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  In the summer, Auntie usually doesn't go out through the black lacquer gate, but instead takes a shortcut through the grocery store. Coming out from the front of the grocery store, Xishi Street is already bustling with people coming and going. Li Xia worries that Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei Yu will find it too noisy to live here, but in fact, Xiao Hei Yu doesn't like this place very much.

  For naughty kids, the hustle and bustle at all times is what they like best. Their sleep will not be affected by this, they love to wake up with a lively atmosphere right in front of their eyes and ears.

  Xia Dagu's destination, the Wang family silk store, was also on West City Street, not far from the grocery store. So Xia Dagu didn't take a carriage either, and led the children to walk slowly over.

  They didn't bring Da Qing out this time, because Zhen Zhu wasn't willing. Xiao Hei Yu Er skipped and jumped as he walked, sometimes holding Xia Zhi's hand, and sometimes running off to the side stalls to look at people selling birds, insects, and all sorts of novel things.

  It's still early now, and the morning market hasn't completely dispersed yet.

  Xia Dagu kept calling out to the little black fish, not letting it run too far. The little black fish responded quickly, but whenever it saw something new and interesting, it would still run over to take a look.

  "Sixteen, follow your uncle, follow your uncle." Xia Dagu called out to Sixteen. Watching as Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei ran back and forth with light steps, Xia Dagu couldn't help but smile and sigh at the same time. When Xia Zhi walked back over to her again, she said to him: "Thanks to you, if it were just me, I really wouldn't be able to manage him."

  Xia Zhi smiled: "Old uncle is actually very well-behaved." Little Black Fish, although he didn't come down to be honest, still took care of Xia Da Gu and wouldn't run away without a word.

  "It's just you who says that. Your grandfather and grandmother both said that your uncle is very mischievous. Every time they take him out, they have to worry a lot and run around."

  "Haha." Xia Zhi couldn't help but laugh out loud. Little Hei Yu was probably like that when he was even younger, but now he really is more sensible.

  The rare pearl also burst out laughing, and Xia Dagu's words were really quite interesting.

  "So my grandfather and grandmother found a big green for him." Xia Zhi said. With the big green, the safety factor of the little black fish increased exponentially.

  Xia Dagu nodded, Xia Laoye and Xia Laotaitai knew the reason why they raised Xiao Hei Yu'er and Da Qing.

  They chatted and laughed all the way, and soon they arrived in front of Wang's Silk Store. Wang's Silk Store had a four-bay facade, much more luxurious than Guo's general store. The shopkeeper and the young clerk obviously knew Xia Daguni, warmly greeting Guo Dainai.

  In Western City Street, people all call Xia Dagu "Guo Dainai".

  "Old Mrs. Guo has brought her big girl to buy fabric for clothes! Our store just received a batch of high-quality silk from Suzhou and Hangzhou, with the most fashionable patterns. Ah, these two young masters and misses are..."

  This is all thanks to Xia Dagu bringing Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei along.

  "This is my little brother, and this is my mother's niece. Her father teaches at the Wenshan Academy." Xia Dagou introduced simply to the shopkeeper.

  The shopkeeper said a few more polite words and then let the young clerk bring out some new silk fabrics for Xia Dagou to choose from.

  Xia Dagu originally only planned to make a set of clothes for Xiao Hei Yu and Xia Zhi each. The new clothes for Pearl this season were already made earlier. This time, in order to comfort Pearl, she brought her over and added another set of clothes for her.

  Pearl obviously had also come to be familiar with it, and she didn't wait for Xia Dagu to pick out the goods for her. Instead, she picked out the patterns she liked herself and asked the young shop assistant to bring them over for her to take a closer look. Xia Dagu smiled and, while keeping an eye on Pearl, helped Xiao Hei Yu and Xia Zhi choose fabrics. She picked out several that she thought were quite good and then asked Xiao Hei Yu and Xia Zhi which one they liked best.

  "It's all right." Xiao Hei Yu didn't care much about the new clothes, so he let Xia Da Gu make the decision for him. Then he also instructed Xia Da Gu, "Choose the best-looking one for Shi Liu."

  "Alright, alright." Xia Dagu smiled and first picked out a piece of blue satin for Xiao Hei Yu, then she picked several pieces of red, green, and other colors for Xia Zhi to choose from.

  Xia looked down at her own sea of red clothes and finally chose a light blue fabric. Xia's aunt carefully looked again, then smiled and nodded: "Sixteen has good taste." Generally, light blue colors are more subdued, showing age, but the piece Xia chose was not only simple, but also had excellent color, not heavy at all.

  The shopkeeper on the side also said that Xia Zhi's choice was good. "This rain-washed blue is also a new material from Suzhou and Hangzhou, it sells very well, our master only bought a few pieces. The little girl looks fair and white, wearing this color of clothes is perfect."

  Zhenzhu had already picked out two pieces of fabric, and when she heard the shopkeeper say that, she told Xia Dagou that she also wanted one.

  "How many sets of clothes have you made this year? It's still not enough. At home, it's all your additions to the clothes that are numerous." Xia Dagu scolded Zhenzhu with a sentence.

  "Mother, I just want this piece." Zhenzhu immediately said, and somewhat resentfully told Xia Dagou, "We've been at my maternal grandmother's house for these few days, and Yuhuan has made three more skirts. Compared to her, the ones I added are much fewer."

