“You parents really are too calculating, making each of the three families fork out fifty strings of cash. Why don’t they just ascend to the heavens instead? I’ve just been dismissed from the academy, and I have nowhere to go now—I don’t have a single coin to my name.”
Huang Shi hadn’t expected that her kind intention in helping arrange a marriage would end up like tofu falling into an ash pit—no matter how you blow, you can’t get rid of the dirt.
Xu Da Lang forced a smile and said, “I wasn’t there when this happened. In a few days, I’ll go and explain the situation to Father and Mother.”
Huang Shi sneered, “What situation? I can’t count on you for anything. Your mother and your third brother’s wife came over and said the second branch agreed too. So what, only our family won’t give? But why should our family have to give?”
Hearing that the second branch had agreed, Xu Da Lang couldn’t help but say, “Second Brother wouldn’t, would he?”
“Second and third, which of them isn’t running a business? They’re the best at lying. Maybe they didn’t give anything either, just waiting for us to pay up.”
Huang Shi was both anxious and angry.
Xu Da Lang had never wanted to stay in Suzhou Prefecture anyway, so he said, “Since it’s like this, why don’t we go to Jinling together?”
Only then did Huang Shi agree.
If they stayed in Suzhou, who knew how much they’d be squeezed and swallowed up.
But Xu Da Lang wasn’t a Xiucai and couldn’t get a travel permit, and he didn’t want others to know his identity.
He was a cat with its own path, a dog with its own way, so he lied to Huang Shi, “If I go to the Yamen for a permit, Second Brother will find out, since he’s a student of the Prefecture. So, let’s just take a few bolts of cloth from your uncle’s place, say we’re delivering them for him, and that way we can leave easily.”
This was also a good way to act first and report later.
Huang Shi didn’t want to pay the fifty strings, so she agreed.
The two of them pretended to be merchants, took Miaoyun with them, paid three-tenths of a tael of silver, and finally boarded the boat to Jinling.
When they left, Xu Erpeng certainly didn’t know.
On their side, Xu Laotai and Baomu also came along.
At that time, Mei Shi still didn’t know what was happening, and was with Miaozhen at the Ma family next door.
Miaozhen made a set of skincare products herself to give to Madam Qiu.
She first bought some jasmine flowers from a flower seller, dried them, picked only the petals, and sealed them in a jar with camellia oil to soak for half a year.
During this time, she filtered the oil with gauze, added fresh jasmine petals, and repeated the process three times.
Once the oil was extracted, she mixed in beeswax and more jasmine oil, then put it all in a small porcelain box.
She made quite a bit, so she also gave some to her mother and relatives.
Besides the jasmine soap, she also made skin cream and yuzan powder.
The skin cream was made following a recipe from the “Taiping Huimin Bureau Prescriptions,” while the yuzan powder was made from the seeds of four o’clock flowers.
She split the seeds, scooped them out, added borneol for fragrance, and mixed in rouge from safflower and indigo for color.
Knowing Madam Qiu preferred light makeup, she only tinted it slightly, not too bright, and filled it into the buds of gardenias, let it dry, and placed it in the makeup box.
In addition to the skincare products, she made two headbands—one of pale lotus-pink silk embroidered with lotus patterns, the other made with rabbit fur shaped into a lying rabbit.
All the skincare products were packed in a small makeup box, with labels written for each, and given to Madam Qiu together.
“Teacher, I really can’t bear to part with you.”
Miaozhen felt a pang of sorrow in her heart.
Madam Qiu’s luggage was all packed.
Outside were several maids and guards sent by her younger brother, Qiu Yushi, all very capable.
She was leaving quietly and hadn’t told anyone the exact date.
If Miaozhen’s family hadn’t lived next door to the Ma family, they wouldn’t have known.
“Miaozhen, you’re a diligent, ambitious child. Your essays are good, your poetry is not bad either. Last time, I had you manage the school accounts, and only you did it flawlessly. My ancestral home is in Yangzhou; if you ever need anything, you can write to me.”
