Chapter 78 Chapter 78 Two chapters merged into one
On the eighth day of June, Jinniang was twenty-three years old and Yunjie was one year and four months old. Jiang Xian specially asked someone to paint a single portrait for Jinniang. Jinniang was holding her daughter again and asked the painter to paint one more portrait.
This is similar to a modern photo. It's really hard for Jiang Xian to give this to her as a birthday gift.
Last year I unexpectedly made 800 strings of cash, but after that peak, the market conditions this year are not very good. So far I have only made 200 strings of cash in half a year.
The mourning period is said to be three years, but in reality it is 27 months. Jinniang couldn't help but laugh and said, "Sir, speaking of which, we will be in mourning this winter."
As long as she was busy, the days passed very quickly. Jinniang even felt as if Mrs. Jiang Liu had passed away just yesterday.
"Yes, I will take the test again next year." Jiang Xian said.
Jinniang smiled and said, "No, when the time comes to mourn, you can come back home and live for a while. We haven't been close to each other for a long time."
Jiang Xian hugged her and said, "I know my wife misses me. Okay, I will come back when the time comes."
The couple had been separated for half a year since last year and missed each other very much. During the Chinese New Year, Jiang Xian almost hugged Jinniang and refused to let go. Jinniang also felt that she was becoming more and more dependent on her husband, and would consult him on many things.
However, the couple still has to go to the old house next month. Zheng, on the other hand, is extremely obedient to Master Jiang Liu. Instead of just celebrating his birthday, she also insists on helping Master Jiang Liu celebrate his birthday.
Because of this, Master Jiang Liu had a good relationship with his step-wife.
Jinniang asked, "What do you think we should give as a birthday gift?"
"Just send some longevity noodles. The old man said last time that he would send something to our sister Yun, but he didn't send anything. No one came to our daughter's one-year-old birthday ceremony." Jiang Xian felt sorry for his darling daughter.
Yunjie'er can now speak some simple words. Seeing her parents talking to themselves, she quickly stretched out her hand and called "Mom". Jinniang had no choice but to hold her in her arms.
The child was wearing a red gauze vest and loose silk pants today, and his neck and the areas with folds of flesh were all covered with prickly heat powder.
Once she was in Jinniang's arms, she behaved very well.
After hearing what Jiang Xian said, Jinniang also said, "In that case, I will send a load of longevity noodles and a jacket. It's so hot, I'm too lazy to make clothes."
As the saying goes, work and rest should be combined. After a busy period, you must relax.
After coming back to help his wife celebrate her birthday, Jiang Xian went to Liu's house again, but he didn't expect to go at the wrong time. Mr. Liu allowed his concubine to bring his son into the house, and Mrs. Xun was so angry that she went back to her parents' home. Jiang Xian saw that this family scandal was not good, so he hurried back home.
Jinniang originally waited for Jiang Xian to leave, coaxed her daughter to sleep, and then took a nap in bed. Unexpectedly, she found someone kissing her in a daze, and immediately prepared to pull out the knife from under the pillow. Unexpectedly, when she opened her eyes, it was Jiang Xian. She thought she had seen it wrong.
"My dear, why are you back? You scared me to death." Jinniang patted her chest.
Seeing that she was really scared, Jiang Xian asked carefully, "When I'm not with you, do you always have trouble sleeping?"
Jinniang originally wanted to say that she slept very well alone, but seeing Jiang Xian's expectant eyes, she nodded shyly: "Yes, I sleep alone, and the child is very young. You know my parents, they get up early to work, and go to bed after lunch without fail. Of course I am afraid of sleeping alone."
Besides, she whispered, "The money is in my room."
Jiang Xian felt more distressed. Yes, although he had servants and parents, his parents-in-law worked hard. Now that they had opened a new shoe shop, they could not take care of Jinniang. Moreover, if the servants became covetous, Jinniang would not be able to guard against them.
He is really too selfish.
He always only thinks about himself and never thinks about his wife's situation.
He went home just in time for the chaos in the Liu family's inner chambers, and Jinniang was of course happy. In fact, she didn't think Jiang Xian could pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi, but as a family, they were very happy, and she also had a husband and daughter who could support her.
As she spoke, she took Jiang Xian to the back and opened the box: "Look, this box is filled with tea, pepper and spices. These are gifts from others or gifts sent to me. I picked out the best ones and put them here. I estimated that if we sell them when we are short of money, we can sell them for about three hundred taels."
He then opened the box next to him and said, "I sold the old fabrics that Madam Zheng gave me and bought two hundred birch candles. In addition, the man from the candle shop asked me to exchange a set of clothes for him, and I exchanged them for four hundred white wax candles, ten candlesticks, and a few pairs of common material candles."
Most of her clothes were made to look good when worn. Some of them had been worn a few times and were not good to sell, but were too expensive to give away as gifts. So she exchanged them all for real goods at a price of ten strings of cash.
An ordinary candle cost 18 wen each, a carefully carved candle holder cost 200 wen each, and a common candle cost 150 wen each.
Jiang Xian opened his mouth wide: "My wife is really calculating."
"Don't light these candles or the oil lamps, so you won't hurt your eyes." Jinniang said with a smile.
These were all the money of the couple. It would have been better if Jiang Xian hadn't looked at them. After looking at them, he suddenly felt the pleasure of a little hamster storing food. He even fantasized: "When I become an official, I'm afraid I'll have more of these candles."
Speaking of being an official, Jinniang couldn't help but say, "A few days ago, the third daughter of the Zhou family came to talk to me and said that her husband was going back to Beijing to report on his work. I wonder if he will stay in Beijing."
"Maybe. He is a person who is good at planning for himself." Jiang Xian seemed reluctant to mention Jiang Fang.
Jinniang stopped talking about this person and changed the subject.
When Jiang Xian returned home, his first feeling was relief, as if he finally felt at ease.
In July, they went to the old house to attend Master Jiang Liu's birthday. Zheng prepared a top-notch banquet and invited all of Master Jiang Liu's close friends to come, trying to make both the host and the guests happy.
Jinniang was a little surprised when she saw Xu again. Why was Xu dressed so simply? Although she dressed simply before, she still had the dignity of a lady. But now she was wearing a half-worn and yellowed white skirt, looking almost like a fire-making maid in their family.
Even though Zheng was in charge of the public treasury, she only arranged three meals a day, and Xu also had some spare money.
Little did people know that Xu's only assets were from those lands, and she was reluctant to spend a single penny of them. She also used the fashionable fabrics to make clothes for her son. As a result, although she was only a few years older than Jinniang, they looked like two generations apart.
She was also looking at Jinniang, who was wearing a blue collared double-breasted jacket with small silver-white chrysanthemum flowers, a silver-gilt peony flower hairpin on her head, a jade comb with a peony pattern in the middle of her hair, three rings with flower patterns on her hands, and a pair of gilt gold and silver bracelets with flower and bird patterns on her wrists. She looked elegant and wealthy.
Well, their mother-in-law gave them the most valuable shop, so how could they not be rich?
Jinniang also knew why Xu dressed like that. It was purely to tell everyone that Zheng was extravagant. But then again, if you dressed so indecently at your father-in-law's birthday party, it would very likely make Master Jiang Liu angry. Furthermore, even if people outside talk about you for a while, pretending to be poor like this will easily make people think that you are really poor, which is not a good thing.
There shouldn't be too many snobs in the clan.
But what happened to Xu was none of Jinniang's business. Jinniang felt that the biggest reason for her improved attitude was that she kept her mind out of other people's business.
Jiang Fang and his wife came here together today. Master Jiang Liu treated this adopted son with no grudges and said to him in public: "We are all family, and the past is the past. You are now a Jinshi, thanks to your uncle who took good care of you. Please give your brothers more advice in the future."
In this matter, Jinniang felt it was not worth it for her mother-in-law. Once a person died, all the things she insisted on were also tampered with.
The most important thing is to stay alive, she thought.
Although Jiang Fang was not proud of himself, he knew that his judgment was correct. No matter what means he used, as long as he achieved success, those people around him who once hated him would become good people.
The brothers were talking together, and Jinniang was also chatting with the third lady. Although the third lady did not treat Jinniang as a sister-in-law, she treated her as a relative. She was not as condescending as the fourth lady.
The third girl said, "Your family will be in mourning by the end of this year, so you can take part in the exam next year, right? I think Bianjing will be overcrowded again next year."
"That's right. Fortunately, we all live in Bian Jing, which makes things much easier." Jinniang said with a smile.
The common topic between the two was not the Jiang family, but the Zhou family. The third girl said, "My second uncle bought a house in Yangxian and built a garden. He plans to live there in retirement in a few years."
Jinniang smiled and said, "That's great. The Second Master has always been rich. But I've been busy lately and rarely pay my respects to the Second Madam. I wonder if Qin'er and the others are doing well?"
"Okay, Qin'er is an honest child. Although he doesn't have much talent in studying, he is a very good person. But the life of the third room is not easy." The third girl sighed.
When Jinniang heard her talking about the third house, she thought of Qin Shuang'er and asked without hesitation, "How is the third house? Last time when the third young master passed away, our Shiliulang specially sent funeral ceremonies over and said that his widow cried miserably."
The third girl spread her hands and said, "My third sister-in-law stayed with me for a year, and then she was taken back by her natal family and remarried. She left behind several concubines who had given birth to take care of the children. They would definitely be more attentive to the children if they were taken care of by their own mother rather than by outsiders."
It seems that Qin Shuang'er should stay in the Zhou family. Jinniang thought that unless she found a good man, at least her life would be safe and she would have no worries about food and clothing if she stayed in the Zhou family.
The birthday banquet began. Jinniang ate a shallow bowl of birthday noodles and was not particularly interested in the meat dishes on the table. She used to have too strong an appetite. Sometimes she wanted to eat even when she wasn't hungry. She ate so much that she got fat. You know, it's easy to get fat, but it's hard to lose weight.
She had already brought her child to kowtow to Master Jiang Liu. Jinniang was halfway through her meal when she left the table to go see her daughter. Today, little Tuanzi is dressed very formally, wearing a tube top with a white background embroidered with crabapple flowers, a double-breasted jacket embroidered with broken crabapple branches, and a pink folded skirt tied over white trousers.
"Mom, I want to go out and play." When Jun Jie saw her mother, she immediately stretched out her arms.
Jinniang smiled and said, "Okay, I'll take you out for a walk."
It's so hot today, it's really stuffy staying here.
She had originally planned to take her daughter for a walk in the garden, but remembering that the garden had been rented to someone else, she had no choice but to teach her daughter to recognize flowers in the shade under the tree in front of the wing room.
"Junjie, look, this is a hydrangea. Aren't there so many colors? Red, pink, and blue. They're the same flowers we have at home." Jinniang pointed to her daughter.
Yunjie was about to pick the flowers, but Jinniang quickly stopped her: "You can't just pick the flowers casually. If you pinch them like this, the flowers will feel pain."
"Okay, then I'll look at it without picking it." Sister Yun looked at it with her hands behind her back.
Jinniang immediately praised her daughter: "My daughter is so great."
The mother and daughter took a breath here. The banquet was over and there were many people talking. She heard two people say, "The Sixth Master prepared a good banquet, but his eldest daughter-in-law looks like a rough maid."
"Yes, his youngest son and his wife look like the host family, while his eldest son and his wife do not look very respectable. It seems that they are quite partial to the youngest son and look down on the eldest son's family."
"That's right."
"The emperor loves his eldest son, and the people love their youngest son."
…
Jinniang shook her head after hearing these words, and said to Jiang Xian on the way back in the carriage: "You see, this has become our problem."
Jiang Xian said angrily: "They are fighting, but we are the ones being scolded."
"Fortunately, we live in Tianshui Lane. Apart from other things, we can stay away from trouble and you can study with peace of mind." Jinniang said.
Jiang Xian didn't like to talk about these family matters. He knew that Jinniang was right and was very glad.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was soon approaching. Last year, the festival was not celebrated very well because of Mrs. Jiang Liu's death anniversary. This year, Jinniang decided to make some proper preparations. She first ordered some pastries from a restaurant, and then bought crabs, fish, shrimps, fresh pomegranates, pears, etc. from Mrs. Huang's house.
The embroidery shop is already filled with various Mid-Autumn Festival sachets, hanging clothes, and laid out shoes and socks. On the contrary, the embroiderers were all free. Ah Ying even said, "Business during the Mid-Autumn Festival is not very good."
"Actually, it's just returning to its original state. Last year's harvest was good, so this year's is normal." Jinniang said with a smile.
She also told Zhu Xiuniang and Minzhi to rest their eyes more when they had nothing to do, but the two of them couldn't stop.
Business was a little quiet, even Jiang Xian knew about it, and said to Jinniang: "Do you want me to help you--"
"No need. I can't stand being so busy all the time." Jinniang had a good attitude. Her goal from the beginning was to make around 300 guan a year.
She now had three thousand strings of cash in her hands, having achieved her goal ahead of schedule. The money she earned was enough for her daily expenses plus the repayment of her advance loans.
Jiang Xian thought that his wife had a very good attitude and rarely felt worried about gains and losses.
The family celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in a lively manner, and some embroidery shop owners also sent gifts. Jinniang divided half of the gifts among Wei Xiong and Luo Yu'e. The couple didn't know why, but they didn't necessarily like the things Jinniang bought herself, but felt they had gotten a great deal when they received gifts from others.
Peng Sanlang was short of money for Mid-Autumn Festival gifts, and came to ask for help. Jinniang said to Jiang Xian, "Why don't we give him all the gift boxes we have at home? He doesn't have to buy any. This way, he doesn't have to pay back the money. Just consider it as a gift to him."
Jiang Xian certainly didn't want to pretend to be a rich man all the time, and if money was too frequently exchanged among friends, it would lead to conflicts. He himself now relied entirely on his wife's family for support. Generous gifts were given to Huang, Liu and the top scholar's family. His wife showed him the list herself. All of them were of the best quality and cost a lot of money.
Especially some time ago, his wife showed him the things she had saved, just to let him concentrate on his studies. She was so frugal, he couldn't waste it.
So he planned to take the eight boxes of dried fruit mooncakes at home back to Peng Sanlang. Unexpectedly, Peng Sanlang was a little disgusted. He was a child of a wealthy family, and he would not be interested in these things that cost only one or two hundred coins per box.
Seeing him like this, Jiang Xian was also a little angry.
When Peng Sanlang returned home, he said to his wife, "Shiliulang is sending away beggars. He used to be a wealthy man, but now after getting married for a few years, he has become more and more stingy."
Peng Sanlang's wife was his cousin Yu. Originally, they were given a house and 200 acres of land when the family was divided. Now they have sold 100 acres and are left with only a small farm. But they are very proud, so they have to spend 20 strings of cash on festival gifts. On weekdays, they have to support servants, and Peng Sanlang also has to socialize, attend poetry competitions, and buy several new sets of clothes. As a result, the money is simply not enough.
Yu had been feeling unhappy for a long time when she heard Peng Sanlang repeatedly praising Jinniang for her good housekeeping. Now she heard Peng Sanlang complaining and couldn't help but say, "Merchants only care about those petty profits. As the saying goes, those who keep company with vermilion will be red, and those who keep company with ink will be black. Jiang Shiliu used to be a good person, but now he has probably changed."
"Just don't go to his house in the future," said Peng Sanlang.
In the past, he had a good relationship with Jiang Shiliu and Zhang Jiulang. Now that Zhang Jiulang had entered the Imperial College and made a bunch of new friends, he still held on to Jiang Shiliu and forgot about himself. It is said that the last time they went to Huixianlou together, they did not invite me.
In fact, Peng Sanlang knew in his heart that he had fallen behind among the three and could no longer maintain his dignity. Jiang Shiliu was originally similar to himself, but his wife was capable. She allowed him to concentrate on his studies and also allowed him to get close to people like Xiao Hanlin, Jiang Zhuangyuan, and even Huang Xueshi.
With his brand new clothes and the silver fish he received as rewards, no one would think that he was financially difficult.
Instead, it was myself...
Forget it, if you can’t squeeze into a place, then don’t squeeze in.
He was able to think positively, so he laid off the servants, let his family live in one house, and rented out the other. He also worked as a hanger-on for Captain Ding's son, accompanying him in studying, playing chess, painting, and playing cuju. He no longer kept in touch with his old friends.
After Jiang Xian heard about it, he went to ask and came back very sad.
He said to Jinniang, "If it weren't for you, Peng Sanlang's today would be my tomorrow."
"Not really. He wants to study harder and harder. If he passes the imperial examination, he can go to a relative's house to teach their children and earn ten strings of cash a month." Jinniang felt that Jiang Xian was not like Peng Sanlang.
