In the year of disaster in the book, the villain girl is the real winner

He Qingshu suppressed the joy that was just beginning to blossom in her girlhood and tried hard to behave appropriately in front of the banquet.

A Niang was right. After all, my aunt grew up in the village and had the rude and unruly style of a country girl.

Even if he liked her during the banquet, he would just treat her as a pastime while he was gaining experience in this small frontier town. When it came time to get married, he would not marry someone like my sister-in-law as his principal wife.

All she had to do was to act well-educated, beautiful and intelligent in front of Yan Shi, and use her younger sister's vulgarity to make her look like an elegant lotus. With the addition of her malnourished younger sister Qingya as her foil, it would not be difficult for her to win Yan Shi's heart.

After eating, He Qiudi waited until she had wiped her mouth with a handkerchief carefully and elegantly before she said, "After breakfast, you will go to the government office...to handle official business?"

Yan Shi nodded and said, "Yes. I have just arrived in Ningyuan County not long ago, and it is the time for official handover. I am quite busy during this period, but if Qiu Di wants to find me, you can go to Yunlai Inn and arrange for someone to go to the government office to call me."

"Then when are you going to the government office? I'll take you there."

Yan Shi smiled slightly and said, "Then please wait a moment, let me go upstairs to change clothes."

"Ah." He Qiudi thought about sending him to the yamen alone to give him a gift, but she thought that she might not be able to explain the gift clearly on the way, so she decided to wait for an opportunity to send He Qingshu and the others away, and then give it to him alone.

He Qiudi scratched his head and said, "I remember now. I still have a lot of things to buy. I won't take you to the government office. Goodbye now."

Hearing that she would not accompany him to the yamen, Yan Shi felt a little disappointed, but he quickly suppressed it.

"Well, please do as you please."

Throughout the meal, Yan Shi never gave any extra glances to anyone other than He Qiudi.

But He Qingshu and the others didn't know either.

They hardly looked up.

After eating and drinking, He Qiudi asked for a glass of water at the Yunlai Inn and left with his four juniors.

At this time, it was the morning market time.

Vendors selling various breakfast foods were shouting on the street, and pedestrians passed by in twos and threes. Most of them were in a hurry, heading straight for their destinations.

There were many villagers queuing in front of the grain store to buy coarse grains. They were all dressed in tattered clothes, hunched over and skinny, with tired expressions and numb eyes, as if they were overly tortured by hardships.

They are all people trapped by the drought.

He Qiudi looked at them and felt very uncomfortable.

He Qingshu led them directly to the embroidery workshop in the city.

An embroidery workshop is different from a cloth shop.

The cloth shop mainly deals in the production of ready-made clothes and the sale of ramie, linen and other local fabrics. The best fabric is cotton.

The embroidery studio mainly sells silks, satins and embroidery. The price of an ordinary embroidered handkerchief or an ordinary purse is beyond the reach of an ordinary village girl.

The owner of the embroidery studio knew He Qingshu, so he naturally came out to greet her with a smile.

"Oh, it turns out to be the eldest daughter of the He family. I am sorry for not welcoming you from afar. I am sorry for not welcoming you from afar."

But when he came out and saw He Qiudi walking beside He Qingshu, his face didn't look so good.

He remembered He Qiudi.

She is Teacher He’s youngest sister.

He had been to Xiufangzhai several times, but each time he just looked and didn't buy anything. He was also extremely rude. He would touch his fabrics with his hands that had just blown his nose, and rub his shiny snot on his expensive fabrics, but in the end he didn't buy anything, which made him very distressed every time.

But he didn't dare to offend her.

Apart from the fact that she is the youngest sister of Teacher He, she also has two older brothers who have passed the imperial examination and become students of the Tongsheng school.

The talents of He Huaijin and He Huaibi are known to the whole city.

After the college examination, I will definitely pass the examination and become a scholar.

They will wait until next year to take part in the autumn examination. If any of the brothers passes, their He family will be truly prosperous.

