Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 045

Chapter 45: Gift

An Zhi attended banquets for two consecutive days, wearing three newly made sets of Shu brocade clothes. On the day Shuiyun Studio opened, she changed into men’s clothes early in the morning, even donning a fake beard, and watched the customers coming and going on the second floor of the shop.

Binglu was wearing a dark green gown today, and Fusheng was quietly guarding the door.

“Fusheng, just close the door. Come over and have something to eat.” An Zhi called out, “Don’t stare at the door. This isn’t an inn or teahouse. No one will come to the second floor.”

Fusheng looked back and didn’t move.

An Zhi didn’t say anything more and asked Binglu to take two cakes to Fusheng. Fusheng was so serious at such a young age. He didn’t look like he came from a merchant family at all. Instead, he looked like someone raised by a conservative old man.

She saw many familiar faces coming into the shop, which she thought was the result of the promotion three days ago. Now Zhang Lan and the others were greeting customers, so she just stayed upstairs and listened to the people coming and going.

“Miss, I just took a peek and there are quite a lot of people coming.” Binglu looked happy. She was happier than anyone else that her young lady could make money.

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“More people coming doesn’t necessarily mean good business.” An Zhi’s Shu brocade was not cheap. Even the lowest grade was unaffordable for ordinary people, let alone the other five grades of Shu brocade. Zhang Lan’s tailors were all top-notch craftsmen, and their prices were even more expensive. “Most of them come here to take a look today, and they won’t buy much.” Only when Shu brocade becomes popular in the palace would these young ladies and ladies come here out of vanity to buy it.

Once she made money from the Shu brocade she had now, An Zhi would launch more affordable clothes that ordinary wealthy people could afford. After all, the store was located in a downtown area, and she couldn’t let such a good location go to waste.

An Zhi took a bite of the pastry, finding it sweet but not greasy, and quite delicious. “Binglu, these pastries are great today. Let’s go back later and bring some back for the madam and concubines.”

“As long as you like it.”

Hearing Pei Que’s voice, An Zhi turned around suddenly. Binglu was already standing in front of her, and Fusheng was being held down by Pei Que’s servant.

“Cough cough.” An Zhi choked on the pastry in her mouth, her cheeks flushed, “You…why are you here?” She was so nervous that she even forgot to say hello.

“Of course I’m here to congratulate you on your grand opening.” Pei Que walked in with a smile, calmly sat down opposite An Zhi, and picked up a cake on the table. “This is Hibiscus Cake, a specialty of my chef. I wanted to give you something else as a gift, but you definitely wouldn’t accept it, so I gave you a plate of pastries. It seems you’re quite satisfied. You can’t buy it outside though.”

Pei Que didn’t know if he deliberately raised the last syllable of the last word, and An Zhi felt a little teased when she heard it.

“Thank you so much, Fourth Master Pei.” An Zhi had calmed down by now and put down the remaining half of the cake in her hand. She didn’t dare to eat it anymore. “I wonder if Fourth Master Pei came here today to make clothes?”

Pei Que shook his head, “I just came to see you and congratulate you.”

Pei Que’s dark eyes stared straight at An Zhi, without any evasiveness or euphemism.

An Zhi’s face flushed instantly.

Lecher! She wanted to curse, but she didn’t dare speak. She bit her lower lip until it hurt, then slowly let go.

Binglu, who was standing by, was even more shocked when she heard this. “Master Pei, please be careful with your words. My young… young master is not engaged yet.”

Pei Que glanced at Binglu. This girl was very protective of her young lady, but it was not good for her to use it on him. He tutted, “Binglu, I never said anything to offend your young lady. All the Shu brocade in Shuiyun Studio was provided by me. I came to take a look now, is that not okay?”

Binglu was speechless. Seeing the hint of a smile in Pei Que’s eyes, she immediately lowered her head and fell silent, daring not to speak. One hand quietly tugged at her young lady’s clothes.

An Zhi was also panicking. Every time she met Pei Que, although she wasn’t bullied, his words always took advantage of her, either overtly or covertly. And she was no match for him.

Alas. She sighed inwardly.

“Fourth Master Pei, after the Shu brocade is sold, I will return the principal to you with interest,” said An Zhi.

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“Okay, but I want you to pay back the interest not on the banknote.” Pei Que saw An Zhi getting more and more nervous, and he wanted to tease her even more. “Okay, enough joking. I came here today to remind you of something.”

An Zhi’s heart tightened at Pei Que’s sudden seriousness, a feeling that something was amiss.

“Next time something like this happens, remember to send me an invitation.” Pei Que turned to look at the servant at the door and said, “Shunzi, go home and get four more lotus cakes to take back to Young Lady An.”

“No, that’s not necessary,” An Zhi said, as Shunzi ran off. Turning back to Pei Que, she gritted her teeth and said thank you.

“No need to thank me. It’s my duty,” Pei Que said with a smile. “Remember what I said.”

After that, Pei Que stood up. He was busy with official duties and had already left many things unfinished since coming to Shuiyun Studio.

Only after seeing Pei Que leave did An Zhi breathe a sigh of relief.

“Miss, Fourth Master Pei doesn’t really want to marry you, does he?” Binglu thought that her young lady had been engaged to Pei Yu. If she married Pei Yu’s uncle, wouldn’t she be laughed at? Who knows, someone might even spread rumors to harm her.

“I don’t know either.” An Zhi sighed. How could she guess what Pei Que was thinking? Since she was still in the capital, she could only let Pei Que do what he wanted. She just hoped to leave here quickly, preferably when her brother returned at the end of the year so she could leave with him.

An Zhi’s good mood today was greatly affected by Pei Que’s appearance.

An hour later, Shunzi came to deliver the cakes. Without waiting for An Zhi to say anything, Shunzi ran away.

After Shunzi came out of Shuiyun Studio, he went to the government office to find Pei Que.

“Have all the things been delivered?” Pei Que was reading official documents.

Shunzi hummed, “Master, do you really like Young Lady An that much? Today, I suddenly asked the chef to make lotus cakes, and the eldest wife asked me if you wanted to give them to your colleagues. I didn’t want to cause trouble for Young Lady An, so I replied yes.”

“Sister-in-law is smart. She might not have noticed it once or twice, but now she’s probably guessed what I’m thinking.” Pei Que put down the official document. “Next time Sister-in-law asks this, just give her a perfunctory answer. As long as she doesn’t say it directly, we shouldn’t bring it up.”

When Shunzi heard this, he knew his master had automatically ignored his previous question. However, if he asked about his master’s affairs once, it would be a sign of their close relationship; asking more would be a sign of overreaching. “Don’t worry, Master. I understand.”

“Well, get out of here. Go call in Official An.” The document Pei Que had just read was a lawsuit against An Chengye. After all, he was his future father-in-law. Although he wasn’t very smart and didn’t know how to behave, Pei Que still wanted to give him some advice.

Shunzi nodded and went out to fetch people.

After a while, An Chengye came in.

When the two families were future in-laws, An Chengye had always been intimidated by Pei Que. Now that his daughter treated Pei Yu like a servant, he was even more intimidated. He lowered his head as he entered, waiting for Pei Que to speak.

Pei Que saw how fearful An Chengye was of him, and his expression faltered. He thought for a long time before speaking, “Official An, please sit down.”

Hearing Pei Que’s call to sit down, An Chengye’s body swayed, even trembling slightly, “No, no, if you have anything to say, please tell me directly, sir.”

Pei Que held his forehead with his hand. He looked down on An Chengye, but if he wanted to marry his daughter, he couldn’t do it in the current way. He had to be able to speak calmly.

Ah, getting along with his future father-in-law was so difficult.