A day of boat travel and sedan chair riding had exhausted everyone in the Zhou household from top to bottom. After the evening meal, they all returned to their rooms to rest.

The next morning, the Zhou sisters woke at the usual hour of mao zheng (six o’clock in the morning). Before they could get up, Chi Xiang, who had been on night watch, heard the sounds and came in, smiling as she said: “First Miss, Second Miss, just now the master sent Ma Fushan’s wife over to relay a message, saying that both young ladies worked hard yesterday and should rest well today—there’s no need to pay your morning respects to the master and madam.”

In other words, they could sleep in today.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shaojin’s eyes curved with delight as she said: “Home really is the best!”

Seeing her looking as charming and innocent as a crabapple blossom, Zhou Chujin smiled and pinched her nose, saying: “What do you mean ‘home is the best’? Once in a while is fine. But if it were like this every day, I’m afraid you’d be spoiled rotten with no sense of propriety.”

Zhou Shaojin giggled and lay back down to catch some more sleep.

Zhou Chujin asked Chi Xiang: “What about the madam?”

Chi Xiang, worthy of being Zhou Chujin’s trusted confidante, smiled and said: “The madam hasn’t gotten up either.”

Only then did Zhou Chujin relax. She yawned and went back to sleep.

By the time the sisters opened their eyes again, the red sun was already high overhead.

“Oh no!” Zhou Chujin hurriedly urged her sister to get up, asking the attending Chi Xiang: “Did anyone from the study come to ask about us?”

“No.” Chi Xiang deftly hung up the bed curtains while smiling and saying: “The master went out—several of his old classmates learned that he’d returned and dragged him out to drink.”

“Ah!” Zhou Chujin was somewhat dumbfounded.

Didn’t that mean they would have to face Li Shi alone?

Zhou Chujin couldn’t help but furrow her brow, her expression hesitant as she looked toward Zhou Shaojin.

Zhou Shaojin, however, didn’t mind. She whispered in her sister’s ear: “Who knows, maybe she’s just as worried about it!”

Zhou Chujin laughed and put her arm around Zhou Shaojin’s shoulder, saying: “No wonder Father says you’re a clever little imp!”

Zhou Shaojin smiled with pursed lips.

The sisters took their time washing up and getting dressed, then had their breakfast before going to pay their respects to Li Shi.

Li Shi was extremely enthusiastic and kept the sisters to talk.

Only then did Zhou Chujin learn that the Li family was originally the wealthiest family in Jiangxi. Li Shi was the youngest daughter in the family, with four older brothers. All had married daughters from merchant families. Among them, the eldest brother was the most steady and helped their father manage the family business, while the third brother was the boldest and had opened his own kiln to specialize in firing blue and white porcelain. She even laughed and said: “…When you get married, I’ll have my third brother fire a set of bridal porcelain for you.”

Bridal porcelain, depending on family wealth, ranged from one pair to one hundred and eight pairs. The special feature was that everything came in matching pairs, and all the designs carried meanings of many children and longevity or marital harmony.

Zhou Chujin’s face flushed slightly, but she felt somewhat displeased in her heart, thinking that Li Shi, coming from a merchant background, only knew how to try to win people over with small favors and benefits.

What might be considered a kindness to others felt somewhat jarring to Zhou Chujin, who came from Jiuru Lane.

She smiled somewhat perfunctorily and said: “Well, thank you very much, Madam.”

Li Shi wasn’t someone lacking in perceptiveness. On the contrary, though she was the youngest in her family, with her mother advanced in years and her eldest sister-in-law running the household, she knew she would need her brothers and sisters-in-law to support her even after marriage, so she had become very good at reading people’s expressions.

The disdain that subtly flowed from Zhou Chujin’s very bones made her heart clench painfully.

With her husband not at home, she had calculated that this would be a perfect opportunity to curry favor with her two stepdaughters. That’s why Li Shi had kept the sisters to talk. Who would have thought that instead of winning them over, she would be looked down upon?

