Whether Baise and Tie Yi would get married was something Ye Yunniang had no idea.
"I'll go ask."
"No, you can't." Ye Yunniang reached out to stop her, then hesitated for a moment.
Li Ping had already jumped off the chair and run to the other side.
Ye Yunniang gave an awkward smile as she faced the gazes of Baise and Tie Yi. She had no idea that her youngest son possessed such great curiosity.
Soon, Li Ping ran back.
"Mom, I've found out. Aunt Baise and Grandpa Tieyi are getting married on the 16th of next month."
"So fast!" Ye Yunniang exclaimed in shock; it was too swift.
“My aunt from Baise said that if you meet a good man, you should seize the opportunity.” Li Ping recalled what Baise had said, “If you miss this chance, you’ll never have another one.”
"Alright. Sit down and eat." Ye Yunniang got up and carried Li Ping to the chair.
Li Ping sat down, took a bite of the steamed pork with rice flour, and then seemed to remember something.
"Mother, what gift should we give as a congratulatory present?"
"After we finish eating, let's go check out West Street." West Street in Jiangcheng is a street run by merchants from other places, and there are many strange, interesting, and fun items there.
Upon hearing that they were going to West Street, Li Ping sped up his eating.
During the Spring Festival, Ye Yunniang took Li Ping and the other two to West Street.
The three of them picked out quite a few good things on West Street.
After lunch, Ye Yunniang took Li Ping to West Street to choose wedding gifts for Baise and Tieyi.
"Mother, this is good." Li Ping pointed to a wooden carving. It depicted a bride and groom in the midst of a wedding ceremony. Even better, the bride and groom resembled Baise and Tieyi somewhat.
As Ye Yunniang reached out to take it, her other hand snatched the wood carving first.
“Look, doesn’t it look like you and me?” Jiang Mingyue held the wooden carving to her face and asked Li Mingshu, who was beside her.
“We chose the one we liked first,” Li Ping said unhappily.
"Whoever gets it first gets it," Jiang Mingyue retorted without mincing words.
"Let's go pick something else." Ye Yunniang didn't want to run into Jiang Mingyue, so she pulled Li Ping and led him to another row.
"What are you looking at?" Jiang Mingyue asked, displeased that Li Mingshu was looking at another woman.
"Is it nothing?" Li Mingshu thought, perhaps he had misread it.
Ye Yunniang and Li Ping selected a new pair of porcelain figurines depicting dancing cranes.
This time, Ye Yunniang received it immediately and paid the bill.
Li Ping then selected a beautiful wooden box to hold the dancing cranes.
On February 16, Cai Damei returned to Wanxia Lane by horse-drawn carriage.
"You're back?"
"Yes, I'm back."
"Sigh, I encountered a lot of things that delayed me on the way."
"Isn't that right? This trip was a complete waste. It's almost March, and the wild vegetables will be in season."
"I'm not going next year. I'm not going anywhere."
"Have you gained weight? You've gained a little. You're always talking non-stop on the road."
"You smell like milk? Oh, I met a merchant from beyond the Great Wall. He brought back a lot of milk tablets, milk cakes, and stuff like that. They're so delicious. I bought a lot to bring back. Here, have a taste."
"Milk tablets are expensive. One tablet per person, no more."
...
As Cai Damei spoke, she distributed a lot of the milk tablets she had brought back. Eating them left her smelling of milk.
After Cai Damei's actions, no one paid attention to the fact that she smelled of milk anymore, and instead asked about what she had seen on the road.
Cai Damei was having a great time chatting with them.
After all the neighbors had left, Cai Damei finally breathed a sigh of relief and drank some water.
"Mother, where is the child?" Ye Yunniang couldn't help but ask.
“It’s next door.” Cai Damei said, glancing towards the direction of No. 3 courtyard. “The child’s name is Bao Shuyi, and his nickname is Shushu.”
