Chapter 68 Chapter 68 Two chapters merged into one
Jinniang especially loved wearing this pair of rabbit shoes. She was reluctant to take them off before going to bed at night and would even stretch her legs out from under her skirt to show him the shoes. Jiang Xian loved this look of hers, it was so cute.
"How are you today? It's raining outside, don't go out next time. If you miss me, send someone to find me in the study, and I'll be back." The lingering drizzle always makes people feel infinitely tender.
Jinniang smiled and said, "I see. I wanted to take care of you when I was at home. And now it's been three months. The doctor said I'm in good health. Don't worry."
There were no secrets between the couple. Jiang Xian even told them about the Zhou family: "You know that the third son of the Zhou family is not in good health. He had leg pain at first, and then body pain. He had been keeping it to himself because he had to study. A few days ago, he was carrying the coffin back to Hangzhou Prefecture and suddenly fainted. The doctor said his condition is very bad."
Isn’t Mr. Zhou the one that Qin Shuang’er became a concubine of? The last time she heard Qin Xiaoniang's name, she thought it should be Qin Shuang'er, but she never thought she would encounter such a thing.
"The Zhou family has no descendants to inherit the family, and the Jiang family is in the same situation, but at least they have more people, so they came here today to show their goodwill, and also to win them over."
After listening to Jiang Xian's analysis, Jinniang couldn't help but ask, "But what about Zhou's son-in-law?"
"Sun Shichen is so mediocre that it's hard for the He family to achieve anything great." Jiang Xian said calmly.
Although he is young, he has his own opinions. Jinniang couldn't help asking, "You have always had a good relationship with the eldest lady of the Zhou family. So won't you need to rely on the Zhou family in the future?"
Jiang Xian smiled and said, "That may not be the case. I didn't mind it before, after all, our two families are related by marriage. But last time, my aunt made you angry. If she really valued me, how could she humiliate you? It shows that they treat me just like that."
At this time, Jiang Xian was about to take part in the examination, and his value skyrocketed.
Jinniang couldn't bear to ask him to be more modest at this time, after all, he was still a young man, but she smiled and said, "My dear, you are so kind to me. But I heard that you can't wear embroidered clothes in the examination room, so I'm sorry to let you down."
"My wife, you are pregnant now, so you should have a good rest." Jiang Xian looked at Jinniang's belly which was not yet pregnant, and carefully leaned over and put his ear to it, as if he could really hear some movement.
Jinniang touched his ear and said, "I just want you to be safe."
Two days later, the sky cleared up and Jinniang went to the embroidery shop. There was only sporadic business in the past ten days, and even Juxiang began to sigh. However, the unexpected surprise was that the windows and door of the study were installed, and the walls inside were polished much smoother.
Today was such a sunny day, so business came to the door. A matchmaker wanted to make a purple jacket with embroidery on the collar, shoulders, hem, and cuffs. Jinniang smiled and said, "It will take a month to embroider it, and it will cost three strings of cash in total."
The matchmaker said, "Madam Wei, I am in a hurry to wear the clothes. How about this, after I become the matchmaker, I can ask the bride and groom to come to you to make the clothes?"
"It's not that I don't want to rush the work with you. At this price, even if you go to any embroidery shop, it will take more than half a month to finish a full embroidery." Jinniang said with a smile.
In fact, if she worked day and night for ten days, she could finish the embroidery, but it was impossible for her to work so hard just for three strings of coins.
As a last resort, the matchmaker added two more strings of cash, and Jinniang finally said, "Then I'll make sure it's finished for you in half a month."
You can't arbitrarily lower the price just because business is bad, as this will affect the market. Jinniang closed two big orders with Mr. Shen and Ms. Gao last time, and she has actually made almost all the money. It's just that because of building the house, she always has money on hand. But no matter what, as long as the capital is not touched, it's still good.
She first cut out the pieces of cloth for the jacket, designed the pattern, and then started embroidering in the afternoon.
Embroidery is already engraved in my mind, and I started embroidering as soon as I picked up the needle. This time I embroidered many patterns, but the patterns were very simple, with only two colors, and all were done with flat stitches.
