Daughter of a Western Merchant"【6100】

The imperial examination hall, the living room—

"Tea please..."

When Abi handed two cups of freshly brewed hot tea to Anthony and Elodie, his eyes couldn't stop glancing at the faces of Anthony and Elodie.

Anthony, who was kneeling on the ground in a slightly awkward posture, thanked Abi with a smile: "Thank you."

Elodie, who was sitting side by side with Anthony, bowed to Abi very politely and thanked him.

After nodding his thanks to the grandfather and grandson, Abi quickly left the living room holding the tea tray.

After leaving the living room, Abi saw Shusuke, Kondo, and Okita standing in the corridor outside the living room.

"Auntie." Okita asked in a low voice, "What color are the eyes of those two people?"

"Blue." A Bi, who looked like he had just escaped from the dragon's den, nodded his head seriously, "The pupils of those two are blue."

Hearing what Abi said, Okita quickly put his eyes on the gap in the living room's paper sliding door: "It turns out that Westerners' eyes are really not black..."

At this time, Zhousuke and Kondo also put their eyes close to the crack of the paper sliding door with curious faces, trying to get a good look at Anthony and Elodie through the crack.

Kondo and his family had never seen a Westerner up close and personal, and they couldn't stop the curiosity in their eyes.

"Stop standing here." Abi frowned and drove Okita and others away, "Surrounding outside the living room and looking at others through the crack in the door, how rude is this? They are almost leaving."

While Abi was driving Okita and others outside the hall, Qingden inside the hall had already started talking to Anthony and Elodie.

"Mr. Angoulême, Miss Angoulême, long time no see. Has your health gotten better recently?" Qingdeng first smiled and greeted politely.

Because they want to hide their Western identities, Anthony and Elodie are now wearing kimonos.

Today's Elodie brought a bit of freshness to Qingto - because she was wearing a white and yellow women's kimono that he had never seen her wear before.

Maybe it was because Elodie's hair color was light blond, but Aoto felt that this yellow kimono matched Elodie very well.

Apart from her clothes, Elodie is no different from the Elodie that Qingden knew so well in his memory - her beautiful golden hair is tied into a three-strand braid that falls from her right shoulder to her chest, with "air bangs"

" style forehead hair neatly placed on the smooth forehead, eyes flashing with lively light.

It’s true that I haven’t seen these two grandparents for a long time. I haven’t seen these two people since I returned to Edo at the end of January.

"Mr. Ju, thank you for your concern." Anthony showed a grateful smile to Qingdeng, "Shesun and I have almost recovered."

Although Anthony's Japanese is not fluent, he can pick up all kinds of honorifics and humbly at his fingertips.

In that "Snowy Night Fight", after being severely frightened and seeing the bloody scene of mutilated limbs everywhere, Anthony and Elodie both suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Until they returned to Edo and parted with the grandfather and grandson, they were still in a very depressed state.

Now more than a month has passed, and the mental state of the grandfather and grandson seems to have made great progress, especially Elodie, whose eyes have returned to their original brightness.

It seems that they have indeed recovered from the "psychological trauma".

Qingdeng quite liked the old man Anthony.

Not only because Anthony looks very similar to the old man from KFC, it makes him look very honest and lovable.

It's also because he has a very gentle and polite personality, and it's very comfortable to get along with him and chat with him.

After exchanging pleasantries with Anthony, the conversation gradually got down to the main topic - Anthony began to talk about the reason for his and Elodie's sudden visit tonight.

The purpose of their sudden visit was also very simple - to express their gratitude to Qingdeng, who saved their grandfather and grandson on that snowy night.

Anthony said that they had wanted to come and say thank you for a long time, but due to his and Elodie's poor mental condition, they could only postpone the visit again and again.

In the past two days, after his and Elodie's mental conditions had been greatly restored due to a long period of rest, Anthony immediately asked the government about Qingdeng's current residence, and then without hesitation, he took Elodie to his house tonight.

Come and thank Qing Deng for visiting.

"Mr. Tachibana. I'm very sorry." Elodie folded her hands on her legs, bowed her waist generously and gracefully, and bowed to Qingden. No matter how harsh the critic, it would be difficult for him to find any mistakes.

Bowing in style, "It took us more than a month to come and thank you."

"Ah, it's okay." Qingdeng quickly waved his hand, signaling Elodie to straighten her waist, "I don't mind."

Anthony and the others came with generous thank-you gifts.

As expected of a multinational businessman who can travel across the ocean to do business in Japan, Anthony's financial resources are truly astonishing.

After he and Elodie solemnly bowed to Qingdeng to express their gratitude, he directly handed Qingdeng a large brocade box containing 120 taels of gold...

Qingdeng couldn't help but feel a little flattered by such a huge thank you gift.

Facing the brocade box filled with Huang Chengcheng's large award money that Anthony handed to him, Qingdeng first politely and solemnly thanked Anthony, and then said to Anthony in a somewhat helpless tone:

"Mr. Angoulême, you don't actually need to make a special trip to say thank you."

"You should also know, right? Edo has not been very peaceful recently. It is best for you and Mademoiselle Angoulême to go out less often."

