Although society has become more civilized, and the sons of merchants can now participate in the imperial examinations, no longer belonging to the lowly classes who were once trampled upon, they are still not respected. Especially prominent families, who utterly despise the profit-driven practices of merchants. While officials no longer treat those in merchant families with disdain, they are still held in a subordinate position in people's eyes.
Although the Gu family couldn't be called a prestigious clan, they were a well-known scholarly family in Qingyun County. Their second son was intelligent from a young age, and they had high hopes for him. Who would have thought that one day he would leave a letter saying he was going on a trip, but he never returned for many years without a word. When he finally came home, he had debaseed himself to become a merchant, a man reeking of money. How could his grandparents not be furious?
The last time my second uncle came home was when I turned nineteen. It's been four years now, hasn't it? I'm already nineteen.
"I wonder where my second uncle is now," Gu Yaoniang sighed inwardly. The elders in the family all criticized her second uncle for his lowly business acumen, but she didn't think so. He earned his living with his own hands, built a wealthy life from scratch—what was wrong with that?
People look down on merchants, yet everyone loves money. Yao Niang was strong-willed from a young age. If her family hadn't already arranged a marriage for her, she would have hoped to one day be like her second uncle, traveling across mountains and rivers, making a fortune every day, and becoming the richest man in the region.
Gu Yaoniang glanced around the cramped kitchen and sighed again.
If only my grandparents hadn't thrown away the valuables my second uncle had given us back then.
When my second uncle returned that year, I had just come of age. He gave me a beautiful set of headdresses. The kingfisher feather and gold-inlaid flower crown shone brightly, with a pearl the size of a thumb in the center. A pair of bright moon earrings swayed gently on my ears, like the bright moonlight shining.
What a pity! Grandma threw them all out. If we had pawned them, those ornaments alone would probably have been enough for the family to eat for a year.
My father is mediocre and pedantic. Despite his efforts for most of his life, he remains a clerk in the county government, a truly lowly official with no real benefits. The family is now struggling to make ends meet. Even meat is only eaten once every ten days when my younger brother returns home from the academy. He sends Bitao to buy a tael or two, and Bitao cooks it in various ways for the whole family to enjoy.
Seeing that Gu Yaoniang remained silent, Bitao asked again, "Miss, are you missing the Second Master?"
My second uncle has been gone for four years, and naturally I miss him.
In my hazy memories, my aunt and second uncle loved me the most when I was young, even more than my parents. Later, my aunt passed away, and my second uncle also left home. I cried day and night, and my grandmother would just hold me and cry, while my mother stood by helplessly, unable to comfort me no matter what she did.
Later, her mother had another son, and she focused all her attention on him, becoming even less close to her. So she grew up with her grandmother.
Later, her grandmother also passed away, and she felt like a guest in the house. Her mother treated her very well, which Yao Niang knew very well. She assigned Bi Tao, the only servant the family had bought, to her, and never scolded or beat her. There was none of the favoritism shown to sons and the mistreating of daughters that other families did. If she liked to eat something, her mother would let her do whatever she wanted; if she wanted to study, she would let her read the books her younger brother brought back from the academy.
I just always feel like something's missing.
Yao Niang recalled that when she accompanied her mother to the banquet at the county magistrate's residence, she saw the county magistrate's daughter nestled coquettishly beside the county magistrate's wife, calling out "Mother" in a drawn-out voice, just to get an extra piece of sweet osmanthus-flavored lotus root. But the county magistrate's wife wouldn't allow it, and even had her maid remove the plate, laughing and scolding:
"You rascal! You can't eat anymore! Your teeth will rot if you eat any more."
After saying this, he reached out and lightly tapped his daughter's waist. The county magistrate's daughter pouted and turned away in dissatisfaction.
Yao Niang looked at her mother, who sat upright beside her, her eyes fixed straight ahead. She thought to herself, "Perhaps every mother has a different way of showing love to her young mistress."
Yao Niang shook her head, trying not to think about these things.
She slid the wooden spatula down the edge of the pot, gently stirred the already thick broth, and her nostrils twitched slightly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