  Yuexing's auntie's husband's daughter, who lives next door to Xia's family. She knew that Pearl had returned and came over yesterday to see her, showing off her new clothes and accessories for half a day.

  "Don't compare yourself with others," said Xia Dagu, but she had the young man pick up all the fabrics with pearls. There was a tailor in this shop, and Xia Dagu took several children into the shop and sat down, immediately calling the tailor to take their measurements.

  Xiao Hei Yu Er's outfit was a set of three new ones, inside and out: a small dress, a middle dress, and a long gown. Xia Zhi Ye also had a set of three new ones, inside and out: a light blue fine cotton small dress, a white standing collar middle dress, and a set of rain-washed sky blue Hangzhou silk shirts and skirts, all in the most popular style in the city at the time.

  In addition, Xia Dagu made three more skirts for Zhenzhu.

  "Wang's sister, the clothes for Pearl don't have to be rushed, but my younger brother and niece need them urgently. However, the workmanship can't be poor." Xia Dagu counted out the money from her purse while instructing the tailor.

  Wang's sister-in-law responded repeatedly. She was a neat middle-aged woman and also familiar with Xia Dagu.

  "It's been a few days since we last met, and our Pearl girl is looking more and more lovely." Wang Dajie couldn't help but take another two glances at Pearl, smiling as she spoke.

  Pearl's face was slightly flushed, and her eyes sparkled with a triumphant light.

  "You always praise her, look at my niece, isn't she being compared unfavorably?" said Xia Dagu.

  The sparkle in Pearl's eyes dimmed, and she seemed to glance at Xia Zhi unintentionally. Xia Zhi lowered his head to talk to the little black fish, completely ignoring Wang Shu's words, and even more so, Pearl's expression.

  The queen looked at Xia Zhi, then at Pearl, and smiled: "Just now I didn't notice it, but now that I take a closer look, I found out. The little girl and the big madam are quite alike. No wonder the big madam favors her niece so much. Who doesn't know that our Pearl is a flower in the western market? At this age, she's still young, and after another two years, oh, she'll be even more beautiful."

  The pearl's complexion immediately turned from cloudy to clear.

  Xia Zhi also raised her head and took a few more glances at Wang Shu. She didn't know what kind of seamstress this woman was yet, but she was obviously very good with words.

  Xia Dagou told Wang Shuo to finish making the clothes and then send them home, and then took a few children out of the silk store. Standing on Xishi Street again, Xia Dagou asked Xia Zhi and Xiao Heiyu: "Do you want to stroll around some more?"

  "Xiao Hei Yu naturally wanted to stroll around, Xia Zhi also wanted to take a look around, but she knew that Xia Da Gu still had many things to do. 'Da Gu, we won't stroll today.'"

  Xia Zhi said so, and Xiao Hei Yu didn't say anything even if he was a bit unwilling. He still obediently held Xia Zhi's hand. Xia Zhi knew what he wanted to do and would definitely arrange it well.

  Back home, Xia Dagu let Xia Zhi, Xiao Hei Yu and Pearl play together, while she took Liu Sao and Xiao Hong to start busy. Many quilts, clothes and bedding at home need to be sorted out and washed, the yard also needs to be cleaned up, and the valuable goods in the wing room also need to be swept and counted.

  Although Xia Dagu doesn't often go into the front shop, she has to help manage the goods and business of the shop.

  Xia Zhi came over to help, and Xia Dagu made a slight demur before accepting. Xia Zhi was very clever, not only dexterous but also literate, and with her help, Xia Dagu felt that the work in her hands became much easier.

  The little black fish and Pearl don't play together. Pearl is alone in the west wing, while he runs out to play with Big Green under the grape arbor in the courtyard.

  Xia Zhi and Xia Da Gu were chatting while working. As they chatted, their topic turned to Wang Shu's wife.

  "It's not easy for a widow with three kids to make ends meet." Xia Dagu told Xia Zhi that Wang Shuo was able to get orders from the tailor shop because she and the owner of the silk store were from the same clan. She didn't do all the work herself, either - there were several other tailors under her who did good work.

  "There are some who are jealous of her, but otherwise there's nothing wrong with her. Everyone in Xishi Street knows her," said Xia Dagou again.

  "Is she just a seamstress?" Xia Zhi asked.

  Xia Dagou raised her eyes and took a glance at Xia Zhi, then lowered her head again: "Apart from being a seamstress, she also does some matchmaking and go-between work."

  Xia Zhi couldn't help but laugh, thinking that this was the only way to live up to Wang Shu's eloquence.

  "Auntie!" A little girl came running from the front, smiling all over her face and calling out to Xia Dagou.

  "Ah, it's Yuhuan who has arrived."

  Guo Yuhuan came over and affectionately called Xia Zhi "Fourth Sister", then praised Xia Zhi for being capable and able to help Xia Dagu with her work.

  "I'm just chatting with my aunt, and I'm bored so I'll just do some random chores. Is there anything that needs to be done around here?" Xia Zhi said with a smile.

  Xia Dagu smiled: "Yuhuan, you and Zhenzhu are just the same, it's time for you to learn from your fourth sister. Your mother and I will be able to worry less."

  Guo Yuhuan pursed her lips and still had a smile all over her face. She asked Xia Daguni, "Where's Pearl?"

  "Zhenzhu is in the house, go and play with her." Xia Dagu said, then advised Xia Zhi, "Sixteen, you also go and play with your two sisters for a while."

  (。)