Chapter 21: A Good Wife
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, the rice flowers have arrived in Linyi County for more than a month.
During this month, she had a general understanding of the situation in the backyard of the county government office and had some understanding of the situation of the Yan family.
The elders were quite tolerant of her, and as for the younger ones, apart from occasionally saying a few sour words, there was nothing else they did.
Overall, she is quite happy here.
One afternoon, the three sisters Yan Yihan, Yan Yishuang and Yan Yile finished their classes for the day and walked towards Songhe Courtyard of Old Lady Yan. Before they entered the courtyard, they heard sounds of laughter and playing.
Yan Yile curled her lips and said with envy, "Big sister is out playing with the third and fourth brothers again."
Yan Yihan smiled faintly and said, "Big sister, you just came to the county and are not familiar with the place yet. It would be good for you to go out and see more."
Yan Yile retorted, "It's been over a month. The county town is so small, we should have gotten to know it by now. I think it's just my aunt who's doting on my older sister. She'll do whatever she wants."
Yan Yile first glanced at Yan Yishuang next to him, and then glared at Yan Yihan: "Shut up, how can we, the younger generation, interfere in the affairs of our elders?"
Yan Yile was a little dissatisfied, but she didn't continue. Instead, she looked at Yan Yishuang with a smile and said, "Third sister, do you want to go out and play like your eldest sister?"
Yan Yishuang pursed her lips and said nothing.
Do you want to?
Of course I did.
However, her mother kept a close eye on her and rarely let her go out.
Yan Yile immediately came over and said, "Third sister, uncle dotes on you so much, go and talk to him and let us go out for a walk with you."
Yan Yishuang was a little tempted, but still shook her head: "My aunt won't agree."
Yan Yile's face fell: "Auntie Lin is too strict with you."
Yan Yishuang didn't allow anyone to say anything bad about Aunt Lin, and immediately said, "Aunt Lin is doing this for my own good."
Mother said that only if she is better than her older sister will father like her more.
Yan Yihan hurriedly stopped the two people who were about to quarrel again: "Okay, let's go in and pay our respects to Grandma."
The rule of paying respects was established after Old Lady Yan came.
Once in the morning and once in the evening.
Old Mrs. Yan did not object. She was happy to see her children and grandchildren sitting on her lap.
When Yan Yihan and the other two entered Old Lady Yan's room, they saw Daohua dressed as a little boy, holding something and explaining it to Old Lady Yan with a smile on his face. Yan Wentao and Yan Wenkai stood on both sides, occasionally interjecting a word.
Seeing this, the three of them felt a little envious.
One is so that Daohua can go out, and the other is because of Mrs. Yan’s preference for Daohua.
Although the old lady was kind to them, she was no match for the rice flowers.
After greeting the old lady, Yan Yile looked at Daohua with a smile: "Big sister, when will you go to class with us?"
Madam Li hired a female teacher for the girls of the Yan family, who was responsible for teaching them how to read and write, as well as how to do embroidery and needlework.
Upon hearing this, Daohua paused.
Old Madam Yan thought about it seriously, then said, "It's time to go to class."
The other people in the room thought Daohua would be unwilling, but she didn't say anything.
Daohua glanced at Yan Yile, who looked a little disappointed, and felt amused.
In their hearts, she is just an unlearned person?
"Grandma, don't worry, I will study hard."
She knew very well that if she wanted to live well in this ancient time, she had to adapt to the rules here.
In ancient times, there were many requirements for women, and it would not hurt to learn more skills.
The next morning, Daohua had breakfast in Old Lady Yan's courtyard, and when she returned to the main courtyard, she was called by Madam Li.
"I heard from the old lady that you wanted to go to school?" Mrs. Li smiled and pulled Daohua to sit beside her.
Daohua nodded: "My younger sisters are all in class, so as their elder sister, I naturally cannot fall behind."
Madam Li smiled gently and said, "Even if the old lady didn't mention it, I would have arranged it for you. It's good for a woman to read more books. Whether it's managing the household or raising a husband and children, it's all useful."
"Oh, and you should learn needlework too. When you meet someone in the future, if you're good at needlework, you'll make a good impression on them."
Hearing this, Daohua was furious: "Mom, our daughter is only 9 years old, isn't it too early to say this?"
Madam Li nodded Daohua's forehead and said, "What's so early about it? Some families are destined to marry when they are born."
Daohua shuddered: "Fortunately I didn't."
Mrs. Li smiled helplessly.
At this time, Ping Xiao, the maidservant beside Madam Li, came in with several account books. "Madam, this month's accounts have been prepared. Please take a look."
Madam Li looked at Daohua and said, "Mother is going to be busy. You should go play somewhere else."
Daohua didn't mean to leave, but looked at the account books: "Mom, can I take a look?"
Madam Li laughed: "Our Daohua wants to learn how to be a housekeeper now?"
Daohua smiled awkwardly: "Let's take a look first."
Mrs. Li did not refuse, but simply said, "Don't break it."
Daohua: "Mom, I know." As she said that, she picked up an account book and started flipping through it.
Mrs. Li smiled and shook her head, then began to calculate the family's income and expenditure for this month.
A quarter of an hour later
A quarter of an hour later.
Half an hour later, Mrs. Li looked at the rice flowers with slight surprise.
She originally thought that her daughter was just a child and would not be able to sit still in front of the densely packed accounts, but she didn't expect that her daughter would immediately move on to another one after finishing one, as if she wanted to finish reading the entire account book, and she read it particularly carefully.
The old lady mentioned in her previous letters home that Daohua helped her with accounting and bookkeeping back home, and did a very good job. She used to think the old lady was exaggerating, but now she sees that she really can do it.
Ping Xiao, who was serving on the side, was also secretly amazed.
During this period, I saw the eldest girl running around everywhere with the Third and Fourth Masters. I thought she was lively and active and impatient, but I didn't expect that she had such a calm and quiet side.
On this side, Daohua, who was busy looking at the accounts, naturally had no idea what the two were thinking. The reason she wanted to look through the account books was to understand the income and expenditure of the Yan family.
After coming here, she found that her family was not very well off.
Firstly, there are not many servants in the house. People like her and the new third wife still haven't arranged for servants to run errands for them.
Secondly, their food, clothing and other expenses were not very good. The clothes worn by both Yan Zhigao and Madam Li were half-new and half-old. Only their eldest brother Yan Wenxiu, who was studying in the county school, was dressed slightly better.
Judging from these, her father is quite honest.
After reading the account book, Daohua thought to herself, no wonder grandma always said that the Yan family was poor.
This is really thin.
Yan Zhigao is the only one in the family who has a salary, but he has to support a whole family. The others have no income, but their expenses are quite high.
"Mom, Dad is so lucky to have married you."
Rice Flower sighed.
If it weren't for the fact that Madam Li's dowry was quite generous, including a farm and a shop, which brought in some income every day, this family really wouldn't be able to continue.
Madam Li glared at Daohua and said, "What are you talking about? It's your mother's blessing to marry your father."
Seeing that Mrs. Li's eyes were full of smiles, Daohua covered her mouth and giggled. She could see that her mother really liked her father.
Daohua smiled and said, "Dad is also very lucky. If it weren't for Mom helping him to manage the household, he wouldn't be able to work outside with peace of mind."
Madam Li smiled, but didn't mention Daohua this time: "Your father works hard as an official, so naturally I have to share more of his burdens."
Rice Flower: "Mom, you are so kind."
She is a really good mother, a typical good wife and mother. Not only does she take care of her family meticulously, she also never makes things difficult for her favored concubines, and she takes the principle of "harmony in the family brings prosperity" to the extreme.
(End of this chapter)
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