Chapter 98

Suniang turned her head and saw Chuhuan standing right beside her, a smile on his face. At this moment, Suniang felt that Chuhuan was indescribably cute and also thought he was the most handsome man in the world.

As the saying goes, the most graceful moment for a man is when he takes out money, and Chuhuan did so when Suniang was in the most awkward situation, pulling out a large amount of silver.

Suniang felt a bit strange in her heart, as she really didn't understand how Chuhuan could so easily take out so much silver.

The shop assistant, seeing the silver, immediately turned his cold face into a smile, but in his heart, he secretly cursed: "What rich man pretends to be poor, really overeating and overworking, acting like an emperor in disguise?" However, his mouth was already warm: "Are the two of you here to buy cloth?"

Chuhuan looked at the shop assistant and pointed to the cloth, asking, "Is this made of gold?"

The shop assistant knew his attitude had been very bad and was afraid it couldn't be easily resolved, so he awkwardly said, "Sir, you're joking. This is made of silk, not gold!"

Chuhuan smiled faintly and asked, "Then are they tributes sent to the capital?"

The shop assistant felt that this sir's questions were really strange and couldn't figure out his intentions, so he smiled and said, "If it were a tribute, it wouldn't be displayed here!"

Chuhuan nodded and said, "Then I'm puzzled. This isn't made of gold, so how do you know others can't afford it? It's not a tribute, so why don't you let people touch it? Since it can be sold, customers naturally want to see the quality of the material, so they should touch it. Are you running a business or just looking at the customers' clothes?"

The shop assistant broke out in a cold sweat and forced a smile, "Sir, your words are interesting!"

"Actually, they're not!" Chuhuan said calmly, "Today, I'm just teaching you a lesson. People use their hearts to see things. If you only use your eyes, you're a dog!"

Chuhuan didn't really want to tangle with such a snobbish person, but since it was his first time taking Suniang out, and she had been wronged, he naturally had to stand up for her, at least to make her feel better.

The shop assistant frowned and pulled a long face, "Sir, if you want to buy cloth, just buy it. Why are you insulting people?"

At this moment, many passersby stopped to watch the commotion.

This shop assistant seemed to be a rather arrogant person. Seeing people gathering, he became more spirited and sneered, "Our Chenji Cloth Shop is open for business, not for people to insult!"

Chuhuan's face turned cold. Suniang, seeing people gathering around, tugged at Chuhuan's clothes and said, "Erlang, let's go, we'll look at other shops!" She knew that although Chuhuan usually seemed kind, he had a short temper. A few words might lead to a physical fight. Seeing Chuhuan's expression, she knew he might be about to act.

Just arrived in the city, unfamiliar with the place, Suniang really didn't want to see Chuhuan get into a big fight because of her.

The shop assistant, seeing Chuhuan's unfriendly expression, was actually a bit scared and took a step back, "What? Are you going to hit someone on the street?"

Chuhuan took a deep breath, seeing Suniang's concern, and said calmly, "If you don't want to get hit, apologize to my sister. If you do, I'll let you off today!"

"Big talk!" the shop assistant said angrily, "Why should I apologize to her? Her dirty hands touched my cloth, can't I even say something?"

Chuhuan, hearing him call Suniang's hands dirty, smiled coldly and was about to act. At that moment, a voice said, "What's going on? What are you doing here?" A man in a brocade robe with a square hat and two small mustaches, who looked like the shop owner, quickly walked out from the cloth shop.

The shop assistant hurriedly said, "Boss, someone is causing trouble!" At this point, three or four other shop assistants had come out, all looking coldly at Chuhuan.

The shop owner, seeing Chuhuan, showed a strange expression, looking left and right, then suddenly ran up, grabbed Chuhuan's hand, and said excitedly, "Benefactor, it's you? I've been looking for you!"

The shop owner's sudden behavior made everyone around stunned, and Chuhuan was also puzzled. Seeing the shop owner's excited face and tightly gripping his hand, he frowned and said, "Boss, you... have the wrong person?"

