not want another person to suddenly take her away.

Qi Shaodong gradually understood his own mind and a man’s wish to take sole possession of something was very strong. Therefore these days, as long as there was an opportunity, Qi Shaodong would go and try to see Shen Jingshu. But no matter how many times he went, he was never able to see Shen Jingshu.

This time, Shen meimei was with Shen furen and he was not too old so it was not convenient for him to go. What could he do?

Thinking of this, Qi Shaodong was certainly unwilling to let this opportunity to see Shen Jingshu slip by so he gave Qi Xueyan a look. Of course  Qi Xueyan understood, she nodded to show that she understood and left with Qi furen.  Qi Shaodong could not go and had no other option but to say goodbye and try to find some familiar people to speak with so that he would not be bored.  

……

” Shen furen, I can see that your complexion is pretty good and I also just saw Hang-er a moment ago. He is very cute, it makes people feel very fond of him!” Expression concern as soon as she saw Dan Yuerong and mentioning Shen Zihan, of course Qi furen understood Shen Zihan’s status.

“My body is disappointing, now that my confinement period was doubled to two months, I can only lie down all day. You came but I could not receive you, please don’t take offense to the neglect.” Dan Yuerong saw that Qi furen had come and supported herself by leaning against the bedside. Qi furen noticed this and chatted and laughed with Dan Yuerong, it did not seem that either held any grudge towards the other. But what they really felt, only they knew themselves.

“What are you talking about? You are now in confinement, it is important to nourish your body. What do these formalities have to do with you?”

“I have not seen you in a few days, it seems that Xueyan had grown a bit taller and more beautiful.”

” You don’t have to praise her, this girl can’t be praised. I can see that is still Jingshu who is better. You see how much more sensible she is and she now looks clever. She comes to talk with you every day, my daughter is not this sensible!” Qi furen was very happy to hear someone praise her daughter but she still had to express a modest att.i.tude.

“This child sees that I am here alone so she comes to talk with me to keep me company.”

“So, I can say that you have good fortune. Your daughter is so loveable like this, I also noticed that Hang-er is also well-behaved, you will be blessed in the future!” Now, Dan Yuerong had both a son and a daughter and a husband who only loved her, it really made people envy her!  

Why did she not have such a good fate? Her husband spent his time drinking and philandering and he had no ability, why did she have it so hard?

In the past when she was with Dan Yuerong, Dan Yuerong had no son, Qi furen very much enjoyed Dan Yurong’s admiration towards her. But now that Dan Yanrong had a son, she was afraid that there was no more admiration.  

Thinking of her own children, although they had been very intelligent since childhood, they were still a step lower in status than Shen Jingshu.  

Who let Shen Jingshu have a sensible father, how was he anything like her family’s Laoye?

Ai, this was all fate, but she would not accept it!

“It’s the same for you, Xueyan and Shaodong are both intelligent and filial children. In the future, you will have constant blessings!” In the past, Dan Yuerong was indeed envious of Qi furen’s daughter and son, of course she dreamed of having the same thing. Now that she had given birth to Hang-er,  Dan Yuerong felt that she would have no regrets in this life.

“You are fortunate but you always mention me, how could I compare to you?” When she said this, Qi furen inevitably felt some bitterness, but she quickly restrained it as soon as she realized it. “I rarely come to see you, let’s have a nice chat and let the two children play on their own, alright?” Seeing Shen Jingshu there, how could she get her to go see Qi Shaodong?

Qi furen had never given up her plan to ally with the Shen family through marriage!

“En, alright. Shu-er, you accompany Xueyan.”

“Okay Mom!” Answering cutely, although Shen Jingshu and Qi Xueyan appeared to be harmonious, they were really divided.  Over the past half a year, these two had different views inwardly but outwardly the two people appeared to be good friends. ” Qi furen, Mom, then we will go!”

“Go, go, have fun!” Looking at the two children with a smile, Qi furen was very happy with the intimacy between Shen Jingshu and Qi Xueyan.

For my daughter and Jingshu to get along well, it is certainly beneficial to my son.

……

“Jingshu congratulations, you now have a younger brother, it is a good thing!” When the two went out, Qi Xueyan said congratulations but was not the slightest bit sincere.  

“Yeah, Hang-er is  cute, I like it a lot!”

“Are you not afraid that your younger brother will compete with you for favor? Before, your parents only had you, but now there is Hang-er, will they not hurt you?” It was unknown if it was intentional, but Qi Xueyan now was becoming increasingly more fond of provoking Shen Jingshu.

“No, Daddy said that me and Hang-er were the same, don’t worry.”

“Really? But Shen laoye has hoped for a son for many years and he finally got one. Now that he had Hang-er, won’t he ignore you?” She did not know what Qi Xueyan’s intention was in saying this, perhaps she wanted to make Shen Jingshu jealous?  

However, Shen Jingshu was not really a small child, as if she were not bothered she replied, Haha, no. Alright, don’t say that. Let’s walk around and talk about something else!”

“En!

