Jiu Zhang Ji: The Daily Life of the Reborn Daughter

Chapter 71: Maple Bridge Academy

Qiao Lili arrived just in time, just in time for the break in the academy. She first went to Master Qiao Zhen's study and gave him a basket of snacks and two jars of wine. Since ancient times, fine wine has been paired with great scholars. She didn't know if these two jars of wine would please the master, but at least they wouldn't be any worse.

The teacher is not here, which is a good opportunity. I hand the things to the servant. If I chat with the teacher for a few more words at this time, I may not have time to deliver snacks to Qiao Zhen.

When Qiao Lili brought the four girls to Qiao Zhen's lecture hall, there was already a young woman of about sixteen or seventeen and a woman in her thirties distributing snacks to the elementary school children. The lecture hall, which had been bustling with activity, suddenly became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop after Qiao Lili stood at the door.

Because Qiao Lili was here to deliver snacks, she was not dressed up. She was wearing a light blue brocade cross-collared long dress embroidered with crabapple patterns. The crabapple flowers on the hem of her skirt would only quietly bloom when she took light steps, and the crabapple hairpins adorning her head complemented each other, making her look so elegant and dignified, yet still pretty like a young girl.

The Duke's Mansion has its own demeanor. No matter how low-key it is, it cannot bring shame to the reputation of the Duke's Mansion. The four big girls also have the rules of the Duke's Mansion. Unless they hide their real names and hide the name of the Duke's Mansion, however, coming to an occasion like the Academy is not possible, because everyone here knows that Qiao Zhen is the young master of the Duke's Mansion.

Therefore, they could only keep a low profile as much as possible within the given scope. Even so, the four of them were dressed better than the young women and women who were handing out snacks.

Qiao Lili's temperament and elegance actually have little to do with clothes and jewelry. Even if she walks out wearing a sack, she will still be radiant and make people feel that the sack is not an ordinary sack and there must be some mystery behind it.

Everyone in the school was stunned by the girl who suddenly appeared at the door. Even Qiao Zhen was stunned for a moment before he realized that it was his sister who came to bring him snacks.

He immediately stood up from his seat and walked to the door with his short legs, "Sister, you are here." He brought his sister into the classroom and introduced her to his classmates: "This is my sister. She is here to bring us some snacks today."

"Hello, Sister Qiao Zhen!" They greeted each other in unison with a little baby voice. It really makes people feel better and the corners of their lips will rise unconsciously.

This greeting was like lifting the seal on their mouths, and the discussion started again. Qiao Lili counted the number of these schoolchildren, roughly calculated the number of cakes, and asked the four maids to give them four cakes each. The two people before gave them one cake each, which was quite large. These six cakes were enough for them to eat.

"Wow, Qiao Zhen's sister is so beautiful. Who said she was ugly?"

"Much prettier than Cho Seung-hui's sister."

"Sister Qiao Zhen, what snacks did you bring for us?"

"The snacks made by Sister Qiao Zhen must be delicious."

......

Children are children after all, they say whatever they think. After a chattering, the young woman who had distributed the snacks looked visibly worse, because she was Zhao Chengxi's sister.

Qiao Lili, however, disagreed. If this woman could be influenced by the words of a group of children under ten years old, then she must not be very smart.

But the young woman always had a smile on her face and nodded and greeted Qiao Lili from a distance.

After distributing the snacks, the elementary school students were allowed to eat quietly. Qiao Lili said hello to Qiao Zhen and left the lecture hall with the four maids. The woman and the young woman also followed.

Qiao Zhen waved goodbye to her happily, and her hand was about to break from waving. It was very rare for Qiao Lili to see Qiao Zhen so happy. He lost his mother when he was so young, and perhaps the image of his mother was vague in his mind. Qiao Lili was only thinking about the sadness of losing his mother, and never thought that Qiao Zhen also lost her mother. He was even younger, so he should be even sadder.

During the six years that her mother was away, she just wanted her brother to avoid being hungry, cold, and sick, but she didn't know that as a little man, he also had joys and sorrows. Fortunately, she realized it not too late.

While Qiao Lili was in a trance, the woman walked towards her, indicating that they should walk to the gate of the academy together. However, the young woman, Zhao Chenxi's sister Zhao Luxi, walked straight past the two of them and walked away alone like a proud peacock.

I don't know whether to call her childish or a brainless idiot.

The woman smiled awkwardly. Maybe they usually went together in pairs, and she thought that today they should go together as a group of three. She didn't expect Zhao Luxi to leave alone like this, which made her a little at a loss as to what to do.

Qiao Lili pretended not to see it, as they were not familiar with each other anyway.

"Is this your first time here, Miss Qiao? I've never met one before."

Her son's name is Song Weizhou, a name that Qiao Zhen often mentions.

Qiao Lili smiled and said, "Yes, I was careless before. I didn't even know that I had to deliver snacks in the afternoon. It took others so long. I have to deliver snacks more often in the future."

Mrs. Song quickly said, "Sending snacks is voluntary. I have nothing to do, so I made some pastries to kill time. Many young masters don't send snacks to their families."

"Well, I'll send it more often when I'm not busy. If I'm busy, I'll have to trouble Madam Song and the other young master's family members."

As they were talking, they had already left Fengqiao Academy and arrived in front of the carriage parked at the door.

Qiao Lili bowed and left, and Madam Song returned the greeting, and they each got into the carriage. Madam Song really didn't expect that the eldest daughter of the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion would be so gentle and easy-going. On the contrary, the young lady of the Zhao family, who usually looked very good, showed her petty nature.

Seeing that it was still early, Qiao Lili went out anyway and wanted to stroll around the street. After marrying into the Bai family in her previous life, she had freedom of movement in the first two years, but under the double PUA of Bai and Bai Junzhe, she seldom went out, not to mention the five years of darkness in the dungeon. In total, she had not taken a good look at the shops and pedestrians on the street, the hustle and bustle of the city, and the fireworks of the world for seven years.

The constant shouting of vendors, the inexplicable quarrels among several women, the rumbling sound of steam from the big pot used to steam buns, and the sound of the fat butcher putting his knife after cutting meat on the wooden block all made her feel very familiar.

"Is the Jinghe pastry shop on West Street still there?" Qiao Lili asked Caiwei and Caiqin.

Caiwei and Caiqin looked at each other, and Caiqin asked in confusion: "What's wrong? Did something happen in that shop? Last month, the young lady asked me to go there to buy Fuling Cloud Cake for the old lady."

"His family has this craft passed down from generation to generation. Could it be that someone has taken a fancy to it and wants to steal their secret recipe?"

Qiao Lili never expected that her words would lead to a false case. Yes, for her it was seven years of darkness, but for Caiwei and Caiqin, there was no such seven years.

She quickly tried to make up for it: "I haven't been there for more than a month. I wanted to buy some snacks for my grandmother and was afraid I would miss it."

"Oh, the proprietress is very nice. Miss, you scared me when you said that." Caiwei and Caiqin giggled.