chapter29
3028 Words
Thirty guan... thirty guan!
Lady Fang had been staring at the precious chrysanthemum named Xuehai, thinking to herself that she had gotten this pot for free, what good luck she had today. But after hearing what Lady Liu said, a sudden buzzing started ringing in her ears.
She stared wide-eyed at Lady Liu, with a belly full of words she wanted to say, but in the end it all boiled down to one sentence: "Mother, how could it be thirty guan..."
Ye Jiao didn't have much concept of money, but looking at Lady Fang's reaction, she knew thirty guan was no small sum.
She did a quick mental conversion: a fur coat costs one and a half taels, that's one guan and five qian. Thirty guan could buy twenty fur coats.
That does sound like a lot.
And Lady Liu seemed to have expected this question from Lady Fang long ago. She wasn't in a hurry at all, she just lifted her teacup and took a sip. But she set it down right after it touched her lips, and said to Old Mama Liu: "This has gone cold, go get a hot replacement."
Old Mama Liu knew very well this was Lady Liu's way of preparing to admonish Lady Fang. Normally, there was no need to avoid Old Mama Liu in such a situation—she was Lady Liu's dowry maid, Lady Liu never hid anything from her in private. But Old Mama Liu understood that Lady Liu was deliberately saving face for Lady Fang, and sending her away on an errand.
Old Mama Liu immediately picked up the teapot and left, but she didn't go get hot water. Instead, she sat in the side tea room, sat down next to Xiaosu who was warming her hands by the red clay small stove, and even broke off a piece of roasted sweet potato to share with her.
Back in the room, only the three women of the mother-in-law and two daughters-in-law remained, plus Little Stone, who was cluelessly playing with Ye Jiao's hand.
Lady Liu knew Lady Fang's temper, so she wasn't the least bit surprised by the current scene. She had just originally thought this pot of Xuehai chrysanthemum would put her at ease, who would have thought Lady Fang still couldn't hold her nerve.
Twirling the prayer beads in her hand, Lady Liu spoke: "It's clearly written in the account book. Second Brother's wine shop did good business this month. Although the other shops didn't improve much, the wine shop alone brought in six hundred and fifty-two guan. Rounding off the change, half a percent is thirty guan. As we agreed before, you and Big Brother's family just pay your share as agreed."
Lady Liu only gave a rough outline, no specific details. After she started practicing Buddhism and chanting scriptures, she had gotten used to this calm, mild expression, nothing unusual could be read from her face.
Naturally, no one noticed the momentary shock Lady Liu had just felt.
In fact, before getting the account book, Lady Liu already knew Qi Yun's shops were booming, but she wasn't sure exactly how booming they were.
Father Qi had always valued her, he would talk to her about everything inside and outside the house, but even Father Qi wasn't very clear how much ability Qi Yun actually had. After the old couple discussed it, they thought: Second Brother can make money, but how much he can make is still uncertain.
Lady Fang thought Qi Yun couldn't earn more than Qi Zhao. After all, they had just settled accounts not long ago, and back then the wine shop made a hundred guan in two months, which was already extremely good. It's only been one month now, how much more could it have increased?
Lady Liu should have thought the same, but Father Qi told her, even if we don't know if Second Brother earned a lot, it definitely won't be little.
That was why she agreed to Lady Fang's plan, and she also had the intention of admonishing Lady Fang, letting her learn a lesson and gain some experience, so she wouldn't always be so small-minded in the future.
But when the account book was actually in her hands, Lady Liu felt her eyelids twitching.
Six hundred and fifty-two guan, this was six hundred and fifty-two guan!
After deducting the surplus from the previous eleven months, Qi Yun's income for this single month alone was as much as four hundred guan!
Lady Liu had spent a long time looking at the account book just now, because she wanted to figure out where exactly her Second Son had gotten so much money from.
Looking closely, she found that besides the money from selling wine, Qi Yun had also signed several large orders with restaurants. He would steadily supply them with Jade Nectar Wine next year, and guaranteed to supply two of them with even higher quality wine than Jade Nectar.
Restaurants are different from ordinary shops that serve common people: anything that enters a restaurant has its price at least doubled.
Once those orders were signed, silver just flowed in like water.
Lady Liu didn't know what exactly method Qi Yun used to connect the Qi family wine shop to those restaurants, she only knew that her prayer to Buddha had been answered, her Second Son really was someone with great prospects!
But on the surface, Lady Liu looked exceptionally calm. Looking at Lady Fang who was stunned there, she said: "This sum of money is indeed quite large, but the extra will be used next year to repair the village and build shops. It won't go to waste, and you won't suffer any loss."
In fact, these words of Lady Liu were already polite enough, and had saved face for Lady Fang. But Lady Fang usually liked to stand out and get ahead, being choked like this made her heart ache with blocked breath.
No loss? She had suffered a huge loss!
