Chapter 52: The Importance of the Mother's Home
Madam Li and Yan Zhigao returned to their previous state of respect for each other, but the atmosphere between them made Daohua feel a little weird.
Her mother didn't seem to be as considerate and attentive to her adoptive father as she was when she first came.
As for her stepfather, he would often glance at her mother from time to time, and sometimes he would hesitate to speak when he wanted to, which was very strange.
"Could it be that her cheap father finally realized how good her mother was and changed his mind?"
"What are you mumbling about?"
Mrs. Li tapped Daohua on the forehead.
Daohua immediately shook her head: "Nothing." After that, she immediately lowered her head, flipping through the account book with one hand and counting on the abacus with the other hand, very quickly.
During this period, seeing that Mrs. Li's eyes were red from checking the account books, she felt that as a daughter, she should help share some of the burden, so she recommended herself to Mrs. Li.
There were many things to do during the year-end, and Mrs. Li did not have time to teach her daughter how to look at, keep, and calculate accounts, but she knew that this was her daughter's filial piety and she could not bear to let her down. She also thought that her daughter was now 9 years old and it was time for her to learn some housekeeping skills.
So, Mrs. Li took some time out of her busy schedule to teach Daohua how to read the account books.
Compared with wealthy families, Mrs. Li's dowry was nothing, but for the Yan family, who came from a humble background, it was definitely generous.
Although a lot of money had been spent on the family's expenses and on bribes to Yan Zhigao over the years, Mrs. Li, who had always been able to increase income and reduce expenditure, still gradually added some family assets.
So, at the end of every year, I have to look at a pile of account books.
Madam Li looked at her clever daughter with a smile on her face and asked softly, "If you think there's anything wrong with the account book, just write it down. I'll explain it to you when I get back."
Daohua said without even raising her head: "I know, I know, Mom, you can go and take care of other things, and leave the account book matters to me without worry."
Mrs. Li smiled silently, looked at her daughter who was seriously calculating the accounts for a while, then quietly left the room and went next door.
"Madam, this is the list of New Year gifts sent by some families over the years."
At the end of each year, the exchange of New Year gifts is a very important matter, which is related to the maintenance of the friendship between the families.
In previous years, Mrs. Li had to check the account books for the year and prepare New Year gifts for each family, and she was often too busy to count.
This year, she unexpectedly enjoyed the blessing of a daughter.
She was prepared to stay up late at night to teach her daughter how to look after the accounts, but who would have thought that she only gave her daughter some rough instructions and her daughter took over the account book directly.
She checked and found that her daughter had calculated every expense in the account book exactly, and her daughter also carefully changed the accounting method to make the account book look clearer at a glance.
This gave her a new understanding of her daughter's intelligence.
"This year is probably the most relaxing year for Madam."
Seeing that Mrs. Li always had a smile on her face, Pingtong joined in the fun.
Ping Xiao took over the conversation: "Isn't it true? Ever since the eldest girl came, Madam has been smiling every day. From what I can see, Madam looks much better than before."
Ping Tong also laughed and said, "The old lady said that the eldest girl is a lucky star. She used to bring good luck to the old lady in her hometown, and now she is here at the county government office and is starting to bring good luck to the lady."
Mrs. Li felt the same way.
She knew how poor the old lady's health had been, but looking at her now, some people who were younger than her were probably not as healthy as her.
She didn't know if it was her illusion, but she also felt that her skin had improved during this period.
"Alright, you two, stop praising that girl, and don't say anything about her being a lucky star."
Reputation is very important to women, but too much reputation is not necessarily a good thing.
Some women, because of their fame, attracted some snakes, ghosts and bull gods, and ended up with a tragic fate.
All her rice flowers want is to live a peaceful and happy life, and she doesn't need to use illusory fame to attract the attention of outsiders.
Seeing that Mrs. Li didn't want to say more, Pingtong and Pingxiao obediently began to help organize the list of New Year gifts.
"Still no New Year gifts from the capital this year?"
After looking through the entire gift list, Mrs. Li sighed.
Because her parents' family is not strong enough, my sister-in-law must have a very difficult life in her husband's family. She can't even send New Year gifts to her parents' family.
Ping Tong: "Then Madam, are we still sending New Year gifts to the capital?"
Madam Li nodded: "Of course we have to send it. Even if the Yang family doesn't like the things we send, we have to let them know that my sister-in-law has a family."
Mrs. Li thought about it for a while and increased the amount of New Year gifts to be sent to the capital by another 10%.
