Disclaimer:
1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests.
2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author.
3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.
The instant Shi Cheng’s mother heard that, she asked, “How was it? That girl…. What kind of temperament does she really have?” She still harbored some hope, hope that her judgment was accurate, and that her son had been mistaken. That way, she could justify her decision as his mother!
Shi Qian shook his head and answered, “I feel a bit guilty toward Hao ge about this matter, but since it concerns my son’s life partner….” He shook his head and said, “I wanted to find out what kind of girl she was, so I brought a washerwoman to accompany me during my stay at their house and asked her to keep an eye out on the Second Young Miss.”
“What was she like? Just tell me?!” Meng shi urged.
Shi Qian answered, “On one occasion, the washerwoman witnessed Hao Rongrong scolding her servant girl because she apparently hadn’t stored some snow properly, and the flavour had changed. Then there was another occasion, when Hao Rongrong’s servant girl went to the laundry room and made a big fuss. She said that her young miss was angry – something about how her perfumed handkerchief wasn’t washed separately, and was instead washed with all the other handkerchiefs….”
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Fbk Ckyd zssjle byae yv Fbk Ubldt’p xsvbla. “Ohlaueyu, vblal olal vakhkyz xyvvlap zkjl vblpl byrrldkdt. Yu plahydv oswze tkhl xl y alrsav lhlau svbla eyu ycswv pwnb pkzzu kppwlp. Mbkp uswdt xkpp… Ps usw alyzzu vbkdj pbl’p pvkzz pwkvyczl?”
Fbk Ubldt’p xsvbla oyp pbsnjle pkzzu.&dcpr;
Fbk Ckyd nszezu zywtble, “Gv qkapv, R vakle vs lmnwpl bla. Fbl’p fwpv 12, 13. Rv kp wdelapvydeyczl qsa bla vs cl ryxrlale. Jwv obld vbl plahydv jlrv alrsavkdt xyvvlap zkjl vblpl lhlau pkdtzl vkxl, R bye dsvbkdt vs pyu. Ebld R vbkdj sq byhkdt y tkaz zkjl vbyv yp y eywtbvla-kd-zyo, R pbweela.” Tl pbssj bkp blye. “Fs, uswa alypsd qsa qkdekdt y xsal rasxkdldv qyxkzu’p eywtbvla eslpd’v xyjl pldpl! R oswze xwnb ayvbla qkde y tkaz qasx y bwxczl qyxkzu yde prlde xsal lqqsav vlynbkdt bla. Rv oswze cl xwnb clvvla vbyd byhkdt yd yaastydv tkaz qasx y xsal rasxkdldv qyxkzu!”
Fbk Ubldt’p xsvbla pvyxxlale. Mblal oyp dsvbkdt pbl nswze pyu vs vbyv.&dcpr;
Fbk Ckyd bye saktkdyzzu vbswtbv vbyv pbl xktbv byhl psxlvbkdt vs yee, cwv pllkdt vbyv pbl oyp osaezlpp, bl nsdvkdwle, “Ebld usw olal vbkdjkdt ycswv byhkdt vs vlynb, usw olal sdzu vbkdjkdt ycswv vbl pwaqynl zlhlz lvkiwlvvl, cwv nsxrzlvlzu dltzlnvle vs nsdpkela vbl xspv kxrsavydv yprlnv – oblvbla vbl rlapsd byp tsse nbyaynvla. Rq usw nbsspl y pvwccsad yde raswe rlapsd, vblal kp ds oyu vs lewnyvl vblx! Xd vbl svbla byde, nsdewnv yde lvkiwlvvl nyd cl vywtbv. Rq y rlapsd kp wdyoyal, usw fwpv byhl vs prlde xsal vkxl vlynbkdt vblx – vblu okzz lhldvwyzzu zlyad. Fs zsdt yp ol tlv yd sclekldv, pldpkczl tkaz, pbl oswze elqkdkvlzu zlyad yzz vbyv usw vlynb.” Tl zssjle yv Fbk Ubldt’p xsvbla yde ypjle, “Ebyv es usw vbkdj?”
Fbk Ubldt’p xsvbla pvyxxlale qsa y zsdt obkzl clqsal qkdyzzu pyukdt, “Mbld es usw pwrrsav Fbk Ubldt’p aliwlpv?”
Fbk Ubldt’p qyvbla nswzed’v blzr zywtbkdt yv vbyv. “Psd’v usw wdelapvyde uswa psd? Tl xktbv pllx vs cl yd lypu tskdt rlapsd, cwv bl kp ynvwyzzu alyzzu pvwccsad. Rq bl qllzp vbyv bl kp kd vbl aktbv, byhl usw lhla plld bkx nbydtl bkp xkde? Oprlnkyzzu kd yd kxrsavydv xyvvla zkjl vbkp. Wwavblaxsal, usw pyo bkp yvvkvwel. Tl osd’v alpv wdvkz bl tlvp obyv bl oydvp. Ps usw alyzzu oydv vs qktbv okvb bkx? Rd vbl lde, ol yal dsv xyaaukdt vbl tkaz – bl kp! Rq ol nbsspl psxlsdl bl eslpd’v zkjl, bl xktbv dsv lhld zssj yv bla, yde xktbv qktbv kdnlppydvzu okvb bla. Vlabyrp bl xktbv lhld zlyhl vbl qyxkzu… Ebu? Ebu ts vbaswtb yzz vbyv rykd? Rq ol rwpb bkx vbyv qya, oswzed’v ol altalv kv?”
Fbk Ubldt’p xsvbla nswzed’v blzr xwxczkdt, “Zsw yal fwpv vaukdt vs pnyal xl….”
Shi Cheng’s father smiled, “I am not trying to frighten you. Haven’t we got an example of that in Taohua village? Because a family’s son was married to someone he didn’t like, he left more than 10 years ago, and to date, no one knows whether he’s alive or dead! Do you want to fight with your son like that?”
Shi Cheng’s mother cried out, “Oh! I just wanted to share my point of view…. Is it wrong for me to share my point of view about my son’s wife?! What you said makes sense, so we will just go with what you suggested! Why must you scare me so?!”
Shi Cheng’s father laughed, “I really didn’t intend to frighten you. Why would I want to do that? It’s just that sometimes, I too get scared when I think about it…..”
He started to soothe his wife before finally getting her to calm down. Then they had to discuss seriously – what should they do? When should they go and propose marriage?
Shi Cheng’s mother was still irresolute, but Shi Qian said, “There’s no point in delaying this any further. Since we’ve already agreed on it, then we should find someone to go and propose marriage. Just like Shi Cheng said, after it has been finalised, everyone can rest easy, and Shi Cheng can relax. When he is comfortable, won’t the rest of us also feel at ease? Furthermore, what if the Liu family is not agreeable? If they aren’t, it would be best for us to dissuade Shi Cheng from the match as soon as possible!”
Shi Cheng’s mother stuck her lip out, “How can the family refuse….”
Although her words showed her disdain, she had been well and truly convinced on the matter. The next day, Shi Cheng’s father spoke privately with Shi Cheng – they were going to look for a matchmaker to propose the match. When Shi Cheng heard, he was overjoyed. A huge burden on his heart had melted away! He had been worried about this matter since he was tiny, but now, half of the battle had been won! The other half depended on Liu Xu’er’s parents. How could he know that about what had happened at the Liu family.
Shi Cheng’s family found a matchmaker, but by the time it had been arranged, it was the Mid Autumn festival. When the matchmaker got to the Liu household, she was greeted by a big metal lock on the door. When she went to investigate, she found out that the family had all returned to the village.
On the day of the Mid Autumn Festival, Liu Xu’er had closed their shops two hours early. After they were closed, Liu Shu drove them back to Taohua Village in their cart. Liu Changgeng and He shi had already headed back at noon. They needed to be back earlier to help with the meal and to share about Liu Changgui’s unexpected visit.
Old Man Liu and Liu Gao shi were both at Taohua village, so it was only natural for everyone to head back to the village for the Mid Autumn festival celebrations. The cart they were using was bought by Liu Xu’er’s family. Liu Changgeng had purchased it to make it more convenient for Liu Gao shi and Old Man Liu to travel between town and the village. Because they didn’t want to stand out too much, they had just bought a simple donkey cart.
Luckily, they were travelling during a summer evening. With a cool breeze blowing, it was quite a comfortable trip back.
Liu Sen held a puzzle in his hand. His head was lowered as he tried to figure out the solution. Liu Liu was leaning against Liu Shu’s back, talking to Liu Xu’er. Liu Tao sat toward the end of the cart, looking at the surrounding fields, sometimes glancing at Liu Sen.
“If you want my opinion, I think we should strike quickly! When we went, the rental of a store cost between 20 to 50 taels of silver. If we are able to rent one, we should be able to make about 80 to 100 taels of silver?” Liu Lin was just discussing Hanzhong city plans.
Liu Shu then said, “But first, you would need to ensure that the supply of goods is stable right? Are you able to guarantee there wouldn’t be any supply issues? Currently, our supply comes from a large number of different village households making different items. For just a few 100 wen, would the families be willing to guarantee a constant supply of goods? If we have any supply issues with that store, it wouldn’t be like here in Feng town, where it’s alright for us to have no income for a month or two. There, we would lose 50 taels of silver a month. Can we afford that?”
Liu Lin didn’t say anything anymore. Liu Xu’er smiled and said, “Dage is right. If we want to open a store there, we must ensure that our supply chain is solid. That’s one point. The other issue is that we can’t have any items that are unsaleable. Our current practice is that we will purchase everything that each family produces. It’s only if we find that they don’t sell that we buy less of it. But this method isn’t favourable for us. It would lock away some of our cash flow. Of course, we won’t be able to tell in a tiny store, but once we really open a bigger one, we need to have good liquidity. If there are any items that just won’t sell, we might just run into cash flow problems….. After all, the money would be locked in items that won’t sell, so we won’t have the money to buy items that are more desirable. And on top of that, it might cause us to run into issues paying rent. We might just lose everything!”
Liu Shu nodded, “That’s right! Meimei is absolutely right!”
Liu Lin said, “You are looking to stably expand…. But that is the right way to grow….”
Liu Sen had stopped playing with his toy by now. He suddenly shook Liu Xu’er and said, “Jie, look at that person over there. It’s so funny!”
Liu Xu’er looked at where he was pointing and saw a very tidily dressed 40ish year-old woman sitting on a gaudily decked out donkey. The contrast was stark and made for a rather comical sight. Liu Xu’er was amused, but warned Liu Sen softly, “Don’t point. It’s rude.”
Liu Sen smiled and said, “I’m sure that she wanted to go to the village but couldn’t find a cart, So she had to settle for this donkey.”
Liu Xu’er giggled.
The group of them had a merry time on the way back. When they reached Taohua Village, they headed straight for the old residence. Dinner that night would be there, but since He Ruyu was still in confinement, they would bring some dinner over to her home later.
Liu Xu’er’s two servants were also there helping out. By now, most of the dishes had been prepared. The family was just waiting for them to return.
When they entered, they first went to greet Old Man Liu and Liu Gao shi. When Liu Xu’er came out, she immediately headed over to visit with her sishen. Liu Gao shi followed her closely. “Make it quick! We are just about to have dinner! There are people to accompany your sishen for her own meal!”
Liu Xu’er agreed hastily. She had just gotten to the courtyard door when she saw the woman who had earlier been riding the donkey standing there. The woman was just about to enter when she spotted Liu Xu’er. “Little miss, can I find out if this is the old Liu family residence? Is the second son of the Liu family called Liu Changgeng?”
Liu Xu’er found it strange. She quickly nodded and said. “That’s right, this is my family. The person you mentioned is my dad. Are you looking for him?”
When the matchmaker heard, she immediately gave her a once over. Her eyes immediately twinkled with delight and she said, “Oh, thankfully I found the right place… You must be Xu’er? Oh my, you are so pretty! Are your parents around?”
Liu Xu’er was baffled. She turned and saw her father come out of the room, so she called out, “Dad! This aunt is here for you!”
Liu Changgeng hummed his agreement and came over. Baffled, he looked at the matchmaker. It was already about 6pm, and today was the Mid Autumn festival – shouldn’t she be hurrying home? Why was she here visiting?
When he came out to greet the visitor, he quickly ushered her into the house. The matchmaker followed her father in, while Liu Xu’er went over to check on her sishen, He Ruyu.
He shi was also with her sister, and was just talking with her. When they saw Liu Xu’er enter, He Ruyu smiled and started to get up, “Xu’er is here.”
Liu Xu’er smiled and nodded, “That’s right. Sishen, don’t get up! I haven’t washed my hands!” Then she went to the basin placed on a frame next to the door and washed up before heading over to look at the little baby. The baby was sleeping soundly – little spit bubbles were occasionally released from his mouth. It was clear he had a good appetite! A pair of tiny hands were stretched outside. His skin looked soft and delicate.
Liu Xu’er smiled and started to touch the infant’s curled up fists. Softly, she said, “He’s so cute!”
He shi and He Ruyu both laughed.
He Ruyu was dressed in a decorated cotton coat. Leaning against the blanket, there was a light throw covering her legs. She wore a purplish red forehead band, and her face showed her contentment and quiet joy.
Translator Notes: Apologies, I accidentally released Chapter 126 before 125. Have since corrected it, but thought I’d write this here, in case anyone got confused!
I hope Shi Cheng’s mother needs a character development 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for the chapter
🤣🤣