Zhou Xueli and his wife left the Hundred Treasures Silver Building still a bit dazed, frightened by Wufu.
"Husband, do you think that shop assistant could have been deceiving us?" Lady Liang asked softly.
She had seen the small items carved by Wufu and found them to be extremely delicate and beautiful, but how old was she really? To be able to carve jade? Who had taught her?
"I don’t think so, would there be any benefit for him to deceive us?" Zhou Xueli didn’t believe such a large jewelry store would deceive them, as there was simply no advantage in it, nor did they ask them to buy anything.
"How strange it is, weren’t they saying that the second sister has only been raising Wufu all these years? Who taught her?" Lady Liang was very curious, and said, "Husband, those earrings were carved so beautifully. How did Wufu acquire such skills at such a young age?"
Zhou Xueli also felt it very strange, could Wufu really have such talent?
"Before, did you ever hear the second sister say she had this skill?" Lady Liang asked again.
Zhou Xueli felt somewhat embarrassed and mumbled, "Mother doesn’t like us to associate with the second sister, so I’m not too aware."
Lady Liang’s eyes twinkled, and she remembered the unsavory reputation of the mother and daughter.
"Husband, tell me about the second sister," she said.
Zhou Xueli paused in his steps.
"I don’t mean anything by it, just that I’ve recently joined the family and there’s a lot I don’t understand. If I accidentally say the wrong thing, causing mother to get angry or offending someone, it would be my fault," she said.
Zhou Xueli replied, "That won’t happen, Mother likes you very much."
Lady Liang inwardly disagreed, no matter how much one likes someone, a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship is not the same as that between mother and daughter.
"It’s always good to be more observant," she said with a smile.
Zhou Xueli sighed and said, "The second sister, she’s had a hard life."
The couple continued to discuss the affairs of Madam Zhou and Wufu while walking home.
"That bastard man, if I catch him, I will..." Zhou Xueli clenched his fist and said with hatred.
"So, you mean that the man either died or abandoned..." Lady Liang began cautiously, but seeing his face change, she quickly added, "The second sister is really pitiable."
"Pitiable but also detestable. If she hadn’t been so foolish, how could she have been deceived?" Zhou Xueli said coldly, "Enough, let’s not talk about this anymore."
"Let’s not. Husband, Wufu having such skills must be real," Lady Liang considered and then said, "When we married, during the tea ceremony, the second sister also gave me silver bracelets as a meeting gift. If it wasn’t earned by Wufu, where would they get the money to manage that? It’s highly unlikely just from the second sister’s embroidery work. That bracelet, it also weighed several quan!"
"But over so many years, Wufu hasn’t shown any special talent, and she has a bad temper, like a hedgehog. Saying she earned it seems a bit far-fetched," Zhou Xueli still felt it unlikely, as they had known the basics of each other’s lives over the years, despite not living together.
Lady Liang, however, had another idea, "She might have secretly learned from some expert, and only you don’t know!"
Zhou Xueli fell silent; that possibility did exist.
"I’ve heard that the second sister is also very good at needlework. Husband, how about I go and ask the second sister for some embroidery patterns in the future?"
"Mother will not agree," Zhou Xueli replied without thinking.
It had only been a few short days, but Lady Liang already had some idea of her mother-in-law’s temperament.
Yet she was thinking further ahead; if Wufu really had such ability, then who would depend on whom in the future was hard to say.
She glanced at her simple and honest husband, expecting him to stand out was impossible, but what about the next generation? They couldn’t let their descendants continue farming.
And to nurture the next generation, that required connections and silver.
Could Wufu be that dark horse?