He Qiudi is the most favored sister-in-law in the He family, and her status is evident.

The shopkeeper of the embroidery workshop put away his thoughts and made an invitation gesture to the five people.

"You are such a rare guest, please come in, please come in."

After entering the embroidery studio, He Qiudi and He Qingshu looked at the fabrics and embroidery very seriously.

He Sanlang stayed outside the store without coming in. He Qingya and He Qinglu were girls, so how could they not like embroidery? They followed him into the store, but were also very reserved. They didn't dare to touch anything, for fear of dirtying the fabric, or that the rough calluses on their fingers would scratch the silk threads and damage the fabric.

He Qiudi picked up a piece of beautiful thin silk cloth and asked, "Boss, how much is this?"

Silk cloth is a mixture of silk, linen and cotton silk. It is cheaper than brocade and gauze, but more expensive than satin and cotton.

It is not as close to the skin as pure silk cloth, but it is dry and sweat-permeable, making it suitable for summer clothes.

The shopkeeper rolled his eyes in his heart and thought, you poor bastard, how can you afford it?

But he still bowed and said, "My dear Miss He, this silk cloth originally sold for ten taels of silver a piece..."

"Ten taels?" He Qiudi retracted his hand in fear, "Isn't this too expensive?"

The brocade that He Qingshu gave her only cost a few dozen taels per piece.

The shopkeeper added, "However, ten taels of silver a horse was the original price. Now it only costs six taels."

He Qiudi frowned: "Why is it discounted? Oh, so it means the price is reduced?"

The shopkeeper said with a worried look, "It's all because of the drought. It hasn't rained much, and the people have some money, but they use it mainly to buy food. Who would patronize my embroidery shop? I plan to sell all the things and pack up to go back to the provincial capital, Licheng."

Not only did the farmers nearby not patronize the store, even people in the city who had extra money tightened their belts and dieted, and seldom came to the store to buy anything.

He Qiudi couldn't help but sneer in his heart when he saw the shopkeeper playing the victim. Although this middle-aged man looked down on others, he was honest and didn't lie.

She was a little short of money and said, "Five taels, will you sell it?"

Since it's a big discount sale, it must be half price.

She didn't take the money from selling the velvet antlers yesterday, and left it to Old Lady He as a fund for buying a house.

The savings in hand were "only" six taels of silver.

After buying this piece of cloth, she had one or two ounces left, which she could use for emergencies.

The shopkeeper was a little surprised and a little embarrassed: "Five taels is a bit low..."

This is the goods imported from the provincial capital Licheng. The cost price is five taels, which does not include the labor costs for transportation from Licheng, the conversion fees for goods, the operating costs of the store, etc.

He Qiudi has no shortage of this little bit of fabric.

But the cloth in her space was not convenient to take out and use. So she still had to buy cloth. She planned to buy this cloth and give it to Old Lady He. After the spring busy season was over, she would ask someone to help make a few sets of comfortable summer clothes for her.

He Qiudi had no choice but to say: "Then I..."

Before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by a teasing voice.

"Oh. Aunt He, you don't have money and can't afford the fine silk fabrics from Xiufangzhai, but don't cause trouble for the shopkeeper."

As the voice fell, a girl of about thirteen or fourteen walked in. She had beautifully combed hair, a pearl hairpin on her head, and a peach-colored double-breasted embroidered long skirt. In her hand, she held a round fan, which swayed with every step, looking like a lady from an aristocratic family.

He Qiudi mobilized his memory and realized that this person was Du Yueqing, the granddaughter of the current county magistrate.

Her father was the prefect of a state in Yuhu Prefecture.

I have been staying with my grandparents in the past few years to keep them company.

To put it bluntly, I was arranged to come to this remote border town because my father disliked me.

She has always had a high opinion of herself and doesn't take He Qingshu and other young ladies from official families in the county town seriously.

She was especially unhappy with He Qiudi, a beautiful village girl who was loved by the whole family, but also vulgar, greedy, and against her.