Chapter 146 Chapter 146 Update.
Speaking of Tian, a while ago, she was worried about the valuable gold cakes in her home, so she took the "household" money box and wanted to put it on the beam, hide it in a box, and bury it underground.
After a lot of trouble, they all said:
"No, no, no. We're not afraid of thieves stealing, we're just afraid of thieves coveting our money. The neighbors saw us sell ten cartloads of wool that day. We know how much money we made, and it's inevitable that some idle rogues will hear about it and covet our money. This is gold!"
To this end, Ji Xu came up with a solution.
He found a pawnshop owner he knew well under Wuyan of the Qian family, deposited all the gold there, and received a stamped receipt.
Wuyan was a loan shark, and Ji Xu could earn some interest every year on the money he deposited with it. Moreover, it had money houses in some major cities throughout the country, and with this receipt, he could withdraw money from Wuyan.
For convenience, some traveling merchants had to deposit their money with Wuyan.
Ji Xu deposited the money, and the accountant would deduct 59 taels from her account at the beginning of each month as repayment. The deduction would be made every month, and the remaining amount would be calculated as interest.
If Ji Xu needed money urgently, he could also withdraw money on demand. It must be said that it was convenient for Chang'an to have a Ziqian family like Wuyan.
The accountant respectfully saw her out, and Ji Xu locked the receipt in the "household money" cash box.
Tian locked the money box in the cage again. Even if the receipt was stolen by a thief, no one could withdraw a penny unless Ji Xu went there.
"Amitabha."
In this way, Tian finally felt relieved and no longer had to take out the box and count the amount inside every day.
The family borrowed a total of 1,200 taels for two years, with an interest rate of one twelfth, and a total of 1,400 taels to be repaid.
It is now the twelfth lunar month. Since August, I have been paying back 59 taels of silver every month, which has covered five months of loan repayments. In addition, there is 800 taels of silver worth of gold deposited with Wuyan, and I can still make some income from the stall every month. Looking around, there is no need to worry about not being able to pay back the money.
However, Ji Xu also had the idea of opening a restaurant. When his family and he went to Chang'an, he also wanted to open a restaurant in the largest city.
You can't get fat in one bite, so you have to start from a small stall. She secretly observed that most of the diners in those big restaurants were wealthy people.
Every day, there are endless streams of children carrying food boxes coming and going, not to mention the small families and ordinary people who have spare money. After going to those big restaurants and hotels to eat, their faces are so bright that they can brag about it for half a month after returning.
Those who can afford to open a big restaurant are not ordinary people. They are more or less related to the government or have a strong family background. They are well-known in Wuling and are not comparable to a three-foot-tall ordinary person like her.
Therefore, to realize the dream of two lives, one has to plan long-term. One must be both rich and famous, and it would be best if one could get to know some wives of officials who have connections.
It was just after Laba Festival that day. In the second half of the day, Ji Xu was reading a book on the couch. It was an old book she had bought in Huai City in the past. It was related to food. After all, in this dynasty, she also had to learn to integrate.
Aunt Feng from the Yan family came and said that Mrs. Song was ill. The Tian family hurried to see her, only to find that the house was not as tidy as the last time they came.
On their way in, they ran into a group of maids hiding in the corridor and gossiping.
"I heard that if a pool of blood is shed, it's impossible to tell whether it's a boy or a girl."
"She must have gotten pregnant a month ago, when the old man came back."
"Now that she can't eat or drink, I'm afraid the Madam's health is failing. She may not be able to make it through the New Year. The family should start preparing for her funeral."
They were scolded by Fenggu and ran away.
Feng Gu also told them these things on the way, and the general idea was this.
Song collapsed in the yard and was carried back by the maids. The doctor took her pulse and found out that she was one month pregnant, but the fetus was stillborn and could only be aborted with medicine.
Old Lady Yan made the decision and asked Song to cultivate herself. If her sister-in-law Pan was put in charge of the inner house affairs, Song would have to suffer a lot. In addition, she was worried about the miscarriage and had not been able to eat or drink much in the past two days. Therefore, the maids said that she was useless.
After hearing this, they became more concerned and followed him to the Song family courtyard, where they saw a group of people coming out.
The lady in the lead had a broad forehead and high cheekbones, a shrewd look between her eyebrows and eyes, and was dressed very respectably. Judging from the tone of her voice, she must be Pan, Yong'er's biological mother. She could see some resemblance, and she said to Feng Gu:
"I just sent over some dishes, all carefully prepared by the kitchen, and served them to your wife. But she keeps refusing to eat or drink. What can I do?"
When I got inside, I saw that the room was airtight and candles were lit even during the day. The whole room was filled with the smell of medicine. The maid brought the food.
It was a bowl of chicken soup with oily liquid and two side dishes. Song took a look at it and just shook her head and asked them to take it away. She couldn't eat a single bite. The maid was trying to persuade her:
"Madam, your health is the most important thing. Even if you break the taboo once or twice, the Buddha will not blame you."
When Tian arrived, she saw that Song had become extremely thin, lying on the bed with a sallow face and cloudy eyes, as if she was terminally ill. She rushed over and
"My poor sister, it's been so long since we last met, and you've become so ill..."
As he spoke, tears began to flow down his face.
"Sister Tian, you're here."
Seeing the children behind him, he smiled and said:
"Now that you're all here, go play with Xiaoyao in the warm room outside and have some fun. Don't stay here with me and cry your eyes out."
She is the magistrate's child. The old maids below are gossiping, saying that the Song family is useless. When she heard it, she always insisted on staying by the side every day and refused to play alone. Now her eyes are as red as a rabbit's.
Ji Xu also patted Feng and Zhu, and they obediently took Xiaoyao's hand and went outside.
Xiaoyao looked at Song, and Song said:
"Go ahead."
The three children looked back every few steps and walked out of the house.
When Song saw her leaving, she said:
"Now that I'm in this state, I don't have many days left, and her grandfather is away all year round, I should have left her at Sister Tian's house. It would have been better for her to stay here with her eldest mother and aunt. I don't know how she will be neglected in the future."
She was panting and coughing, and Tian helped her to calm down, saying:
"You are younger than me, so you must be more open-minded and take care of yourself. You will have to accompany Xiaoyao as she grows up in the future."
Song persuaded her to eat some of the food, "Even if you don't eat meat, at least have some vegetables."
Aunt Feng hurriedly ordered the food to be brought over, but she saw that the chicken soup and the meat dishes had been removed, leaving only the vegetables. Tian Shi tried to persuade her, but after taking two bites, she vomited it all, saying:
"This is all my fate. I'm an unlucky person, and I broke the taboos and damaged my good karma. That's why the one I was born with passed away. I know my life won't last long, but I just can't let go of my little one."
The maids in the room burst into tears. Ji Xu motioned Feng Gu to come outside and asked her what Song Shi meant by "damaging her virtue". Feng Gu wiped her tears and said:
"Last month, the lady accidentally swallowed a mouthful of broth. She felt that she had violated a taboo and failed to accumulate good karma for the unborn child, which is why she died. The doctor said it was due to the mother's frailty, not the broth. But the lady just couldn't get over it."
Ji Xu sighed after hearing this, and realized that this was Song's worry, which needed to be slowly relieved. However, she had just miscarried, and if she didn't take supplements during the confinement period, even a strong body would not be able to withstand it, not to mention that her health was not good to begin with. So he said:
"I'm afraid your wife wouldn't be able to digest the wheat rice even if she ate it. Switch to some rice porridge. Add half a liter of corn, two ounces of preserved dates, one ounce of dried longan, and lotus seeds. Cook it until it's soft. With my mother here, I'm sure she can persuade your aunt to eat some."
Feng Gu thanked him profusely and went to do it. She opened the box and took out a string of coins to prepare the kitchen.
Now that Mrs. Song is no longer in charge of the household, and everyone is saying that she is about to leave, the lazy thief in the kitchen is becoming even less attentive.
After the three meals a day, if they were asked for anything extra, they would curse and refuse to move unless they were paid.
As for today's meal, it was delivered by Mrs. Pan herself, so it was at least decent.
She didn't want to tell Ji Xu about this, as it would make them seem incompetent, so after learning this idea, she tried her best to ask the kitchen to do it.
Half an hour later, the porridge was served. Ji Xu looked at it and asked:
"Did you add meat oil?"
Moreover, the pits of the jujube jerky were not even removed. They were crushed by chopsticks, and the lotus seeds were still raw.
Aunt Feng was not very knowledgeable about food, but she knew that the Madam was a vegetarian and that she should be watching over her to make sure that no animal oil was added. So she said:
"I watched them make it, and they didn't use any animal oil."
Ji Xu had a keen nose and could clearly smell the faint fragrance of the lard cream, and could also make out the subtle oil spots on his face.
For a moment, I didn't know whether it was intentional on the part of the subordinates, or because the power of the Song family's housekeeper had fallen into someone else's hands and the subordinates were not doing their job diligently, so they used the cooking utensils that had been used to cook meat dishes.
This is not the time to dwell on these things. Song's health is more important, so she said:
"It's not just the meat oil, the cooking is too messy. Is there a kitchen in the courtyard? Aunt Feng went to measure the ingredients and I'll do it."
After saying this, she untied the extra belt around her waist, tied up her sleeves, and exposed her arms for working. Feng Gu said:
"There's no one in this courtyard who's good at cooking, so there's no kitchen. However, there's a stove for boiling medicine. Can I use it?"
"Find a new clay pot, one that has not been contaminated by the smell of medicine."
Aunt Feng took one string of money to do it. Fortunately, Song's dowry was quite generous, and she had managed it well over the years and had some income, so she still had enough money to pay for the maids.
Ji Xu was in the outer room, watching the fire and cooking porridge on the stove, while Tian was inside chatting with Song, mostly talking about the little one.
"Her head is covered in lice, and her hair is tangled with cockleburs. She's been kept with the cattle and sheep. The slave buyer patted her face and pried open her mouth to look at her teeth, but she couldn't speak, so she just did as she was told. It's truly pitiful for a child without a mother. You must get better and don't lose your spirit. Without you, who can I rely on? With such a biased mother, who knows if I'll end up in the same situation one day."
Even secretly gossiping,
"To be frank, who knows if they have anything to do with Xiaoyao's disappearance?"
Song took a deep breath and clenched the handkerchief tightly.
Ji Xu brought the porridge, which was soft, thick and fragrant, with a date red color. It melted in the mouth and had no meaty smell at all.
She took Tian's hand and drank half a bowl of wine without vomiting.
"You'll be fine if you can eat something. Have another bite." Tian said as she fed him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