"Shuyi, what a good name." Ye Yunniang murmured twice. "Mother, Shushu, what are your plans with Master Bao?"
“She’s being kept under his name.” It would be better for Bao Shuyi to be the daughter of the prefect than to be with her.
Ye Yunniang hesitated for a moment before deciding to ask, "Mother, are you really not planning to marry Master Bao?" They already have a child together.
Cai Damei sat up straight. "Yunniang, I'll only tell you this once."
Ye Yunniang sat up straight, looking like she was listening attentively.
"Your father, Li Min, is the only husband I will ever have in this life," Cai Damei said solemnly.
"I understand. I won't say it again."
"The children should be getting out of school soon," Cai Damei said, calculating the time.
Ye Yunniang glanced at the sun outside, calculated the time, and said, "Hmm, it'll be soon."
"I'm going to pick up the child." Cai Damei missed her grandson so much.
"I'll go cook. I learned a new dish, a one-pot stew." Ye Yunniang helped Cai Damei up.
“I brought back a piece of braised beef. Cut a bowl of it for you tonight,” Cai Damei instructed.
"Okay." Ye Yunniang swallowed as she spoke; beef was her favorite food.
Cattle are used for draft purposes and cannot be slaughtered arbitrarily. Only those that die of old age, disease, or injury and are unable to work are killed.
Eating beef is a matter of luck.
For dinner, we had a pot of mixed fish stew, braised beef, mushrooms and sliced meat, cabbage and vermicelli, shredded radish, and scallion and egg drop soup.
Six dishes and a soup—not many, but the portions are generous.
After feeding Bao Shuyi, Cai Damei brought Bao Min to have a meal together.
The family enjoys a reunion meal.
After the meal, Bao Min checked Li Pan and Li An's studies, while Ye Yunniang and Cai Damei did needlework.
Four children, each one different every day, their clothes all wear out quickly.
Ye Yunniang told Cai Damei about Cai Xiaomei's guess.
"Take a day off tomorrow, and go to the Zhou family the day after tomorrow," Cai Damei decided.
"Okay." Ye Yunniang agreed, and then talked to Cai Damei about the marriage between Baise and Tieyi.
Upon hearing that it was Li Ping who facilitated the arrangement, Cai Damei reached out and patted Li Ping's head beside her, saying, "Our Pingping has such good taste; he immediately saw that the two of them are a good match."
"Pingping is not only good at judging people, but also at judging account books!" Ye Yunniang recounted how she took Li Ping to look at the account books and immediately noticed the problem with Xiao Cai's bookkeeping.
Cai Damei reached out and hugged Li Ping, "Pingping, how did you find out? Tell Grandma."
“It’s very simple, you’ll know at a glance.” Li Ping’s answer was as blunt as ever.
"Is it really that simple?" Li Pan didn't believe it.
"Yes, it's simple." Li Ping reviewed the accounts as easily as drinking water or eating.
"One sheet of paper costs three coins, how much would 53 sheets cost?" Bao Min suddenly asked.
“109,” Li Ping answered without hesitation.
"What are your answers?" Bao Min asked Li Pan and Li An.
“109,” Li An calculated quickly.
Li Pan was a step too slow to calculate it.
"Two sheets of paper cost three coins, how much would 53 sheets cost?" Bao Min said, then gestured to stop the three men from speaking and told them to write it down.
Li Ping couldn't write, so he lowered his voice and told Ye Yunniang.
Ye Yunniang wrote down the answer for him: 79.5 coins.
Ang Lee and Li Pan couldn't answer; they hadn't learned that much yet.
"Explain your reasoning for the result," Bao Min asked again, looking first at Li Ping.
“Two sheets of paper cost 3 coins, so 53 sheets of paper cost 26 twos. We get 78 coins first, and one sheet of paper costs 1.5 coins.” Li Ping explained his calculation method.
Bao Min thought to himself, "He truly deserves to be Jiang Mingzhe's son."
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