Chapter 12 You reap what you sow

"Your parents are really too calculating, making each of the three families contribute fifty strings of cash. Why don't they just fly to the heavens? I've just been dismissed from my post and have nowhere to go. Anyway, I don't have a single penny." Madam Huang never expected that her good intentions in helping to arrange a marriage would backfire so badly that she couldn't get rid of the problem.

Xu Dalang smiled apologetically: "I wasn't there at the time. I'll explain the situation to my parents in a few days."

Huang sneered: "What's the reason? I can't count on you for anything. Your mother and third sister-in-law came over and said that the second son's family also agreed. Are we the only ones who won't give it? But why should we give it?"

Upon hearing that his second brother had also agreed, Xu Dalang couldn't help but ask, "I don't think the second brother would agree, would he?"

“The second and third sons are both in business, and they’re the best at lying. Maybe they didn’t give us any money; they’re just looking to make us pay for it.” Huang was both anxious and angry.

Xu Dalang was already unwilling to stay in Suzhou Prefecture, so he said, "Since that's the case, why don't we go to Jinling together?"

Huang finally agreed. If he stayed in Suzhou, he didn't know how he would be swallowed up by others. However, Xu Dalang was not a scholar and could not get a travel permit. He also did not want people to know his identity. He had his own way of doing things, so he lied to Huang, saying, "If I go to the yamen to get a travel permit, my second brother will find out. He is a student of the prefectural school. So, why don't we get a few bolts of cloth from your uncle and say that we are helping your uncle deliver goods? That way, we can get away easily."

This was also a good way to act first and ask for permission later. Huang was unwilling to pay fifty strings of cash, so she agreed. The two pretended to be merchants, and together with Miaoyun, they paid three cents of silver before boarding the ship to Jinling.

When they left, Xu Erpeng was unaware that Old Madam Xu and Madam Bao had also come along. At that time, Madam Mei was still unaware of the situation and was going to the Ma family next door with Miaozhen.

Miaozhen personally made a set of skincare products for Qiu Niangzi. First, she bought some jasmine flowers from a flower seller, dried them, and then used only the petals. She then put them in a jar, sealed it with camellia oil, and stored it for six months. During this time, she filtered the oil through gauze, added new jasmine flowers, and repeated this process three times. After extracting the oil, she added beeswax, double-boiled it, added more jasmine oil, and then stored it in a small porcelain box.

Because she made quite a lot, she also gave some to her mother and relatives.

Besides the jasmine soap, she also made moisturizing cream and hairpin powder. The moisturizing cream was made by reading the prescriptions in "Taiping Huimin Bureau". The hairpin powder was made from the seeds of four o'clocks. She cut open the seeds, dug them out, added borneol to make the fragrance, and added safflower rouge to make the color. She knew that Lady Qiu liked light makeup, so she only mixed a little color, but not too bright. Then she poured it into the hairpin buds, dried it, and put it in the makeup box.

Besides skincare products, she also made two forehead bands: one was made of lotus-colored silk embroidered with lotus patterns, and the other was made of rabbit fur with a reclining rabbit design.

All the skincare products were packed in a small makeup box, placed on top, and labeled with labels. They were then given to Lady Qiu.

"Sir, I really can't bear to part with you." Miaozhen felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

Lady Qiu's luggage was all packed. Outside were several maids and guards sent by her younger brother, Imperial Censor Qiu, all of whom were very capable. She left quietly without telling anyone the exact date. If Miaozhen and the others hadn't lived next door to the Ma family, they wouldn't have known.

"Miaozhen, you are a studious and ambitious child. You write good essays and your poetry is also quite good. Last time I asked you all to manage the school's accounts, and you were the only one who managed them meticulously. My family's ancestral home is Yangzhou. You can write to me if you need anything in the future." After saying that, he gave her an address.

Miaozhen carefully put it away, then knelt down and kowtowed again: "Master's kindness is profound, and I have no way to repay it. I only hope that we will meet again in the future, and I will serve you again."

When the mother and daughter returned, they discovered that Old Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Bao had come together.

With a forced smile, Madam Bao asked, "Where did you and your niece go, sister-in-law?"

"Let's go to the Ma family next door. Teacher Zhenzhen is leaving, and we're going to deliver some things. She taught us a thing, so we can't leave empty-handed." Madam Mei knew they wouldn't come without a reason, so she didn't ask any questions and instead had the maids make tea.

Seeing that her second son had become successful and was now currying favor with Madam Mei, Old Madam Xu felt resentful: "Your place is much better than your third brother's. Even I don't enjoy it. You have servants to wait on you and live in such a big house. We don't have your kind of good fortune."

Mei didn't respond. She thought, "How dare Old Lady Xu say that? She's always helping the third son's family, but when it comes to retirement, she only thinks of her own family."

Miaozhen, who was standing to the side, laughed and said, "Grandmother, Third Uncle's family business is so good, they will naturally buy a house in the future. Why are you saying these things in front of Third Aunt?"

Because Miaozhen interrupted, Third Aunt immediately became sarcastic: "How can we compare to your place? We have more people in our family, and our expenses are higher."

“That’s true. Speaking of having fewer people, it’s my eldest uncle’s family that has fewer.” Miaozhen knew that this third aunt not only made her grandparents work for free in the shop, but she also complained about the extra food they ate from her.

Therefore, she also brought up the eldest son's side, saying that her father was not the eldest son and did not need the help of her grandparents, so why was she here to complain?

Seeing that her niece was pressuring her with her words, Bao couldn't find a way to refute her. She looked at Mei and got straight to the point, using the same old trick: "Second sister-in-law, it's like this, my father-in-law has agreed to the marriage with the Gong family, but they want us to give them 150 strings of cash as a dowry. My parents are getting old and want us to split it equally among the three families, 50 strings each."

In fact, Bao Shi was hoping that both the eldest and second wives would contribute, and that her parents-in-law would take out the remaining fifty strings of cash themselves. After all, the two old people lived and ate in the third wife's house, so they wouldn't dare to say anything bad about them to outsiders.

Mei was taken aback.

...

Xu Erpeng was furious upon hearing this: "What Father did is truly outrageous. We are just a weaver, not some big family. Whoever promised should pay for it themselves. I originally planned to contribute more, but because of what he did, I only contributed ten strings of cash, not a single coin more."

“Your third sister-in-law also said that they gave their money to their parents-in-law a long time ago,” said Madam Mei.

Xu Erpeng sneered: "If I hadn't seen my third brother give me the money, I wouldn't have taken it out. Anyway, I bought Fourth Sister's spinning machine, which is already a large dowry."

In any case, Xu Erpeng was determined not to give such a large dowry, feeling that his family members were like leeches sucking his blood.

After saying goodbye to Madam Qiu, it was already the end of the year.

The Xu family bought three loads of firewood, each load costing six or seven fen of silver, so the three loads cost less than two qian. They wouldn't eat old rice for the New Year, so Xu Erpeng had someone deliver fifty jin of late-season rice. The late-season rice was very fragrant and more expensive than other types.

The Ma family next door eats goji berry jam and rose jam, while the Xu family still eats soybean paste. It's not that they can't afford it, it's just that Xu Erpeng doesn't want to become extravagant after enjoying a few good days.

Miaozhen no longer needs to go to school. She helps her mother with household chores and visits Rushi's house every few days.

Ru was very happy to receive the paddy clothes that she gave her. Later, she only took her to the free clinic. She even let Miaozhen do moxibustion and acupuncture, and even tried to let her diagnose and prescribe medicine. If Miaozhen's diagnosis was wrong, Ru would personally teach her.

Therefore, the gifts that the Xu family sent to the Tao family for the festival were prepared in a grand manner, including Jiading chicken, Jintan wine, lotus flower cakes, shredded pork rolls, and fruit-filled pepper and salt cakes. In addition to the food, there were also two boxes of three-foot-long, freshly baked silver-red satin that looked like flowers.

After delivering the festival gifts, Fengniang came to Miaozhen and said, "Madam Tao asked me to tell Miss that her family has bought a cow that specializes in producing milk. She wants Miss to go there before New Year's Eve and make some abalone and snails with bones."

“The milk needs to be fermented first. Xiao Xi, go to my master’s place and fetch some milk from the small jar first,” Miao Zhen said.

Seeing that her young mistress was usually quite arrogant, but now that people were treating her like a maid, she wasn't angry at all and was even thinking of helping. Feng Niang couldn't help but say, "The Tao family is treating the young lady like a maid."

She was an elder in the family and said this out of concern for herself. Miaozhen laughed and said, "It's not that exaggerated. I became her disciple, and she taught me everything she knew. What's so special about that?"

After someone went to the Tao family to retrieve the milk, she waited for it to ferment, then put it in a pot and boiled it into milk curds. She then stirred it vigorously until cream was formed, added honey and cane sugar, and once it was ready, she delivered it directly to the Tao family.

When Madam Ru saw that she had brought it over herself, she quickly said, "Why did you come by yourself? It's very cold outside."

"I was originally going to bring you the holiday gifts last time, but something came up at home and I couldn't make it. I brought them today especially for you. What do you think? If you don't like them, I'll think of something else." Miaozhen was also trying to show her sincerity.

After saying that, she opened the food box she had brought. When Ru saw the spiral-shaped, milky-white abalone with bones, she just smiled and said, "This is it. Good child, I won't lie to you. Your older brother's father-in-law is coming over, so he asked you to help him."

Lady Qiu taught Miaozhen how to make many kinds of pastries. Knowing that the abalone with bones was the most precious, Miaozhen tried her best to make it well. She used all her pocket money to buy milk to make it, and unexpectedly, it actually helped her make friends.

"I'm glad I could help you," Miaozhen said.

Ru asked her to come in and help her look at the clothes she had worn that day. The clothes were made of plain silk and paired with a skirt of five-colored brocade. Even the hair ornaments were small bowl hairpins, inlaid with gold and pearls in amber. Miaozhen praised them as beautiful.

Perhaps Ru didn't see her as a child either, thinking she was mature and steady, and quietly complained: "That girl in the family only knows a few words, and she's vain. I don't know what's gotten into your older brother."

Miaozhen listened to such complaints but advised Ru Shi, "It's not like I'm living with you."

Of course, Madam Ru wouldn't let Miaozhen deliver things for nothing. She wanted to give Miaozhen a pearl hairpin, but Miaozhen refused. She just wanted Miaozhen to owe her a favor so she could teach her more things later. How could she possibly accept it? So she ran off in a flash.

Ru Shi and her husband were left behind. Ru Shi said, "This girl from the Xu family is more hardworking than Xi Niang, and she is also more talented. In another year, I'm afraid I will have taught her everything I can."

It is also said that after Miaozhen returned home, she saw her father coming back from the bookstore in front of the store. He said that he had received a letter from his elder brother, who said that he had gone to Jinling to stay with a friend and that the family should not worry about him.

"Why is my brother going at this time of year, with the New Year approaching?" Xu Erpeng asked, puzzled.

Madam Mei smiled and said, "They were probably scared away by Fourth Sister's dowry."

Xu Erpeng was both amused and exasperated: "Why didn't you just refuse? You just left like that. I don't know what you were thinking."

When Xu Laoguan and Xu Laotai heard this, they were filled with disappointment. Xu Laoguan spread his hands and said, "The eldest son is gone, the second son is only willing to give ten strings of cash, and the third son only wants to borrow twenty strings of cash. What should we do?"

"It's all your fault, you've used up half of all those betrothal gifts," Old Mrs. Xu complained.

Old Xu curled his lip: "You took so much money just because you said you needed it for medical treatment. When Fourth Sister bought clothes, I only spent twenty strings of cash and you still complained."

The couple were at their wits' end, sitting on the ground, on the verge of tears. Neither of them was willing to cover for him anymore. What was he going to do?