Chapter 416: Chapter 415: All Show and No Substance—She’s the Impressive One!
Shen Hua could sense that she, by her own strength, had become even more despised here than Madam Qiu.
She was proud!
Those disdainful glances came her way, carrying a condescending tone. The girl took it not as shame, but as glory.
As lunchtime approached, everyone finally stood up together and moved to another place.
In the bright sunny day, the flowers were vying for beauty, and the banquet was set in the garden.
Shen Hua followed the crowd leisurely.
He Yuan suddenly spoke.
"You’re spending so extravagantly, are you not afraid that Young Master Yang will know and be angered?"
She couldn’t bear it anymore.
Yang Yu was her future husband, a matter that was firmly decided. Shen Hua was doing this, was it not to show off how much Yang Yu cared for her!
He Yuan knew she should not be envious, and when she married Yang Yu, she should also prepare several beautiful and fertile maids for dowry to win Yang Yu’s heart for her.
But for someone like Shen Hua, she deemed her too filthy even for a glance!
Such nonsense of a concubine!
Hearing the words, Shen Hua suddenly laughed.
But her laugh was not at all arrogant. Rather, she was like Bai Lianhua, using her slender jade-like fingers, which were painted with bright red rouge, holding a round fan to cover the beautiful half of her face.
The laughter was crisp and pleasant, like a warbler.
"What kind of worries are Lady He fretting over?"
"You are, after all, an unmarried girl, and the young man is happy to give me Silver to spend, let alone these mundane things, he would even be willing to give his life for me."
"Even further back, I used to throw gold pieces into the water for fun."
This was true.
Back then, Shen Zhi was still around, and Mama had not encountered any trouble.
At that time, Yangyang had not experienced any hardships and was naively spoiled and domineering.
She briefly went to school, always haughty. She truly liked to stir up trouble.
In class, Zhou Zhizhi sat upright, absorbing knowledge. Proudly, she stood up to answer the teacher’s questions about father and son, and the teacher nodded his head repeatedly in praise. Most of the girls in the classroom looked at her with envy.
Zhou Zhizhi pretended modesty repeatedly: "It’s all thanks to the teacher’s excellent teaching."
All an act!
Only she is remarkable!
Shen Hua, not knowing how, naturally hoped that no one else would know either.
She then looked at Zheng Qianyu.
A plump one!
Zheng Qianyu was shaking her legs, occasionally burying her head to eat the zongzi candy she had sneakily brought in.
Noticing her gaze, Zheng Qianyu became alert.
"Don’t even think about it, I’m not giving you any."
"As if I’m dying for it!"
"Typical small-mindedness of a ’Mi’ surname!"
For this, Zheng Qianyu was very dissatisfied!
The two quickly started arguing, the teacher was furious! He intentionally scared them.
"I can’t teach you two! If you continue to disrupt the class, go outside and stand as a punishment!"
Zheng Qianyu was greatly displeased but dared not speak again.
But Shen Hua was like an untamed wild horse: "Yay!"
She joyfully said, "Thank you, teacher."
Seeing her about to leave, Zheng Qianyu seemed to see a glimmer of hope and hurriedly followed her.
The teacher, seeing this, took a deep breath and slammed the table: "Come back here!"
Zheng Qianyu dared not move, but she noticed that Shen Hua paused, yet pretended as if she hadn’t heard, sickly quickening her steps to dash outside.
She followed suit, rushing out as well.
Perhaps because of skipping school, Zheng Qianyu felt exhilarated at that moment. Passing by a pond, she called out to the person ahead.
"Hey, my brother taught me to skip stones yesterday, and I really got the hang of it, now I’m truly skilled."
She picked up a thin stone, skillfully tossed it onto the lake surface, and the stone, fulfilling its mission valiantly, skimmed across the water, continuously bouncing forward.
One, two... five times.
Zheng Qianyu: "Do you want to compete with me?"
Shen Hua responded in a whining tone.
"Look, it’s not that difficult, nor something worth showing off."
Zheng Qianyu scoffed.
"Alright then, you try."
She even picked up a stone and handed it to Shen Hua.
"I must see if you can still outdo me?"
Shen Hua was blunt, "I have always believed that I’m exceptionally talented. Moreover, playing skipping stones is just child’s play."
It rained yesterday, and the ground is still damp, the rocks stained with mud and extremely dirty. Not to mention that Zheng Qianyu’s hands were sticky with rice dumpling sugar not long ago.
Shen Hua’s hand, reaching for the rock, paused in mid-air.
She thought about it.
How could a rock showcase her grace?
She naturally had to use the best.
"Just watch, today I’ll broaden your horizons."
Without hesitation, Shen Hua pulled out a piece of gold. Imitating Zheng Qianyu’s stance, she threw it towards the lake with great force.
The water splashed in all directions.
With a ’smack’ sound.
Forget about skipping; the gold sank straight to the bottom.
All around was silent.
The smug smile on Shen Hua’s lips solidified.
She couldn’t believe it!
Why couldn’t Yangyang compare to Zheng Qianyu!
"Hahahaha! You’re just making a fool of yourself!"
"And here I thought you were capable of so much. Just enough to put on that arrogant face earlier."
Zheng Qianyu rarely caught such an opportunity to mock her and didn’t let it go.
Shen Hua’s face was tight, her little mouth trembling as if she had suffered a great injustice.
She was so sad!
The little girl couldn’t accept the fact.
But she didn’t want to admit defeat in front of Zheng Qianyu.
Thus, suppressing the urge to cry, she feigned composure.
"Just now, I was merely testing my technique. It doesn’t count."
Saying this, she pulled out another piece of gold.
’Smack’
As expected, it sank again.
Thus, Zheng Qianyu watched as Shen Hua threw piece after piece of gold. She went from mocking at first to being dumbfounded, and finally, she couldn’t help but interject.
"Enough, you’re throwing it too far, it can’t be retrieved."
"Be sensible, losing to me is not like losing to that little wench Zhou Zhizhi, why such extremes?"
Shen Hua took a deep breath.
She hadn’t listened to a word.
"That’s gold! Gold! Are you out of your mind! If you have too much to spend, give it to me. I’ve only had three cents for snacks these past few days."
Shen Hua looked over expressionlessly.
She stopped throwing.
But she didn’t lower her head in the slightest.
"Zheng Qianyu."
"Hmm?"
Shen Hua passed the money pouch to Zheng Qianyu’s hand: "Do you concede?"
Zheng Qianyu: ...Are you being polite?
But what Shen Hua gave was a lot!
"I concede!"
Compliments came out freely: "I am utterly convinced! You really opened my eyes. I saw the gold skipping across the water surface, from this side to the other, even reaching shore! Look, it’s still hopping now! Who would believe if not seen with one’s own eyes?"
Reflecting on the past, Shen Hua couldn’t help but sit a bit more upright.
That’s right, that was her skill!
Winning honorably and openly.
Yingwu took a deep breath.
Where did it land! She would go retrieve it!
He Yuan, however, was full of disdain, she didn’t believe a word.
The He Family was not short of silver these days, she could buy several hundred taels’ worth of jewelry on a whim while shopping, and the most expensive jewelry set even cost thousands of taels. She didn’t blink while spending money, but she wouldn’t do something as frivolous as throwing silver for fun.
She scornfully said with a sidelong glance: "Flamboyantly extravagant, frivolously luxurious."
"Flamboyantly extravagant, I’ll admit."
"As for frivolous..."
Shen Hua gave her an angry look: "My young man loves me for this very style. Too bad, he just doesn’t like upright people like Lady He."