Li Shi’s face flushed red.

Zhou Shaojin hoped their father could enjoy his later years in comfort.

She and her sister would eventually marry out. Father’s later years would still depend on Li Shi’s care.

She quickly smiled and said: “Madam, I like famille rose porcelain. Could I have Third Uncle from the Li family fire me a set of one hundred and eight pairs of famille rose?”

Li Shi was taken aback, but her heart immediately warmed.

No wonder Old Madam Cheng liked Zhou Shaojin so much—this child was truly obedient, beautiful, and thoughtful.

She quickly smiled and said: “Good, good, good! My third brother is in this line of work. Even if his kiln doesn’t fire it, he can find master craftsmen. When the time comes, I’ll have them bring design samples for you to choose from. I’ll definitely have them fire you the very best set of bridal porcelain that can be passed down to your children and grandchildren.”

Zhou Chujin also saw her sister’s intention. She sighed quietly to herself and lowered her head to drink her tea.

Seeing that Zhou Shaojin was innocent and lively while Zhou Chujin was shrewd and formidable, Li Shi’s instinct for self-preservation made her reluctant to say much more to Zhou Chujin. She devoted all her attention to chatting with Zhou Shaojin.

Zhou Shaojin wasn’t naturally skilled at such social exchanges. After just a few exchanges, she too began to find it quite taxing.

She cast a pleading look toward her sister.

Seeing her chatting so warmly with Li Shi, Zhou Chujin felt displeased and pretended not to notice.

Zhou Shaojin had no choice but to steel herself and continue rambling on with Li Shi. Just as they seemed to have exhausted their topics and an awkward silence fell, Zhou Shaojin’s peripheral vision swept past the rattan basket on the flower stand. She noticed it contained a half-finished children’s garment. Her eyes lit up, and she pointed at the rattan basket, saying: “Is this a garment Madam is making for younger brother?”

Though she knew this child would be a daughter, in her previous life Li Shi had dreamed of having a son. She didn’t want to be the one to shatter this beautiful dream.

Upon hearing this, Li Shi indeed smiled happily, her voice softening by three degrees as she said: “Yes! It’s a little shirt.”

Zhou Shaojin walked over to look.

Li Shi also got up and came over.

The two talked about embroidery and tailoring until finally it was time for the midday meal.

After eating lunch with Li Shi, Zhou Shaojin returned to the main room with her sister.

As soon as Zhou Chujin entered, she pointed a finger at Zhou Shaojin’s forehead and chided: “You little ungrateful wretch! Mother worked so hard to give birth to you, yet you chat so warmly with that woman. Are you even Mother’s biological daughter?”

So elder sister couldn’t accept another woman as their mother!

Zhou Shaojin felt embarrassed.

She truly didn’t have much feeling about it… It was like having an extra guest in the house who would leave in a few days. As the host, she naturally had to be polite and courteous. Elder sister had grown up at their mother’s knee, so naturally she couldn’t accept Li Shi as easily… From this perspective, elder sister seemed more like Mother’s biological daughter…

Zhou Shaojin felt both happy for their mother and somewhat heartbroken.

She didn’t remember what Mother looked like at all.

To her, Mother was nothing more than a name, not as dear as her sister!

She tightly hugged Zhou Chujin and wheedled: “Didn’t I just think she seemed rather pitiful? I definitely won’t pay any attention to her anymore!” She was afraid her sister would be angry.

Zhou Chujin sighed helplessly.

In the afternoon, she took Zhou Shaojin to the greenhouse that their mother Zhuang Shi had managed during her lifetime. Unexpectedly, they encountered Nanny Yu.

Nanny Yu was very happy. She brewed them a fruit tea, saying it was their mother’s favorite while alive. She told them which flowers their mother had left behind, which flowers had been repotted later, which flowers had been grafted from the trees their mother left behind, and which had been added later… Zhou Shaojin, who already loved tending flowers and plants, found it not only interesting to listen to but also asked Nanny Yu whenever she encountered something she didn’t understand.

