Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Anxious Father Zhen Sends a Letter
The shop was closed. The family had been so busy during the day that they had no time to rest. The best meal for the family was this one in the evening. After stirring the spoon all day, Zhen's father did not get impatient. He called Baozhu over and asked her to look at the small shrimps in the bamboo basket.
"My husband, who usually buys fresh fish, brought me half a basket of shrimp this morning. Baorong loves them, so he asked her to come out and watch Dad cook them."
Baorong is the youngest of the Zhen family and will be eleven this year. The Zhen family is not a large one and has only become more prosperous since Baozhu's generation.
Xu was known for her impatience. When she was little, any child who made a mistake would inevitably be subjected to a beating of stir-fried pork and bamboo shoots. Baozhu, however, was known for her cleverness and understanding, and she never received a beating. Xu handled all matters of the household, big and small, and was even more aggressive in her youth. The Zhen family was small, and everyone from top to bottom was known for their softness. After Xu arrived, she became the head of the household, and anyone who tried to take advantage of the Zhen family would be scolded by her from street to street. Because of this, others didn't dare to bully them.
Zhen's father was a gentle and gentle man, and his four children never said a harsh word to him. When they were young, they were even fairer than they are now. If you didn't tell them, they would have been the sons of scholars, not the kitchen masters. In the past, Zhen's father was willing to cover up any mistakes made by his children. He knew what the children liked and didn't like better than Xu Shi, after all, Zhen's father had been the chef in the family for many years.
"Arong, Dad wants to stew your favorite shrimps and wants you to come out and watch him cook." Baozhu knocked on the door and went in. Baorong was admiring herself in front of the mirror. She had changed out of her work clothes during the day and was now wearing a newly made light green jacket. She was looking at herself in the mirror back and forth.
She had her ears pierced on February 2nd. She rubbed her earlobes with soybeans to warm them up. For the sake of beauty, she was not afraid of the pain. She soaked an embroidery needle in sesame oil for three days and pierced the hole in two strokes. She also pierced her ear holes to play with the pearls. She said that each needle piercing was like being bitten by an ant and did not hurt at all.
At first, she used to wear tea stalks, but she thought they were ugly and kept pulling them out and replacing them, causing pus to ooze from her ears. Baozhu was even more afraid to pierce her ears after seeing this.
Now her ear holes have just healed because of all the work she did. Since she had her ears pierced, she has bought several pairs of earrings from the jewelry store. Now that she has finished her work in the store, she washed her hands and looked in front of the bronze mirror to see which one looks best on her.
"Sister, look at which one looks best on me."
The little girl was twisting a light and delicate little pendant in one hand. Baozhu looked at it carefully and picked up a pair of silver earrings with a circle of rice-sized pearls on the table.
"This one fits."
Baorong is a bit lively, but she listens to her elder sister the most. After trying it out, she thought Baozhu's choice was the best, so she put it on too.
The little sister is lively and active, but no one would have thought that she also loves painting. On the table is a painting she just finished of enjoying the spring. The whole family is in the painting, and the flowers are in full bloom, vivid and lifelike. It was painted when the family went to the garden last year. She had made a draft before, but finished it today.
Baozhu picked it up carefully, reluctant to let it go. She was afraid of damaging the painting if she took it out, so she put it down carefully again and said, "I'll go call them in to take a look—"
After saying this, she rushed out like the wind, dragging her parents and eldest brother into the house. The family looked at the painting carefully for a long time. Madam Xu sighed.
"I wonder how Erlang is doing at my aunt's house in Bianjing?"
The Zhen family was a simple family, a single-line lineage. The Zhen grandfather had passed away early, and his health had always been poor. He watched Zhen's father marry Xu and have his eldest son, but he finally gave up after a year. The Zhen grandmother was still alive, and the affection between Xu and the shopkeeper Zhen was undoubtedly fueled by this Zhen grandmother.
She secretly calculated that Xu's family was prosperous and she had many children and grandchildren, and she had a good destiny with wealth and prosperity. Such a good person would naturally be kept in one's own family, so she paired the two of them together. Zhen's father and Xu grew up together and had a real friendship, so it was not a random match.
Grandma Zhen is the most restless person in the whole family. There is a tofu vegetarian meal in the temple these days, so she stayed in the temple to eat vegetarian food. She asked her family to wait until the first day of the new year to pick her up.
Zhen's father had a younger sister who married a poor scholar.
This scholar's brother-in-law's surname was Dong. His parents were both orphaned, and he had previously been a scholar living in a temple. Aunt Zhen had visited the temple to burn incense and had fallen in love with him. When his grandfather was still alive, he had personally assessed Dong's character. The family felt that although Dong was older and from a poorer family, he was ambitious and steady, a man they could trust, so they didn't make things difficult for him. After Aunt Zhen married, Dong, sponsored by the Zhen family, pursued his studies. At thirty, he passed the imperial examination, and continued through the provincial exams. The following year, he traveled to Beijing to meet the emperor and was granted the status of Jinshi. Two years later, thanks to his mentor's connections, he was appointed a low-ranking official in Bianjing, a position with little lucrative benefits.
The Zhen family and the Dong family have been in close correspondence over the years. My uncle is not an ungrateful person, but the distance between them is far and they haven't seen each other for many years. They usually only exchange letters and ask people to send gifts during the New Year. Living in the city of Bianjing is not easy, and the external expenses of officials are huge. The Zhen family is doing well now, so Zhen's father and Xu often give money to their only sister.
Zhen's father's name was Zhen Shide, and his wife, Xu, was called Xu Cuizhi. She was a maid bought by the Zhen family. It is said that many women wanted to marry into the Zhen family, but the two elders of the Zhen family and Zhen's father only favored her.
The couple never had any conflicts and lived a happy life. They had four children after their marriage.
The eldest son, Zhen Congjian, is twenty years old this year. He has studied in school for a few years, but he is not really a student. So he followed his father to learn the craft and became a chef in a restaurant.
The second son of the Zhen family, Zhen Congyan, is eighteen years old this year. He is an excellent student, praised by all the teachers who taught him since childhood. He passed the imperial examination last year with a very high ranking. Now, everyone has to call him "Scholar" when they see him, and he even receives some rice every month. In the twelfth lunar month, his uncle Dong wrote to him, telling him not to study too hard and to go out and see the world. He also asked him to go to Bianjing in person this year to deliver New Year gifts. After this trip, his uncle and aunt kept him in Bianjing and used their connections to get him admitted to the Imperial College. Therefore, Erlang is now in Bianjing, focusing on his studies.
Sanniang is Baozhu, fifteen years old and beautiful. Despite her youth, the Zhen family, while seemingly led by the Xu family, still consulted Baozhu whenever matters arose, due to her exceptional intelligence. In the past, the restaurant was so busy that when she helped out in the front, she had to conceal her appearance. Later, Xu, fearing her appearance was too striking, dared not ask her to help out in the front too often. Pingjiang Prefecture held many powerful figures, and a family of ordinary people was afraid of causing trouble. Sadly, despite her caution, the Sun family still noticed.
The youngest is Baorong. Although Baorong is young, the family has many things to do after she was born and they often cannot take care of her. As a result, the whole family spoils her a lot. But she is also sensible. When she was young, Xu had to take care of the store and often could not take care of her, so she tied her to the counter and took care of her while taking care of the store.
Perhaps because he has been in contact with so many people since he was a child, he has developed a fearless character. Since he could walk, he has been stumbling around in the store, greeting and seeing off customers. He calls the aunts and uncles very affectionately, and has a delicate and pretty appearance, which makes people feel a little soft-hearted when they see him.
Uncle Dong read a lot of books. He named all four children of the Zhen family. Perhaps because of him, although he saw the children of the Zhen family less, he paid special attention to them. He even wrote letters to remind them to study.
——All four children will be sent to school, not to gain great knowledge, but just to learn to read and understand.
It is precisely because of this that we know that Erlang is extremely talented in studying and Baorong is particularly enthusiastic about painting.
In the evening, the family sat together for dinner. Madam Xu told Zhen's father about the marriage proposal from Mrs. Hua. Zhen's father's face immediately turned unhappy. Baozhu was approached by that pious woman to propose marriage. He thought that the family must be of extraordinary status, otherwise, with the reputation of Zhen's uncle as a Beijing official, ordinary people would not dare to come to their door.
Dalang spat, "I guess I didn't hear it in the kitchen, otherwise I would have come out and chased her away."
Zhen Shide always felt uneasy about the matter of Hua Pozi. He lit a candle at night and wrote a letter, planning to ask someone to take it to Bian Jing. If that didn't work, he would ask Baozhu to hide in Bian Jing for a while. After a year or two, the matter came to no avail.
After the letter was sent to the post station, the family was still a little worried. The old woman Hua had not come to see them for several days, which made the family even more uneasy.
Early in the morning on the first day of the new year, Baozhu hired a donkey cart to go to the temple to pick up Grandma Zhen. The temple was not far from the city. Now it was February, and the road was lined with lush greenery, and spring was in full swing.
While in the temple, Grandma Zhen was dressed particularly fancy. It was only March and still cold in the morning and evening, but Grandma Zhen had already put on spring clothes. The royal blue satin coat made her look so rich, and she had pearls and jade on her hair. She was dressed more prettily than the average young woman.
When Baozhu arrived, she was standing at the temple gate, chatting with another old lady nearby. The old lady was a little hard of hearing, and their conversation was incoherent. Old Lady Zhen didn't care and continued to talk to herself.
Donating one or two taels of incense money to the Ciyu Temple is enough to feed four or five days. The vegetarian dishes in the temple are also very good. Grandma Zhen's family likes to come here the most. She has food and accommodation, and can also chat with grandmas of other ages.
"Grandma, it's time to go home—" Baozhu got out of the car to help Grandma Zhen.
Grandma Zhen smiled and waved to the grandma of the same age next to her, "They say there's Chuncai Zhai next month, let's come together."
"Has your car arrived?" The old lady smiled and shook Grandma Zhen's hand, saying something that made no sense. "You can go first if the car arrives. My Dalang should be here to pick you up soon."
"Next month, Master Yuanhui will be back. His shredded vegetarian food is the best. Let's eat it again—"
Grandma Zhen got on the cart and waved goodbye to the other woman. The donkey cart slowly moved from Ciyun Temple to Xishifang. Along the way, Grandma Zhen recounted her experiences at the temple, and Ah Tao listened attentively without interrupting. She would repeat these words to her family when she got home.
Baozhu is not in the restaurant today, and Hua Pozi came as if she had calculated it for sure.
Mrs. Xu didn't even smile when she saw someone coming, but this old woman Hua was also shameless. She stood by the counter and laughed to herself, not caring about Mrs. Xu's cold face.
When someone came to pay the bill, the diners were all terrified by the old woman's smile. After the customer left, she patted Xu's shoulder and said, "If you ask me, your third wife is like a fairy, for an ordinary family, cleaning tables and washing dishes every day is really hard and tiring..."
Aunt Xu thought about what Baozhu said yesterday and wanted to find out which family the old woman was trying to mediate for.
"Aunt Hua, what you said is true. No matter which family she marries into, she will have to endure hardships. Baozhu is still young, so let her enjoy the happiness at home for a few more years!"
Aunt Hua rolled her eyes and grinned, "Mr. Sun has hundreds of servants in his family, and he's a caring man. He would never let your mother suffer. With such a proud son-in-law, why would you open a restaurant? Wouldn't you be happy just to eat and drink at home every day?"
When Xu heard about Mr. Sun, her heart immediately sank. The Sun family was well-known to every household in the entire Gusu City.
The old man of the Sun family is the Earl of Jingyang. Although the title can no longer be inherited by his generation, the eldest master of the Sun family entered the officialdom early and is now serving as the deputy envoy of the Liangzhe Transportation Bureau. The second master seems to have only spent money to rent a small official position in the government office, but for ordinary people, he is a very important position.
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