When Yuxi heard Mama Fang say that she had recognised Xiao Wei as her daughter, her face changed slightly, and she no longer reminded her obscurely. Instead, she spoke directly, "Is this family really reliable? Or did they come for Mama's craftsmanship?" Making 30 to 40 taels[1] of silver a month was nothing to the masters of the residence, but it was a handsome income for ordinary people.
Mama Fang hurriedly shook her head. "No, they didn't say that. They said that I should accept the child as a disciple. It was because I am very fond of the child that I came up with the idea."
Yuxi bluntly said, "Mama, I don't agree." It was not because she wouldn't let Mama Fang recognise the child as her adopted daughter. She just didn't believe Mama Fang's eyes.
Mama Fang still wanted to fight for it, as she argued, "Miss, Xiao Wei's family is also wealthy. They won't cast an evil eye[2] on my craftsmanship." She could hardly have said that Yuxi was being over-sensitive.
Mama Fang would think like that, mainly because she felt that this craft was not a great thing and wasn't worth to be calculated.
Yuxi sighed slightly in her heart and said, "Mama, I'll accompany you to adopt one from the Children's Charity Home after a while. Mama, a child, raised from a young age, is more reassuring than an apprentice who comes halfway. " After a pause, she added, "In case the adopted child is heartless, I will nurse mama till the end of the family[3]."
Mama Fang was filled with grief and said, "Miss, I just looked at Xiao Wei and saw that she resembles my daughter, who died young. Since Miss said she was unreliable, then just forget it. "She had been married before, but unfortunately, her marriage life was not good. The second year she got married, her husband passed away, and her daughter passed away when she was four.
Yuxi felt a little guilty. "Mama, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned these things." She could have said them a bit more tactfully.
Mama Fang shook her head. "I know Miss is thinking for my good. It's just that the shop is bustling now, so I have no time to take care of a child for the time being. Let's wait two or three years before we go to the Children's Charity Home to adopt a child. "Although she made a lot of money by opening a shop now, she would still grow old one day. What would she do when she got old? If Mama Fang had adopted a child, she could rely on the child when she got old, and she would not be lonely then.
"Okay," replied Yuxi.
Mama Fang almost forgot her visit's main business: "Miss, I want to rent the shop next door to expand the storefront. How about we ask two more people to help? "In the beginning, the baozi[4] shop only sold baozi[4], but currently, it had baozi[4], mantou[5] and other wheaten foods. Their tastes were delicious, and business hours had also been changed from early morning only to one whole day. This was also the reason why their profits had been increasing.
Yuxi shook her head and said, "Mama, if your health breaks down, no money can compensate for it." It was not worth letting Mama Fang ruin her health for that little money.
After long persuasion, Mama Fang finally gave up the idea of expanding the baozi[4] shop.
The two talked until noon. Yuxi asked Mama Fang to have lunch before leaving and sent many things to her. Now, Yuxi had Qiu Shi's affection. Although she was not rich in money, her clothes and foods were all good.
The old woman bought by Yuxi, Old Woman An, heard the sound of a carriage and hurried out from inside the shop. When she lifted open the carriage, she saw the inside was filled with many things, and her face was full of joy.
All the things were moved into the house. Old Woman An saw two pieces of blue clothes inside. One was raven blue, and the other was in the colour of lilac.
Old Woman An felt some fondness for the two pieces and whispered, "A piece of such good material must have cost several taels[1] of silver!" She hadn't worn such good material yet.
Old Woman An used to be a servant of a merchant family. The merchant committed an offence and was sent to jail. All the servants in the house were sold one by one. It happened that Yuxi asked Xiang Yang's help to buy a strong old woman, and he bought her. She had gotten along with Mama Fang for more than half a year, and now their relationship was like that of blood sisters.
Mama Fang smiled and said, "The two pieces of clothes were given by Miss. You can make two new clothes too." She had already gotten two sets of new clothes, one of which was a fur jacket.
Old Woman An's heart ached when she listened to this. When did her family ever use these kinds of fine materials? "If we can find my family, I can enjoy these with them." She had a husband and a child. However, the family of three were sold separately, and she hadn't seen them for half a year. Every monthly wage she earned was spent on finding them. Unfortunately, there was no news yet.
