Chapter 260: Bringing the Little Flower Turtle Home
Chapter 260
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The pancakes were bought.
After queuing for a long time.
Some things require waiting to feel novel.
But I witnessed a scene of harassment that turned into robbery.
It's now the 289th Year of Chu Era. This batch must be from '28 or '27. How frightening.
Those from '25 were all well-behaved, only using power to intimidate, never daring to speak recklessly.
Are the '28 kids all this scary now?
Heir Apparent Han was still a bit dazed when he arrived at the palace by carriage.
When the Emperor asked what he'd been up to lately and why he hadn't come to see him,
He recounted his experience buying pancakes to the Emperor.
"The chubby boy who harassed people should be Minister Liu's son. I don't recognize the other two children. They were exceptionally good-looking, still young, probably from '28. At such a tender age, they directly robbed Minister Liu's son of several hundred taels in banknotes."
The Emperor lacked energy for official business but was interested in gossip.
Hearing his nephew's account, he also marveled at how different today's children were compared to their time.
"They eat well now, so newborns can survive.
In their time, conditions were average, and babies were born dark and skinny.
The country is truly more prosperous now."
Heir Apparent Han, who usually appeared foolish, subtly flattered the Emperor.
The Emperor was greatly pleased.
Today's children being stronger than those of the past meant that under his rule, things had indeed improved.
Today was a joyful day.
......
Today was a joyful day.
Boss Mian, holding the money and accompanied by her Brother Chong, continued shopping.
What's taken from the people must be used for the people.
It must all be spent.
After eating pancakes, they became thirsty and wanted to drink something.
They saw a roadside stall selling hot soup next to the pancake shop, but the owner seemed a bit unclean. At the last moment of serving, he would always wipe the edge of the bowl with his hand, then put his hand in his mouth to suck it.
Zi Xiaochong's face immediately contorted; he absolutely wouldn't drink that.
Well, Mianmian couldn't drink it either.
Never mind, although it smelled good, they'd find another place.
Next door was a dessert shop.
But it was on the street.
There were many flying insects.
No fly swatters or electric mosquito rackets.
Forget it, they wouldn't buy food anymore.
They looked at several shops.
Really, the first pancake shop was so popular not just because it was delicious, but also for other reasons - at least it looked very clean.
Mianmian thought about how Old Madam Meng had given her a shop. Should she go take a look? She really wanted to open a restaurant on this street.
No, she'd heard running a restaurant was very tiring.
She could open a teahouse.
But she'd heard that without connections, opening a teahouse would definitely lose money.
Mianmian had never started a business before.
She'd heard that you won't go broke from eating or drinking, but you will from starting a business.
Suddenly, she felt like starting a business...
Now that she was in ancient times, if she didn't try something, what if next time she transmigrated to modern times with average conditions? She wouldn't dare to do it then.
When conditions are good, you should do everything you can, accumulating experience for the future.
Thinking this way, Mianmian became ambitious again and continued shopping with Brother Chong.
She wanted to see what this street specialized in.
The street was bustling with people coming and going, men and women mingling without much formality.
There were many women on the street too.
Of course, they were mainly women from common families.
They needed to be out in public, working outside, or coming out to buy things, sell things, or just stroll.
There were fewer women from wealthy families, perhaps because of the nature of this street.
When wealthy families went out, they had guards in front and behind to prevent being robbed.
Mianmian's group had Hei Ta in front, Wei Biao behind, Pangya on the left, and Brother Chong on the right.
They wandered along.
Perhaps because of her young age, and the fact that she had just extorted money from Minister Liu's son, people on the street suddenly avoided them.
When she wanted to pay for something, a shopkeeper actually didn't dare to accept her money.
It made Mianmian feel like she was some kind of villain.
This feeling was... actually quite nice.
After exploring one street, she wanted to explore more.
Finally, Brother Chong strongly protested and dragged Mianmian back to the carriage.
Originally, going home would have been somewhat distressing.
He didn't dare to go back.
