Chapter 25 Chapter 25 Until the fourth month of 1813…
In April of 1813, shortly after Mary and Susan turned eleven, they heard that Mr. Norris of Northamptonshire had died.
The death of this uncle, whom they had never met, did not cause the slightest ripple in the hearts of the children of Portsmouth. He was hardly a presence in life, and almost no one missed him when he died. Only Mrs. Price murmured a few words: "Poor eldest sister, she didn't even have a child!"
Mary never felt sorry for Mrs. Norris. At least she no longer had to deal with her husband. Although her income had decreased, one person's expenses were less than those of two people. And Mrs. Norris was so stingy that she could live a comfortable widow's life.
On the contrary, Mrs. Price still vividly remembered the dire situation she was in six years ago. If it weren't for Mary's help in managing the household, who knows what kind of life Mrs. Price, who had nine children, would have led!
Fanny, who lives at Mansfield Park, was somewhat startled by the incident. Sir Thomas was unaware that his sister-in-law had no intention of contributing a single penny to Fanny's upbringing and planned to have her live with Mrs. Norris.
Although it turned out to be a false alarm, Mary couldn't forget Mrs. Linorris's face in the original story—a woman who was clearly stingy but pretended to be generous.
Aside from that, the biggest effect of Mr. Norris's death was merely to remind Mary that, according to the original story, she was supposed to have a younger sister who was nine years younger than her, but it seemed that Mrs. Price had not conceived again because of the illness she had suffered two years earlier.
Mary was truly thankful that no more babies were born in the family. Now, even her youngest brother Charles would be starting school in the fall, and the Price family no longer seemed to be the chaotic place they once were.
At least, everyone except Mr. Price is on the right track. Even Mrs. Price can act as a caring mother in front of her children as long as she doesn't have to worry about them.
In June, Mary, Susan, and Charlotte said their reluctant goodbyes at school, and the three girls made a promise to meet up at the Price or Brown's house whenever they had free time.
Mrs. Price didn't take the girls' sorrow at heart; the young girls' moods were like the weather in the United Kingdom—always gloomy and prone to sadness.
For Mrs. Price, nothing was more important than her boys.
Now, apart from John being on holiday at home and not needing her concern, Sir Thomas will be able to smoothly place him in a government department after he graduates from Wenshi Middle School in two years.
Richard was upsetting her; aside from two or three letters, there was no word from him for the time being, and no one knew when he would return to Portsmouth.
The most worrying one was William. He had been away from home for many years, and the Price family could only know his whereabouts through letters and newspapers. The Antwerp was on the front lines, transporting equipment, food and ammunition for the Allies and partisans. Mrs. Price was terrified at the thought of her beloved eldest son being in the midst of gunfire...
At times like these, those who are away from home often miss their families as well. Just as the Price family was longing for him, Richard had just boarded a merchant ship returning to England from India, eager to go home.
After his carelessness, Richard dared not be careless again. He not only wrapped the goods he was taking back this time tightly with three layers of tarpaulin, but also kept his mouth shut and did not reveal the contents to anyone.
When he finally returned to his homeland, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. By then, Michael's Day had already passed for many days. Price House was now very different from when he left home more than a year ago.
Since Mary and Susan were no longer attending school, they had plenty of time to renovate the house to their liking. Mrs. Price, of course, didn't think it was necessary; they were just tenants. But no one could stop Mary from doing what she wanted.
She first asked her father, Mr. Price, to negotiate with the landlord, Mr. Brant, that the Price family would pay rent annually from now on, and that the rent could not be increased arbitrarily. This would save the Price family at least a few pounds each year.
Mary never expected the matter to be resolved so smoothly and quickly. Firstly, Mr. Price didn't cause any trouble; secondly, Mr. Brant readily agreed. Mr. Price had only shared a cup of tea with Mr. Brant. As a landlord, he also hoped for more stable tenants. Recalling what Brant had said a few years ago, Mary felt that this gentleman was simply unreasonable.
In fact, as Mary grew older and maintained contact with General Maxwell's family, increasingly wielding influence in family affairs, Mr. Price learned to respect his daughter.
Then Mary used the money she had saved from this year's expenses (money that no longer needed to pay for her and Susan's tuition and books) to replace the carpet in the house, as the old one was so dirty that it couldn't be cleaned properly.
And the table in the living room, pockmarked with scratches left by her brothers. All the tablecloths, sheets—everything that had previously required extra money and remained unrepaired—were completely renovated by Mary this time. Even the walls were repainted.
She spent all the money she had secretly saved from the family accounts, and even asked Mr. Price for some. The father, realizing that he didn't need to spend much extra money to make such a big difference in the family, readily gave it to her.
So when Richard walked into his house, he found it had been almost completely transformed: the grease on the walls was gone, some of the really old furniture had been replaced, and the colors in the house had become brighter.
Although no fancy furniture was added and no major alterations were made to the house, its cleanliness and tidiness were already a pleasant surprise, especially considering that he had spent more than a year overseas and on a ship.
“Mary, you must have organized this, right? It’s completely different! How much did you spend?” The younger sister was happy to tell her brother the real number, which was much smaller than Richard had imagined.
“Very good. I don’t think most people could do as well as you even if they spent twice as much money,” Richard exclaimed.
“That’s because there’s a trend of chasing trends now, and people waste too much money on unnecessary things.” Mary felt a little unworthy of her brother’s praise. “But it’s also because we don’t have much money. I only dare to spend money on the most necessary things. My only wish is for things to be clean.”
After discussing the biggest changes in his family, Richard told his family about his experiences in that large Eastern country, where he disembarked at a place called "Canton".
“I heard the locals call that city ‘gwongzao’.” Mary was stunned when Richard pronounced the name. Richard’s pronunciation sounded a little strange to her, but she could still tell that it was Cantonese for Guangzhou.
"The harbor was full of merchant ships from all over the world—Dutch, French…and us. There were more sampans than in Portsmouth. The local men all had a long braid hanging down the back of their heads, like a pig's tail. The ship's translator told me that here, not wearing a braid meant execution," Richard continued.
Upon hearing this, Susan and her brothers stared wide-eyed, Mrs. Price was stunned, and even Mr. Price temporarily put down his newspaper.
“Mary, I finally understand what you mean. Opium is extremely harmful to people. This time in the Thirteen Factories, I saw people who had overdosed on opium, and the scene was truly horrific.”
Richard described what he saw to his family: in a dimly lit room, men lay sprawled out, puffing away on their pipes. Their eye sockets were sunken like dried-up wells, and a young man, who didn't look much older than himself, was twitching and scratching his festering arm.
Mrs. Price couldn't understand any of this and couldn't help but ask, "Didn't the doctors say that tincture of opium could cure countless diseases? I remember when Mr. Price just returned from the battlefield, I bought him this medicine, and it was indeed very effective in treating pain. Did those locals get some kind of illness?"
“Their only illness is opium addiction!” Mary couldn’t help but exclaim, her hands gripping her skirt tightly. “I’ve said it before: those drugs laced with tincture of opium are not good for the mind in the long run; they only make people addicted. Father, you even wanted to add it to beer before!”
Upon hearing this, Mr. Price retorted loudly, "Many people do it, so what problems could there be? You know, even our King takes opium with brandy. If it really had any terrible side effects, why would doctors call it a 'panacea'? As for those Easterners, I think it's because they smoke far too much, which is certainly not good."
"In my opinion, there's no difference. Those who overdose think the same way at first. Who can control the degree? Besides, opium isn't a panacea. It only relieves pain, it doesn't cure diseases." Mary would always stick to her opinion on this matter. She would never allow the Price family to buy such drugs. Who knows how much tincture of opium those doctors added to them?
Richard had once thought his sister was too extreme and couldn't fully understand her strong hatred of the opium trade. He only agreed to Mary's request out of love for his sister. Now he had completely sided with Mary and become an anti-opium advocate.
The siblings' repeated persuasion annoyed Mr. Price to no end. He could only helplessly say that he was not stupid and that even if he used tincture of opium, he would not overdose.
Apart from this family argument, Richard was much more composed than when he last returned. He was no longer as smug as when he first made a fortune, and he was more experienced in buying and selling goods.
Without needing much guidance from his sister, he quickly sold the goods he brought back at a reasonable price and made money again.
This time, without Mary's repeated reminders, he deposited half of it into the bank, leaving only £150 as principal to purchase goods. As a young apprentice sailor, he had realized that he shouldn't be too ostentatious.
A note from the author:
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