Chapter 178 - 178 snuff bottle
178 snuff bottle
“Looking at his eyebrows, he looks very much like your second brother!” Zhao Lanhua hugged her chubby eldest grandson and smiled. “His ears are like your second sister-in-law’s. He’s lucky!”
“Mother, isn’t Second Brother back yet?”
“I received the letter yesterday. He should be on his way now, right?” Zhao Lanhua looked at the sky outside the house. “It’s difficult to travel at night. He’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow morning to rush back.”
“Mother!” Just as Zhao Lanhua finished speaking, Second Brother Shen had already stepped into the house. “Has my wife given birth?”
“Yes, she just gave birth fifteen minutes ago. She gave birth to a big fat boy for you!” Zhao Lanhua greeted him happily.
“Really? Let me take a look.” Second Brother Shen grinned excitedly and rushed into the room. However, before his hand could touch the swaddling cloth, his mother slapped him hard!
Hiss!
Second Brother Shen gasped in pain and raised his head in confusion. “Mother, what are you doing?”
“You heartless person, don’t you know to visit your wife? In order to give birth to a fat boy for you, she has been in pain for four hours!” Zhao Lanhua glared at him angrily. “What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go see your wife!”
“Yes, yes, I’ll go right away!”
When Ji Zhao saw this scene, she silently curled her lips.
Her mother-in-law was the best mother-in-law in the world.
The next day, Ji Zhao bathed and burned incense early in the morning.
She knelt in front of the statue of the Earth God piously and prayed sincerely, “Earth God, your devotee, Ji Zhao, have something to ask of you. I want to find Immortal Crane as soon as possible. I hope that you can protect me in secret. If I can achieve my wish, I will be eternally grateful!”
Shen Yao, who was about to enter the house, happened to hear Ji Zhao’s prayer.
He raised his eyebrows gently and lowered his eyes to hide the gratitude in them.
“Ah Tao?”
“Shen Yao?” Upon hearing the voice, Ji Zhao quickly turned around and walked up to him. “Why are you here?”
“Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law want me to give their child a name. I don’t have any idea yet, so I want to discuss it with you.” Shen Yao smiled and explained his intentions softly.
Ji Zhao thought about it carefully. She remembered that in the original novel, Second Sister-in-law Shen also successfully gave birth to a fat boy. It was also Shen Yao who named him. If she remembered correctly—
“How’s ‘Tao’?”
Unexpectedly, they said this in unison.
“Hiding one’s strength and biding one’s time. Hiding one’s strength means hiding one’s sharpness and keeping a low profile. One must be proficient in both literature and martial arts. The word ‘Tao’ is excellent.” Shen Yao smiled and analyzed. “Ah Tao, I didn’t expect us to have a tacit understanding.”
“This means that we’re destined to be together for the rest of our lives!” Ji Zhao suddenly took a step forward and looked up into his eyes. Her eyes were curved into crescents, looking delicate and cute.
“Mm.” Shen Yao nodded slightly and tapped the tip of her nose affectionately.
After Shen Yao’s explanation, Second Brother Shen and his wife naturally felt that this name was excellent!
The Shen family’s courtyard welcomed a new member, Shen Tao.
Zhao Lanhua also gave her precious eldest grandson a nickname, Zhuang Zhuang!
“Look at this kid. His arms and legs are so strong. He really lives up to his name!” Zhao Lanhua hugged Zhuang Zhuang and said happily.
Soon, the Shen family welcomed the little boy, Zhuang Zhuang’s Bath of the Third Day.
What surprised Ji Zhao the most was that Second Sister-in-law Shen actually suggested that she carry Little Zhuang for the washing. Ji Zhao was deeply suspicious of this. “Me? Second Sister-in-law, are you mistaken?”
“There’s no mistake.” After Second Sister-in-law Shen finished a big bowl of chicken soup, she said with a smile, “Ah Tao, I think you’re the luckiest person around me! So, you’re the most suitable person to carry Zhuang Zhuang for the bath!”
“Besides, when I gave birth to Zhuang Zhuang, if you hadn’t accompanied me and told me stories, I wouldn’t have been able to give birth to Zhuang Zhuang so smoothly!” Second Sister-in-law Shen said seriously.
“But Second Sister-in-law, I… I’m not a blessed person. I don’t know who my biological parents are. I…”
“But you have us now!” Second Sister-in-law Shen waved her hand indifferently. “Don’t worry about those details! Ah Tao, it’s settled.”
When Ji Zhao returned to her room, although she was a little stunned, she was more delighted.
After all, when she first came to the world in this book, the original host had already completely offended the two sisters-in-law of the Shen family. Fortunately, she had turned the tide and used her sincerity to exchange for their forgiveness.
Now, the two sisters-in-law of the Shen family had completely treated her as family, and so did she.
In order to prepare for Zhuang Zhuang’s bath of the third day, Ji Zhao asked Shen Yao to accompany her into the city and buy some things she needed.
“Shen Yao, shouldn’t we buy a carriage?” Ji Zhao and the others rushed into the city when it was close to midnight. After all, the speed of the ox cart was too slow.
“Buying a horse carriage requires a lot of silver.” Shen Yao pointed out the established fact. “Moreover, in order to rebuild the Earth Temple, you donated two hundred taels of silver. I’m afraid there’s not much left now.”
“Shen Yao, accompany me somewhere!” Ji Zhao revealed a mysterious smile. Then, she brought Shen Yao to a pawnshop on Qinghe Street in Dingyuan County.
“You want to pawn something?” Seeing the banner with the word ‘Pawn’ written on it, Shen Yao was extremely surprised and confused.
“I’m not pawning things. I’m buying things.” Ji Zhao winked at him. That charming smile made Shen Yao’s heart flutter.
After walking into the pawnshop, Ji Zhao directly showed a hundred taels of silver and said generously, “Shopkeeper, have you received any good items recently? Take them out and let us take a look?”
“Sure!” At the sight of the banknote, the shopkeeper’s eyes immediately lit up. “What would you like to see?”
“A snuff bottle.” Ji Zhao went straight to the point.
“A snuff bottle?” The shopkeeper of the pawnshop was quite surprised. “Customer, you want to look at a snuff bottle? Yesterday, Ijust received a snuff bottle. Isn’t this a coincidence? The enamel snuff bottle I received yesterday was not only vividly painted, but that snuff bottle is also exquisite and small. It’s very good-looking!”
“Shopkeeper, don’t just talk nonsense! Why don’t you quickly take out the things and let us take a look?” Ji Zhao said happily. “Shopkeeper, you should quickly take out the things!”
“Alright, please wait a moment!”
After waiting for about ten minutes, Ji Zhao finally saw the snuff bottle.
A gilt semi-circle engraved flower cover with folded edge, corseted neck, slip shoulders, bulging belly, round feet; the mouth edge and bottom edge were engraved with gold color, and the abdomen was painted with a picture of a female baby. The characters’ expressions were vivid, and the color of the painting was elegant.
It was exactly the same as the snuff bottle she had thought of.
“I wonder what price the shopkeeper will be willing to sell this for?”