NOVGO.NET Chapter 396 - Chapter 396: Chapter 372, Out of Line_1
Chapter 396: Chapter 372, Out of Line_1
After lunch, Xiao Yeyang hurried away with Defu.
“I wonder what happened that they rushed to call Yeyang back like that.” Grandma Gu was somewhat uneasy.
Daohua smiled and said, “Grandma, it probably wasn’t anything serious. I saw that Xiao Yeyang was quite relaxed when he left.”
Hearing this, Grandma Gu nodded, then smiled at Daohua and said, “You girl seem to understand Yeyang quite well.”
Daohua’s eyes curved into a smile, “That’s right, after all, I’ve known him for so many years. I might not understand everything about that guy, but I can roughly figure him out eight or nine times out of ten.”
Old Lady Yan said grumpily, “You become out of breath just by saying you’re fat!”
Daohua muttered, “But that’s the truth.” Seeing her own grandmother staring at her, she quickly laughed and changed the subject, “Grandmother, Grandma, Master, you’ve all been sitting for most of the morning, you must be tired. Go take a nap.”
Gu Jian nodded, “As one gets older, the body just doesn’t keep up. Sitting for half the day makes my waist sore.”
Subsequently, all three elderly people went to their respective rooms to rest.
After they lay down, Daohua took Wang Manman down the mountain to the estate.
Upon seeing Daohua, Qin Xiaoliu hastily dropped what he was doing and followed her, “Miss, I’ve got some leads on the estates you told me to look into.”
“The land in Ningmen Prefecture is cheap and many places are sparsely populated. The estates I’ve looked at are all quite big, the smallest being two to three thousand acres, and the largest has tens of thousands.”
Daohua pondered for a moment, “How’s the quality of the soil and the irrigation conditions?”
Qin Xiaoliu replied, “The estates I looked at are all next to rivers. The soil isn’t as good as in Xingzhou, but it’s still pretty decent.” Saying so, he took out some simple maps of several estates from his bosom.
Daohua took a look at them in her hands, then eventually looked at Qin Xiaoliu, “Brother Xiaoliu, we’ve bought estates a few times now, and I trust your judgment. I won’t personally inspect them this time.”
Qin Xiaoliu quickly said, “Miss, rest assured, I’ve thoroughly surveyed these estates, and they’re all a bit better than the others.”
Daohua nodded, finally selecting two estates, a ten-thousand-acre large farm estate and a mid-sized estate of over three thousand acres.
“We’ll call this ten-thousand-acre farm estate Wheat Estate. Get ready, and after the autumn harvest is over, sow the winter wheat.”
Qin Xiaoliu nodded.
Daohua continued, “This smaller estate will be called Vegetable Estate. Organize it, as next year I want to plant tomatoes there.”
Qin Xiaoliu was familiar with tomatoes. Nowadays, all the greenhouses in Taohua Village were filled with them, bright red and beautiful to look at, said to be a new vegetable variety brought over from overseas.
“Alright, you go get busy. I’ve nothing else here.”
Afterward, Daohua and Old Lady Yan stayed for two more days. On August 11, Madam Li sent someone to say that the Xiangyang Glass Store in the town would open on August 13, and Dong Yuanyao along with Su Shiyu were coming over. After saying goodbye to Grandma Gu and Gu Jian, they returned to their estate.
…
Upon returning to the town, the first thing Daohua did was to find a calligraphy and painting shop to mount the portrait Xiao Yeyang had painted for her. On the day Dong Yuanyao and Su Shiyu arrived, they saw the mounted portrait in her bedroom.
“My goodness, Yiyi, who’s the lady artist you found to paint this portrait for you? It’s so lifelike!”
Dong Yuanyao analyzed the portrait closely, and after looking for a while, she pulled on Daohua’s sleeve, “Quick, tell me, I want one for my room as well.”
Su Shiyu also looked over, curious.
Daohua laughed and said, “What lady artist? It was Xiao Yeyang who painted it. That guy’s painting skill is really not bad.”
“What?!”
Dong Yuanyao and Su Shiyu’s eyes widened in unison.
Daohua spoke indifferently, “Why are you all so surprised?”
Dong Yuanyao fell silent for a while, then looked towards Daohua with words hanging in the air, “You… you…”
Seeing her like this, Daohua was puzzled, “What’s up? Why are you speaking so hesitantly? This isn’t like your style.”
Dong Yuanyao took a deep breath, “How could you let an outsider male paint your portrait? Do you realize how… how improper that is?”
Now it was Daohua’s turn to be surprised, “It’s just a painting modeled after me, how is that improper?”
Dong Yuanyao looked around the room, and upon seeing that it was just the three of them, she let out a sigh of relief but still spoke in a low voice, “Haven’t you thought about it? To paint a person’s likeness convincingly, one needs to observe carefully. Look at this painting, it’s of your whole body, what am I supposed to say about you?”
Daohua was stunned, and it took her a long time to understand Dong Yuanyao’s implication. She immediately retorted, “You have a dirty mind, Xiao Yeyang barely even lifted his head while painting.”
Upon hearing this, Dong Yuanyao couldn’t accept it and immediately started arguing with Daohua, while the usually delicate and thoughtful Su Shiyu watched with a gleaming eye.
About painting, she also had some understanding. To paint someone without even looking up, mustn’t one be extremely familiar with that person?
Daohua huffed, “Xiao Yeyang has also painted for my grandmother and the others too. According to what you’re saying, doesn’t that make him…” she struggled to finish her sentence.
Dong Yuanyao, feeling helpless, “That’s different. Elders are elders; you are you.”
Daohua: “What’s the difference? Aren’t we all people?”
Dong Yuanyao: “The emotional investment is different…”
“Yuanyao!”
Su Shiyu suddenly interrupted Dong Yuanyao and tapped her on the forehead, “You girl, your words are getting more and more preposterous, aren’t they?” After saying that, she turned to look at Daohua.
“Miss Yan, don’t listen to her nonsense. It’s just a painting; there’s not so much to it. However, if you are to have your portrait done in the future, it’s better to find a female master.”
Daohua furrowed her brows and glanced at the expressions of both women, then nodded her head.
Dong Yuanyao muttered, “I’m saying this for Yiyi’s sake.” Then, she quickly turned to Daohua, “There’s no one else who knows about this painting, right?”
Daohua: “My grandmother knows.”
Dong Yuanyao: “What about the others?”
Daohua: “It’s just been framed; I haven’t had the chance to show it to my mother and the others yet.”
Dong Yuanyao breathed a sigh of relief, “Don’t let your aunts and others find out about the painting. Otherwise, you will definitely be scolded.”
Daohua was a bit skeptical, “Is it just a painting? Can it be that serious?” After saying that, she turned to look directly at Su Shiyu, feeling that Su Shiyu was more trustworthy.
Su Shiyu nodded her head.
Dong Yuanyao: “Of course it’s serious! Just think about it, in plays and stories, when a man paints a portrait of a woman, what kind of situation is that usually? Generally speaking, when we women have our portraits done, we either hire a female master or… or it is done by our own husbands. What sort of thing is it when an outsider male does it?”
Daohua fell silent, realizing that painting a portrait could lead to so many issues.
Dong Yuanyao glanced at Daohua, thought for a moment, and still said, “I know you and the Little Prince have a good relationship, but… there is a distinction between men and women. Now that you’re both older, you can’t behave without restraint as you did when you were children.”
“Right, with the elder lady, you also need to inform her, in case you accidentally slip up and create trouble. Your household isn’t very peaceful either.”
Daohua nodded her head, then let out a long sigh.
Alas, the restrictions on women in ancient times were too strict.