There were traces of Father everywhere.
After Father left, home felt like a huge, exquisite tomb.
Although he was alive, he felt as if he had already died.
But now, with a slightly sweaty forehead, who remembered about tombs? He just felt they couldn't shop anymore.
There were too many people.
Too many shops.
Everything was chaotic.
He was also worried that Jiang Xiaogui would be kidnapped. She was good-looking and walked arrogantly. If he wasn't careful and lost sight of her, she'd wander off somewhere else.
This caused him to hold onto her constantly.
Finally managing to pull her back to the carriage, he felt like he had used up all his breakfast energy.
Mianmian was also tired from shopping.
She happily laid out her spoils in the carriage.
She could also drink some tea to soothe her throat.
It was a bit dry outside in winter.
She had bought some bracelets, very pretty, woven ones.
Each one seemed beautiful.
She could give them to the whole family.
She put one on herself.
Then she gave one to Brother Chong too.
"Brother, let me help you put it on."
Zi Congheng withdrew his hand, refusing.
But he kept the bracelet.
He closed his eyes without speaking.
He worried that if he opened his eyes, Jiang Xiaogui would talk non-stop.
They finally arrived at his residence.
The house wasn't large, very quiet.
It was a private residence.
Zi Lu didn't work here, it should be where he and his son lived, a more intimate and secluded place.
It was quite maze-like, very difficult to find.
The interior of the house was very exquisite.
It was clearly decorated with great care.
And everything seemed very valuable.
However, Brother Chong's bedroom was a bit sparse.
Very large and empty.
There was a bed.
A window.
A wardrobe.
The clothes in the wardrobe were either white or black, very simple.
Entering Brother Chong's room felt like entering the realm of immortals, as if an ascetic lived there.
There was nothing, just an ethereal atmosphere.
Fortunately, there was a small turtle.
Hibernating in winter, all four legs tucked in. Mianmian wasn't sure if the little turtle was alive or dead.
Looking at the motionless little turtle.
Mianmian reached down, picked up the little turtle, and weighed it in her hand. It was quite heavy, probably alive.
"Come on, let's change your living space."
Pangya brought a wooden bucket, and Mianmian put the little turtle in it.
Mianmian asked, "Is there anything else to take?"
Zi Congheng took Mianmian to the storeroom.
Jiang Mianmian looked at the fully stocked storeroom, filled with all kinds of jewels, jade, gold, paintings, and calligraphy.
She didn't expect Brother Chong to be so wealthy.
"Should we take these?" Mianmian asked.
"Pick what you like," Zi Congheng said.
Mianmian didn't stand on ceremony and carefully selected items.
"This one for Father, Father quite likes famous people's calligraphy and paintings."
"These are throwing knives, can be given to my brother."
"This necklace for Mother. This should be a tonic, for my sister, she'll like eating it. This, this weapon looks good, let's give it to my brother-in-law. This little gold pig, I'll take it to play with. This pen is nice, Brother, take this one."
"This felt is good, let's take it for Uncle Ji."
Mianmian picked out a round of gifts.
Zi Congheng patiently watched her choose.
He took many more items.
Then closed the storeroom.
It was like moving house.
They packed a carriage of clothes and daily necessities, a carriage of books, and a carriage of various gifts.
They came with one carriage and left with four.
Since they had taken things, they didn't wander around anymore.
So going shopping on the way over was wise.
Shopping should be done early.
Enjoyment should be seized early.
They returned to the Jiang family home.
Although not as exquisite as Zi Congheng's house, it was much livelier.
There was a sense of life everywhere.
By this time, Jiang Changtian had also finished his court duties.
Seeing his daughter bring Congheng to fetch a pet turtle, but ending up moving three carriages of things back home, his expression twitched slightly.
His daughter was quite good at dragging things home.
Jiang Mianmian saw her father and was very happy.
She eagerly went up to him.
Curiously, she asked, "Father, did you go to court today? Did you see the Emperor? Is the Emperor old? Is he serious? Is he handsome?"
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