Even though she knew she shouldn't contradict her mother-in-law, Lady Fang still said in a hoarse voice: "Mother, thirty guan is really too much, can it be reduced a little?" As she spoke, she looked at Ye Jiao, hoping she would help speak up.
Although little ginseng hadn't been human for long, she always remembered that when at Lady Liu's place, you listen to Lady Liu, and when you go back you listen to your husband. Meeting Lady Fang's gaze, Ye Jiao said softly: "Sister-in-law, why don't you go discuss this with Elder Brother first?"
What good would come from discussing it back home?
Lady Fang knew Qi Zhao's temper: if you tell him to pay, he will definitely pay, he would even think that paying thirty guan each with his younger brother means he's taking advantage of his younger brother. If she tells him about this, he has the ability to turn thirty guan into sixty guan!
She bit her lip, looked at Lady Liu again, but before she could speak, she heard Lady Liu say: "You can bring the silver tomorrow. Big Brother and Second Brother will tell you the rest. Don't think about all that nonsense all day long. Just listen more to what your own husband says, and think more with your own head. I'm a little tired, you can go back now. Be careful on the road, it just snowed and the ground is slippery."
Lady Fang knew there was no room for negotiation anymore. Even though she had a belly full of words, she didn't dare to nag Lady Liu anymore, she only thought about going back and trying to make a fuss with Qi Zhao, to see if there was any other way.
But Lady Fang also felt guilty in her heart, and regretted it deeply.
If I had just done what Mother said, one out of twenty, that would have been fine! Why did I have to compare with Second Brother!
If each paid their own share, it would only be fifteen guan, which wasn't a big deal. But now it's doubled out of nowhere!
She can afford it, but after this comparison, I dug a pit for myself, then crammed my own head in desperately, it's like cutting flesh right out of my heart.
And she couldn't even lose her temper in front of Lady Liu. What Lady Liu said just now was already unusually harsh for her. Lady Fang knew it was directed at her, so she didn't dare say any more words. She could only hold her breath, pick up Little Stone, and try hard to keep a smile as she took her leave.
In the past, after Lady Fang left, Ye Jiao would always go study make-up with Old Mama Liu. But this time the little ginseng didn't stay. Instead she said to Lady Liu: "Mother, you rest, I'll take my leave now."
Lady Liu saying she was tired was just an excuse to see them off. But looking at the genuine concern on Ye Jiao's face, she knew her second daughter-in-law was pure and kind, and didn't plan to expose her polite words. She smiled at her and said: "Alright, go back, be careful on the road."
Ye Jiao called Xiaosu back, wrapped her cloak, didn't take a hand warmer, just held the edges of her cloak together and left Lady Liu's courtyard.
The little ginseng walked out the gate, thinking about the plum blossom cake Qi Yun mentioned earlier, which was supposed to be very delicious, so she planned to go see the beautiful post-snow scenery Qi Yun talked about.
As luck would have it, on the way there she ran into Qi Zhao and Qi Yun walking towards her.
Even though the amount of money doubled, Qi Zhao didn't look the least bit distressed. It has to be said that Lady Fang knows her husband very well: Qi Zhao never cares about money, and he also wouldn't think his wife tricked him.
Even though this whole thing really was Lady Fang digging her own pit, Qi Zhao still wouldn't really dislike her for it.
Some things just need to be taught slowly. Hopefully losing this silver will make her more open-minded, then it won't be wasted money. The reason Qi Zhao found for Lady Fang was always extraordinarily thoughtful.
The biggest advantage of Qi family men is probably that they dote on their own wives exceptionally.
Right now he was talking with Qi Yun, when he saw Ye Jiao in her red cloak, Qi Zhao didn't come over. They just exchanged greetings from afar, then Qi Zhao left.
There are still many things to take care of at the village, Qi Zhao has to go there early to handle things, so he walked quickly with big steps.
Qi Yun, however, walked quickly to Ye Jiao's side. He reached out, touched Ye Jiao's face with the back of his hand, which had been warmed by the hand warmer, and said: "Why did you come all the way here, are you cold?"
Ye Jiao tilted her head, pressed her face closer to Qi Yun's hand, and smiled as she said: "Didn't you say the plum blossoms are beautiful after snow? I came to see how beautiful they are."
Qi Yun curled the corners of his mouth, lowered his hand, took Ye Jiao's hand from inside her cloak, held it in his palm and squeezed it gently: "Since we have nothing else to do, I'll go with you."
Tiezi behind him silently glanced at Qi Yun: Second Young Master, you just said you were going to discuss matters with Steward Song and Steward Dong...
But he looked at the excitedly interested Ye Jiao, Tiezi very wisely swallowed the words back.
Everything Second Young Master says is right, what business does he have meddling.
Qi Yun led Ye Jiao to the garden not far away. As soon as they passed the moon gate, they saw a stretch of plain white inside dotted with spots of bright red.
