Life in siheyuan era

At noon today, Zhou Zhiyuan treated Han Xue and the others to a meal, while at this time, Qin Huaiyu hurriedly walked out of the factory gate without even eating.

She was anxious because Zhou Zhiyuan had given her two yuan for clothing, and she had to spend it by noon today. Zhou Zhining liked reading, especially books on painting and calligraphy, so she went to buy two books on painting and calligraphy to give to Zhou Zhining.

Qin Huaiyu had already made this plan, and she began to brew it when Zhou Zhiyuan offered to give her money. As soon as the money was in hand, she took action.

Her education level wasn't high, but she knew the principle of "lifting a stone to drop it on one's own feet." Zhou Zhiyuan was playing tricks on her, so she would counter with a straightforward scheme, using Zhou Zhiyuan's money to get closer to Zhou Zhining and make him "lift a stone to drop it on his own feet."

To achieve this strategic goal, she had already locked onto a target. Not far from the factory was a used bookstore, which she had paid attention to when passing by. The stall displayed several books on painting and calligraphy.

However, she didn't understand painting and calligraphy and couldn't be sure of Zhou Zhining's preferences. Seeing him dismiss the stall, she didn't dare to take a look, let alone buy books for Zhou Zhining at this stall.

It was Zhou Zhiyuan who gave her the courage to act, using Zhou Zhiyuan's money to test the waters. Even if she bought the wrong thing, she could still express her feelings.

With this determination, Qin Huaiyu couldn't bother to eat and hurried out of the factory gate to the used bookstore.

This stall displayed many used books, including comic books, novels, poetry, medical books, Buddhist scriptures, Taoist texts... all kinds of books without any categorization. Comic books were placed on top of Buddhist scriptures, poetry was piled together with medical books, and Taoist texts were placed under novels.

The day before, Qin Huaiyu could still see several books on painting and calligraphy, but today at noon, she could only search through the piles of books.

After much effort, she found a few books in this area. After carefully looking at these books, she finally settled on the two most worn-out books, "Illustrations of a Hundred Beasts" and "The Language of Painting."

The pages of these two books were yellowed, and each page was wrinkled, but she just took a fancy to them.

She liked the animals in "Illustrations of a Hundred Beasts." The illustrations looked vivid, as if they were alive.

She also liked the ink characters in "The Language of Painting." She didn't recognize most of these characters, but they made her feel comfortable.

Qin Huaiyu decided to buy these two books, but to her surprise, the owner asked for three yuan.

What was the concept of three yuan? The whole family of five could go to a restaurant for a treat.

Hearing this price, Qin Huaiyu said with dissatisfaction, "You want three yuan for these two used books? Three jiao would be more like it."

The old bookseller smiled and said, "Girl, if you want books for three jiao, you can take all these books away."

As he spoke, he pointed to the few painting and calligraphy books on the stall and continued, "A book is not about its appearance but about its content, or even not about its content but about the person reading it."

At this point, the old man looked up at Qin Huaiyu, smiled, and said, "Girl, you have good taste. It's rare that you chose these two exquisite books despite not understanding painting and calligraphy. Take them back and show them to your sweetheart, and you'll know if they're worth the price."

The old man actually knew that she was buying books for her sweetheart? Qin Huaiyu looked at him in surprise, wondering what he meant.

The old man smiled and said, "That young man is called Zhou Zhining, right? I often see you walking with him, and I can tell from the way you look at him."

The old man revealed the secret in Qin Huaiyu's heart, and Qin Huaiyu's face turned red. She listened to the old man continue, "Buying books for your sweetheart is about the thought, and it's wonderful if your sweetheart likes them. If he doesn't like them, you can bring them back for a refund."

Hearing him say "you can bring them back for a refund," Qin Huaiyu was moved. She took out two yuan, then took out another yuan from her inner pocket and handed it to the old man, took the two books, and ran back to the factory, then knew she had bought the right thing.

Zhou Zhining was overjoyed to see these two books and immediately decided to take another look. He came to the used bookstore with Qin Huaiyu and carefully selected them, but there were no more books he wanted!

Zhou Zhining was disappointed, but the old man smiled and said, "Books are given to those who are destined. How can there be so much fate?"

The old man's words had a double meaning, and Qin Huaiyu believed that these two books were proof of their fate.

However, Zhou Zhining was a straight man and retorted, "These two books were bought with money."

"Same thing, same thing..." The old man smiled and said, "This girl doesn't understand painting and calligraphy, but she chose these two old books at a glance and was willing to spend three yuan to buy you books. That's enough to show fate!"

"Three yuan?" Zhou Zhining murmured in astonishment, turning to look at Qin Huaiyu. He saw her bright eyes full of affection, and he couldn't help but stare blankly.

Qin Huaiyu's face was as red as fire, but she was reluctant to look away. Their eyes met, full of tenderness, but they heard the old man smile and say, "Three yuan for two used books, rare!"

The old man's words woke Zhou Zhining, and he quickly withdrew his gaze and turned to the old man and asked, "What is your honorable surname?"

"My surname is Hua..." The old man smiled and said, "You don't understand painting and calligraphy but you understand books. I'll keep good books for you, come and take a look often."

The old man threw out the bait, but Zhou Zhining didn't notice. He thanked the old man and said goodbye, walking back with Qin Huaiyu.

These words came from afar, and Qin Huaiyu's face turned red.

When Zhou Zhining heard this, he turned to look at Qin Huaiyu, seeing her head down and looking shy, he couldn't help but feel a movement in his heart, and then said softly, "Let's go."

Qin Huaiyu silently took a step, took a few steps, turned to look at Zhou Zhining, seeing him in a thoughtful state, she hesitantly said, "Can I learn painting and calligraphy from you?"

This voice made Zhou Zhining withdraw his thoughts and turn to look at her, asking in a low voice, "Why do you want to learn painting and calligraphy?"

Qin Huaiyu's voice was like a mosquito, "I just want to have a reason to talk to you."

She said these words, breaking through the window paper, but Zhou Zhining didn't know how to express himself.

He liked Qin Huaiyu, her appearance, her diligence, her craftsmanship, and her cleverness were all things he admired.

But the reality was cruel, Qin Huaiyu's conditions made him hesitate, thinking of this, he sighed softly.

Hearing this sigh, Qin Huaiyu quietly asked, "Are you afraid Zhiyuan will object?"

Qin Huaiyu was clever in this, she wouldn't mention Zhou Dehou and Lin Shurong, those were two heavy mountains, but the small hill Zhou Zhiyuan was nothing to worry about.

She mentioned Zhou Zhiyuan, and Zhou Zhining said easily, "Zhiyuan has no malice towards you, he's just more realistic. Don't use your mind when interacting with him, being straightforward is best. Zhiyuan's intuition is very sharp, the more you use your mind, the more he'll be wary of you."

From these words, Qin Huaiyu could hear that Zhou Zhining wanted her to have a good relationship with Zhou Zhiyuan. Zhou Zhiyuan's opposition did have a certain amount of lethality.

But from Zhou Zhining's relaxed tone, she could also know that Zhou Zhining had a way to solve the problem, the key was her attitude.

Understanding the key, Qin Huaiyu said softly, "I will get along well with Zhiyuan, and I hope you can teach me painting and calligraphy in the future."

Zhou Zhining smiled and said, "If you want to learn, I'll teach you."

Hearing him say "I'll teach you," a blush rose on Qin Huaiyu's face. There was a secret she wouldn't tell anyone.

After the Zhou family moved in, she had a good impression of the Zhou family, liked Zhou Dehou and his wife, and felt that they were like her own parents.

And the young man in the opposite room made her pay attention. Seeing him standing at the table painting, sitting at the table reading, her mood was very happy.

That young man called her "Sister Qin," and she was very happy.

Until half a year after her husband died in an accident, she understood her thoughts and wanted to spend her life with Zhou Zhining.

She knew that Zhou Zhining was very lazy, couldn't cook, and couldn't even wash his clothes properly.

But she was willing to cook for Zhou Zhining for the rest of her life and wash his clothes for the rest of her life.

She also knew that Zhou Zhining had no ambition and was immersed in his world of painting and calligraphy.

But she was willing, living a peaceful life was better than anything else.

She understood her thoughts and knew her conditions, but she just wanted to be with Zhou Zhining, to be able to look at him every day and say a few words to him, this day would be full of sunshine.

Jia Zhangshi's veiled accusations and Lin Shurong's wariness made her sad. The only way to eliminate sadness was to look at him and say a few words to him.

This state lasted for nearly a month, and Zhou Zhiyuan came back, but what made her feel strange was that Zhou Zhiyuan was full of wariness towards her as soon as he came home, and even set traps for her.

At that time, she didn't understand. Zhou Zhining said that Lin Shurong liked her very much and hadn't said bad things about her to Zhou Zhiyuan.

At this time, she learned from Zhou Zhining's mouth that Zhou Zhiyuan's intuition was very sharp.

Now she was surprised, Zhou Zhiyuan's intuition was too sharp, "Did he know I liked his brother as soon as we met?"