Before Anthony could answer, Elodie smiled and answered for her grandfather in a half-joking tone: "You have such great kindness to us, it would be rude not to come and visit in person!

"

Anthony nodded, and then added: "Don't worry about Elodie and I. I also know that Edo has not been very peaceful recently, so I specially chose to visit at night and brought the bodyguard recommended to me by a friend.

They."

"It is quiet at night and there are no people on the road. It is not easy for outsiders on the street to discover that Elodie and I are Westerners."

"The eight samurai who are staying outside now are all bodyguards recommended to me by an English friend of mine who has lived in Japan for a long time. They are strong and reliable in character."

Anthony and his bodyguards are waiting outside the trial hall, waiting quietly for Anthony and Elodie to come out of the trial hall.

Anthony and Elodie's attitude of insisting on visiting their benefactors even though they knew that Edo was in chaos now made Qingdeng feel a little fond of these two grandfathers and grandsons.

Qingdeng has always had a good impression of people who value friendship.

After respectfully and dignifiedly accepting the gift of thanks from Anthony, Qingdeng began to chat with Anthony.

Unknowingly, they talked about Xiao Shi and others who fought with Qingdeng to the death against the "Expelling Barbarians" that night.

Because many people have not yet recovered from their injuries, Komuro and the others are still in Edo and have not yet set off to return to Osaka. In the middle of last month, Ayoto took the time to visit these people who had fought side by side with him.

Comrades who have passed.

When visiting Komuro and the others, Komuro mentioned to Aomuro that they would not be able to return to Osaka until the end of March.

Anthony said that yesterday he took Elodie to visit Xiao Shi and others who had also saved their lives. He also gave Xiao Shi and others a very generous gift of thanks. Anthony also did not grudge those who unfortunately died in the battle.

Pension.

…

…

Although there are strong bodyguards, the current security situation in Edo is still not suitable for Westerners like Anthony and Elodie to stay outside for too long.

The thanks and gifts have been sent, and the purpose of this trip has been achieved.

So after chatting casually with Qingdeng for a while, Anthony was about to leave.

Qingdeng personally sent Anthony and Elodie to the gate of the trial hall, and then stood there, watching quietly as the figures of his grandfather and grandson, who had once again used their bamboo hats and kerchiefs to cover their faces, gradually disappeared.

In the darkness of night.

"That little girl is so beautiful." At this moment, Okita suddenly rushed out from behind Qingto, standing on tiptoes and looking at Elodie, whose figure had begun to become blurry under the shadow.

"What?" Qingden joked, "Okita-kun, have you fallen in love with me?"

"No." Okita curled his lips without hesitation, "I won't like someone younger than me. That girl shouldn't be more than 14 years old, right?"

Qingden nodded: "Miss Angouleme, she is 12 years old."

"You're only 12..." Okita was stunned, "You're already so cute at such a young age..."

While Okita was silently sighing at Elodie's cute appearance, Qingto couldn't help but raise his gaze and glance a few more times at Elodie's back, which was almost disappearing in the darkness.

Qing Deng was deeply impressed by Elodie's behavior today.

Before this, Qingden's impression of Elodie was that she was lively, active, and friendly to others.

Until just now, Qingdeng saw Elodie's solemn and elegant side for the first time.

Just now, Elodie's every move was so graceful and generous, neither humble nor overbearing.

Sitting quietly next to her grandfather, she and her grandfather saluted Qingdeng in a very decent manner and thanked him.

Among all the people Aoto knows... probably only Chiba Sanako can compete with Elodie to see "whose movements are more elegant."

If Elodie is asked to put on grand costumes and then keep her elegant behavior just now, people might mistakenly think that she is a princess from some European kingdom.

After Elodie and others completely disappeared from sight, Qingto returned to the house with Okita, who ran out to join in the fun.

Okita returned to his room on the second floor.

Qingdeng returned to the living room and packed up the box of thank-you gifts that Anthony had just handed to him.

Opening the brocade box - streams of golden light came out from the box, making Qingden squint his eyes.

After his eyes gradually got used to the golden light, Qingdeng sighed: "Finally, my wallet is not so tight anymore..."

Anthony gave him 120 taels of gold, including the 80 taels of gold given to him by the French Legation and the 50 taels of gold as a reward from the shogunate... Qingden's personal assets that had been wiped out due to the burning of his home became abundant again.

Although at first glance, Qingdeng seems to be extremely wealthy now, with his personal savings exceeding 200 taels of gold, this amount is not enough to solve Qingdeng's current financial problem.

First of all - the money is far from enough for Qingdeng to rebuild his home.

To rebuild their home on the land belonging to the Tachibana family in Hatchobori, they had to buy a large amount of wood and then hire a group of reliable carpenters to help them build the house.

You have to buy wood, hire people, and after building a new house, you have to buy new furniture...

Qingdeng now cannot afford so many expensive projects necessary to rebuild his home.

Secondly - and most importantly, Qingdeng still has to help his father pay off the gambling debt of 520 taels.

In a word, Qingdeng's current savings cannot fill his current funding gap.

But now my wallet is a little richer, which is always a good thing.

There is no rush to rebuild his home. Anyway, he can now live in the Imperial Guard Hall. By saving little by little, he will always be able to save enough money to build a house.
To be continued...