Transmigration: A Farm Girl's Brocade-Chapter 103 - The Metaphor of the Duck_1

Chapter 103: Chapter 103 The Metaphor of the Duck_1

Chapter 103: Chapter 103 The Metaphor of the Duck_1

“How pretty, thank you. And what about Sister Embroidery?” Lady Wang said, beaming at Lady Wu and her grandchildren. But when she turned her head, her eyes darkened.

It seems the third house has completely come into its own.

In the past, the Qian’s fourth wife’s family had the easiest life, and the other three houses couldn’t compare to hers. But now, not only is the fourth house in the provincial city getting better and better, but even the third house is surpassing her own. Lady Wang felt a sourness in her heart and blamed the honest Eldest Qian for only knowing how to toil in the fields.

Upon further thought, even though her family couldn’t compare to theirs, if she managed the relationships well, her family and children could also benefit from their success. Watching Qian Dagui and Qian Manchuan with their faces beaming with pride, she thought she couldn’t be like Lady Tang, that foolish woman, who was too transparent with her scheming and, having failed, had her face slapped openly. Not succeeding in stealing the chicken and losing the rice, even the fraternal bonds had faded.

With these thoughts, Lady Wang smiled more sincerely and didn’t ask about how much the two pots of flowers had sold for. Instead, she said to Qian Yixiu with a smile, “Embroidery is truly a good girl. Come over to the big courtyard to play more often. My Duo Duo really likes Sister Embroidery.”

When mealtime arrived and the guests still didn’t feel like leaving, Qian Sangui had no choice but to ask Lady Wu to prepare some food in the kitchen, and Lady Wang rarely offered to help as well.

Wang Lizheng, having heard that there was no meat, had Qian Manchuan go to his house to fetch some meat. Qian Sangui also gave him forty wen to go to the village entrance to buy two jin of good wine, and to stop by and invite Wang Lizheng’s eldest son, Wang Lihong, as well as Xie Huzi and Mr. Zhang, over for a drink.

By the time Qian Manchuan returned, Qian Yishan had also come with him. Two tables were set up in the hall, and the guests, full from wine and food, also satisfied their curiosity about the noble sons.

After everyone had left, and the stars shone brilliantly, West Huaxi Village finally quieted down after a day of noise.

Qian Yixiu hurriedly went inside to pull out her young mother, while Qian Yeejin fanned her vigorously with a large fan. Their mother was a natural beauty, who, even in the heat, sweated very little. Subtly at risk of heatstroke, whether she sweated or not.

The people-averse Dashan also led a monkey and two dogs from the backyard to the front yard.

As Qian Yeejin fanned their mother, he laughingly told Qian Yixiu about his imposing ride on horseback through two villages, especially how he had passed by the Xu Family Meat Shop with his head held high in front of three generations of the Xu family.

Qian Sangui and Lady Wu, who had been smiling all day, also turned serious. They didn’t care to listen to their grandson’s boasting. They went to the bedroom, and after a moment, they also called Qian Yeejin in and told him to hide the silver note well under the bed. They then came out and whispered instructions to the family, including Dashan and Monkey Brother, to be alert that night.

Before going to bed, Qian Sangui not only took Qian Yeejin and Dashan for a patrol around the base of the courtyard wall but also placed a kitchen knife under his pillow.

His nervousness infected the whole family, and except for Cheng Yue, almost everyone slept poorly.

The next day, not only did Qian Sangui and Lady Wu emerge from the house with panda eyes, but Qian Manxia and her younger siblings were also yawning incessantly. Qian Yixiu chuckled to herself; apparently, the pressure of having money wasn’t small either.

During breakfast, Qian Sangui sighed, “With so much silver under the bed, I can’t sleep peacefully. If I continue to sleep poorly, this old body of mine won’t hold up. We should turn this silver into land as soon as possible, only then can we rest easy.” Seeing Qian Yixiu watching him eagerly, he added, “As for buying a servant, we will go see if there’s a suitable one. If not, we can wait.”

Qian Sangui then asked Lady Wu to quickly prepare more sweet rice wine and also make more of the several snacks they made yesterday that the young masters seemed to enjoy. He wanted to send them to Young Master Song, Young Master Liang, Young Master Zhang, and Little Master Hongji, because thanks to them, his family didn’t just make a fortune, but they had also gained a lot of confidence.

The gifts for Young Master Song would be delivered by Steward Wong, and those for Young Master Liang would be sent by Shopkeeper Cui of the Wuxi Tea Building.

One must remember kindness. While the big households may not value these things much, they are still a token of gratitude.

When the sweet rice wine was ready in a few days, he would take it to the county city to deliver it himself and ask Old Master Zhang to send a servant with them to the broker’s office.

Qian Yixiu laughed, “Yesterday, due to the limited ingredients and the fact that the little monk couldn’t eat meat, we could only make those few dishes. Embroidery has thought of an even tastier snack called ‘steamed cake.'”

After the meal, Yijin went to the private school, Lady Wu went to the county town to fetch medicine, and Qian Manxia went to the fields.

In the afternoon, Lady Wu returned with ten packets of medicine. She relayed that Old Master Zhang had specifically instructed that in Cheng Yue’s condition, she should use her brain less, avoid busyness, and always maintain a relaxed and happy mindset. If she kept dwelling on the past, it might very well have the opposite effect and worsen her illness. This illness needed to be treated slowly; it would be better if she could remember things, but one must not force her if she couldn’t.

Qian Yixiu felt somewhat guilty after hearing this; she had been too anxious before. She took over the responsibility of preparing the medicine for Little Mother and supervising her medication.

After drinking the medicine a few times and combined with the acupuncture Zhang Yang had administered, Little Mother’s mood stabilized somewhat the next day, and she took out some plain satin to embroider.

Qian Yixiu did not dare let her exert herself again and advised, “Mother, take some more rest. Our family doesn’t rely on Mother’s embroidery to get by anymore.”

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Cheng Yue shook her head stubbornly and said, “Mother wants to earn money, not eat for free.”

Qian Yixiu advised again, “If you really want to embroider, then choose something simple that doesn’t strain you.”

Cheng Yue began drawing on paper. In a short while, she had sketched a picture of ‘Two Ducks Playing in the Water.’

Qian Yixiu looked at it and saw two ducks, a few water droplets, some small grasses, and a few small flowers; it seemed even simpler than the previous two pieces Little Mother had embroidered.

She nodded and said, “Hmm, this piece is alright, simple.”

Cheng Yue looked at the drawing and said, “Hmm, two little ducks, one is Jinwa, one is Embroidery.”

Qian Yixiu was dumbfounded but relieved that they were only compared to ducks and not to mandarin ducks, which could have been problematic. She instructed her again, “Mother, don’t rush, embroider slowly.”

Cheng Yue nodded in agreement.

Seeing Little Mother getting somewhat better, Qian Yixiu could finally ease her mind.

After the midday rest, Qian Yixiu persuaded Cheng Yue to embroider under the eaves outside the house. The light was good outside, and so was the air. Plus, now that the family had more silver, Lady Wu wouldn’t nag about Cheng Yue wasting satin and embroidery thread.

Cheng Yue usually listened to her daughter, so she came outside.

Seeing this, Lady Wu asked Qian Manxia to sit beside Cheng Yue to watch her embroider or help with tasks like separating thread.

Embroidery was considered a very important skill for ancient women; if done well, it was also a capital in securing a good husband. Qian Yixiu also hoped that her younger aunt could learn a unique skill and find a good husband in the future. She only instructed her younger aunt to watch and not to ask too many questions.

Qian Manxia sat happily beside Cheng Yue to help her separate threads, but Cheng Yue didn’t use the threads that Qian Manxia separated, even saying, “No good, it’s fuzzed.”

Qian Yixiu and Qian Manxia did not understand at first, but then Cheng Yue picked up the thread her niece had separated and held it up to the light, saying, “The thread is fuzzed, it’s not good.”

As it turned out, her niece’s hands were too rough, which had frayed the thread.