"My son, I have money to buy meat, but I don't want the money. But what else can I do? I have to raise you. My son, go to sleep now. I'll go buy the meat and some old rice for you. When you're old enough to eat grain, I'll grind the old rice into a porridge for you. My son, be good, eat your fill and then go to sleep—"
Zhao Yuefang patted her son in her arms until he fell asleep, then carried the child away from the alley.
Meanwhile, the banquet at the Yan residence had already begun.
After Tuanzi made its appearance, it was taken back to the third courtyard by two wet nurses to be breastfed.
Xiaohe and Changfu stood on either side of Yan Xia, accompanying her to toast each table.
Yan Xia and Xiao He's glasses contained low-alcohol fruit wine, while Chang Fu's was a strong liquor.
After several tables, Chang Fu's face was flushed and his eyes were glazed over.
"Manager Yan, congratulations on the birth of your granddaughter! Here, I'll toast you alone with this glass of wine. May your business flourish and your house be filled with children and grandchildren!"
The owner of the butcher shop at the end of the city stood up and offered Yan Xia a toast separately.
Because of the partnership between Yanxia Restaurant and his butcher shop.
The two families frequently interacted.
Yan Xia reciprocated in a very respectful manner.
"Thanks, let's all get rich together, cheers!"
The two clinked their glasses together and each finished their drink.
But that wasn't all. When everyone saw the butcher toasting Yan Xia alone, they all came over and gathered around to toast her as well.
Yan Xia was so frightened that she almost ran away.
"Aunt Yan, don't worry, I've replaced the wine with fruit drinks, so please feel free to drink." Xiao Ji suddenly whispered in Yan Xia's ear.
Yan Xia breathed a sigh of relief and praised Xiao Ji in a low voice.
"Well done, you're really smart. I'll reward you with a big red envelope later."
Xiao Jiqian chuckled twice.
Yan Xia wasn't intimidated anymore, and she raised her cup to clink glasses with each of them.
She remained sober even after she was stuffed with drink and the guests were all drunk.
"Yan, you're being too wasteful. The village said you were having a full moon celebration, and I thought you had a grandson, so I rushed over to congratulate you. Turns out it's just a little girl. Ugh, I shouldn't have come. What's the point of having a full moon celebration for a worthless girl? Such a grand affair, what a waste of money. You should have saved more money for your daughter Guihua and Lamei's dowry."
Just as Yan Xia was about to go to the outhouse, a sudden voice rang out behind her.
Yan Xia turned around.
Go and see.
It turns out she is Zhu Qiumei from Baihua Village, the same age as the original owner of this body. The original owner played with her for a period of time when they were children.
However, Zhu Qiumei married and moved to a neighboring county at a young age.
The two lost contact.
Later, when the original owner married into the Chen family, Zhu Qiumei encountered her when she returned to visit her family. She mocked her several times, saying that she was pitiful and that she had aged a lot since she last saw her and was no longer as beautiful as before. She also boasted about how happy she was, unlike her, who was a widow. She managed to make the original owner cry.
Yan Xia frowned, somewhat puzzled. She had been standing guard at the door with her son and daughter-in-law to greet guests, but she hadn't seen Zhu Qiumei come in.
"Tch, still drinking? I wanted to say something to you earlier, but you were surrounded by them and I couldn't get a word in edgewise. Look at you, a widow, drinking with a bunch of men, what kind of behavior is that? A woman should uphold her virtues, like me. Don't think that just because I've been a widow for three years, my in-laws treat me like their own daughter. If they hadn't passed away one after another, I wouldn't have sold my in-laws' house and moved back to Baihua Village with my two sons."
You're immature, but as your childhood playmate, I can't watch you fall into such a bad way. From now on, I'll come to your house often and teach you more. By the way, my eldest son is nineteen now. He has high standards and only likes pretty girls, so he's still not married. I think your Guihua and Lamei are both quite beautiful. You can dress up your two daughters another day, and I'll bring my two sons over to meet them. My youngest son is eighteen, about the same age as your Lamei. Let's have double the joy!
However, my family doesn't have much money; we can only offer two taels of silver as a bride price. Your family is wealthy; you've bought such a large house after so many years. You should at least provide a shop for your two daughters as dowry, and preferably another hundred or so taels of silver. I think your house is quite nice; did you spend several hundred taels to buy it? You can't favor your son too much; your daughters are also your children, so you can't be biased. By the way…”
Yan Xia's head throbbed with pain upon hearing this.
She wondered if she was dreaming.
How can there be such shameless people in the world?
"Stop! How did you get in? Did you bring a gift? I don't think we're close. Did you come here to freeload? Oh ho, it's been years. You've gotten worse and worse. Look at your sallow face. Have you been eating wild vegetables every day? I'm telling you, don't be so stingy. Even if you're poor, you should still buy some grain and meat to eat. You weren't saying anything just now. I thought you were some beggar woman. You've aged so fast. How pitiful. Tsk tsk."
"Jinyu, come here and check if Zhu Qiumei's name is in the gift-giving ledger."
Yan Xia didn't directly retort with insults.
After all, it was her granddaughter's full moon celebration, a joyous occasion. Arguing would bring bad luck, but she didn't indulge Zhu Qiumei.
Yan Xia returned to the original owner of Zhu Qiumei's words of mockery verbatim.
"Sister Xia, there is no name Zhu Qiumei here, and no gift was given." Jin Yu came over with the booklet.
He shouted loudly at Yan Xia.
The noise was so loud that even those at the banquet who hadn't been drinking craned their necks to look over.
"Didn't bring a gift? So you really sneaked in to freeload? Oh well, today is my granddaughter's big day. Jinyu, go get a jar and fill it with all the leftover food from the banquet. Give it to this Zhu Qiumei. Look at her, she's so thin. Qiumei, we used to play together when we were kids. Just take it and bring it back for your sons. No matter how poor the family is, we can't let the children go hungry, right?"
"Jinyu, give the remaining food to the beggars on the street. We can't waste food. I have other things to do, so I'll leave this to you. Changfu and Changlu are both drunk and unconscious. You'll be in charge of the arrangements. Take the unconscious guests to the guest rooms in the courtyard, and send the sober ones home by carriage..."
Yan Xia's bladder felt like it was about to burst from drinking too much fruit juice.
Ignoring Zhu Qiumei's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot, she gave Jin Yu a few instructions and then quickly slipped away. The banquet lasted from noon until evening.
The sunset glow has appeared.
"Oh, Qiumei, why are you talking nonsense? If I had known you would act like this, I wouldn't have brought you along. I really thought you two had such a good relationship. Don't make Yan Shi hold a grudge against my family. If you cause my father-in-law to lose his job raising cattle, you'll be in big trouble."
Wang Zengshi, who led Zhu Qiumei in, was terrified.
She still wanted to argue back at Yan Xia.
Wang Zengshi quickly pulled Zhu Qiumei back to her chair and gently scolded her.
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