The shop owner laughed and said, "Benefactor, my eyes are good, I won't make a mistake." He leaned in, lowered his voice, and said softly, "Benefactor, do you remember Jing River? Do you remember that ancient temple?"

Chuhuan was stunned, suddenly understanding something, and asked, "Could you have been there too?"

The shop owner nodded and laughed, "Yes, yes, I was there that day. Benefactor, you might not remember, but I will never forget your life-saving grace. I remember your appearance very clearly!"

Chuhuan finally understood. That time, a group of people were kidnapped by Lin Daier's bandits, and he had saved them. The shop owner had been among them. The world was indeed full of coincidences.

Thinking of their shared hardship, Chuhuan's anger subsided a bit, and he smiled and asked, "Did you escape? That's good."

Suniang's face was full of surprise. This wealthy shop owner was so enthusiastic toward Chuhuan, and even called him "benefactor." She was very puzzled, feeling that Chuhuan was becoming more and more mysterious, always having strange things happen to him.

At this moment, the shop assistant was the most terrified, finding the scene before him unbelievable.

The shop owner was very excited, pulling Chuhuan's hand and leading him inside, saying, "Benefactor, come in, come in. I must thank you personally. Zhang Shun, go get some tea... Oh, go to the neighboring pastry shop and buy some good pastries. Wang Mazi, go to Shunfeng Hall and book a table. I'll invite the benefactor for a drink at noon!"

Chuhuan was momentarily flustered by his enthusiasm. The shop owner was really too热情了，笑着说：“不要这么客气……！” 店主看到素娘站在楚欢身边，忙问道：“这位是？”

“这是……家姐！”楚欢说。

店主忙热情道：“恩公姐姐快请进，来来来，屋子里生了炭火，暖和得很，这外面寒！”他一时不知如何称呼，竟称呼素娘为“恩公姐姐”，颇为滑稽。

素娘见店主如此，反而有了底气，板着脸道：“我不敢进去，你们家的布都不能摸，哪里还能进你们家的门！”

店主一怔，不明白意思，奇道：“这话从何说起！”

素娘也不隐瞒，将刚才的事儿说了一遍，这店主听完，怒不可遏，转过头，二话不说，一脚便将那呆若木鸡的店伙计踢翻在地，骂道：“你坏了布庄的名声事小，对恩公如此怠慢，我也容你不得。”叫道：“王麻子，带这狗东西去账房算清工钱，让他滚出布庄，以后不许踏进布庄一步！”

那店伙计爬起来跪在地上求饶，一把鼻涕一把泪，楚欢本想为他求情，但又想此人心性不好，留在布庄反到是真的坏了布庄名声，而且欺辱过素娘，店主出手处置，倒也是恰到好处。

那王麻子已经上前来，高头极大，身强力壮，抓小鸡儿似地拎着那店伙计过去，口里还骂道：“平日里眉高眼低，早就该滚出布庄了！”

店主这才向楚欢拱手表示歉意道：“恩公，下面的人不懂事，你切莫放在心上，都是我管教不严，我向您赔罪！”又向素娘道：“恩公姐姐，你大人大量，莫和他一般见识！”

素娘刚才受到那等耻辱，却也不是一下就能消气，看了楚欢一眼，才道：“我是小女子，没有大人大量。二郎，你自进去，我在街上逛一逛，看看还有没有其他的地方卖衣裳！”转身扭着纤腰便走。

店主有些尴尬，楚欢却已经笑道：“东家不要介意，家姐是这个脾气，很快就好。”

店主呵呵一笑，拉着楚欢进了店铺，连声道：“来来来，恩公，我这里有好茶，你来品一品！”

……

……

素娘心中余怒未消，也不进布庄，自己沿着长街往前走。

只是她心里现在还觉得奇怪，楚欢为何能随意拿出两大锭银子，瞧那分量，还不是小数目，难道这是预付的工钱？若真是如此，苏家也未免太好了吧。

素娘虽然是乡下人，但是却并非愚蠢村妇，颇为聪明，觉着天下没有掉下来的馅饼，苏家如此笼络，难不成还真有什么不可告人的秘密。

一想到这里，素娘就为楚欢担心起来。

楚欢如今是楚家唯一的男子，说白了，不但楚李氏日后要楚欢照料，自己这个寡嫂也是要楚欢照顾的，素娘可不希望楚欢惹上麻烦。

心里下定决心，回头定要问明楚欢银子的来路，若真是苏家所赠，自己定要提醒楚欢小心，可别被别人设计而不自知。

“姑娘，要算一卦吗？我瞧你有大灾啊！”一个低沉的声音打断了素娘的思绪。素娘只觉得声音就在耳边，有些奇怪，扭头看过去，发现路边一房檐下背风处摆着个卦摊，旁边插着根棍子，上面飘着布帆，写着一个大大的“卜”字，用一个黑色的圆圈圈着。

卦摊后面，坐着一个老道士，面色清瘦，仙风道骨，双目颇有神韵。

桌子上铺着一块黑布，有些神秘，放着一方砚台，旁边是竹筒竹签一类算命的家伙什。

素娘见这老道正看着自己这边，左右看了看，身边还真没有其他人，不由指了指自己胸口，也不说话，那意思是问老道士是与她说话吗？

老道士抚着白须，含笑点头，一副神秘莫测仙风道骨模样，看上去就像一个脱俗出尘的老神仙一般。

------------------------------------------------------------

ps: 为那些打赏捧场沙漠的书友加更一章，人数太多，名字就不写上来，但是你们的名字沙漠都记着，谢谢你们！

{飘天文学www.piaotia.com感谢各位书友的支持，您的支持就是我们最大的动力}

翻页上AD开始

翻页上AD结束

---

Suniang's anger had not completely subsided, and she didn't enter the cloth shop. Instead, she walked along the long street.

She still felt puzzled. How could Chuhuan casually take out two large ingots of silver? Judging by their weight, it wasn't a small amount. Could this be advance payment for work? If so, the Su family was really too good.

Suniang, though from the countryside, was not a stupid village woman. She was quite intelligent and realized that there was no such thing as a free lunch. The Su family's efforts to win her over might hide some secret agenda.

Thinking of this, she became worried about Chuhuan.

Chuhuan was now the only man in the Chu family. To put it bluntly, not only would Chu Li's future depend on Chuhuan's care, but she, as a widow, would also need his support. Suniang didn't want Chuhuan to get into trouble.

She made up her mind to ask Chuhuan about the source of the silver when she returned. If it was indeed from the Su family, she would remind Chuhuan to be cautious, so he wouldn't be manipulated without realizing it.

"Miss, would you like to have your fortune told? I see a great calamity for you!" A deep voice interrupted Suniang's thoughts. She felt the voice was right next to her ear, which was a bit strange. She turned her head and saw a fortune-telling stand under a sheltered eave by the roadside. A stick with a cloth sail was stuck in the ground, with a large "卜" (fortune) character in a black circle.

Behind the stand sat an old Taoist priest, with a gaunt face, a transcendent demeanor, and piercing eyes.

The table was covered with a black cloth, giving it a mysterious air. There was an inkstone and various fortune-telling tools like bamboo tubes and sticks.

Suniang saw the old Taoist looking at her. She looked around and realized there was no one else nearby. She pointed to her chest, not speaking, asking if the old Taoist was talking to her.

The old Taoist stroked his white beard, smiled, and nodded, looking like a transcendent and mysterious old sage.

------------------------------------------------------------

ps: I'm adding an extra chapter for the readers who supported me. There are too many of you to name, but I remember all of your names. Thank you!

{Piaotian Literature www.piaotia.com Thank you for your support. Your support is our greatest motivation}

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends