Chapter 39: The Strange Gift of Adding a Basin

Madam Xu gave Zao'er some money and told her to go home first, and also asked her to tell her to go to Dong's house tomorrow.

When the mother and daughter returned and told Granny Zhen about the birth, she said, "This is a lucky little baby! Today is an auspicious day!"

Last time, the scholar's wife gave birth prematurely, which was really scary. Zhao Xiucai didn't have much money, so naturally no ceremony was held. No one was willing to go for the third bath and the basin ceremony.

Baozhu had never met her cousin yet. She only knew that her cousin's maiden name was Dong Yuanlin. Her uncle was also looking forward to this first-born child. In addition, her cousin's five elements lacked water, so the word Yuanlin was chosen to mean the first child to be born. It was a very meaningful name.

The next morning, Baozhu accompanied her mother to the Dong family. Cousin Yuanlin had gone into labor the night before and gave birth yesterday morning. When someone came to inform Aunt Zhen, she rushed there immediately. She felt a little resentful that she had not sent someone to tell them earlier. After seeing cousin Yuanlin and the baby, she stayed for dinner and returned home after seeing that nothing was wrong.

Having finally put her worries to rest, Aunt Zhen's face was beaming with joy.

The Dong family only has this one relative, and they're all in Bianjing now. My aunt and Mrs. Song have mentioned it before, and it was brought up again yesterday. Mrs. Song knew that Miss Xu had a son and a daughter, so she sent a special invitation to her family for the third-day celebration.

Although she wanted to invite the whole family, it was not convenient for them to go all together. So Xu Niang only planned to take Baozhu and Zhurong with her, wanting them to meet her cousin. Xu Niang made a pair of solid gold locks for the little girl, ready to add to the basin when the time came. Baozhu and Zhurong also made a two-liang gold gourd for each of them.

Although he had never met this cousin, when he arrived in Bian Jing, he specially sent someone to send a gift to Aunt Zhen to his uncle's family.

The stalls at Zhouqiao are open as usual, and Baozhu's cold spring dishes are selling well before the weather gets hot.

In a few days, when the weather gets warmer, even if someone orders this spring dish again, it will not be possible to make it. When the weather gets hot, the food in the food box will go sour in the morning.

Except for the soup base and the sauce for fried skewers, which were not given to Aunt Cui, I have learned almost everything else in the past few days. Aunt Cui is an old hand at doing the job. She cooks the vermicelli soup according to the predetermined side dishes. While the soup is cooking, she can also fry the skewers at the same time. Having one more person on board saves Baozhu a lot of effort.

After the Beginning of Summer, the weather gradually warms up. The peach and apricot blossoms have all faded, and peaches the size of a fingernail are hidden among the branches and leaves. The branches on both sides of the streets are becoming increasingly lush, and many old people and children are sitting under the trees to enjoy the cool air.

The Zhen family's mother, daughter and two other people rented a carriage, went to Dong's house early in the morning, and then went to Song's house with Aunt Zhen. Aunt Zhen also wanted to go early, so she packed up early in the morning and rushed to Song's house as soon as the three of them arrived.

The Song family had been wealthy for many years in Bian Jing and lived in a large mansion with three courtyards. Several uncles and aunts lived in the courtyard, and Old Master Song and Old Lady Song were still there, so this family did not get any share.

The most promising person in their branch now is Song Pingshi. Yuanlin's cousin married Song Pingshi's eldest son. The Song family's master failed the imperial examination three years ago and originally wanted to use his connections to recommend him to be a minor official in the border area, but he declined, saying that he would take the exam again this year.

The three of them, led by a neatly dressed maid, wandered through the courtyard. At the door, another maid came to greet them, and the four of them followed her to their cousin Yuanlin's room. The baby was asleep in the cradle, cared for by a wet nurse.

The noises and movements of the others were lowered. Baozhu looked at her cousin Yuanlin, who bore a striking resemblance to her aunt, with a round face and crescent-shaped brows, and who looked so inviting that one would want to be close. It was still early, and she was leaning against a soft pillow, wearing a midriff-baring gown and a headband with a phoenix-embroidered peony pattern and beads. A maidservant was feeding her a longan and red date soup.

She was still young when she left Suzhou, and she had some impression of her aunt, but it had been so long that the impression was not very deep. She knew that the person who came with her own mother must be her aunt, so she propped herself up and wanted to greet her.