As she spoke, she gave her an address.
Miaozhen carefully put it away, then knelt and kowtowed.
“Teacher’s kindness is as deep as the sea, your disciple has no way to repay it. I only hope that if fate allows, I can serve you again in the future.”
When the mother and daughter returned home, they found that Xu Laotai and Baomu had come together.
Baomu was all smiles as she asked, “Sister-in-law, where did you and your niece go?”
“We went next door to the Ma family. Zhenzhen’s teacher is leaving, so we went to give her some things. She taught us a lot; we couldn’t go empty-handed.”
Mei Shi knew they never showed up at the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, so she didn’t ask more and just told the maids to serve tea.
Xu Laotai, seeing her second son’s success, now wanted to curry favor with Mei Shi and was feeling resentful: “Your place is really better than your third brother’s. Even I don’t get to enjoy such comfort—servants waiting on you, such a big house. None of us have your fortune.”
Mei Shi didn’t respond.
She thought Xu Laotai had some nerve to say that, always helping the third branch, but when it came to her own old age, she remembered her own family.
On the side, Miaozhen smiled and said, “Grandmother, Third Uncle’s business is doing so well. Naturally, he’ll buy a big house in the future. How can you say this in front of Third Aunt?”
Miaozhen’s interruption made Third Aunt immediately get sarcastic: “How could we compare with you? We have more people in our household, so expenses are higher.”
“That’s true. When it comes to having fewer people, Eldest Uncle’s family really has the least.”
Miaozhen knew this Third Aunt wanted the grandparents to work for free in their shop, and every extra mouthful she ate, she fussed about.
So, she brought up the main branch, too—her own father wasn’t the eldest son, so they didn’t need their grandparents’ help, so what was there to complain about?
Baomu saw her niece’s words pressing her down, and for a moment couldn’t find a retort.
She just looked at Mei Shi and got straight to the point, using her old tactic: “Second Sister-in-law, it’s like this. Father agreed to the marriage with the Gong family, but they’re asking for a dowry of one hundred and fifty strings of cash. Father and Mother are getting old, and want the three families to split it evenly—fifty strings each.”
Actually, Baomu was hoping the main and second branches would pay up, leaving the last fifty for the grandparents to cover themselves.
After all, the two elders lived and ate with the third branch, and they wouldn’t dare complain outside.
Mei Shi was stunned.
Xu Erpeng was furious when he heard: “Father’s actions are really out of line. The bride’s family is just a weaver’s household, not some big clan. Whoever agreed should pay! I was even planning to add a bit more, but since he’s doing this, I’ll only pay ten strings, not a coin more.”
“Your third sister-in-law said she already gave her money to the elders,” Mei Shi said.
Xu Erpeng sneered, “If I don’t see Third Brother hand over the money with my own eyes, I won’t give a penny either. Anyway, the loom for Fourth Sister was bought by me—that’s already a big part of her dowry.”
Xu Erpeng was determined not to give any more for the dowry, feeling his family were like leeches, sucking him dry.
After saying goodbye to Madam Qiu, the year was drawing to a close.
The Xu family bought three loads of firewood, each load costing six or seven-tenths of a tael of silver—three loads were less than two taels altogether.
For New Year, they wouldn’t eat old rice, so Xu Erpeng had fifty catties of late-harvest rice delivered.
The late rice was fragrant and more expensive than the others.
Next door, the Ma family ate goji jam and rose jam.
The Xu family still ate soy paste—not that they couldn’t afford the others, but Xu Erpeng didn’t want to start living extravagantly just after a few good days.
Miaozhen didn’t have to attend school now, so she helped her mother with housework, and every few days visited Ru Shi.
Ru Shi was delighted to receive the water-field clothes Miaozhen had made her.
Later, whenever she went to free clinics, she only took Miaozhen along, even letting her try moxibustion and acupuncture, and sometimes letting her diagnose and prescribe.
If Miaozhen made a mistake, Ru Shi would correct her personally.