“Seeing Shen Jingshu’s completely unconcerned look, Qi Xueyan was angry. During this half a year she had increasingly felt that Shen Jingshu was not the same arrogant person that she could toy with. Previously, whatever she said Shen Jingshu would completely believe it and also listen to her. But now, although Shen Jingshu pretended to listen to her words and said that she understood, she never felt that Shen Jingshu listened and obeyed her words!

Like when she said Yang Huilan and Kong Xinhe were not good friends, although Shen Jingshu said that she understood, hadn’t those two people become closer to her in the past six months? How had Shen Jingshu taken her words to heart?

Qi Xueyan was angry and felt that Shen Jingshu was not under her control.  She was anxious and thought of many ways to undermine the feelings between the three. She had even deliberately exposed that Yang Huilan and Kong Xinhe were not good in front of Shen Jingshu but that had no effect, Qi Xueyan was really angry!

Now, seething that Shen Jingshu was not listening to her once again, Qi Xueyan felt that her status was threatened. Seeing that Shen Jingshu was increasingly breaking away from her control, Qi Xueyan felt that she needed to hold her under her control. “Jingshu, do you not believe me?” Qi Xueyan’s face had an expression that she was saying it for Shen Jingshu’s own good but Shen Jingshu still didn’t appreciate her favor. Seeing her expression, Shen Jingshu felt it was very humorous. “ Alright, I know you are worried about me. Ok, I will take your words to heart. Let’s go, it is Hang-er’s bath time now, let’s go and take a look!

“This…” Qi Xueyan originally did not want to go, but recalling the look Qi Shaodong gave her a moment ago, she had no choice but to follow after Shen Jingshu.

Whatever, in any case there is Gege. This yatou is obsessed with Gege, when the time comes I will let Gege say a few words!

What Qi Xueyan did not know was that although Shen Jingshu had a good relations.h.i.+p with Qi Shaodong in the past six months, she was not as infatuated with Qi Shaodong as before. So, her wishful thinking was doomed to fail.

……

When meeting with Qi Shaodong, the other person was trying to find out what she was talking about, Shen Jingshu calmly agreed. These days, she had learned how to interact with Qi Shaodong and learned how to control her mood in front of Qi Shaodong. She understood the importance of keeping the people from them Qi family close but not far so that she could make preparations in the future.

Therefore, towards Qi Shaodong’s invitation, she used the excuse of it not being suitable for them to go out together because of their ages. This excuse was good, the both of them were gradually getting older and it was not suitable for them to get too close. Qi Shaodong could not say anything and could only chat with Shen Jingshu for a minute and have nothing to say the next. Shen Jingshu smiled, for Qi Shaodong to feel like Shen Jingshu cared about him was enough.  

The two are chatting when someone came over. “Jingshu, you were here? ”

“Haha, congratulations Jingshu. Now, you have a younger brother who looks so cute. I also want to hold him!” Because Shen Jingshu had gotten close to Yang Huilan and Kong Xinhe in the past six months, the two had also come over today and saw Shen Jingshu with the two people from the Qi family. The two had come together to see Shen Jingshu and give her their sincere blessing. Shen Jingshu saw the sincerity in their eyes, compared to Qi Xueyan and Qi Shaodong, these two were much better!

“Haha, do you want to see Hang-er?”

“Of course, he is so cute. But I was only able to get a quick glimpse of him just now, if I could hold him it would be great!”

“If you want to see him, in a while after is bath is finished, we’ll go and see. Let me tell you, Hang-er has recently learned to blow spit bubbles, it is really cute!” Compared to Qi Xueyan and Qi Shaodong’s distant discussion, Shen Jingshu was really sincere towards Yang Huilan and Kong Xinhe, the smile on her face was also real.

“Alright, alright! Since you said this, then you must take us in a while!”

“Don’t worry, when have I ever not kept my word? “As they chatted happily, Qi Shaodong and Qi Xueyan were pushed to the side, Qi Shaodong’s complexion was not very good. Qi Xueyan watched as Shen Jingshu laughed and chatted with Yang Huilan and Kong Xinhe and felt uncomfortable. It felt like her toy had been s.n.a.t.c.hed away by someone else, Qi Xueyan hated that she could not drive these two people away, but she still had to smile and keep them company, “Haha, Huilan, Xinhe, you also came? Why didn’t we see you a moment ago?” Interrupting, because of the relations.h.i.+p between them and Shen Jingshu, Qi Xueyan deliberately made it seem as if she were close to them because she was trying to think of ways to destroy the friends.h.i.+p between the three people. But, she never would have thought that they would not accept her at all, “We just arrived.”

“Oh, so it’s like that.” Nodding her head, Qi Xueyan really did not see those two a moment ago and was a little curious.

“Jingshu, bath time is over, let’s go see Hang-er!” Yang Huilan watched as Shen Zihan was taken away by someone and felt worried.

The child was really cute, she wanted to look at him more!

“Alright, let’s go!” Seeing Yang Huilan like this, Shen Jingshu knew that Yang Huilan liked Shen Zihan and planned to pull them and leave. Qi Xueyan noticed and followed them, “Jingshu, I also want to see. I also want to go with you, can I?”

Some people were really shameless when Yang Huilan saw Qi Xueyan like this,  all white eyes, Kong Xinhe also found it a bit strange but Shen Jingshu smiled and said, “Of course.”