However, Peng Sanlang was able to recognize himself and began to humble himself. He no longer needed to borrow money to buy expensive gifts. It was not bad to live a down-to-earth life.
Just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Jinniang started embroidering Guanyin again. She is a person who never gives up and always wants to do things well.
Her original atlas was enough for her before Double Ninth Festival, so she went to her own farm with Jiang Xian. Jinniang was familiar with business matters, but things on the farm were very ordinary.
Jiang Xian was surprisingly familiar with the matter. He smiled and said, "We scholars may not understand Jiaxuan's affairs, but I am helping Madam Liu's family because of a land dispute, so I am here to handle it."
"That's great, my husband is so awesome." Jinniang praised her husband generously.
She saw that after Jiang Xian got the fish scale book, he first gathered the head of the village and several farmers together, asked them about the market conditions in recent years, and asked them about their expertise, and soon he told Jinniang everything.
"Let's help them build some houses and do them a favor. Some of these people can make charcoal, and some can raise livestock. Now we can just ask them to deliver the charcoal we use, the rice we eat, and even the eggs and meat." Jiang Xian made such arrangements.
Jinniang said readily, "Okay, just tell me how much, and I'll give it to you."
It was also the first time that Jiang Xian was managing his own family finances. He asked his long-time servant Luo Da to stay behind to supervise the work and told him his needs before the couple went home.
After returning home, Jiang Xiancai said to Jinniang, "You see, I am still very reliable."
"That's right, I discovered it a long time ago." Jinniang spared no effort to praise Jiang Xian many times. Seeing that he was like a child in front of her, she was also happy.
A family can only live well if all family members work hard.
When the house on the farm was almost built, Jiang Zhuangyuan came back. Jinniang hurriedly helped Jiang Xian prepare a gift and sent it to him. This time, Jiang Xian changed into a dark blue robe and pulled his clothes awkwardly.
"You, really." Jinniang covered her mouth and laughed.
The top scholar doesn't like extravagant people, so Jiang Xian doesn't like to dress the same as usual.
It is also said that when Jiang Xian came to visit, he also met Zhou Cunzhi and Sun Shichen. It turned out that Zhou Cunzhi came today to introduce his brother-in-law to Jiang Zhuangyuan, and of course he went through the connection of Gong Ziliang, the high-ranking official.
Sun Shichen also started to have a headache when he saw Jiang Xian. They had studied together under Master Huang before, but Master Huang only promoted Jiang Xian. This year, Master Huang retired and went home, and he finally came to Jiang Zhuangyuan, but he never expected to meet Jiang Xian again.
Little did they know that Jiang Zhuangyuan's evaluation of Jiang Xian was that he had talent but no morals. Although he was not very old at that time, he could organize everything in an orderly manner. But he may not be completely loyal to you. As long as others have other benefits, he will ignore you. But such people are very useful.
Look, the gifts Jiang Xian gave here are not only for himself, but also clothes and shoes for his wife Song and children.
Madam Song was talking to Miss Zhou Si at this time. This was her second child and she was about to give birth. Seeing the things Jin Niang sent, she couldn't help but smile and said, "This lady from Uncle Jiang is really good at cooking. Both times I was pregnant, I relied on the pregnancy pillow she sent to make me feel more comfortable."
Miss Zhou Si said, "Yes, her craftsmanship is good. I have bought some for my daughter. These small clothes are really beautiful. She is a very lucky person. If her husband passes the imperial examination in the future, she will be very successful."
Miss Zhou Si thought Jin Niang was inspiring, but Song Niang, a daughter of an official family who knew the ropes, said, "Without a marriage relationship, it's hard to even be selected as an official in the court. To be honest, many people who passed the imperial examination would secretly divorce their wives and remarry, or abandon their wives. Gentlemen with good character are rare."
"Are you saying that Madam Wei is very likely to be a wedding dress for others?" Miss Zhou Si felt a chill in her teeth when she heard this.
Madam Song smiled and said, "I was just talking about the social situation, not about them. Besides, Jiang Shushi may not be able to pass the imperial examination so quickly."
Miss Zhou Si listened to it and agreed with it deeply, because Jiang Xian really passed the imperial examination in the book.
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