Chapter 43 Heartfelt Confidence
Zheng Sirui didn't respond to Yanru's question, but watched Shanjuan serve tea and snacks with a cold look. Yanru wanted to continue showing off, but Zheng Sirui interrupted her mercilessly: "Shanjuan, what are these trivial things?"
Shanjuan said, "Master Zheng, this is called Balanzi, also known as Badanxing or Badanmu. The chef stir-fries it with salt and coarse sand, then grinds it into powder and sprinkles it on the cheese. It makes it more delicious and helps relieve the greasiness."
"Oh... Ba Lanzi..." Zheng Sirui used the tip of a spoon to pick up the chopped nuts, mixed them with yogurt, scooped up some, and took a sip. "It smells quite good. Your cook is really good."
Shanjuan said nothing more, set the table, and walked out the door. Yanru said, "It's just Balanzi. I don't believe you haven't eaten it before, but you talk like you've never seen the world."
"Yes, I have, but never cooked like this." Zheng Sirui put down her spoon and heard the footsteps slowly fading away. She changed the subject, "Yanru, are you only planning to run this pawnshop for the Xue family in the future? Are you not planning to take care of other things as well?"
Yanru asked, "The pawnshop isn't enough? What else do we need to do?"
Zheng Sirui said, "I think that although he opened this pawnshop for you, it was built by the Xue family before your wedding, and you didn't contribute any money. According to the laws of our dynasty, the shop purchased by a couple before their marriage belongs to their mother's family. The pawnshop is yours on the surface, but if you look at it from the court... it's still the Xue family. Tsk. I still think it's a pity not to use your old skills in dressing to make money. Why not use part of your dowry and part of the money Xue Jia gave you, then draw the blueprints yourself, find three or two embroiderers to work as maids, and then open a shop specializing in selling those cone hats and fans you made in the past. When you make it big in the future, open a ready-made clothing shop, and all the money you earn will be yours."
"Why am I so tired?" Yanru grumbled, throwing away her handkerchief. "I've already married into the Xue family. Why should I bother with all this instead of just raising my head and enjoying life? Si Rui, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you're really too petty. You're not broad-minded and your actions aren't generous, do you understand? Since ancient times, husband and wife have been one, one body. You have me in you, I have you in you, we share wealth and happiness. Why do you always make such distinctions? Really, it's very bad for you to do this. You're so self-centered, and you don't have the feeling that a daughter-in-law from a large family should share the honor and disgrace of her husband's family... Do you understand? It's really, really bad for you to do this."
Zheng Sirui lamented, blaming herself for speaking at cross purposes. "Okay, okay, okay, okay, I'm being overly suspicious. But I have one last word of advice for you: daughters-in-law from prominent families usually bring a personal maid with them when they marry into their husband's family. Now you only have the maid assigned by your mother-in-law. Aren't you afraid someone might be eavesdropping even in your own room? It's like when I'm working in the government office, my subordinates have to be on my side."
Yanru took the hint to heart. Zheng Sirui's words made sense. What good girl wouldn't have one or two personal servants to bring into her husband's family? Over the years, her mother and grandmother had earned some money from the embroidery shop they opened. The bulk of the money went to her education at Qiushui Academy, and later to Yanbao's studies in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Add to that the expenses for the two sisters' clothing and grooming, and after deducting the operating costs, they couldn't even save enough for a house and move. With three generations and four people still living in the same courtyard allocated by Prince Su, how could they afford to buy slaves and maids for her? Before marriage, she had lied to Xue Jia that she was free and unrestrained by nature and didn't like having people following her around. Alas, these words could only deceive Xue Jia, not herself.
It doesn't matter. It's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep have been lost. It's not too late to start cultivating confidants now. That night, after washing up, when Xue Jia returned from paying his respects to his parents-in-law, Yanru offered him a cup of warm tea and said, "Master, I have an idea today. Shanjuan is the only one who handles all the affairs in our courtyard. It's really hard on her. I can't bear it. Why don't we find another maid to help me in the courtyard? What do you think?"
"Buy a maid?" Xue Jia picked at the flesh between his teeth and muttered, "Why would you think of buying a maid when everything is fine? Our courtyard isn't big, what could possibly happen? Besides, we have Long'er to serve us, so why bother spending that extra money?"
Yanru was unhappy: "It's just to buy a maid. My husband is unwilling to spend money, or can't afford it?"
Xue Jia was anxious and shouted, "Isn't it just buying a maid?! What's the big deal? After my mother collects the rent, I'll find you three! Someone will take turns to help you pee! Hey, I just think Shanjuan is the person mother arranged for her, and she hasn't done anything wrong. If she were to be replaced suddenly, my father and mother would probably be upset. Of course, if you paid for it yourself, using the money from your dowry, and bought it without my father and mother's knowledge, then my mother would definitely not dare to have any objections!"
Yanru curled her lips, thinking to herself: "After becoming your wife, you still want me to spend my own money to buy a maid for your family? You businessmen are really good at calculating. If you don't want to buy, then fine. I'd rather make do with Shanjuan than be a sucker and make wedding clothes for your family!" Yanru said nothing more, turned her back to pack her dressing table, and applied moisturizing ointment to her face. Xue Jia looked at his wife's back, with a hint of resentment in his eyes. He stepped forward and said, "My wife, come and massage my shoulders. I want to tell you something. Ouch, come here first, come! Massage harder. I'm tired today. Okay, let me tell you something. I just went to pay my respects to my parents. Mother said that she went to visit my adoptive father yesterday and saw that all the married sons of my adoptive father's family had moved out with their wives. Mother thought that our house is a bit small, with three or four courtyards in total. After you get married, it would be a bit inconvenient and uncomfortable to go in and out every day. So Mother plans to let us move out and build our own house. What do you think?!"
Yanru's mouth twisted to the back of her ears, and she clenched her chin to feign sorrow: "Ah? If I move out, how can I serve my parents-in-law? After all, my husband values filial piety... I'm afraid it's not good."
Xue Jia slapped his thigh and said, "Hey! What are you afraid of? There are so many servants at home. Even if they need to take care of shit and urine, why would we worry about not being able to find someone? Besides, my parents are not old. They won't have to take care of shit and urine anymore."
Even if I get there, I won't take care of your parents' shit and urine! Yanru cursed viciously, but still smiled coquettishly: "Hey, thank you so much for caring about me, my father-in-law and mother-in-law. From now on, I will definitely be filial to them together with my husband. By the way, my husband, which courtyard are we moving to?"
"Father and Mother are still considering it," Xue Jia said. "If we clean up the old courtyard, it could be habitable. But you're our new bride, a new bride. How can you live in an old house... Oh, how can it be? How can it be? Mother said we should add a new courtyard, modeled after the gardens in Yangzhou. It should be ready by winter, and then we can move in and live alone. How do you think?"
"Great!" Yanru was ecstatic, but it was a pity she couldn't do it, otherwise she would have done fifty backflips without any support to vent her excitement. Xue Jia watched her dancing and jumping like a monkey with a peach, and said lovingly, "Come on, my lady, let's go to bed early. My godfather sent me a note saying that the young man I pointed out to you this morning, the one who plays with fans and wears jade, recently acquired some fine fans and two fine paintings, and he's hosting a banquet for guests to appreciate them tomorrow. My godfather is busy, so he asked us to take his place."
"Really?" Yanru asked, "Hey, sir, didn't the young master come to our pawnshop today? Why did we go there to get the letter from our adoptive father? Didn't he give us the letter directly during the day?"
"Hey!" Xue Jia explained, "He invited me today, but it was just a verbal invitation. We're brothers, right? Why bother with all that fancy stuff? Just letting him know verbally will do. As for my adoptive father, he can't go in person, but it wouldn't be nice if he didn't go, so he asked us to get his invitation for him and put it up there. Hey—wouldn't that make it look like he's there?"
"Oh, that's it." Yanru was so excited that she had no time to analyze the far-fetched words in Xue Jia's words. She didn't even notice her good husband wiping the sweat from his forehead. Anyway, this fool had an empty head. In the past, he would scratch his head and think about the next sentence after just a few words. Her heart surged more than the Qiantang River on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, more surging than the Yellow River from the sky. She rolled over in bed, grabbed Xue Jia's waist, and snuggled in his arms, annoyed: "My husband, how can you say this to me so late at night? How can I sleep tonight?"
[Mumbling]: Wow! I'm so touched by everyone's comments! I really need positive feedback to stay motivated. For example, the farming article in the list had so few comments and readers that I ended up not updating it anymore (I know it's bad, but I can't help it). Thank you so much for your support! Knowing that there are still sisters reading, I will definitely update more! I'm so happy that you all responded to my comments! I'd be so happy if you made friends through this book!
Also, I still hope that when everyone discusses, they will focus on the story of our Sui Dynasty. After all, the theme of our play is fiction (Lü Xiucai's eyes are black) (wink, blink, blink like crazy!)
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