It's understandable, considering they're both people who love gossip. So, on their way to the fish market, they started chatting.
“Hongyan’s stomach was upset last night, so we called the doctor.”
"What happened? Hongyan was perfectly fine when I saw her during the day?"
"It was from arguing with Niu Dajiao."
“After Ma Kouzi married Hongyan, he stopped being stingy and became more generous in his dealings. Niu Dajiao definitely wouldn’t stand for it.”
"It's no use if she can't stand it. The man's heart isn't with her. No matter how much she dislikes it, she can only put up with it."
"If you ask me, Niu Dajiao deserved it. She used to love spreading rumors and even drove a young wife to her death." Liang Maimiao had no sympathy for Niu Dajiao.
After talking about Hongyan, the two then talked about the two children that Ma Xiaokou and Chunxing had adopted.
"The boy was found by Niu Dajiao's family. Niu Dajiao's family is quite nice; the family they found for her had eight sons in a row. They couldn't support them anymore and had to give the child away. I heard that Ma Xiaokou gave him one tael of silver, six catties of pork, and two jars of wine."
"so much!"
“Boys are worth more money, but girls aren’t. Her eldest daughter only gave her a piece of cloth and brought it home. The day after she got home, Niu Dajiao made her eldest daughter sweep the floor.”
"How old is Da Ya?"
"They say he's three and a half, but he looks like a one-year-old. He even walks unsteadily."
"Oh dear, poor thing."
"That's right. Luckily, Chunxing stopped him and made Ma Xiaokou sweep the floor."
"Ma Xiaokou and Chunxing are quite good to Daya."
"They just brought the child home and started bossing them around. The child definitely won't be on the same page as the parents."
"That's true."
Ye Yunniang listened to their story from behind. She planned to go to the temple in a few days when Li Pan and Li An were off work to pray for the child's safety.
The child landed unevenly, and Ye Yunniang had no idea what to do.
Ye Yunniang thought she had arrived early, but there were others who had arrived even earlier than them.
The seafood stalls were packed with people.
Jiangcheng is quite far from the sea, so transporting goods here is no easy feat. Those who received the news arrived early.
"Charge!" Without another word, Liang Maimiao grabbed Ye Yunniang and Chunyao and charged into the crowd.
Ye Yunniang managed to snatch 5 catties of prawns, 6 catties of kelp, 2 liang of dried scallops, and other salted fish. She spent all 10 taels of silver she had on her, but it still wasn't enough. She borrowed 3 taels of silver from Liang Maimiao and Chunyao.
After making their purchase, the three of them returned home satisfied.
Upon returning home, Ye Yunniang first returned the silver to Liang Maimiao and Chunyao, and then went into the kitchen.
At noon, the Li family enjoyed a sumptuous seafood feast.
It's rare for Cai Damei to eat steamed egg with scallops without vomiting.
Delighted, Ye Yunniang regretted not buying more dried scallops. After entrusting Li Ping to Liang Maimiao's care, Ye Yunniang ran off to the fish market.
"Old Chen, do you have any dried scallops left?"
Old Chen shook his head; they were all sold out. Dried scallops are one of the eight delicacies of the sea, and this time he had gone to great lengths to get some.
Disappointed, Ye Yunniang returned home and saw a lot of dried scallops in the main room.
"Are you happy?" Tong Mo leaned against the door frame, arms crossed.
"You bought it?"
"My uncle bought it." Tong Mo wanted to buy it, but unfortunately he didn't have any money.
He wondered why his stepfather and stepmother hadn't sent him any money yet. If they didn't send any soon, he'd have to go back home.
Tong Mo was worried about returning to the capital, fearing that Ye Yunniang would forget him even more if he went back.
He knew that, apart from Jiang Mingzhe who couldn't return, Tie Xiong was also thinking about Ye Yunniang.
Feeling increasingly uneasy, Tong Mo decided to write another letter, urging his stepfather and stepmother to send money to their son as soon as possible.
Otherwise, they would lose their daughter-in-law.
Ye Yunniang had no idea what he was thinking. She was planning to make soup with dried scallops that evening to nourish Cai Damei.
“My uncle treats my aunt very well. You should persuade her to marry into the Bao family sooner rather than later. It would be so much better for her to be the wife of a prefect.”
"I'll listen to my mother. She can do whatever she wants," Ye Yunniang said, repeating her previous statement.
"You two are really stubborn. I just don't understand, how could your brother-in-law, such a handsome and elegant man, fall for your mother-in-law, that peasant woman?" Tong Mo genuinely couldn't understand.
"You should also advise your uncle; forced relationships are never happy," Ye Yunniang retorted.
If Tong Mo could persuade her, he wouldn't have come to Ye Yunniang to talk to her.
Forget about my uncle.
"Ye Yunniang, are you really not going to consider me?" Tong Mo straightened his back.
"In your words, I'm just a peasant woman, not worth your trouble, young master," Ye Yunniang retorted, neither too soft nor too hard.
“You are you. Your mother-in-law is your mother-in-law.” Tong Mo felt that the two were different.
“We are the same.” Ye Yunniang didn’t see any difference.
"I misspoke," Tong Mo realized and apologized.
"Tong Mo, you're not getting any younger. Settle down and get married." Stop trying to be clever in front of her all the time.
"I'm serious," Tong Mo explained, indicating that he wasn't joking.
"Whether you're sincere or not, I'll say it again: it's impossible between us." Ye Yunniang had never considered Tong Mo.
"You can even fall for Jiang Mingzhe, that man whose wife ran off with someone else. Why can't you fall for me?"
"I, Tong Mo, am tall and handsome, with striking eyebrows, bright eyes, and fair skin. My family is wealthy, I have plenty of money, and I work as a clerk in the prefectural government. More importantly, I am the eldest son of the Huang family." No matter how Tong Mo thought about it, he felt he had an advantage over Jiang Mingzhe.
"I never thought about marrying Jiang Mingzhe." Tong Mo was delighted by Ye Yunniang's words, but he was displeased by her next sentence.
"Of course, I never thought about marrying you."
Ye Yunniang genuinely felt that her life was quite good now. Her mother was by her side, her three sons were sensible, and the family owned land, houses, and shops, so they weren't short of money. Why should she remarry and serve her husband's entire family?
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