Chapter 36 Chapter 36 Fang Ying suddenly felt that Fengle Tower...
"That's a twisted logic," Li criticized. "He hasn't even asked the mother and daughter to choose. How can he know that only this kind of day suits them? And how can he conclude that they will suffer if they live a more prosperous life?"
As expected, if Ji Yanlang had spoken up himself, he would have been scolded. Fang Ying, thinking of Fengle Tower, agreed, "I think it's actually Liulang himself who thinks this is the best way for Aunt Deng and her daughter. But he's lived in the Deng family before and knows their circumstances and personalities. Based on his experience, he thinks the current situation is good, and he thinks they're content."
"Now they haven't really seen our family's wealth, so naturally they think it's great. But when they're done with their parents and visit us often, and see how we eat, wear, and use our daily expenses, then when they go back and see how they use their own, they're bound to feel resentful."
Mrs. Li sighed. "You and Liu Lang are both simple-minded children, always expecting the best of others. Little do they realize that the most fickle thing in the world is the human heart. Perhaps now, even if they see our family's prosperity, they can be content with the status quo and wait until they get to know the neighbors better. Although I've only met Madam Deng once, I can tell you a bit about her. I'll definitely have to tell the neighbors about how we saved Liu Lang."
Fang Ying also agreed with this point. When Aunt Deng met Li that day, she said that her son died for Ji Yanlang. She probably wouldn't tell the truth to the neighbors who were unaware of the situation.
But that wasn't what Mrs. Li wanted to say. "When the neighbors heard she was our family's savior, they couldn't help but say, 'If you're their savior, why do you live in such a small courtyard and employ only two maids? What? You didn't buy this courtyard, you rented it?' How could Mrs. Deng not take it to heart?"
Fang Ying felt a chill down her spine when she heard this - because she knew that this was the most harmless statement, but it was enough to hurt people's hearts. Why hadn't she thought of this before?
"I don't blame you. You're still young, and you haven't met many people or experienced many things." Li saw her expression change and comforted her. "Besides, matters like repaying a life-saving favor are inherently difficult to handle properly. If you're not careful, it's not uncommon for favors to turn into hatred."
Fang Ying sighed, "Mother is right. I used to think that Liu Lang, considering this matter not out of any sense of life-saving grace, but simply caring for Aunt Deng and her daughter as if they were family, was already a perfect solution. But after hearing what mother said, I realized there might be trouble..."
Mrs. Li smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've made plans. Right now, they're both in mourning. After that, no matter who asks, I can just say I'm in mourning. When the mourning is over, I'll arrange a good marriage for the young lady. Then, like your sisters, I'll give her a generous dowry, including a house and land. Then no one will be able to complain. How they live after they get married is their own business. It's not our turn to interfere."
"But Liu Lang has promised Aunt Deng that he will find a fatherless and motherless man to be a son-in-law for Deng's sister in the future." Fang Ying said carefully.
"Nonsense." Li frowned. "They are already helpless and alone. If they find a son-in-law who has no father or mother, how can their life be easy?"
"He...was thinking of having him take care of him..."
"How can things in the world always go as he wishes?" Li was a little angry. "What if he is sent out to a distant place in the future? He said he didn't want me to worry about it, but who can I entrust it to? Your second uncle? What if your second uncle also becomes a local official?"
Yes, Ji Yanlang is a military general. When he is promoted in the future, he will be sent out to guard a region. There is no reason for him to stay in Beijing all the time. Does that mean he will have to take the Deng family mother and daughter and son-in-law with him to take up the post?
Fang Ying suddenly felt that the reward from Fengle Tower was not worth her speaking for him.
"Don't be angry, mother." Although she thought so, Fang Ying still had to smooth things over and make her mother-in-law happy. "Liu Lang only said that to Aunt Deng. When the time comes, he can say that there is no suitable candidate and find another good marriage. I'm sure Aunt Deng won't be unhappy."
After hearing this, Li sighed softly, "I'm not angry, I'm just worried about Liu Lang. He's always too sincere in his dealings with others. If anything happens in the future... I'm afraid he'll be heartbroken."
Fang Ying looked at her worried eyes and suddenly understood Ji Yanlang's awkwardness - he had long noticed that his mother had a complicated attitude towards the Deng mother and daughter. In addition to gratitude, she also felt wary. He should be able to understand his mother's thoughts, but he really treated the Deng mother and daughter as relatives, which made him in an awkward situation between his mother and the Deng mother and daughter. In order to avoid this embarrassment, he simply did not mention the Deng mother and daughter in front of his mother.
Li should have also noticed Ji Yanlang's attitude and followed his wishes without asking any more questions, but she still felt a subtle discomfort in her heart - her own son seemed to be on guard against her when it came to outsiders. If it were Fang Ying, she would also hold her breath.
So when no one noticed, the mother and son were deadlocked over the matter of their so-called savior. If she hadn't come in with such a straightforward temper, who knows how long the deadlock would have lasted.
"Don't worry, mother. I'm here for you." Fang Ying smiled. "I'll go see her today and see if I can talk to Aunt Deng a little more. Aunt Deng is old and stubborn, but I heard that sometimes she can't get over her daughter. If Aunt Deng is a reasonable person, you can rest assured."
Seeing her bright smile, Li couldn't help but smile as well, "Okay, I'll be waiting for your news."
Seeing the atmosphere had eased, Xinmei stepped forward to replace the tea for the two masters and said, "Madam, would you like Liu Niang to help you decide on a gift for the Deng family?"
Li picked up the tea and said, "Tell her about it."
Xinmei said, "Following the custom of congratulating a new home, Madam ordered the servants to prepare six kinds of gifts: two grey squirrel fur coats, two boxes of warming and nourishing herbs, two jars of jasmine tea, two rolls of thick cloth, a box of homemade snacks, and a box of homemade preserves."
"It's quite good, they can all use it." Fang Ying said with a smile, "The gift that Madam asked me to prepare must be perfect, why would I need to discuss it?"
Li put down her empty teacup and snorted, "Stop trying to fool me. Liu Lang asked you to say you'd buy some food to bring back. Wasn't it because he was afraid I'd send something flashy and useless?"
"I have to speak up for Liu Lang. How dare he think that of you? I just don't want to make it too serious..."
"Okay, I understand." Just seeing Fang Ying defending her son, with the look of a couple united as one, Li was already happy in her heart. "As a meeting gift for the young lady, since you gave me a hairpin, I will give you a white jade bracelet. Jade nourishes people."
As she spoke, she glanced at Xinmei, who then went into the inner room and brought out a small box. Li had her bring it to Fang Ying and open it. "The child is small and delicate, so I had them pick out one with a small inner diameter. Try it on her. If it doesn't fit, come back and tell me."
Fang Ying glanced at the jade bracelet casually, nodded in agreement, and asked Lichun to take it.
She had almost completed half of the task that Ji Yanlang asked her to do, and the other half had to fall on him. Fang Ying said goodbye to Li's place and went back to pack Ji Yanlang's luggage while thinking about their relationship as mother and son.
"I've always felt that if my mother were still alive, we would be the closest mother and daughter, talking about anything..." she lamented to Lichun, "But today I suddenly realized that the closer we are to each other, the harder it is to express some things directly."
Lichun thought his wife was just chatting casually and replied casually, "It's better to separate them. My wife is a very gentle person. You don't like to hide things. You and your daughter can talk about anything. If it were two people with stubborn temperaments, they would quarrel as soon as they spoke, and neither of them would give in after the quarrel. Wouldn't there be less and less to talk about?"
At this point, she complimented him, "It takes a combination of hard and soft tactics like you to avoid a falling out."
"..." Fang Ying wondered, "When did I start using both soft and hard tactics?"
Lichun lowered her voice, "What happened the other day really scared you and my husband. I thought we were going to have a quarrel and it would not end well, but it turned out to be better than before."
"...How is it better than before?"
"Didn't my husband say he would take you to a restaurant today?" Lichun noticed that his wife was a little uncomfortable and chuckled, "Haven't you been curious about Fengle Tower for a long time?"
"That's the reward he gave me when he asked me for something."
"Yes, yes, yes." Lichun agreed with a smile, but in his heart he felt that the couple's talk of asking for rewards was just a joke. The fact that they could joke around like this meant that they were closer and better than before.
Fang Ying could see that Lichun's agreement was perfunctory, but what she wanted to talk about was not her and Ji Yanlang, so she stopped there and did not talk about it anymore.
In the afternoon, Ji Yanlang returned home, and the two of them went to Li's house to say goodbye. Li had already told Fang Ying everything she wanted to say, and now she just reminded them that it was cold outside and not to wait until dark to go home, and then let them go.
After leaving the Li family's courtyard, Ji Yanlang quietly asked Fang Ying, "Is there any progress on the matter I asked my wife to do?"
"Well...I guess so."
"Is it? Madam, can you tell me in detail?" Ji Yanlang showed surprise and couldn't wait to ask.
Fang Ying smiled and said, "Let's talk about it after we get in the car."
Ji Yanlang agreed, and when he was about to get in the car, he saw that there were two cars prepared, and there were gift boxes in the back car. His brows frowned again, and when he got in the car, he asked Fang Ying, "Why did mother prepare so many gifts?"
"Not much." Fang Ying told him what they had. "They probably felt it would be inconvenient to keep them in our car, so they prepared another car."
"Then let them carry it." Ji Yanlang leaned out and ordered them not to use the car, but to let his personal attendants carry the boxes of gifts.
Fang Ying ignored him and waited until he got back in the car and drove out of the mansion before she said, "Mother almost got mad at me for this little gift."
Ji Yanlang asked hurriedly: "What's wrong?"
"Didn't you ask me to think about how to mediate? I figured it wouldn't be easy to just say it directly, so I mentioned your idea first, saying there was no need to go through the motions of preparing gifts; we could just buy some on the way. Mother's smile immediately faded. She said ours was ours. She hadn't given a gift to the Deng family since they came to live in Jing'an, and she hadn't had the chance to give the Deng family's younger sister a gift for meeting them, so she just wanted me to take it with her this time."
"..." Ji Yanlang sighed, "Let me tell you, this is still you, if I were to say it..."
"But don't you find it strange? Mother is such a kind elder who never gets angry with us. How could she be unhappy just because of such a small thing?" Fang Ying interrupted.
Ji Yanlang said, "Mother, are you being overly suspicious?"
"Suspicious? How do you mean?"
Ji Yanlang pondered for a moment, frowned, and said, "I always feel that Mother is still not satisfied with me taking the initiative to place Aunt Deng and her daughter outside."
"But didn't you talk it all out with Mom? I don't think she's still holding a grudge about this."
"No? Then what else could it be for?"
It turned out that he didn't understand at all. Fang Ying shook her head and said, "I think mother isn't being overly suspicious, she's just a little sad."
"Sad? Why?"
"Because you treat Aunt Deng and her daughter like family, taking care of them yourself, but you refuse to talk to my mother much, as if you're on guard against her. How could she not be sad?"
Ji Yanlang: "Isn't this just being overly suspicious?"
Fang Ying: “…”
"How could I possibly be on guard against Mother?" Ji Yanlang felt completely wronged. "The Deng family consists of only mother and daughter. We are in mourning, and life is very simple. How could anything happen that would alarm Mother?"
Why doesn't this person understand?
"Why do you have to tell me something big before you need to 'alert' me? Wouldn't it be nice to just chat with me like you and I do every day, about how we pickle vegetables and raise chickens?"
Ji Yanlang was skeptical: "Is this okay?"
"Why is it not good?" Fang Ying asked back.
Ji Yanlang frowned. "This is Aunt Deng's first visit, and her words weren't very...appropriate. I'm afraid that if she continues to say this, it will only deepen Mother's prejudice against them..."
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The author has something to say: Update one chapter first
PS: There is a small revision at the end of the previous chapter. Also, the mother and daughter tools of the Deng family are finally going to make a face-to-face appearance haha
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution between 2020-12-15 01:43:45 and 2020-12-16 18:08:31~
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