Ning Huaizhi frowned and looked at Jiang Yuwei, then said:
“Yunyun, I don’t have the final say on this. My sister-in-law has always run our paper mill. I know nothing about business.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Guixiang's eyes widened, and she cursed at Ning Huaizhi:
"You're supposed to be the man of the house, and you can't even make a decision on this little thing? Now that your family is doing better and better, don't you care about the lives of your parents and your younger siblings?"
Ning Huaizhi lowered his head, not daring to look into Chen Guixiang's eyes, and remained silent.
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei spoke up directly:
"Yes, I don't care anymore! When you were scheming to send our eldest son's family to this godforsaken place at the foot of the mountain, did you ever care whether our family lived or died? Now why should I care about your lives?"
As Jiang Yuwei spoke, she looked at Ning Yunyun, who was still sobbing, and began to speak:
"Xu Ming hit you, you shouldn't have come to your older brother. Marriage is arranged by parents and matchmakers, you should look for the root of the problem. Wasn't this beast of a husband personally chosen for you by your mother? It's too late to cry now, you might as well save your tears for mourning your husband, don't cry in our yard, it's annoying to see!"
Upon hearing this, Ning Yunyun's eyes immediately reddened as she retorted:
"You, you are so vicious, Jiang Yuwei! How could you curse my husband to die! Do you intend to make me a widow?"
Jiang Yuwei sneered:
"Have you forgotten what you said when your older brother was injured and dragged back half-dead? Didn't you keep saying that it would have been better for him to die on the battlefield, being a cripple? What? You're allowed to curse me to be a widow, but I'm not allowed to curse you?"
Upon hearing this, Ning Yunyun blushed instantly. She had wanted to secretly observe Ning Huaizhi's reaction, but instead, she met Ning Huaizhi's sharp eyes directly, which startled her.
Seeing this, Chen Guixiang quickly pulled Ning Yunyun behind her and shouted to Jiang Yuwei:
"All you do is dredge up old grievances! You'll bring up those trivial, old things a thousand times, a hundred times, before you're done!"
Jiang Yuwei glanced at Chen Guixiang and said indifferently:
"It's not over yet! I hold grudges and love to dredge up old scores endlessly. If you're so capable, then stop doing those dirty things that give people something to dredge up! What? You're allowed to do the first thing, but nobody else is allowed to do the fifteenth? You think you're so great, always right!"
Chen Guixiang rolled her eyes in anger at Jiang Yuwei's words. Seeing this, Ning Yunyun quickly helped Chen Guixiang and walked out of the courtyard, calling out to Jiang Yuwei as they went:
"If you make my mother sick, I'll never forgive you!"
Jiang Yuwei kicked a pebble hard at her feet and shouted as she watched them leave:
"It's not over yet!"
Ning Huaizhi looked at Jiang Yuwei with a complicated expression and whispered:
"Yuwei, don't be angry. Can you be a little more careful when you talk to your mother in the future?"
Jiang Yuwei turned around and raised an eyebrow at Ning Huaizhi:
"I helped you out of that predicament, and now you're lecturing me?"
Ning Huaizhi hurriedly waved his hand and said:
"No, I know you mean well, but Mother is getting old, and I'm afraid that I'll upset her like this..."
Jiang Yuwei stepped forward, glared at him, and asked:
"What are you afraid of?!"
Ning Huaizhi spoke softly:
"I'm afraid you'll really anger your mother to death, and then you'll be branded as an unfilial son..."
Jiang Yuwei understood. In this society, unfilial children would be condemned by everyone, and might even face imprisonment. However, she knew her limits. Even if Chen Guixiang fainted from anger, she knew how to provide first aid. Thinking this, she calmly said:
"It's alright, I know what I'm doing. Your mother is in good health, so don't worry unnecessarily!"
After saying that, Jiang Yuwei ignored Ning Huaizhi and went straight to the paper mill in the backyard.
As soon as they entered the backyard, they saw Zhang Tianhe busy chopping firewood, Ning Wu boiling pulp, Ning Daya drying paper, Aunt Zhou and Aunt Zhang making paper patterns with Ning Wan, and Liu Shi binding the paper.
Jiang Yuwei stepped forward and smiled at Aunt Zhang:
“Aunt Zhang, I think we still don’t have enough manpower. How about we have Zhang Guang come over tomorrow to do some odd jobs? He can help with the fire or make rubbings.”
As Jiang Yuwei spoke, she turned to look at Liu and said:
“Mrs. Liu, if Gou Dan is at home with nothing to do, let him come with you tomorrow. I will pay him separately.”
Both Mrs. Liu and Aunt Zhang nodded happily upon hearing this:
"Alright, alright, I'll have them come over tomorrow."
Jiang Yuwei then looked at Aunt Zhou and said:
“Aunt Zhou, you are good at needlework. Tomorrow you will work with Liu to bind the books. Let them do the printing work. By the way, you must check carefully when you are binding. Make sure the printed patterns are completely dry before binding, otherwise the ink will bleed through the pages.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Jiang Yuwei's instructions. There were many people eating today, and Jiang Yuwei was also busy cooking in the front yard. After giving her instructions, she went to the front yard.
Seeing that Ning Huaizhi was still engrossed in carving, Jiang Yuwei called for the fool to come out and start a fire for her.
Jiang Yuwei steamed two pots of rice, cooked a pot of plum juice, and made a stir-fried vegetable dish, a potato and pork rib stew, a cold eggplant salad, and an egg and cucumber salad.
After everything was ready, she invited everyone to dinner. After dinner, she sent everyone away and then Jiang Yuwei went to bed and lay down.
She was thinking about preparing a birthday gift for the old lady of the Sun family the next day, and as she thought about it, she fell into a deep sleep.
next day
Jiang Yuwei got up early and steamed two large pots of millet flour buns, as well as a pot of wild vegetable buns, to prepare for the workers during the next few days of rushing to finish the project. After thinking for a moment, Jiang Yuwei also made some dumplings with chive and egg filling to cook for everyone at noon.
After finishing all that, Jiang Yuwei took off her apron, picked up her basket, and hurriedly went out. She remembered the flower field where she often went to pick flowers, where some peonies had not yet bloomed. If she could dig up a few plants, she could cultivate and nurture them properly.
We can then use some tricks to make the flower bloom on the day of the birthday banquet, which would be an excellent omen.
After all, he couldn't give away any other valuable gifts, and the Sun family already had everything he had. So he might as well give them something rare and interesting, something that would make the old lady happy.
As Jiang Yuwei pondered this, she walked to the sea of flowers. First, she picked out a few unopened white peonies, then carefully dug them up by the roots, wrapped the buds and stems in leaves, and put them in her basket to take home.
Jiang Yuwei brought out all the flowerpots she had bought in Ping'an Town and carefully planted several peony plants in them. Then she found some purple gromwell juice, safflower juice, alum, gamboge powder, and other substances and casually painted them on the white peony buds.
Each plant was treated in the same way. After the color dried, a layer of alum water was added to fix the color. Then, Jiang Yuwei buried some Atractylodes macrocephala powder at the base of the flower, waiting for the peony to bloom on the day of the birthday banquet.
To be absolutely sure, Jiang Yuwei moved all the flowers into her own room.
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