Chapter 7: Covering Up
It is said that Zhang Cuihua was assigned to buy wooden boxes, straw and other items.
She thought as she walked and felt that she must go back early to avoid any accidents.
Suddenly, she had an idea and thought of a jewelry box that was of suitable size and shape and not too expensive.
It is always much faster to buy a ready-made box than to ask a carpenter to make one.
Zhang Cuihua acted immediately and rushed to a jewelry store to express her desire to buy a jewelry box.
"Oh, that kind of jewelry box, five cents each." The shopkeeper said lazily.
"Five cents..." Zhang Cuihua gritted her teeth. If it were in the past, she would have bargained, but this time time was tight, so she finally nodded and said, "Five cents is fine, I want one hundred!"
"One hundred...wait, what did you say ?" The shopkeeper instantly perked up and smiled: "Sir, you want one hundred?"
"That's right! You don't have to worry about the money." Zhang Cuihua was willing to risk everything for the sake of her young lady. She took out her purse on the spot, which was heavy with silver.
"Sir, please take a seat. Haha, someone bring the tea."
The shopkeeper was very happy, this is a big customer!
But when the tea was served, the shopkeeper's smile gradually froze: "Oh no, I only have twenty of the jewelry boxes you want!"
"Only twenty!?" Zhang Cuihua stood up suddenly. For the sake of her young lady, she was willing to accept five cents for a jewelry box, but the shopkeeper only had twenty.
"Don't worry, sir. I have another kind of jewelry box in my shop. It's better looking than the five-cent one. I have hundreds of them in stock... and the price is... twenty cents each!"
"What do you think, sir?" the shopkeeper smiled apologetically.
Zhang Cuihua was a little confused. Twenty five-cent coins equal one hundred cents; eighty twenty-cent coins equal one thousand six hundred cents, which adds up to a total of one thousand seven hundred cents!
In recent years, the weather has been good, one penny can buy a steamed bun, and ten pennies can buy a liter of grain. So 1,700 pennies is not a small amount of money, and it is what she and her young lady have worked hard for.
"Sir?" The shopkeeper kept up a professional smile, but Zhang Cuihua couldn't make up her mind for a long time, and the corners of his mouth were almost twitching.
"OK!"
Zhang Cuihua finally agreed.
In order to get back earlier to protect the young lady, she decided to be generous.
He took out two taels of silver from his purse and handed it to the shopkeeper: "For the extra three hundred coins, please help me hire a car. I will come to pick up the goods later."
One tael of silver is equivalent to one thousand wen.
The shopkeeper was overjoyed and agreed immediately.
After Zhang Cuihua finished her instructions, she went to buy a large amount of rice straw. Rice straw can be used as fodder for livestock, so there are many in the city...
Half an hour later.
Zhang Cuihua hurried back home, bringing with her two carriages of wooden boxes and three carriages of straw.
When I opened the door, I saw Su Xian and Liu Huixiang sitting at a small wooden table against the wall chatting.
What was strange was that Liu Huixiang actually wore that white gauze veil, covering her head, face and shoulders.
"Miss...what are you doing?" Zhang Cuihua asked puzzledly.
Then he breathed a sigh of relief.
Liu Huixiang is wearing a veil on her head, obviously trying to distance herself from Su Xian!
It turns out that the lady knows how to protect herself!
Zhang Cuihua heaved a sigh of relief, but secretly felt sad about the two taels of silver...
"Have the wooden boxes and straw been prepared?" Liu Huixiang stood up and spoke in a very low voice.
It turned out that just now on the second floor, after Liu Huixiang took away the clothes and returned to the bedroom, she couldn't calm down for a long time.
And her pretty face was always flushed, and no amount of makeup could hide it. How could she show herself to others?
In the end, she had no choice but to put on the veil...
"Everything is ready." Zhang Cuihua noticed that her young lady's voice was different, but she didn't know what was going on. Her heart, which had just relaxed, became tense again.
"It's getting late. Now that we have everything ready, let's get started." Su Xian stood up. He wanted to finish this task quickly and then say goodbye.
Although Liu Huixiang is a beautiful woman, what happened just now was really embarrassing.
The "shawl" that the girl had wrapped around her arms actually covered his face!
According to the original owner's worldview, this is indecent assault!
…
Zhang Cuihua was strong and nimble, and she quickly moved all the wooden boxes and straw to the second floor and piled them in the designated room.
At this time, the tender tofu pressed in the morning is almost ready.
Su Xian gave verbal instructions, and Liu Huixiang and Zhang Cuihua took charge of cutting the whole block of tofu into small cubes the size of dried tofu, and also carried them to the room on the second floor.
The next step is the key to making stinky tofu. It is still Su Xian who gives verbal instructions, and Liu Huixiang and the others do the work. The main reason is that Liu Huixiang insisted on not letting him do the work.
The method used by Su Xian is the most primitive one: first spread a layer of straw in the wooden box, put in small tofu cubes, cover it with another layer of straw, and then put in tofu cubes again... After stacking several layers, cover the wooden box with the lid.
Liu Huixiang didn't ask why she did this, perhaps because she was shy.
They were very quick and agile, and by noon they had already completed half of the task!
"Sir, it's noon now, let's have lunch together." Liu Huixiang said.
"Okay." Su Xian thought about it and nodded.
After lunch, continue with the morning work.
As time passed, no matter how big the room was, it was gradually filled with wooden boxes, and finally only a small space in front of the south-facing window remained.
Zhang Cuihua walked over with a pile of wooden boxes in her arms. As soon as she put the boxes down, she looked up and saw that the clothesline behind the screen was empty.
She was shocked.
She clearly remembered that there were a lot of clothes hanging on the clothesline, including the young lady's...
Wait, Zhang Cuihua took a deep breath, slowly turned her head, and glanced at the veil on Liu Huixiang's head.
In just a moment, she understood.
Why does the young lady wear a veil even at home?
Just now, she thought that the young lady knew that she was protecting herself, so...
Now it seems that the situation is not that simple.
She knew her own young lady. The reason why Liu Huixiang wore a veil on her head at home must be to... cover up her shame!
Zhang Cuihua's heart sank to the bottom.
In order to come back earlier, she even spent more than two taels of silver!
But in the end, the lady was still bullied.
That’s right, in Zhang Cuihua’s opinion, Su Xian saw her young lady’s clothes, which was considered bullying. Otherwise, why would she wear a veil on her head at home?
Thinking of this, Zhang Cuihua stood up and slowly turned to look at Su Xian who was checking the placement of the tofu blocks in the wooden box.
"Cuihua, don't be lazy! After putting the wooden box away, go and move the straw." Liu Huixiang said immediately.
"Yes...Miss." Zhang Cuihua retracted her angry gaze and went to move the straw as she was told.
Su Xian touched his nose and thought, "Fortunately, I am finally almost done with this."
A quarter of an hour later.
The wooden boxes were scattered all over the floor, and there was still some tofu and straw left. Finally, everything was done.
"Mrs. Liu, just leave it on the ground like this. Don't worry about it. I'll come back to check on the situation later. I'm sorry to have bothered you for so long. I'll take my leave now."
Su Xian bowed as a gesture of respect and prepared to retreat.
Liu Huixiang wanted to keep him for dinner before leaving, but she felt a little embarrassed, so she bowed and said, "Sir, take care."
Walk out of Liu Huixiang’s house and come to the street.
The sun is still as hot as it was yesterday.
Because it was late and the place was close to the city wall, the uneven parapet cast a "gear"-like shadow on the street.
Su Xian closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling his body and mind relax a little.
However, before he opened his eyes, he heard ghosts howling all around him:
"Su Hyun...nerd!"
"The nerd came out of Tofu Xishi's house!"
"There are ghosts wandering around in broad daylight. How scary!"
“…”
