After the excitement passed, the household returned to normal.
The eldest uncle’s family also moved in, and Eldest Aunt, Huang Shi, even brought a maid with her, who was specially tasked with cooking and serving Eldest Sister Xu Miaoyun.
There had never been any servants in the family before.
Even though Xu Erpeng had some money, he was still a commoner and it wasn’t proper to hire servants.
Now that Mei Shi was pregnant, and with him being a Xiucai, he planned to hire help.
But when the Mei Family heard about this, Mei Waigong specially sent over a maid, Fengniang.
Fengniang was around forty years old and could cook excellent meals and tea, handling chores with remarkable efficiency.
With her around, Mei Shi could focus solely on caring for her pregnancy.
Xu Miaozhen, meanwhile, continued her studies as usual.
She had been attending the girls’ school run by Yuxiucai on East Street for a year now.
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a popular saying among commoners: “Men avoid doubles, women avoid singles.”
So, for families with a little extra money, girls would start school as early as six years old.
Even Xu Miaolian, her cousin from Third Uncle’s family, would start studying this year.
Yuxiucai had excellent calligraphy and was skilled in poetry, with a decent reputation. His yearly tuition was about eighty to one Yipeng of wheat, which converted to around seven or eight coins of silver—not too expensive.
In the morning, Xu Erpeng would take Xu Miaozhen to the school.
The two of them would have breakfast at the fresh fish noodle shop along the street.
Xu Miaozhen loved the eel noodle soup there; the noodles were cut into thin, silvery strands, the broth was delicious, and the crispy eel topping added a delightful texture.
“Zhenzhen, what do you want for lunch?”
Xu Erpeng asked his daughter.
Xu Miaozhen thought for a moment.
“Shuimian Chao Rousi.”
“Alright, I’ll have Fengniang make it and bring it to you at noon,”
Xu Erpeng replied.
After breakfast, father and daughter soon arrived at Yuxiucai’s.
Usually, Yuxiucai would remain seated in the hall, but today he came out specially.
“Xu Friend, congratulations!”
In the Ming Dynasty, Shengyuan were called “Friends,” while Tongsheng were called “Little Friend.”
Previously, Yuxiucai always addressed Xu Erpeng as “Little Friend,” but now he called him “Friend.”
For someone like Xu Erpeng, who had faced repeated setbacks yet kept a good attitude, it felt satisfying to finally gain recognition.
Still, he remained humble, exchanging only a few words with Yuxiucai before hurrying back to work on his storybooks.
His focus had always been on his studies, and recently he’d run dry on inspiration for his stories.
But even when inspiration runs dry, he forced himself to write—only by doing so could he improve.
Once Xu Erpeng left, Xu Miaozhen took her seat.
There were seven or eight girls in this classroom, all daughters of nearby merchants. Yuxiucai couldn’t make a living off just this bit of tuition, but fortunately, his wife was capable—she could raise silkworms and weave silk.
The Yu Family’s wife and her daughter together wove one hundred twenty bolts of silk a year.
Each bolt was worth about one tael, so that was one hundred twenty taels per year.
After subtracting the cost of warp and weft threads—over seventy taels—and five taels for twisted silk, tools, and wax, the two of them still had twenty or thirty taels left over each year.
So, the Yuxiucai family managed to get by fairly well.
Xu Miaozhen also wondered what her own future path would be.
In her previous life, she only focused on her studies—even her choice of Chinese medicine and massage was made by her parents.
In ancient times, girls from modest families like hers didn’t have generous dowries, so they had to master a skill of their own.
Among the women she’d seen so far, the most common skills were needlework and embroidery.
Some, like Yuxiucai’s wife, became women’s tutors, going to others’ homes as teachers—just like her own Eldest Aunt. And then there was her own specialty, medicine.
Nowadays, more and more women doctors were appearing in Jiangnan, even though many scholars looked down on them.
Still, they were always needed.