That’s why the Xu family’s New Year’s gifts for the Tao family were so elaborate: Jiading chicken, Jintan wine, lotus-petal cakes, rolled meat with fillings, fruit-stuffed salty golden cakes.
Besides food, there were also two boxes of lifelike artificial flowers and three feet of newly woven silvery-red silk.
Fengniang brought back the return gifts, then came to Miaozhen and said, “Madam Tao asked me to tell Miss that her family bought a cow just for its milk. She wants you to come by before New Year’s Eve to make some bone-in abalone.”
“Milk has to be fermented first. Xiaoxi, go to my master’s house and bring back some milk in a small jar,” Miaozhen said.
Fengniang saw that her young lady, usually so proud, didn’t mind being ordered about and was happy to help.
She couldn’t help but say, “The Tao family is treating you like a servant.”
She was an old servant of the family and said it out of concern.
Miaozhen laughed, “It’s not that exaggerated. I apprenticed myself to her; she’s taught me everything she knows. What’s this little thing?”
After the milk was brought from the Tao family and fermented, Miaozhen put it in a pot to cook into milk curds, then stirred it hard until cream formed.
She added honey and cane sugar, and once it was ready, she took it straight over.
Ru Shi saw she’d come in person and said, “Why did you come yourself? It’s so cold today.”
“I meant to come when I delivered the New Year’s gifts last time, but something came up at home. I brought this specially today. What do you think? If it’s not good, I’ll think of another way.”
Miaozhen was showing her sincerity.
As she spoke, she opened the food box she’d brought.
Ru Shi saw the spiral, milky-white bone-in abalone and just smiled, “This is it, good child. I won’t hide it from you—the reason I asked you was because my eldest son’s father-in-law is coming.”
Madam Qiu had taught Miaozhen many pastry recipes, and she knew this bone-in abalone was the most precious, so she worked hard to make it, spending all her pocket money on milk.
She hadn’t expected it would really help her build connections.
“As long as I can help you, I’m happy,” Miaozhen said.
Ru Shi asked her to come in and help pick out clothes for the coming day—a plain silk top with a five-colored brocade skirt, even the hair ornaments were ready, a tiny bowl-shaped hairpin inlaid with honey amber and gold, decorated with pearls.
Miaozhen could only praise how lovely it was.
Maybe Ru Shi didn’t see her as a child anymore, thinking her mature and steady.
She quietly complained, “The young lady at home only knows a few words and is so vain. I don’t know what spell your eldest brother is under.”
Miaozhen just listened to such complaints and even comforted her, “It’s not like he’s living with you anyway.”
Of course, Ru Shi wouldn’t let Miaozhen leave empty-handed.
She wanted to give her a pearl hairpin, but Miaozhen refused.
She wanted the other party to owe her a favor, so she’d teach her more things later.
She ran off right away.
Ru Shi was left with her husband, saying, “This girl from the Xu family is even more diligent than Xi Niang, and so talented. In another year, I’ll have taught her everything I know.”
After Miaozhen returned home, she found her father had just come back from the bookstore, saying he’d received a letter from his eldest brother.
It simply said he’d gone to Jinling to seek out a friend, and told the family not to worry.
“Why would Big Brother leave right before the New Year?”
Xu Erpeng was puzzled.
Mei Shi pursed her lips and smiled, “He was probably scared off by Fourth Sister’s dowry.”
Xu Erpeng couldn’t help laughing and crying, “Why not just refuse? Why leave like this? I really don’t know what he’s thinking.”
Even Xu Laogan and Xu Laotai were disappointed when they heard.
Xu Laogan spread his hands, “The eldest is gone, the second will only give ten strings, the third says he’ll lend twenty—what are we supposed to do?”
“It’s all your fault, spending half the betrothal gifts,”
Xu Laotai complained.
Xu Laogan pouted, “You took so much for your doctor’s visits, and Fourth Daughter’s clothes—I only spent twenty strings and you’re blaming me.”
The couple sat on the ground, helpless and on the verge of tears.
Neither was willing to cover for the other—what could he do now?