newbobooks Chapter 347
Chapter 347
When Li Zhiwei arrived at Liangqi Courtyard, Xu Qingshi was right in the middle of stretching his limbs in the yard. Seeing her arrive, he ran over with great joy."Pretty sister, are you here to see me?" Unlike Li Tianyou, who was incredibly weak at the moment, Xu Qingshi showed no signs of frailty.
Right now, he was full of life and energy.
Li Zhiwei stared at Xu Qingshi blankly, a deep suspicion rising in her heart. Could it be that during the two days her father was missing, he wasn't actually with Xu Qingshi?
Otherwise, how could there be such a stark contrast between them?
"Pretty sister?" Xu Qingshi waved his little hand in front of Li Zhiwei's face, wondering why this pretty sister had come all the way to his place just to space out.
"It's nothing. I just came to check on you. Seeing that you're fine puts my mind at ease," Li Zhiwei quickly snapped out of her daze and smiled at him.
"Have you been to see Grandfather?" Xu Qingshi asked curiously, thinking of Li Tianyou, who had shared the ordeal with him.
"I've seen him. He is fine. As for you, make sure to get a good rest." After saying this to Xu Qingshi, Li Zhiwei felt her words were somewhat illogical.
After all, Xu Qingshi really didn't look like he needed to recover from anything.
"Hehe, pretty sister, I knew you treated me the best," Xu Qingshi said happily, affectionately holding Li Zhiwei's hand.
Li Zhiwei was taken aback for a moment. She didn't even know herself—did she treat him the best?
Although Xu Qingshi had lost his mother, everyone doted on him. Despite being a bit naughty, Prince An and The Old Princess had raised him exceptionally well.
At this thought, Li Zhiwei affectionately patted his head.
Jubao Pavilion
"Miss Cheng, my apologies," Huo Yunzhi said, looking at Cheng Qingli with a smug expression.
She hadn't expected Cheng Qingli's luck to be so terrible.
She had effortlessly won two rounds against her already. Huo Yunzhi felt certain that she would be the ultimate winner.
After all, in a best-of-five match, she had already secured two victories.
"Secondary Consort Huo is speaking a bit too soon," Cheng Qingli said, the corners of her lips curling up slightly. She thought to herself that she had deliberately let the manager go easy just now.
Otherwise, how else could she get Huo Yunzhi to lower her guard?
Trying to humiliate her with three thousand taels of silver?
A faint trace of mockery lifted the corners of Cheng Qingli's mouth.
Standing nearby, Manager Xu looked at the triumphant Huo Yunzhi and silently lit a candle of pity for her in his heart.
However smug she was right now, that was exactly how miserable she would be later, wouldn't she?
After all, Manager Xu had actually heard of the second miss of the Cheng family.
She was far from being as harmless as she appeared.
In the capital, quite a few young masters from noble families had suffered defeat at her hands.
Because the second miss of the Cheng family was beautiful, some blind fools inevitably tried to take liberties with her.
But as for someone as high-profile as the madam in front of him, Manager Xu felt it was his first time encountering such a case.
However, right now, all he needed to do was play his role as the dealer well.
These matters had nothing to do with him.
"Miss Cheng, when a person's luck arrives, it simply cannot be stopped. And when your luck is bad, you can't shake it off no matter how hard you try," Huo Yunzhi said, covering her mouth to hide a snicker. Ever since Cheng Qingli stepped into Jubao Pavilion, she hadn't seen her win a single time.
What did this mean? It meant her luck today had hit rock bottom.
Huo Yunzhi felt immensely proud of herself. She would take over Qin Pavilion without breaking a sweat.
When the time came, she would definitely open a teahouse that was a level above Qingyu Studio.
Qingyu Studio didn't welcome her?
Her Yunzhi Pavilion wouldn't welcome those people either.
Yunzhi Pavilion was the name she had decided on.
She believed that with her intelligence, managing a small teahouse would be a piece of cake.
"Dealer, what are you waiting for?" Cheng Qingli didn't waste any more words, thinking to herself that Huo Yunzhi truly wouldn't shed a tear until she saw the coffin.
Today, she was going to show her what happened when one got too cocky.
"Miss Cheng, you've just lost all your stakes," Huo Yunzhi pointed out smugly. She had just won two rounds, which were merely Cheng Qingli's hundred-tael banknote split into two bets.
Speaking of which, the hundred-tael banknote she just won made Liu San and his group red-eyed with jealousy.
However, they didn't dare cause trouble in Jubao Pavilion. Although they didn't know who the boss behind the scenes was, they knew the person was extremely powerful—someone people like them couldn't afford to provoke.
But so what? This woman couldn't stay inside Jubao Pavilion forever.
At this thought, Liu San and the others began to rub their hands together in eager anticipation.
As long as they could subdue that woman, never mind the hundred taels—judging by her demeanor, she definitely had a lot more money on her.
Thinking of this, Liu San shot a meaningful glance at the men beside him.
"I bet on small!" Cheng Qingli placed one of her gold hairpins on the small section.
"Second Miss Cheng, you should think this through carefully." Seeing Cheng Qingli's exquisite gold hairpin, Huo Yunzhi's eyes brimmed with laughter. After all, this item would soon be hers as well.
One glance was enough to tell that the gold hairpin was no ordinary item. Although she wasn't lacking in such things, who would ever complain about having too many fine items?
"Since you put it that way, I should think about it." After saying this, Cheng Qingli picked up the gold hairpin, putting on a show of great hesitation.
Manager Xu took one look at the gold hairpin and thought to himself: Does Her Majesty the Empress know you're using the gold hairpin she bestowed upon you as gambling stakes?
Items bestowed by the royal family were all registered in official ledgers and could not be traded. If this madam actually won it, it would instead bring her massive trouble.
"Hey, didn't we agree that a move made cannot be taken back? How can you go back on your word?" Hearing this, Huo Yunzhi became somewhat displeased.
"What are you rushing for? I've lost so miserably, shouldn't I think carefully about how to win it back?" Cheng Qingli glared at Huo Yunzhi, speaking with a look of displeasure.
As Cheng Qingli's words fell, muffled laughter could be heard from unknown onlookers.
Many people had just been watching Cheng Qingli place her bets, watching her lose hand after hand.
Ever since Cheng Qingli came in, no one had seen her win. Everyone looked at the girl with a bit of sympathy.
At least they had won a few times, but this silly girl just kept losing continuously. Yet, it seemed as if the more she lost, the more energized she became.
She had already lost hundreds of taels of silver, yet showed no signs of stopping.
It was hard to tell if she simply came from a wealthy family or if she was just a newborn calf unafraid of tigers.
"I bet on small!" Cheng Qingli hesitated back and forth between big and small for a while, but ultimately placed the gold hairpin firmly on small.
"Why bother with all this unnecessary effort?" Without a second thought, Huo Yunzhi placed her hundred taels on the table.
"What, is Madam Huo out of money? Only betting a hundred taels? Are you trying to dismiss a beggar? This gold hairpin of mine is a peony gold hairpin crafted personally by Master Lu. It is priceless and impossible to buy on the market," Cheng Qingli said, looking at the mere hundred taels with disdain.
She had no intention of making a losing deal.
At the very least, she had to make Huo Yunzhi bleed a little.
Otherwise, wouldn't she have wasted all this time playing with her for nothing?
"Then I'll add another three thousand taels!" Huo Yunzhi pulled out the three thousand taels she carried with her without hesitation. It didn't matter to her; these things would return to her sooner or later anyway.