Some women doctors, if recommended to the Palace, would return with a much higher status.
In many professions, youth was valued, but for female doctors, the older they were, the more trusted they became.
But society still held deep prejudices against women doctors and medicine women.
Terms like “three aunts and six grannies” were used disparagingly.
Oh well, she’d just take things one step at a time.
Last year, she’d learned the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, and Thousand Character Classic, starting with teaching everyone how to read.
This year, they were studying the Classic of Filial Piety, Elementary Learning, Biographies of Exemplary Women, and Lessons for Women.
After morning lessons, Fengniang would bring lunch: a bowl of Yin Fish Soup, a plate of Shuimian Chao Rousi, and some scrambled eggs.
Such meals were already quite good, all thanks to her father’s rising income and improved family life.
Fengniang would keep Xu Miaozhen company during lunch, chatting about family matters.
“Your Eldest Aunt went back to her maiden family and won’t be coming again. She also said she wants to find a house outside. But Gong said your grandparents and your Third Uncle all want to keep their rooms, so he suggested everyone chip in ten taels each so they can buy or rent a place elsewhere.”
“Did they give the money?”
Xu Miaozhen asked.
Fengniang smiled.
“They did, and they even rewrote the separation agreement.”
Xu Miaozhen said,
“Father really is fair in both word and deed.”
“Isn’t he just!”
When Xu Miaozhen returned home after school that afternoon, her eldest uncle and aunt had already moved out.
Within a few days, it was said that her eldest uncle got a recommendation from a friend and became a lecturer at the Shuyuan, teaching Zuozhi Chunqiu, earning about three taels of silver a month.
Her eldest aunt was said to be consigning embroidery at her uncle’s silk shop.
Xu Erpeng was quite envious.
“Big Brother’s connections in Jinling are truly impressive.”
“Dear, you’re not bad yourself. Didn’t he borrow money from you?”
Mei Shi, from her heart, didn’t think her husband was inferior.
Xu Erpeng shook his head.
“I’m saving this money to open a shop for our family in the future. How could I lend it out? Thinking back, when I was younger and didn’t know any better, any money I lent out never came back.”
Since he married, the money he earned in a year was given to his parents: fifty taels to buy a weaving machine for his sister Xu Siniang, thirty taels for his grandfather’s funeral expenses, and thirty-three taels set aside as a dowry for his sister when she married.
He secretly kept this last sum.
With nearly a hundred taels saved, his status in the family had risen.
In the future, even if he opened a bookshop and moved out on his own, no one would object.
After all, he’d studied until he was nineteen, all supported by his parents.
Scholars dreaded being called unfilial, so every coin he spent could be accounted for, and everyone knew it.
Mei Shi knew all this too, because her husband explained it to her.
He said the money they spent now was all visible, but in the future, the real expenses would come when supporting their parents in old age and at their funerals.
So she never argued with him about these matters.
Xu Erpeng was also clever.
He told his parents that the money was his private savings or borrowed silver, not letting Mei Shi know, and asked them not to mention it.
That’s why Xu Laoguan and Xu Laotai would feel guilty whenever he went out to repay debts, and sometimes gave Xu Miaozhen a coin or two to buy treats.
The children didn’t know much about the adults’ affairs.
For example, when Xu Siniang saw Xu Miaozhen in a new outfit—a bright red jacket embroidered with cherries, paired with a cream skirt embroidered with a cat under a banana tree, and a new silk flower in her hair—she was green with envy.
She immediately pestered Xu Laotai for a similar outfit.
But Xu Laoguan and Xu Laotai only helped out at their youngest son’s shop and even ate with the third branch.
The third branch’s daughter-in-law, Baomu, tightly controlled the money.
When they helped in the morning, she only gave them two or three coins for breakfast.
How could they have spare cash?
So Xu Laotai said,
“That was made by your sister-in-law for your niece. She’s skilled at needlework. Why not ask her to make you something? That cloth, after all, was a gift to your second brother.”
Xu Siniang immediately went to Mei Shi.
Before Mei Shi could respond, Xu Erpeng refused.
“You’re being unreasonable! Your sister-in-law is pregnant. How can she help you?”
But Xu Siniang wanted to know why Mei Shi could make clothes for Xu Miaozhen but not for her.
Children always want fairness, but some things just aren’t equal.
Xu Miaozhen was Mei Shi’s own daughter, and raising her was their responsibility.
Xu Siniang was not.
Cousin Xu Miaolian studied at a Xiucai’s home near Third Uncle’s tea and pastry shop.
She had no foundation, unlike Xu Miaozhen, whose parents had taught her before school.
So Third Uncle had to teach his daughter every evening after work, sometimes late into the night.
When Xu Erpeng was writing his storybooks at night, he could still hear his brother’s roars.
Now, when Mei Shi was about five months pregnant, she suddenly lost her appetite, felt weak, and started with swelling in her feet that soon spread all over her body.
Xu Miaozhen was very worried.
Xu Erpeng first invited a well-known medicine woman to take a look.
The old woman took out some medicine from her gourd and wanted to do acupuncture.
Xu Miaozhen hurriedly said to Xu Erpeng,
“Father, please invite a proper doctor. Mother is pregnant—how can you let anyone just stick needles in her?”
Though she hadn’t studied gynecology, she had read many medical books like Fu Qingzhu’s Gynecology, Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, and Comprehensive Prescriptions for Women.
The principles were similar, so she knew it wasn’t right and immediately stopped it.
Xu Erpeng also felt acupuncture was too mysterious and sent the woman away.
He then invited a male doctor, but Mei Shi was embarrassed and didn’t dare to speak frankly about her condition.
The doctor diagnosed her with “dampness.”
Xu Miaozhen grew anxious.
When her father brought the medicine home and Fengniang was about to decoct it, she quickly said,
“Wait, let me see the medicine.”
Mei Shi, always indulgent with her child, let Fengniang hand over the medicine.
“Just don’t spill it.”
Xu Miaozhen opened the package and sniffed.
“Mother, the prescription says White Atractylodes, but this is Cangzhu instead. White Atractylodes is for nourishing the fetus, but Cangzhu is for aborting it…”
“No way. Sun Dafu is a famous doctor,”
Mei Shi said doubtfully.
She recalled that, like many women of her era, her mother was somewhat superstitious.
She also thought of how Lady Zhang in the Song Dynasty learned Yongju Yifang from a wandering healer, so why couldn’t she as well?
So she said,
“Last time we went to Guiyuan Temple, an old monk asked for water. I gave him a drink, and somehow I learned a bit about acupuncture and medicine.”
Mei Shi was shocked.
Her child had such a strange encounter!
Xu Erpeng, writing nearby, overheard too.
The couple didn’t take their daughter’s words lightly.
He took the medicine to the Huimin Bureau, and sure enough, it was Cangzhu instead of White Atractylodes.
Furious, he went to confront the doctor and tore down his sign.
Fortunately, there were many famous doctors in Wu.
Someone Xu Erpeng knew from the bookshop recommended a renowned doctor named Xue Dafu.
This time, Mei Shi described all her symptoms honestly, and he said,
“This isn’t dampness, but a deficiency of the spleen and lung qi. Use Buzhong Yiqi Decoction with some modifications, and you’ll be fine.”
He prescribed ten doses.
By the fourth dose, Mei Shi was almost recovered, and after ten, she was completely well.
After this ordeal, Xu Miaozhen, who had been hesitating about her future, decided then and there to study gynecology—at the very least, she could treat her mother.
After all, she was born into this family, and it was Mei Shi who had raised her almost single-handedly, carrying her on her thin back without ever complaining.
Now, there were too few female gynecologists.
Maybe, just like her father’s story-writing, this could become her own unique skill.