Madam Xu immediately stopped them, and Yuanniang waved and took Baozhu Rong over, "Are these the two younger sisters from my uncle's family?"

Baozhu Rong stepped forward and called her cousin over, greeting her. Yuanniang took off the jade bracelet on her hand and put one on Baozhu Rong's hand. "We are just like family. I like it when I see it."

Yuanniang has always been in poor health, and her complexion still looks pale today. Aunt Zhen feels sorry for her daughter, so she prepared some soup herself and sat by her bed to feed her.

When someone from her mother's family came, cousin Yuanlin sent the servants away and told them to close the door when they left.

As they were chatting privately, the maid waiting outside to do her makeup knocked on the door. "Madam, there are guests at home today. Madam asked me to come early to do your makeup."

Yuanniang and Aunt Zhen always had opinions about everything. They snorted and said, "The people below are used to changing their attitude according to the situation. They used to be uncontrollable. When they went out to socialize, they had to invite a dressmaker from outside to come home. Now that the old lady treats An Ge'er like her beloved daughter, everyone in the mansion has changed their attitude."

Ang'er is the little baby lying in the cradle. He hasn't been given a real name yet, so he's just called by a nickname.

Madam Xu and Aunt Zhen helped the person up from the bed. After Yuanniang finished dressing up, the maid who was dressing her hair went out. Not long after, many people rushed into the room. An'er, who was originally asleep, cried uncontrollably because of the noisy noise.

A group of people surrounded the child and touched him. Yuanniang frowned, called out to her aunt, sisters, and then asked the wet nurse to take An'er to the compartment.

These people kept pestering Baobao, asking where Baobao's daughter, Zhenrong, came from. Yuanniang smiled and took Xu Niang's arm, saying that she was her aunt and her aunt's sister.

"But the one from the south? How long have you been here? Why didn't you come to our house to visit us before? How many days did you stay in Bian Jing? Can you speak Mandarin?" A woman talked quickly, pulling Baozhu and asking a lot of questions at once.

Yuanniang looked unhappy. "Sisters are guests after all. If you don't know, you might think Second Aunt is here to judge us."

Bianjing had its fair share of dialects, and as long as ordinary people could understand them, no one would mind. However, the Zhen family, being literate, wanted to make a living in Bianjing without being looked down upon, so they learned the basics of Mandarin along the way. After spending more than six months there, only a few words were pronounced differently, but without careful listening, the difference was indistinguishable.

On the way, I heard Aunt Zhen talk about the Song family, and I probably knew something about it. This group of people seemed to be afraid that if cousin Yuanlin gave birth to a child, the old lady would be so happy that she would give all her money to Song Pingshi's family.

Baozhu hated the contempt in the eyes of the second aunt of the Song family and said indifferently, "This aunt knows the Mandarin language so well. If it weren't for her accent, I would have thought she was laughing at us because we came from a small place and spoke with an accent."

The group of people who arrived also had their own conflicts. Baozhu only heard a young woman laugh. It turned out that this second aunt was not from Bianjing either. She had just married into the Song family and lived in Bianjing for more than ten years, so she just considered herself a real Bianjing person. It was obvious that someone had laughed at her for asking that question before, and she didn't expect to be laughed at again because of this matter today.

A narrow-eyed sister-in-law stood up and looked at the Zhen family. "I heard that your sister-in-law and uncle run a restaurant?"

Madam Xu stood in front of Baozhu and said, "This sister-in-law has a sharp ear. I thought only women in the market liked to pry into other people's affairs."

Yuanniang was initially afraid that her aunt would be subjected to these people's weird tempers, but when she saw that no one dared to approach and speak, she felt that the depression she had been feeling for the past few days had dissipated a lot. She smiled and took Baozhu's hand and said,

"Second aunt and eldest sister-in-law have always been like this. My two sisters, please don't let them scare you."

The young woman who had just laughed came out to smooth things over. "Let's go to the outer hall first. This place is small and there are so many guests. We shouldn't rush in like a swarm of bees."

After Xu Niang and the others had left, he patted Yuan Niang's hand and sighed, "It's really not easy for you."

Not long after the dressing maid left, a group of people came in. They were so kind-hearted that they shouldn't have come in and made a noise in the first place.

When a third-day ritual is held, wealthy families often use precious gifts such as gold, jade, and rhinoceros horns to add to the basin. The Zhen family believes that the gold pieces they have prepared are not outstanding for an official family like them, and cannot overshadow the ones prepared by An Ge'er's grandmother and the old lady, but they are still valuable, so people dare not look down on Yuan Niang.

An incense table had been set up in the outer hall, offering statues of the Goddess of Smallpox and several other deities. A wooden basin used for child baptism was woven with red cloth and colorful thread, and in it was a fragrant soup cooked with onions, garlic, spices, and red dates.

People threw one item in one by one, and the midwife sang a line at a time. The old lady of the Song family threw in several jade items with a smile on her face, and Mrs. Song also threw in some gold and jade items.

Aunt Zhen compared the gift with that of Mrs. Song and also threw down something of the same weight.

The second aunt who had been acting so arrogantly in the room just now lost a silver ingot the size of a fingernail, and the others were not much better off than her.

Madam Xu hadn't intended to stand out, but she hadn't expected these so-called aunts to be so frugal, making the things she'd prepared seem expensive. Since everything was already prepared, there was no reason to not add to the gifts just to show some leniency. Besides, these people wanted to see Madam Xu suffer a setback today, so she was going to show them a good lesson.

The golden lock was thrown into the basin at the last moment. Since the old lady didn't come, she made a pair of gold bracelets and asked Xu Niang to add some to the basin. Baozhu Zhurong also followed An Niang and threw the small gourd in.

Just now they were all silver ingots, and some even just grabbed a handful of copper coins, but suddenly a few pieces of gold were thrown down, which were not light in weight. The people from the in-laws' family were much more generous than the people from my own family. Even the midwife, who was used to such scenes, paused for a moment before continuing to sing loudly.

After the three people from the Zhen family added the basin, the old lady of the Song family looked at her own group of people again, her face looked a little unhappy, but she didn't show it on her face because today was a happy day.

The midwife sang words while stirring the water in the basin three times. Then the wet nurse brought Ang'er over, gently hit the baby with green onions, washed his body, and sang auspicious words again.

Baozhu listened to her talk from beginning to end, and she didn't repeat a single word. She sighed in her heart that no matter what business you are in, you have to rely on real skills to make a living.

After the ceremony, Mrs. Song personally greeted Aunt Zhen, Madam Xu and others, and asked them to move to the flower hall for dinner.

Baozhu didn't know that after they left, the old lady called the aunts and sisters-in-law of the Song family over and scolded them.

Yuanniang went to the lady with a grievance again and told her that although her aunt from her natal family was not a high-ranking official, she was from a respectable family. Her second aunt's family was not a wealthy family either, but she acted arrogantly in front of them. After all, she was An'er's aunt, so these aunts and sisters-in-law blocked the room and ridiculed her.

What others know is that those aunts are confused, and those who don’t know think that the Song family is bullying others by abusing their power, and the ones they bully are just relatives.

Old Master Song retired as a fourth-rank official and now just drinks tea and walks his birds at home. The important affairs of the family have long been handed over to Master Song. The old lady has a lot of private money, which is not something that everyone wants. It is too embarrassing for those rooms to make such a mess because of their selfishness in the eyes of outsiders.

Because the old lady was in control, Mrs. Song had no way to deal with the other rooms. This time, she found some shortcomings and reported them to the old lady. As expected, those uncles, aunts and uncles were punished by the old lady again.

Aunt Zhen mentioned this incident when she came to deliver the wedding eggs. She was happy. Yuanniang was smart and was now learning to manage the household at the Song family. She herself had always been clumsy in her words, and whenever she went to the Song family, she would always get those people to make some sarcastic remarks. Thinking of the last time Xu Niang and Baozhu helped her vent her anger, she felt much better.

Maybe it was because she had offended the Song family last time, but the Song family didn't send out invitations for the full moon banquet. Aunt Zhen privately found Madam Xu and scolded the Song family. She then prepared a table of food at home, invited her son-in-law to accompany her, and invited the Zhen family to eat.

The weather is getting hotter, and before I knew it, it has been a year since I came to Bianjing. Eating mutton soup on this day will easily cause nosebleeds. Now everyone has tried it and still thinks duck blood vermicelli soup is better than mutton offal vermicelli soup. After the mutton offal vermicelli soup stopped selling, we stopped making mutton offal soup for a while.

Baozhu and her elder brother bought many ingredients to try and season the food to see which one was the most palatable. The hot and sour taste was most suitable for this season, so they replaced the mutton offal soup with hot and sour noodles and jelly.