Especially Auntie, Gu Youyou’s maternal grandmother, she was truly a woman from a farming family, a country bumpkin. If her son becomes successful, one could say that a golden phoenix has flown out of a chicken coop—remarkable abilities indeed—but the old lady’s status is elevated entirely through her son’s prestige. Even if she becomes the wife of a first-ranked imperial officer, what of it? She’s still a country bumpkin.
With such a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pair, it would be truly strange if they managed to get along peacefully.
Having just arrived at the Lin Family’s residence, Gu Youyou was unfamiliar with everything. Anyway, playing dumb was never wrong—she simply followed wherever her big cousin took her.
Because she herself was also a country bumpkin from a farming family, and moreover, in the Lin Family, no one dared to look down on country bumpkins—Madam Lin would be the first to get upset.
Gu Youyou followed Lin Qianqing out of the residence, and true to Beijing’s reputation, even with the weather so cold that it made people shake, the streets were still crowded with many people.
The streets were bustling, and the big cousin dragged her all over the place. They bought some trinkets suitable for girls and all sorts of... strange things, tasking two maids with carrying their purchases home.
Xiang Chun and Long Luo looked around with troubled expressions on their faces.
Lin Qianqing said unapologetically, "If you’re not going back, then just carry these things and ."
Gu Youyou looked at the steamer basket full of buns. Long Luo was about to cry holding it—if she had to carry the steamer with them all the way, both her arms would probably be good for nothing.
Gu Youyou said, "Why don’t you go back first? We have to put down the steamer basket, right?"
Xiang Chun, however, understood what Lin Qianqing meant. She tugged at Long Luo’s arm and said, "Let’s go back first. If we run quickly, we can catch up."
With no other choice, Long Luo had to leave.
As soon as the two maids left, Lin Qianqing made a beeline for a restaurant.
While observing the cultural atmosphere of Beijing, Gu Youyou noticed something. It seemed that her big cousin wasn’t particularly interested in looking around or buying things—it was as if she was casually covering something up, and the real destination was this restaurant.
No wonder she sent the two maids away, but it was unclear what she had in mind.
The shopkeeper greeted Lin Qianqing with great enthusiasm, his face full of smiles, "Yo, Miss Lin, the usual place?"
Lin Qianqing asked in return, "Are they in the usual place?"
The shopkeeper replied with a smile, "Of course, and I’ve specially reserved your usual spot."
"Ha, good. Let me introduce you, this is my cousin," said Lin Qianqing.
Cousin: "..." What on earth was this girl up to?
This restaurant was considered quite high-end in Beijing. In the private tea room on the third floor, Gu Youyou saw a piece of glassware used as decoration, a bottle.
Oh no, at this time, it should be called liuli, which was somewhat different from modern glass.
Gu Youyou curiously picked it up for a closer look. It was crudely made, but beautiful.
Lin Qianqing glanced over and smiled, "Cousin, you haven’t seen a bottle before, have you? This is called liuli; it’s very beautiful and also quite precious. There are only three of these in the entire restaurant. There’s one here with us, and the other two are in the rooms opposite ours."
After saying this, she no longer paid attention to Gu Youyou, instead, she sat by the table and turned her gaze towards the rooms across from theirs.
Lowering her head, Gu Youyou took a glance at Qianqing, put the liuli bottle back, and looked in the direction she was gazing.
Through the gauze curtains of the room opposite, the faint outlines of two people chuckling softly were visible, and by the sound of it, they were young men.
The soundproofing of the room was good; with Gu Youyou’s hearing, she could only make out some voices but couldn’t discern what they were saying.
Gu Youyou looked at Lin Qianqing in surprise and exclaimed, "You know them?"