Seeing that Zhou Shaojin asked such knowledgeable questions, Nanny Yu felt that Zhou Shaojin was truly worthy of being Zhuang Shi’s biological daughter—even their temperaments were the same. She spoke even more enthusiastically, leading her to select several pots of orchids and saying: “…These are all rare varieties. Once the autumn winds arrive, they’ll bloom one after another.” Worried she wouldn’t know, she also instructed the gardener, over sixty years old, to find some red paper strips. “I’ll write one, two, three, four on them, and First Miss and Second Miss can arrange them accordingly. These pots of flowers will bloom continuously from mid-autumn all the way to the beginning of spring. Once they’ve finished blooming, if there’s no one to care for them over there, Second Miss can send the flowers back here. After the beginning of spring, I’ll send Second Miss another batch.”

Zhou Shaojin nodded repeatedly.

When the old gardener brought the red paper strips, the Zhou sisters helped write the labels.

Nanny Yu sighed and said: “Madam Zhuang taught me these characters back then. She was afraid I’d mix up her flowers, so she stuck these characters on the flowerpots to teach me to recognize them. I’ve never made a mistake since then.”

After hearing this, Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin felt melancholy for a while before they began writing the labels.

Once the labels were written, Zhou Shaojin, seeing that Nanny Yu was getting on in years, wanted to have Shi Xiang find a servant boy to help Nanny Yu move these pots of flowers onto the flower stands. But when she turned around, she saw her father Zhou Zhen.

He was leaning against the greenhouse doorframe, quietly watching them. His gaze held some sadness, as if through them he was seeing some scene that made him sorrowful.

When had Father arrived?

Zhou Shaojin cautiously called out: “Father!”

Zhou Chujin also noticed Zhou Zhen.

Quite surprised, she too called out “Father.”

Zhou Zhen seemed to awaken from a dream, uttering an “Oh.” He straightened up, the sadness in his eyes completely gone, replaced by a warm smile and an expression as cheerful as summer sunlight.

“How did you end up here?” As he spoke, he walked in and affectionately touched the leaves of the Huixin orchid that their mother had left behind, saying: “I didn’t expect this flower would still be growing so well?”

Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Nanny Yu quickly curtsied in greeting, finally breaking the awkward silence.

Zhou Zhen asked Zhou Shaojin: “Do you like growing flowers?”

Zhou Shaojin smiled and said: “I just grow them casually when I have nothing to do. I don’t grow them as well as Mother did.”

“That’s because you’re living at the Cheng family’s place,” Zhou Zhen smiled and said. “When your mother first married me, she said the same thing. Later, when this place became her home, her flowers grew better and better.”

Did Mother not consider this place her home at first?

And didn’t consider the Zhuang family her home either?

Zhou Shaojin looked at her father with suspicion.

But Zhou Zhen had already cast that remark aside, saying: “Shaojin, you play here for a while. I have something to say to your sister.”

Both Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin were very surprised, but they still obediently assented. One followed Zhou Zhen to the study, while the other waited in the greenhouse.

Zhou Shaojin sat with her elbow propped up in the greenhouse, watching the sun gradually set, yet she didn’t feel lonely.

This was her own home.

No matter how she looked at it, she never tired of it.

Elder sister was already eighteen years old. If only she could persuade Father to let her and her sister move back here to live!

She sat there letting her imagination run wild. Zhou Chujin walked over with a face like the morning clouds, shyly saying to her: “Father wants you to go to the study!”

What had Father said to elder sister?

She curiously linked arms with Zhou Chujin.

But Zhou Chujin absolutely refused to say. She only urged her: “Hurry and go to the study—Father is still waiting for you there!”

Zhou Shaojin laughed heartily and decided to ask her sister when they went to bed that evening.