Mama Fang also sympathised with Old Woman An's experience. "Don't worry. You will find them one day." The capital was so large that finding a person was not easy. If their names were changed, finding them would be even more challenging.
Old Woman An nodded, and then she asked, "Fang Jie[6], did Miss agree with the apprenticeship?" Xiao Wei's mother was very enthusiastic, but she was not so polite to her. She tried several times to tear the people in the front and the ones in the back apart, but eventually, she failed. When she saw Mama Fang wanted to teach Xiao Wei the craft of making baozi[4], she was anxious and hurriedly said it was a matter of great importance for Miss to agree to it first. Fortunately, Mama Fang had a lot of faith in their Miss and finally accepted her suggestion. Old Woman An hoped their Miss was clever and could guess that the Xiao Wei family had no good intentions.
Mama Fang shook her head and said, "Miss disagreed. She said this craft can only be passed to my birth child and not to outsiders." The children adopted in the future would be considered her own.
Old Woman An asked in surprise, "Your birth child? What does that mean?"
Mama Fang paraphrased what Yuxi had said. "I also want to raise a child who will support me when I get old. But now I'm so busy that I don't have time to take care of a child. So, I'll discuss it again with Miss in two years."
Old Woman An couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Miss is so kind to her mama." Generally, some of the old women released still liked to keep their faces, and they didn't want to be rewarded with more money. Who would think so thoroughly for Mama Fang like the Fourth Miss? Even she was touched by this sight. Of course, with such a master, one's heart would also be at ease.
Mama Fang liked to listen to others praising Yuxi. She smiled and said, "Yes, Miss is a really kind person."
Old Woman An felt that Fourth Miss was also a formidable person. She had not encountered her yet, like how her Miss had also not met with Xiao Wei's family. However, Miss knew that the family had no good attention and had no hard time dealing with them. "Mama Fang, didn't you promise to accept Xiao Wei as your adopted daughter? How are you going to reply?"
Mama Fang did not feel at ease with this matter. "I'll just say that Miss will not allow it." Although she had been released from her contract, she still regarded Yuxi as her master.
Old Woman An hastily nodded. "Fang Jie[6], you are right. Since Miss does not allow it, you can't help it either. "With such a powerful backer like their Master, there was nothing for them to be afraid of.
Mama Fang sorted out what she had brought from the Duke of the State's Residence, then divided the cake into several portions and sent them to the next neighbour's house. Although she was not good at scheming, she was kind and got along well with the people around her. As for Xiao Wei's family, she felt a bit guilty and brought gifts to their door in person.
When Xiao Wei's family got the news, they were outraged. However, they did not dare to offend Mama Fang, so this matter was never mentioned again.
In a blink of an eye, it was New Year. Children wanted to celebrate the New Year the most, while adults did not like it the most because there were too many things for them to do. Qiu Shi had been busy from the beginning of the twelfth lunar month until the twenty-ninth day without rest.
On New Year's Eve, Old Lady Han and the Lady of Duke of the State's state residence wore their court dresses and went to the Palace on sedan chairs with eight carriers to congratulate the Emperor. Then they went to the ancestral hall to worship the ancestors.
Yuxi was a Young Miss of the state residence, so aside from attending family trees, she wasn't required to go in at other times.
The New Year's Eve dinner was held in the main hall. This evening, everyone from the Han Clan came. The Second Lord of the residence, Han Jingjun, who had already separated from the primary residence, also came with his family.
The Second Lord, Han Jingjun, was an illegitimate son, and his biological mother was a beloved concubine of the Old Duke Han. She was also the paternal niece of Dowager Lady Han. Han Jingjun's biological mother relied on Dowager Lady Han and Old Duke to harass the Old Lady, and she even wanted to compete with her for the position of shizi[7] for her son. This made the Old Lady hate her to her bone. Unfortunately, Han Jingjun's biological mother died too early, so the Old Duke left a message when he died, saying that he would let Han Jingjun move out of the residence after the seventh day of his passing.
Although the Old Lady did not immediately retaliate against Han Jingjun's family, his family still returned to their hometown to keep filial piety. When he came back three years later, it was not appropriate for the Old Lady to finally retaliate. So all these years, except when they came back to worship their ancestors on New Year's Day, the Old Lady refused to let them go through the residence door. Naturally, they would not also get any help from the primary residence.
