Yuxi looked at Mama Fang, whose eyes were red but with no serious physical problems. She realised that Mama Fang had lied to her about being ill. Someone had come here and bullied her, and despite that, she did not even tell her. She even pretended to be sick in order not to go to the residence. Yuxi did not know what to say at this moment.
When Mama Fang saw Yuxi's expression, which was not good-looking, she wiped her tears and explained, "I was afraid that Miss would be worried; that's why I didn't tell Miss." The main reason was that she was embarrassed about this. So, how could she tell Yuxi about it?
Yuxi said indifferently, "Come in and talk!" Some things were difficult to speak about in front of other people.
When the three, Yuxi, Mama Fang and Old Woman An, entered the room, Yuxi asked, "What's going on?" If Mama Fang were still in her early twenties, she would surely let her marry again. However, Mama Fang was now in her thirties. Even if she remarried, she could not marry into a good family. Instead of suffering from her new marriage, she might as well adopt a child. At least in the future, she could live safely.
Mama Fang smiled wryly as she explained, "I was a guest in Xiao Wei's family house when I knew that person. Miss, I have never wished to remarry."
Old Woman An was more direct in her remarks, "Miss, the bad one is that old woman Yin. She knows perfectly well that yamen runner Huang is not a good person, yet she still wants to push Mama Fang into a living hell." Old woman Yin was Xiao Wei's mother.
Mama Fang was overcome with regret. "This is all my fault. It was me who could not understand people's intentions clearly."
The whole story was straightforward. The yamen runner surnamed Huang looked at the
baozi[1] shop as easy money and discovered that Mama Fang was a single woman. He also learned that the Duke of State's official residence was only a behind-the-scene backer of the shop. Therefore, he had the idea to marry Mama Fang as his second wife. However, Mama Fang had never thought of remarrying, so his thoughts had been in vain. Unbeknownst to others, he somehow got in contact with old woman Yin. Old woman Yin nursed a hatred against Mama Fang for going back on her words after they both had agreed to let Mama Fang adopt her daughter. Also, Mama Fang continuously rejected her offer to pass her knowledge to her daughter. So, she had been thinking of a way to scheme against Mama Fang. Fortunately, Old Woman An's reminder made Mama Fang not easily fooled.
At that time, Mama Fang was so angry that she ferociously reprimanded old woman Yin and broke their friendship. As a result, a rumour spread in Shangyuan Street not long after. The talk was about Mama Fang's indiscreet act of using her attractiveness to seduce menfolk outside. With this rumour spreading around and the appearance of a woman matchmaker, Mama Fang couldn't open her mouth to explain everything clearly.
Hearing this, Yuxi said without much nonsense, "Mama, I'll let people handle this. You don't have to worry." This time, she must kill a chicken to warn the monkey[2] and severely punish yamen runner Huang and the old woman Yin's family. Later on, people here would not dare to scheme against Mama Fang again, let alone play with the idea of owning the baozi[1] shop. If she let it go on like this, the shop would not be able to be opened again.
How could Mama Fang not worry? "If the Old Lady knows, she will punish Miss." Now that she had caused trouble by opening the shop, the Old Lady would force her to close it.
"It's just a small yamen runner. Why should we need to alarm Grandmother?" Yuxi said soothingly.
When Mama Fang heard this, she felt relieved. "Miss, I'm going to buy another person." After this incident, Old Woman An was the only person aside from her who worked in the baozi[1] shop. She didn't feel at ease. She wanted to buy another strong woman so that she would have nothing to fear, even if something happened in the future.
Yuxi put the matter to her subordinate, "It's up to Mama." After saying that, she took out the ointment from her sleeve and said, "Mama should find some time to find the general manager of Yao Ji Store in East Street and say that you would like to sell him this scar-removing ointment. If he doesn't believe it, you can give it to him, let him find someone to test it, and then talk to him again after a month."
Mama Fang took the box of ointment and opened it. The lotion was a little dark which was not very promising. She said with some worry, "Miss, will Yao Ji Store buy this?"
Yuxi nodded. "Mama can rest assured. As long as they can see the effect, they will buy it."
Mama Fang hesitated momentarily and asked, "Miss, how much will this ointment cost?" She really thought these things were worthless.
Yuxi smiled. "There is no hurry about the price. Mama can go and find the shopkeeper. Then, give him the ointment first to let him know the efficiency. "
Mama Fang felt she was unreliable to do this task, but Yuxi insisted on it. She also thought she was only good at doing errands with her feet, and her Miss wouldn't waste money when doing this.
Yuxi left the baozi[1] shop, got on the carriage, and her face immediately turned heavy. Hongshan didn't dare to breathe when she saw this atmosphere. When Yuxi returned to the residence, she did not go directly to the First Lady, asking for her help. Instead, she ordered Hongshan, "Ask your brother to inquire about who this yamen runner Huang is." It wasn't because she didn't believe in Old Woman An's words, but it was proper to verify them first.
Being wealthy was an excellent way to handle matters fast, so Yuxi soon knew this person surnamed Huang not only liked to eat, drink, whoring and gamble but also beat his wife, who was beaten to death by him. As he lost a large sum of money in gambling and owed a lot to the loan sharks, he tried every means to marry Mama Fang. In his desperation, marriage to Mama Fang's idea came into play.
Yuxi immediately went to find Qiu Shi and told her everything that happened to Mama Fang, "Eldest Aunt, if it weren't for me, Mama Fang wouldn't have received this much grievance. Eldest Aunt, this matter must not be left alone."
Qiu Shi felt that Yuxi was making a big fuss over a minor issue. That guy was just a little yamen runner making trouble, and he had already made Yuxi lose her sense of propriety. For this reason, she gave Yuxi a long lecture.
Yuxi humbly accepted the criticism.
After Qiu Shi reprimanded Yuxi, she said, "I'll let Xiang Yang personally handle this. You don't have to worry." Knowing that it was a shop of Duke Han of the State, that yamen runner still dared to have an idea. He was fearless.
Yuxi hurriedly said, "Eldest Aunt, can you not let Grandmother know about this? If she knew, she would undoubtedly scold me." If the Old Lady knew what happened in her baozi[1] shop, she couldn't say that the shop wouldn't be closed. She loathed to give up its benefits, and Mama Fang managed the shop very well. It would be a pity to close the door just like this.
Qiu Shi smiled and patted Yuxi's forehead, "You ah, this girl, if you want your aunt to help you hide the news, just say it straight. Don't
go round the curves and skirting the corners[3]." So Yuxi told her. She also hoped that the few people who followed her out today could keep their mouths shut and didn't publicise it.
A few days later, the yamen runner with surnamed Huang was exiled because he made a big mistake. The gamblers saw that he had lost his job and immediately took away his house, which still could not compensate for the debt. So, they beat him up and broke his leg. As for the old woman Yin, who helped him, fell out of the door and was paralysed.
After getting the news, Hongshan shivered and said to Yuxi, "Miss, aren't we being too hard on them?" It was horrible to spend the rest of one's life in bed.
Yuxi did not think they did anything excessive, "If the means were too soft, they would think that we are like a dumpling dough, and anyone will think of scheming us."
Hongshan shivered and did not dare to speak anymore.
Noob Translator's Musing
My Saturday song:
Love the first sentence, 'Mirror, mirror, on the wall, don't say it, cause I know I'm cute'.
Footnotes Full List
- steamed stuffed bun
- Chinese idiom: to punish an individual as an example to others
- Chinese idiom: talk in a roundabout way; indirect
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi