Li'er played with Pan'er while Ye Yunniang tidied up at home, wanting to do more to lighten Cai Damei's burden.
Just as I was tidying up, the door opened.
Cai Xiaomei carried her grandson Zhou Yan into the courtyard. "Big sister, look what I brought! Oh, Yunniang is back." Cai Xiaomei was carrying a knife of meat.
"Yes, you're back. Auntie, come in and sit down. I'll go get some water." Ye Yunniang invited Cai Xiaomei into the house, then went to the kitchen to bring tea into the main room.
"Auntie, have some water."
"Okay, have some water." Cai Xiaomei looked at her niece-in-law, who was fairer and slightly plumper than before.
Wealthy families really do raise children well.
"How many days off did Master give you?"
"We have to go back this afternoon." Ye Yunniang said, taking out a silver firecracker from her bosom and handing it to Zhou Yan in Cai Xiaomei's arms, "New Year's money."
"It's too valuable, you can't accept it." Cai Xiaomei reached out to stop her.
"Auntie, this is my New Year's money for the child. It's nothing expensive or not," Ye Yunniang said, stuffing the silver firecrackers into Zhou Yan's hand.
Hearing Ye Yunniang say this, Cai Xiaomei couldn't stop her anymore. She said to her grandson, "Hurry up and thank your aunt."
Zhou Yan gripped the firecracker in his hand tightly. "Thank you, Auntie."
"Yan'er is such a good boy. I hope Pan'er can be as good as Yan'er in the future." Ye Yunniang reached out and patted Zhou Yan's head.
“Your mother is good at taking care of children. With her around, Pan’er will surely amount to something in the future.”
"You're praising me like this because you know I bought fish. You want to eat my steamed fish." Cai Damei pushed open the courtyard gate, carrying the groceries.
"Now that you mention it, you really are hungry. I really want some steamed fish." Cai Xiaomei said, standing up and snatching the fish from Ye Yunniang's hand. "You, Yan'er, and Pan'er play in the yard. We'll go cook."
Cai Xiaomei and Cai Damei went into the kitchen together to tidy up.
Ye Yunniang took Zhou Yan to Li'er and Pan'er, where the two of them coaxed the two children, one big and one small.
Cai Damei cooked steamed fish, braised pork with dried green beans, stir-fried tofu with cabbage, stir-fried shredded radish with meat, fried peanuts, and finally served with an egg and bean sprout soup.
Seeing the fried peanuts, Ye Yunniang couldn't help but think of her father-in-law and Li Jun, who both loved fried peanuts. But because they used a lot of oil, Cai Damei didn't usually make them, only frying a large plateful during the Chinese New Year.
"Let's eat, let's eat," Cai Damei called to the people at the table.
After the family reunion dinner, Cai Damei took Zhou Yan back home, leaving Ye Yunniang and her mother-in-law alone.
Inside the house, Ye Yunniang first opened the bundle she had given to Cai Damei, which contained a set of clothes and shoes.
"It's fine to make it for Pan'er. I have clothes to wear. It's a waste to make such good material for me." Cai Damei touched the soft fabric, her voice full of regret.
"Madam has rewarded me quite a bit, some for you and some for Pan'er." Ye Yunniang opened another bundle, inside which were thin cotton-padded jackets and trousers made for Pan'er to wear in the spring, as well as two pairs of tiger-head shoes.
After looking at the clothes, Ye Yunniang gave Cai Damei all her monthly allowance and the red envelopes given to her by her masters during the New Year.
"So many?" Cai Damei asked, clutching the gold beads.
The gold and silver together amounted to more than 100 taels.
"Yunniang, what happened to you at home?" Cai Damei asked worriedly, grabbing Ye Yunniang's hand.
Ye Yunniang selectively recounted Ding Fang's story.
“Madam knew she had misunderstood me. She gave me 100 taels of silver. These nice-looking ones were a New Year's gift from the old master and madam,” Ye Yunniang said one by one.
"My poor Yunniang, she's suffering so much in the manor." Cai Damei felt sorry for her. She would rather not have the money and just hope that Ye Yunniang would be safe and sound.
Upon hearing this, Ye Yunniang felt tears welling up in her eyes and leaned against Cai Damei's chest.
"Mother, I'm not suffering. Just thinking about you and Pan'er waiting for me at home makes me feel no suffering at all."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law leaned on each other and spoke in hushed tones.
"Mother, you should eat and drink as you please. Don't be stingy. I have enough to eat and stay in the mansion. It doesn't cost me anything." Ye Yunniang could see that the rice jar in the house was full of coarse rice, and the flour was sorghum flour.
There was only one half-pound piece of cured pork, which was delivered by Cai Xiaomei.
There were only two cabbages and 10 eggs.
Thinking it over, Ye Yunniang took out a jewelry box from her bundle, opened it, and put a gold bracelet on Cai Damei's wrist.
“Mother, this gold bracelet. I felt it would suit you perfectly the moment I saw it.”
“I’m practically half-buried, how can I wear these things?” Cai Damei said somewhat embarrassedly. Her husband had bought her a silver bracelet when he was alive. Later, when the family needed silver due to an emergency, it was melted down.
Unexpectedly, her daughter-in-law even brought her a gold bracelet home.
“Mother, you’re still young. When I get married and have children, it will be up to you to make the decisions.” In Ye Yun’s heart, Cai Damei was her pillar of support. She was very unhappy to hear her say this.
"Alright, alright, I won't say anything." Cai Damei was also reluctant to part with Ye Yunniang and Pan'er.
"Mother, you must eat and drink well. I can earn money." Ye Yunniang was afraid that Cai Damei would be too frugal and ruin her health by starving herself.
Cai Damei received Ye Yunniang's concern and promised Ye Yunniang that she would no longer be frugal and would not eat anything.
Cai Damei glanced outside and asked softly, "How's it going over there?"
Ye Yunniang blushed and then paled. She wanted to speak, but dared not. She could only stammer, "It's alright."
“Let me tell you, don’t feel ashamed about this. Men have needs, and women have needs too.” Cai Damei’s view on this matter is different from most people.
"Mother, you know so much." Ye Yunniang said curiously.
"When I was young, my next-door neighbor was a very strange woman. Everyone said she was nothing but a vixen. But she was the only one who would give me medicine when my parents beat me, and food when I was hungry."
She often said that the world is too unfair to women. Men can find other women whenever they have needs.
Women, too, have desires. Like wheat seedlings in a field, they need water and fertilizer. But the world forces women to be tireless, unyielding stone statues. Cai Damei recalled the words of her beautiful neighbor.
What happened to her afterwards?
"Later, she was sold by her in-laws. Two days before she left, she taught me many ways for women to please themselves. She hoped I would have a more comfortable life in the future. But, I married a good man." Cai Damei's eyes showed sadness when she talked about her deceased husband.
Grandpa Pan'er's life was too short.
Cai Damei taught Ye Yunniang everything she had learned from her neighbor.
Even though it's only for one day, one shouldn't be so irresponsible as to stay up until night.
After lunch, we chatted for a while, hugged the child, and went back with Pear.
When we returned to Zhiyuxuan, it was only 3 PM.
Ye Yunniang quickly washed herself, changed into clean clothes, and went to Fanghua Courtyard.
First, go see Miss Ziyuan and offer her some side dishes made by her mother. Then go into the inner room.
"Sister Chunyao, I'm back."
"Okay, I'll leave it to you. I'm going back now," Chunyao said, yawning.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Sister Chunyao." Ye Yunniang handed a jar of side dishes to Chunyao.
Chunyao happily accepted it and left.
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