Ye Jiao had thought she had seen plenty of gorgeous plum blossoms before, but when she saw the plum blossoms in this garden, she realized that even if they are all plum blossom trees, they can have completely different appearances.
This garden was obviously specially designed and arranged. The positions of the plum blossom trees are well-spaced and layered. The round stone table and stone stool are already covered with snow. There's also a frame standing there, you can't tell what it's used for.
But just the plum blossoms alone had already attracted all of Ye Jiao's attention.
The plum blossoms are bright red, blooming proudly, with spots of snow dotted on them. This didn't cover the plum blossom's charm at all, instead it made the flowers even more gorgeous.
Most of the plum blossom trees little ginseng had seen before grew wild, and didn't look that elegant. But these carefully cultivated plum blossom trees have a completely different charm.
She couldn't say exactly where the charm lies, but it's just a beautiful scenery you can tell at a glance.
Ye Jiao lifted her skirt and stepped on the snow to walk forward, until she reached under the plum blossom tree. She looked up for a long time, and suddenly a look of depression came over her face.
Qi Yun found this strange when he saw it. He brought Ye Jiao here originally to make her happy, who would have thought that after being happy for a little while after arriving, Ye Jiao puffed out her cheeks and seems to be upset.
He tightened his grip on Ye Jiao's hand, and asked softly: "What's wrong?"
Ye Jiao looked up at him, and pouted: "I've already studied reading and writing for so long, but I still always feel I haven't learned it well."
"You can practice characters slowly, no rush." Qi Yun thought she was upset about her roundish handwriting. When he thought of that, the man couldn't help but curl his lips.
It's strange really: Ye Jiao learns everything quickly. Even medical classics that ordinary people can't understand at all—he just read it a few times, and Ye Jiao can remember it clearly without missing a single word, she's more intelligent than many scholars.
It's just writing that Ye Jiao just can't get good at.
Her characters are always round and plump, they look cute, and the more she practices the cuter they get.
If her old characters were half-lying down, now they're fully prone on the paper, can't even get up.
Qi Yun didn't think there was anything wrong with that anyway. As long as his wife is happy, it's fine. No matter what the characters look like it's okay, round ones are quite cute too.
But what Ye Jiao was upset about wasn't this.
No, to be fair, turning characters into little balls isn't something she wanted either, but right now Ye Jiao clearly wasn't upset about practicing calligraphy.
She pointed at the plum blossom tree in front of her and said: "I've looked at it for so long, except for saying it's beautiful, I can't describe it any other way."
Other people can always say all sorts of flowery things, but all that pops into little ginseng's head besides nice and beautiful is not a single other word.
When Qi Yun heard this, he finally couldn't hold it back, and hugged Ye Jiao laughing.
His dear Jiao always has a way to make everything extra interesting and lively, what a treasure.
Ye Jiao thought he was making fun of her, she was just about to speak, when she heard the man say: "Why do you need to praise the flowers? We're going to cut them down to make you dim sum anyway. No matter how much you praise it now, it's not as good as saying 'this is really delicious' to the dim sum later."
Qi Yun has figured out Ye Jiao's temper: this is a sweet little wife who loves to eat and sleep. No flowers or grass can make her happier than a plate of dim sum.
Sure enough, as soon as these words were out, Ye Jiao immediately threw away her little sulk just now. Her eyes lit up as she said to Qi Yun: "Great! Didn't you say you brought things? Let's pick the plum blossoms now."
The man stroked her hairline, made her put her hands back inside her cloak, tightened her cloak for her, also tightened his own fur coat for himself, then turned around to go get scissors and a bamboo basket from Tiezi.
But when Qi Yun took the things and was about to go back, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He saw Ye Jiao in a crimson cloak standing under the plum blossom tree, her head tilted up, her fair hand reaching out from the cloak, her bright white fingertips gently touching the plum blossoms on the branch.
Feeling Qi Yun's gaze, Ye Jiao turned her head to look at him, and smiled brightly.
Jiao says she can't describe the beautiful scenery, but Qi Yun felt that even after all the books he had read, he couldn't find a single sentence to describe what he was seeing right now.
Qi Yun suddenly felt that the fur coat he bought was really too warm. Otherwise, why would he feel so hot right now?
Everything was peaceful and beautiful.
But at this moment, a sudden abrupt voice rang out in the originally quiet garden.
"c**k-a-doodle-doo!"
It was the crow of a rooster. A crow that usually only sounds in the morning actually rang out right now.
And in the Qi family, they keep quite a few chickens, but there's only one rooster.
Ye Jiao looked at Qi Yun in confusion, Qi Yun smiled at her, and when he turned sideways to avoid Ye Jiao's line of sight, his hand holding the scissors tightened, his eyes and eyebrows turned cold.
At this moment, Xiaosu, who had seen everything, suddenly felt that her Little Black was probably about to become chicken soup and leave this world soon...
- Writer