Ping Tong saw Madam Li adding something to the Yang family's gift list. After a moment's thought, she couldn't help but say, "Madam, if this continues, I'm afraid our family will be a little tight on money next year."
Mrs. Li did not stop writing: "There are not many people in the family who can help my sister-in-law. If the New Year gift looks better, she will have an easier time at her husband's house."
She deeply understood the sufferings of women who married into a wealthy family.
She herself is a high-marrying woman!
In the Yan family, everyone seemed to respect her, but she knew very well that most people respected her because she brought a lot of dowry and had a relatively wealthy family.
Even the old lady valued this point when she agreed to her marriage with the master.
For a married woman, her parents’ home is extremely important.
She was lucky to have two brothers who loved her. Even though the Li family was not as prestigious as the Yan family, the gifts the Li family sent her during festivals every year allowed her to stand tall in the Yan family.
Afterwards, Mrs. Li carefully sorted out the New Year gifts sent by each family, and then sent back the corresponding New Year gifts.
On this side, Daohua finished calculating an account book, stood up and stretched.
The ancient account books were really ugly, and they made her eyes hurt and swell.
She needs to take a break.
In ancient times, she was nearsighted but there were no glasses for her to wear.
Daohua walked to the window and admired the orchid that she had specially given to Mrs. Li to relieve eye fatigue.
The cold orchid was found in the mountains of her hometown and has been kept in her space ever since. At this moment, it is blooming lushly.
Just then, Ping Xiao walked in with a bowl of freshly cooked milk in his hand.
"Girl, the lady specially had someone boil milk for you. Come and drink it."
Daohua walked to the table and sat down, then took a sip of the milk. "Sister Pingxiao, where's the pot of red plums I gave to Mom? Isn't it displayed yet?"
Ping Xiao smiled and said, "The master has been resting in the lady's room these days. Seeing that Hongmei is a good practitioner, he said he wanted to take it to the front yamen to show everyone."
Daohua curled her lips and said, "Father, you're so embarrassed to take it."
In order to see the red plum blossoms bloom earlier, she planted them in the black soil in the space for more than half a month, so that the red plum blossoms not only bloomed well but also had a pleasant fragrance.
In this cold weather, smelling the faint fragrance of plum blossoms can make people feel refreshed.
Her mother has been so busy and tired recently, and it's obvious that she's not in good spirits. But her stepfather just took Hongmei away directly.
Daohua: "Father will be on holiday soon, right?"
Ping Xiao nodded: "The master started taking a rest on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month."
Daohua: "Please remember this for me. I will have to ask my father to bring Hongmei back when the time comes."
Ping Xiao looked at the young lady who was so stingy with the master and smiled secretly.
Although the master valued his wife in the past, he often made her suffer because of Aunt Lin.
Now that the eldest girl is here, Ping Xiao admires her so much when he thinks of the scene when she stood up for his wife.
At the same time, in the Yang Mansion in the capital.
Watching her mother-in-law and three sisters-in-law laughing and talking about how to return New Year gifts to their respective families, Yan Siyu pursed her lips tightly, and clenched her hands tightly under her long sleeves, allowing her nails to dig into her flesh.
This kind of scene happens every year at the end of the year.
She knew her husband's family looked down on her own family, and she was prepared for it. But she never imagined that the Yang family would go so far as to not even prepare a New Year's gift for the Yan family.
Although my eldest brother has been the county magistrate for nine consecutive years, this does not mean that he has no possibility of promotion.
The Yang family's treatment of the Yan family is so cold and indifferent!
If she wasn't still worried about her two children, she really wanted to escape from the Yang family.
Old Mrs. Yang glanced at her daughter-in-law who had a gloomy face and snorted in her heart.
She knew that her daughter-in-law was still dreaming that her elder brother would be promoted, but unfortunately, this dream was bound to be shattered.
If they didn't know that Yan Zhigao had no chance of promotion, how could they have gone so far?
The reason why she agreed to let her youngest son marry Yan Siyu, who came from a poor family, was not because she valued his elder brother's future?
Unexpectedly, Yan Zhigao was an arrogant person who relied on his talent and had no idea how to be an official. When he first entered the officialdom, he offended an important person whom he could not afford to offend.
If it weren't for the fact that he could really get things done, he wouldn't even be able to be a county magistrate.
Nowadays, even if you become a county magistrate, you will only be sent to a backward and remote county to work like a slave and add political achievements to the people above you.
Such a person's life is over. She was able to keep her daughter-in-law only for the sake of her two grandchildren.
(End of this chapter)
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