Zhu Xiu Niang was also doing embroidery for the Mid-Autumn Festival. She was talking to Jin Niang, "Why don't you sell the matchmaker? If the bride makes clothes here, wouldn't that be another source of income?"
"Although it is said that you can play the long game to catch the big fish, don't believe what the matchmaker says. Those who wear purple jackets are marrying into wealthy families, and wealthy families have special needleworkers. Otherwise, they would all be embroidered in large embroidery shops. A small shop like ours can't take on so many." Jinniang knew everything.
Zhu Xiu Niang smiled and said, "The boss is really knowledgeable."
Jinniang smiled and shook her head.
Embroidery is usually boring, so the two of them exchanged a few words and then started working with their needlework. Aying and Minzhi also worked hard. They also made small clothes and shoes for the baby in Jinniang's belly. Minzhi, in particular, was transferred to Jiang Xian's side because of her excellent needlework.
He took turns bringing Minzhi and Xiqiu by his side, firstly to observe them, and secondly to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation.
In the afternoon, she had finished embroidering half of the collar. She stood up and wiped the sweat off her face. She saw that the side rooms on both sides of the building were almost built. The side room on the east was for the servants and was much simpler to use. There were three small side rooms with a loft above, all for living. A large room was built on the west side to be used as a warehouse.
When the matchmaker was halfway through finishing the clothes, the aunt who had moved out before came back with her family. She gave Xu some clothes for daily use in front of everyone, and Xu refused for a long time before accepting them.
Now that one more family had moved in, Mrs. Jiang Liu was so happy to see her daughter that she ate half an extra bowl of rice.
Jinniang also had some snacks and fruits bought for her aunt. She asked Aying to deliver them. When Aying came back, she said, "I saw that my aunt looked unhappy. She asked me to thank you on her behalf."
"Don't take it to heart. I think it was Xu who invited them to live here this time, so of course they will unite to compete with each other." She did all this for her mother-in-law to see. As for whether her aunt liked her or not, she didn't care much.
After Jiang Qigu moved in, she found out that Jinniang had to go to the embroidery shop even though she was pregnant, and that it was Xu who served her mother during the day, so she said a lot of good things about Xu.
"Mom, it is said that there will be no filial son by the bedside of a long-term patient. Although she is pregnant, she looks quite healthy. Since she has such a good body, you must serve her with medicine. How can she just run around by herself? No wonder people in the clan gossip about her. Can you see any good daughter-in-law running around?" Seventh Aunt looked worried while feeding her medicine.
Madam Jiang Liu said, "You don't know that your brother's wife is willing to stay at home. She often sent things over a few days ago. She went to the study every day to bring snacks and soup to your brother. But they are doing work for powerful families, so it's hard to refuse. Last time she made a Luoyang brocade dress for Mr. Huang's wife, and they took your brother in. Later, she also made clothes for the daughter of the Song family. How can you refuse these people's work?"
After saying this, Mrs. Jiang Liu coughed a few more times.
At this time, Jiang Xian came in. Seventh Aunt didn't know whether her brother heard what she said, but she sat up straight.
Jiang Xian seemed to have heard nothing. He sat down and chatted with Seventh Aunt for a long time. He also asked a few words of concern about his mother. Somehow, Jiang Xian seemed to feel that Mrs. Jiang Liu's face was getting paler and she was having more difficulty speaking.
"Mom, can I ask someone to buy cherries and candied cheese for you?" Jiang Xian said.
Mrs. Jiang Liu waved her hands quickly: "Even if I bought it, I can't eat it. It tastes bland. You should go back to study. Look at your brother, he rarely leaves his room all day, but you love running around."
Jiang Xian smiled and said, "My son is still young, but my brother-in-law and my big bird have more hope than my son. When the time comes, my son will buy the biggest and best firecrackers and have people set them off at the door."
"Shiliulang's words are becoming sweeter and sweeter." Seventh Aunt said with a smile.
In the evening, Jinniang came back and brought back some chicken head rice from Li He's family. Each bag of this chicken head rice cost no more than ten cents. It was wrapped in lotus leaves with some musk inside and tied with a red rope.
Probably because she had watched a lot of palace dramas in her previous life, Jinniang discovered that it contained musk after she bought it, so she had to take it back and share it with the servants.
When Jiang Xian came back, he saw that the maids were eating chicken head rice, but he was not. He ran over and asked, "Madam, why did you buy this today?"
"Isn't it chicken head rice that we eat at the beginning of autumn? I asked Xiaolang to buy it for me, but then I found out it contained musk, so I shared it with them." Jinniang still felt a little regretful, after all, she didn't get to eat it.
Looking at Jiang Xian again, she continued, "These things are what I eat for fun on a daily basis, but they are only ten cents a pack. I thought you would not eat these common snacks, so I didn't give them to you."
Jiang Xian immediately said, "I am not a commoner yet, why do you say that, madam?"
"Yes, is it okay if I was wrong? By the way, start pasting paper in your study today." Jinniang smiled.
Jiang Xian thought that his wife never seemed to have any big worries, and never instigated others. Every day she would talk about what she had done and what books she had read, and occasionally she would talk about how much money she had earned.
The two of them slept well that night. When they woke up in the morning, they received a funeral letter from the Zhou family saying that Zhou Shenzhi, the third son of the Zhou family, had passed away. Jiang Xian hurried over and expressed his anger, saying that no one knew that a man in his prime would die so soon.
Jinniang naturally prepared funeral rites, including a piece of white silk, a jar of wine, and half a fan of jerky. When the death first occurred, most of the funeral ceremonies were these, so she asked someone to buy them first, and then she personally helped him pick out a plain one, and asked the maids to iron it before helping him put it on.
Mother Luo also laughed: "Our Sixteenth Young Master used to dress well outside, but sometimes he even wore one sock on each side. Now he is well dressed from head to toe, and this is all thanks to you, my lady."
"Mom, please stop praising me. It is our Shiliulang who is likable. I am willing to do things for him." Jinniang pulled the clothes on Jiang Xian's shoulders and smiled at Mother Luo.
Although Jiang Xian stretched out his arms and asked Jinniang to help him put on his clothes, his ears were pointed and turned pink when he heard this. After Luo Mama and the others took their things out, he leaned over and whispered in Jinniang's ear: "I like you the most."
Jinniang hit him and said, "Go quickly, don't dawdle."
"Yeah." Jiang Xian walked to the door and turned to look at Jinniang. "Madam, Uncle Luo will take me there today. You can rest at home for a day. I'll come back early and we can talk together."
Jinniang had almost finished embroidering the jacket yesterday, and she nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll wait for you."
However, when Jiang Xian went to the Zhou family, the family was in mourning and the third branch had little presence in the family. If Jiang Xian had not had a good relationship with several young masters of the Zhou family before, he would not have come.
Although Jiang Xian came today wearing plain clothes, he was dressed very neatly. He was outstanding and the funeral arrangements were well done. The third branch of the Zhou family was naturally heartbroken. Zhou Shenzhi was studious and ambitious, ten times better than his father. He was the hope of the family, but now he died young.
Fortunately, he already had two sons and a daughter. Although they were all born to concubines, they still had roots in his family.
He sat in the front hall for a while, talking to Zhou Cunzhi, Sun Shichen and others who came to help. When he heard the mournful cry of a woman inside, he also sighed.
The one crying miserably inside was Qin Shuang'er. She still couldn't believe that her husband was dead. Ever since she followed Zhou Shenzhi, when the main wife came into the family, she had smoothly risen from a maid to a concubine and then a mistress. The wife of the first wife has a good temper and doesn't care about these things. Besides, she has not had any children in all these years since she got married, so she treats the children of the concubine as her own.
It just so happened that Qin Shuang'er also gave birth to a son, and the mother and son were very favored. Little did they know that after her husband fell, she would have to be a widow for the rest of her life at only twenty years old.
"Young lady, don't be too sad. There are many guests outside." Someone advised.
Qin Shuang'er glanced outside and happened to see Jiang Xian and Sun Shichen from her angle. Although both of them were wearing plain clothes, they were both young and handsome men, especially Jiang Xian, who turned out to be Jinniang's husband.
Originally, she had heard about Jinniang's story and was a little jealous. Such a chubby person, who was born a slave like her, bought a house and land in Tokyo. She was also extremely beautiful and even married a son of an official.
But she also has a husband and a son, so this kind of jealousy only makes her feel a little sour.
Now her husband is dead and all hope is gone.
Her son is still so young, and even if she waits for him to grow up, it will take another 10 or 20 years. During this time, no one knows what changes may happen. Thinking of this, Qin Shuang'er felt like crying but had no tears.
It seemed as if her mother's fate had overlapped with hers. Her mother was also driven out by her husband's wife after his death.
…
When Jiang Xian came back, he told Jinniang about Zhou Shenzhi's widow: "The third branch of the Zhou family is finished."
Jinniang sighed, "When I was in the Zhou family, I heard that the relationship between the Third Master and the Third Madam was not good, but the Third Madam at least had a son, the Third Young Master, who was quite studious. Now that he is dead, the Third House is left with an orphan and a widow, and it is so sad."
Although there is a third master, he is useless and a drag. He hangs out with concubines all day long and only asks for money from the family.
"That's right. After their old lady passed away, each branch has its own money. Only the second branch still has money. But they were afraid of being too conspicuous over the years, so they secretly sold a lot of shops and are not as generous as before." Jiang Xian said.
Jinniang nodded: "That's right, the second wife also has a son and a granddaughter, and they have a large family, how can they afford to support them all day long."
In fact, she had noticed that the Zhou family was not as wealthy as before. The first thing was that the clothes of the Zhou family were not as bright as before. Xiang Ming used to come out from time to time, but the last time she went to the Zhou family, she complained a lot. Even Jiang's temper was not as good as before. This showed that the living standards had declined.
Just like Jinniang, she is also busy now, but her life is going well and she can make money. Even though she is busy, she doesn't feel tired and doesn't have so many complaints.
The two talked for a long time. Now that the fetus is stable, the doctor said that it is appropriate to have sex. Jiang Xian wanted to have sex, and he saw that Jinniang was also interested, so he gently helped her relieve herself.
I didn't expect to have spotting the next day. Fortunately, I went to see a doctor, who said it was nothing serious.
The new couple breathed a sigh of relief.
Jinniang originally had a deficiency of both Qi and blood and had numerous health problems. After she got married, she stopped staying up late and her health recovered a lot. Even her menstruation became regular. She never expected this to be the case.
Fortunately, after leaking a few drops of blood, it returned to normal. However, Jiang Xian was very nervous. It was not easy to talk about such a thing to others, but he asked her to rest at home for a few more days.
"I've been to your embroidery shop. It's so hot that even ants don't bother to come out, let alone people. You can rest assured. I see that Chen Xiaolang and Aying are very skilled, so don't worry."
Jinniang had no choice but to nod.
By the beginning of August, Jinniang's health had recovered well.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Jiang Liu's health had deteriorated drastically. Jinniang went to visit her once and found that she was complaining of being cold even in such a hot day. She looked like a bag of bones and could not even speak clearly.
But she still held on, and Jinniang knew that she was doing so for the sake of her two sons.
In this way, the Mid-Autumn Festival atmosphere in the Jiang family was not strong. Jinniang went to the store and received many gift boxes. With her coming, she became the backbone of the store.
In fact, many customers decided to make clothes after seeing Jinniang. After wearing her Laurel Rabbit dresses and skirts, some people began to take a fancy to her shoes.
"Then bring the shoe pattern here and we will make it carefully." Jinniang said with a smile.
This pair of shoes was sold for five hundred coins. After the guests left, Jinniang began to embroider the uppers and asked Minzhi to sew the soles. The soles she sold were different from those she made on ordinary days, so she had to teach Minzhi personally.
Actually, there is nothing special about this shoe upper, it just has a cute rabbit on it, which makes it look very cute.
"Madam, the Qu family silk shop has sent a holiday gift." Chen Xiaolang came in and said.
Since getting married, Qu Fengying has paid more attention to her business, and even the holiday gifts she gives are more generous than before. After all, although Jinniang is not a big customer, she is a stable customer source.
A box of hairy crabs in a wooden box, a basket of pomegranates, and two boxes of Guanghan cakes. In addition, the owners of the silk thread shop and the wool thread shop each sent gifts, and even Yu Tou, who helped her decorate the house, sent a lot of things.
As for Jinniang, the next day she sold all three of the Laurel Rabbit skirts that Zhu Xiuniang had made. Each skirt cost three strings of cash, and three of them cost nine strings of cash in total. This was a rare big order in the past twenty days.
She also bought some festival gifts, including a jar of Fengle Tower's Mei Le wine, a box of grapes, two boxes of dates, and two boxes of small cakes for her parents. Yingniang was given two boxes of small cakes that someone else had given her, and she also sent a basket of fruits in return. The gift from Rongniang was even more generous, and it was delivered by Feng Sheng himself.
When I saw Feng Sheng again this time, he seemed to be in a radiant mood.
"What are you doing at home, elder sister?" Jinniang asked with a smile.
Feng Sheng waved his hand: "She's playing mahjong at home again. Your two nephews are both in school, so she has nothing to do."
Jinniang frowned. Playing mahjong is similar to playing Landlord. It can be used as entertainment occasionally, but it can easily erode one's will. She then asked, "Sister, aren't you going to the perfume and powder shop?"
Feng Sheng was very considerate and said, "If she doesn't want to go, then she doesn't have to go. I'll just earn money for the family now."
Jinniang thought this was not good. Feng Sheng was so indulgent. If she went to persuade Rongniang, she would probably be seen as being embarrassed. So she didn't say much.
She brought home hairy crabs and some snacks and fruits. She couldn't eat them because she was pregnant, but her family members loved them. Both the father-in-law and Jiang Xian liked to eat it. Jiang Xian even discussed with Jinniang to send some to the homes of Mr. Huang and Mr. Liu Jixiang.
Now that Jinniang is pregnant, her appetite has also increased, but she dare not eat too much. In ancient times, giving birth was a life-threatening situation. If the fetus is too big to come out, everything will be lost.
So she even ate less fruits that were high in fructose.
Then he looked at Jiang Xianxuan showing off a bunch of grapes. He was so envious that he ate two himself.
"Madam, how is the construction of my study going? Recently, except for the funeral of the Zhou family, I seldom go to the shop." Jiang Xian asked concernedly.
Jinniang smiled and joked, "You will have two study rooms in the future. I'm afraid that with so many study rooms, you won't know where to study."
Jiang Xian is a young man after all. When he heard that the wallpaper had been pasted, he was waiting to move his things in. He insisted that he would go and see it after the scientific examination.
When the couple was talking happily, they heard that Madam Jiang Liu was looking for him. Jinniang asked curiously, "Didn't you pay your respects this morning? Why are they calling you again at this time?"
Jiang Xian shook his head: "In the past, my mother would take medicine and go to sleep at this time, so I didn't know."
"Well, then you can bring some snacks and fruits to Fang Mama, Meng Dong, Guiyue and others who take care of mother every day. They work hard to take care of mother every day." Jinniang said.
Jiang Xian smiled and said okay, then said: "Then don't sleep, be careful not to sleep at night, wait for me to come back and help you wash your hair."
The most troublesome thing when her belly is big is not taking a bath, but washing her hair. Among so many people who help her wash her hair, Jiang Xian is the most comfortable, so she always asks him to help her wash it.
In less than a moment, Jiang Xian came back and brought a small bag to Jinniang. Jinniang opened it and saw that it was filled with many colorful silk threads and a piece of cloth. The silk threads were decorated with rhinoceros horns and colored coins.
"What is this?" Jiang Xian was puzzled.
Jinniang had just made one for someone else, so she naturally knew: "This is the silk thread to tie on the swaddle for the newborn baby. Mother is speechless, but she is still preparing these for us. It is really a blessing for us as children."
Jiang Xian actually knew that his mother might not live long. As long as she could see him or his brother graduate from high school before she died, at least she would die without regrets.
At night, Jinniang lay down on the bed after her hair was dry. Jiang Xian was sleeping with her, fearing that she would stay up late with her eyes wide open. As usual, he waited for his wife to fall asleep before going to read. However, he didn't know why his heart hurt a little today. Could it be because he drank too much strong tea? He originally wanted to read one more volume of the book, but when he saw his wife turned over in bed and was sleeping soundly, he put down the book and went to bed.
Just after turning off the lights for a while, he hadn't fallen asleep yet when he heard someone knocking on the door: "Sixteenth Young Master, the Sixth Madam has passed away."
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