Source Wes Radez via Chinese American Family (How to Give Red Envelopes at Chinese New Year, January 30th, 2019)
After dinner, the family sat together and talked. Also, at this time, the elders would give red envelopes to the younger generation.
Han Jingjun's wife, Ma Shi, looked at Yuchen and said with a smile, "The older the Third Girl is, the more beautiful she is." After that, she handed Yuchen a thick red envelope.
Yuchen looked at the Old Lady and saw her nod before she accepted, "Thank you, Second Aunt."
Ma Shi praised Yuchen again, then handed the red envelope to Yuxi.
Yuxi took the red envelope, neither grateful nor disgusted. She took it and said, "Thank you, Second Aunt." The one she got was not as thick as Yuchen's. Even when she was given a red envelope, she was still treated differently, which made her unhappy.
That night, Yuxi got a lot of red envelopes.
Yuxi was a girl, so she didn't have to stay up on New Year's Eve. She took her maid and old woman servant back to her courtyard when the banquet was over. On this day, the road was full of lights, and the whole Duke Han of the State's official residence was brightly lit, so she had no need to carry lanterns back.
Back at Rose Courtyard, Yuxi poured out all the inside of the red packets. The one given by the Old Lady was the most generous. Each of the six small bare golden ruyi was worth 1 tael[1]. All these made her earn a hefty profit. Combined with the ones others gave, the red envelopes she received this night had more than 100 taels[1] of silver.
Yuxi had to visit relatives and friends on the second day of the New Year. However, she had no living family members on her mother's side, and her relatives were no longer here, so there was no one for her to visit. When she heard that Han Jianye wanted to take her to the Qiu family residence, she was stunned. She asked, "Er Ge[8], you're going to your maternal grandparents' home to celebrate the New Year. Then, what am I supposed to do there?"
Han Jianye said laughingly, "Isn't my grandparents' home your grandparents' home too? Just go, why are there so many words of arguments?"
Yuxi was unwilling, but she was not good at directly sweeping her Er Tangge[9]'s kindness, so she asked, "Er Ge[8], does Aunt know about this?"
Han Jianye said with a chuckle, "I told my mother, and she agreed. Just come, even if you come just as a guest, and stop giving so many words of arguments."
Naturally, Yuxi didn't believe his words.
Han Jianye didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Does your heart have no trust in Er Ge[8]? You can ask my mother right now if you don't believe me."
Yuxi didn't want to go to Qiu's family residence because she was the Young Miss from the Third House. Wouldn't it look bad if she went there in such a big way? "Er Ge[8], that is your maternal grandparents' home. It will not be good if I go there."
Han Jianye disliked the sound of sighing and people grinding the most, "I'll pick you up tomorrow." After dropping the words, he left, leaving Yuxi stunned in situ. She didn't know whether she should laugh or cry.
Hongshan, who was nearby, tried to persuade, "Miss, Second Master can read Miss' situation. Isn't this a good thing?" The Second Master would always feel gratitude for Lady Ning's life-saving grace, so he could always follow and look after Miss. This was her Miss' good luck.
Yuxi went to the main courtyard instantly and talked about the matter with Qiu Shi, "Eldest Aunt, it is inappropriate for me to follow Er Ge[8] to pay New Year's visit to his grandparents' home tomorrow."
Qiu Shi stroked the small hair buns on Yuxi's head and joked, "What's inappropriate? It's just a visit to relatives' houses, and you should also stretch your legs sometimes. You can't stay inside the courtyard all the time." She felt that Yuxi worked too hard and usually did not have time to loosen up, which made her could not just stand by and watch. It was good for a child to work hard, but Yuxi did it too much. She worried that Yuxi would become a bookworm in the future.
When all the words were said, Yuxi could no longer refuse the invitation. Only that, she just felt a little puzzled in her heart. In her past life, there was no this kind of thing. So, why did everything change now?
Footnotes Full List
- a unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤 (old)
- convert
- Chinese idiom: to look after one’s aged parents and arrange proper burial after they die
- steamed stuffed bun
- steamed bun
- older sister
- an heir of a noble family
- er=second, ge=elder brother, short form for Gege
- er=second, tangge=elder male cousin from father's side
Noob Translator's Musing
We're going to meet the Male Lead in the next chapter!
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi