Chapter 214: Chapter 200: I Married You on a Whim (Second Update)
Wen Wan had a hard time soothing Yang, and it’s unclear how much effort she put in to stop Yang’s tears.
Aunt Xie asked Granny Song for Jinbao to hold, now she was strolling in the courtyard, seeing her eldest daughter-in-law come out from the Song family’s kitchen with swollen eyes, she hurriedly asked what was wrong.
Yang forced a smile and said it was nothing, earlier she helped Third Sister-in-law add firewood and got smoked.
Aunt Xie didn’t think much about it.
This eldest daughter-in-law has always been their family’s paragon of virtue, managing household affairs diligently and painstakingly over the years. Though she wasn’t as adept as the second daughter-in-law, her heart was solid, and she was genuine and sincere in dealing with matters.
Even though the second daughter-in-law could make money, Aunt Xie still preferred a daughter-in-law like Yang, who was straightforward and reliable. Before in the countryside, if anything came up, it was directly handed over to Yang, and as a mother-in-law, she never had to worry about things being mishandled.
In Aunt Xie’s impression, Yang has always been respectful to her in-laws, and her relationship with her eldest son, Xie Zheng, was harmonious. Over the years since she got married, she hadn’t seen the couple have a falling out.
So when Yang casually made up an excuse, Aunt Xie wouldn’t even think towards their relationship having problems.
——
Today, the pot of stewed chicken was plentiful. After it was done, Wen Wan sent Song Fang to call over Uncle Xie, Xie Tao, Xie Tao’s wife, and the few little ones from next door to have dinner, saying it was the first time stewing with Ejiao, letting everyone have a taste of something new.
At the dinner table, Xie Tao’s wife noticed something seemed off with Yang, but with so many people around, she didn’t feel comfortable asking.
After dinner, she made an excuse to tidy up things at the stall, grabbing Yang to leave early.
Once back at her own home, taking advantage of the absence of her in-laws, her husband, and her brother-in-law, Xie Tao’s wife opened up, "What’s the matter, big sister-in-law, has someone bullied you?"
Yang shook her head saying no, her sister-in-law was overthinking.
Xie Tao’s wife didn’t believe it, "How many years have we been sisters-in-law? You might fool mother-in-law, but you can’t fool me."
Yang was reluctant to speak.
No matter how uneasy she felt inside, it was a personal issue between her and her husband, talking about it would only become a joke.
Xie Tao’s wife rolled her eyes, "I’ve noticed big brother has been coming and going these past few days without a smile, have you two argued?"
"Don’t talk nonsense!" Yang said, "When have I ever argued with him?"
Xie Tao’s wife initially was curious with a bit of gossip in her mind, but seeing Yang not open up, she quickly gave up, "Well, you’re reluctant to talk, and I’m reluctant to ask. Time to move on."
After settling down in the small courtyard, Xie Tao and his wife idly wandered around, having found a decent stand location at the market, they planned to resume their old business of selling fish and shrimp.
Though they came to Beijing riding on Big Brother Xie Zheng’s connections, with Big Brother’s current official rank, his meager salary was not enough to support the whole family.
Xie Tao’s wife is the type of person who feels anxious if money isn’t coming in for a day, she didn’t want the whole family to rely on Big Brother’s financial support, worrying about the next meal every day. She had been urging Xie Tao to go out more often recently.
Before coming to the capital, their mother-in-law had said, over the years, their second branch had spent a lot of money and effort on Big Brother. Now that Big Brother had made a name, it was time to compensate the second branch. There weren’t many resources to give, but after arriving in Beijing, they planned to give three hundred taels of silver as capital for the couple to manage.
This money had been accumulated from doing fish and shrimp business back home.
Three hundred taels was no small amount.
Even if given another ten years, their second branch wouldn’t have been able to invest so much money in Big Brother.
Xie Tao’s wife reminisced, thinking this was probably the only time since marrying into the Xie family that she found her mother-in-law quite reasonable, generous, and capable.
Considering shopfronts were too expensive, the couple decided to rent a stand first and build their business from there.
Xie Tao’s wife solely focused on making money to live a good life.
