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Chapter 22

Seeing that Li Xia showed no sign of realizing her mistake, Auntie Mei reached over and twisted her ear sharply. Nursing her reddened ear, Li Xia returned to her room feeling sullen. She reflected on her behavior. Li Hui had to prepare for the county examination, so her frequent visits weren't very appropriate. She recalled the last time she visited Li Hui's study, seeing him rubbing his hands after finishing an essay, shivering from the cold. As the weather turned chilly, writing must make his hands freeze. With this in mind, Li Xia called out, "Qiu Shui!"

Qiu Shui, who had been sitting by the door doing needlework, set it aside and entered upon hearing Li Xia's voice. "Young Miss."

"Qiu Shui, fetch me some cotton fabric, cotton batting, fur, and needles and thread," said Li Xia, who normally never took up needlework herself. Qiu Shui was momentarily dazed before realizing she needed to retrieve the requested items from the embroidery room.

After inspecting that they were what she needed, Li Xia nodded and stopped Qiu Shui, who was about to leave. "Qiu Shui, stay. I'll guide you through making them." Li Xia's words initially gave Qiu Shui a sense of elation, which quickly dissipated. She shouldn't have expected anything from her young miss. Following Li Xia's instructions, Qiu Shui made knee pads, gloves, and thick wool socks.

Examining the items Qiu Shui made under her guidance, Li Xia nodded approvingly, "I'm quite talented." Standing beside her, Qiu Shui mentally reminded herself, "She's the young miss," though she couldn't help giving Li Xia a subtle eye-roll.

Li Xia brought the gloves she made to the Songtao Study. Li Hui received the gloves from her with some surprise, realizing this girl had actually made them for him. After trying them on, he found he could write indoors with the fingerless gloves. Outdoors, with the fingers covered, finer tasks were difficult, but general activities were manageable.

The gloves weren't difficult to make, but the fact that Li Xia thought of it showed her ingenuity. Made of wool and fur, his hands warmed up quickly while wearing them.

As Li Xia browsed the shelves for new travel journals to borrow, preparing to leave after making her selections, she noticed Li Hui watching her with a rather complicated gaze. Lowering her head, Li Xia asked, "Elder Brother, is there something about me?"

"How did you make these gloves?" Li Hui averted his eyes and inquired about the gloves' construction.

"Oh, it's quite simple. If Elder Brother wants to know, I can have Qiu Shui instruct Wen Zhu." She only described the general process, as Qiu Shui did the actual making, which Li Xia couldn't explain in detail.

Li Hui instructed Wen Zhu to bring the female embroiderer to the Lan Study to learn from Qiu Shui how to make different styles of gloves. Qiu Shui didn't expect Li Hui to take an interest in the gloves, even having the embroiderer learn the method. After Qiu Shui demonstrated once, the embroiderer understood and soon produced a pair of gloves with finer, more attractive craftsmanship.

After Auntie Mei's reprimand, Li Xia reduced her visits, though not coming at all was impossible - the books were too captivating to leave unfinished, which she felt would be disrespectful to herself and the books. However, when she came to borrow books, why did Li Hui hand her a box?

Li Xia looked at Li Hui, perplexed, making no move to take the box on the table. Li Hui picked up the box and handed it to Li Xia. At his prompting, Li Xia accepted and opened it. The glittering silver inside was almost blinding, causing her to blink reflexively. When she opened her eyes again, the box contained two rows of silver ingots.

Li Xia's expression amused Li Hui - at times, this sister was overly sensitive, yet at others, obliviously dull to the point of leaving one speechless.

"From the glove-making method I learned from you, I made a tidy profit. Consider this your share," Li Hui explained the origin of the silver, omitting how much he had actually earned, which Li Xia didn't ask about.

Understanding where the silver came from, Li Xia contentedly accepted it. She took out her purse, removed one ingot from the box, and put it inside her purse before closing the box and leaving with it and the books.

Li Hui deduced the reason behind Li Xia's action, furthering his understanding of her character.

Mrs. Lu also learned about Li Hui profiting from Li Xia's glove-making method. Previously, Mrs. Lu had questioned Auntie Mei about Li Xia's behavior. Li Hui was aware of this, but couldn't really object to Mrs. Lu's concerns.

Now that this matter had arisen, it would be good for Li Hui to mention it to Mrs. Lu, as well as the connections he had made with the military through this, which could benefit his future prospects.

Upon hearing this account, any dissatisfaction Mrs. Lu previously had with Li Xia dissipated. When Auntie Mei came to pay her respects, Mrs. Lu unexpectedly invited her to dine together, leaving Auntie Mei utterly baffled. After the anxious meal, Auntie Mei returned to the Mei Study to find Li Xia eating pastries, with a box beside her. Seeing Auntie Mei enter, Li Xia tilted her chin, indicating for her to open the box.

Auntie Mei approached and opened it to reveal a large box of silver ingots. Counting them, there were 19 in total - one weighing 50 taels, amounting to 950 taels in all, with the missing one clearly being in Li Xia's purse.

"Where did you get this money?" Auntie Mei closed the box and asked Li Xia.

"From Elder Brother," Li Xia replied matter-of-factly, proceeding to recount the whole story. While Li Xia didn't grasp the significance, Auntie Mei understood perfectly. Watching her daughter happily eat, she thought, "The foolish truly have foolish fortunes." With Li Hui's favor, her daughter would be taken care of even after marrying out, which Auntie Mei could be content with.

Since the silver's origins were legitimate, Auntie Mei had no objections. She picked up the box and took it to store away in the inner room.

Only a few people knew about this matter; others remained unaware. Nonetheless, Li Hui's kindness towards Li Xia drew Auntie An's disdainful scorn at Auntie Mei, claiming she had no backbone without a son and had to ingratiate herself with others. In contrast, Auntie An could hold her head high. As for Li Shan, she was green with envy, wishing Li Hui would treat her with the same care he showed Li Xia. Despite having a younger brother in Li Yao, he was too young. She poured out her grievances to Aunt Wang.

"Enough!" Aunt Wang slapped the table, cutting off Li Shan's complaints. "If you want Li Hui to treat you well, you need to treat others well too. Look at that Li Xia girl - she's always visiting the Songtao Study and giving handmade shoes and socks as gifts. But you? You haven't even sewn a single stitch for me or your brother." Aunt Wang looked at Li Shan, who only knew how to complain, thinking to herself how she could have raised such a foolish girl.

"Li Xia is just a fawning slut," Li Shan snapped viciously when Aunt Wang failed to sympathize and even criticized her instead.

"Don't fixate on Li Xia. I'll ask you - have you taken control of the kitchen yet?" Previously, when Li Shan took over the kitchen, Aunt Wang had instructed her to master it swiftly and find an opportunity to replace the purchasers with people from Aunt Wang's maiden family, in order to siphon off silver. In this manor, having people to do one's bidding required money.

In the years since joining the manor, Aunt Wang hadn't acquired many people under her employ. During Mrs. Lu's recent crackdown on gambling in the manor, the few servants Aunt Wang had bribed were sold off. Left with no one to utilize, Aunt Wang wrote to her hometown in Bailang County, asking her family to send help. Her younger brother and his wife came, but had been idling with no tasks. Aunt Wang had been supporting them daily, growing increasingly anxious for Li Shan to take full control of the kitchen so she could start embezzling funds.