Yang was different, she devoted herself entirely to her husband, Xie Zheng, and their two children.
Back home, Yang felt quite capable. She excelled at both farm and household work, always doing things more efficiently than anyone else.
Upon arriving in the capital, without the need to farm, work naturally decreased. Seeing her husband busy, she wanted to help him and pass time, but except for laundry and cooking, there wasn’t a single task she could handle successfully.
The more Yang thought about this, the more she felt useless.
——
At night, after they blew out the lamp and lay in bed, Wen Wan told Song Wei about Yang’s situation during the day, suggesting he find an opportunity to probe Xie Zheng.
Wen Wan said, "When sister-in-law married in, she was youthful and fresh, a fine flower indeed. It’s just that the Xie family didn’t have the condition to pamper her. After having two children and being busy inside and outside for so many years, how could she still look youthful? If Xie Zheng despises her for this, that would be truly disappointing."
While speaking, Wen Wan looked up at the man holding her in his arms, "Do you men all like to nibble on young grass?"
Song Wei chuckled softly, his gaze tenderly fixed on her, "Have you forgotten how you, young grass, married into the Song family back then?"
The implication was not that he, an old bull, sought young grass, but rather young grass willingly came to him.
Wen Wan felt embarrassed and her face heated up upon him mentioning the past, "I—I just casually said it back then..."
His low chuckle became more pronounced, "I just casually married you back then too."
"..."
Wen Wan was so embarrassed that she wished she could disappear. She ignored him and pulled herself into the covers, pressing her cool hands against her cheeks, hoping to quickly calm down.
The man’s solid chest pressed against her back, his chin resting on her shoulder. As if he could sense the absurd worries in his young wife’s mind, his tone was unavoidably gentle and soft, "You’re only nineteen now. When you turn thirty, I’ll be forty-two. No matter how many years pass, you’ll always be a tender shoot to me."
Such words made Wen Wan, a mother herself, feel shy.
——
The next day, Song Wei and Xie Zheng went to the Hanlin Academy together.
The academy was close to the government office, so they didn’t take a carriage, but walked directly.
Song Wei spoke first, "You don’t seem well lately, is something bothering you?"
Xie Zheng replied with a smile, "I’ve already passed the palace examination, so I don’t need to worry about not passing. What could be bothering me now?"
Song Wei acknowledged with a hum, "The Xu Family will soon come with the wedding gifts, and we’ll have to make proper arrangements. If convenient, I’d like to invite your sister-in-law to help out."
Xie Zheng didn’t answer directly but instead asked an unrelated question, "I heard Third Cousin asked for an admission spot at the Hongwen Academy for Third Sister-in-law?"
Song Wei confirmed.
Xie Zheng continued, "Was it you who taught Third Sister-in-law to recognize all the characters back then?"
Song Wei shook his head, "Not entirely. Before she came to the Song family, she had secretly learned some herself."
"Secretly learned?"
"Yes, she would go to the village school and listen secretly."
Xie Zheng murmured, "No wonder..."
"What’s up?"
"Nothing, I was just asking casually."
Xie Zheng lowered his lashes, thinking of Yang.
Back then in the province, prompted by Song Wei, he taught Yang to recognize characters after returning home. However, Yang was clumsy, forgetting everything taught just a day before.
Xie Zheng lacked the patience that Song Wei had. After a few days of teaching, Yang still couldn’t remember any characters, so he simply excused himself by saying he needed to study for the exams in Beijing and didn’t bring it up again.
One day, he asked Yang to buy something for him, but she made a mistake because she couldn’t read.
He didn’t act out at the time and didn’t say a word against her, but he started contemplating differently.
He didn’t know whom to blame.
Was it her for not learning earnestly? Or him for not teaching diligently?
Song Wei detected a hint in his words and smiled indulgently as if recalling something, "Wanwan was quite clumsy when she learned to read characters. She listened secretly at the village school for two or three years, only recognizing a few characters. Later as I taught her to write, she could change the shape of the same character every time she wrote it. It took years of effort to finally know them all. Even now, she can only recognize characters; she’s not yet learned to compose poems or write essays like others."
Xie Zheng was deeply shocked.
A mute who persisted in listening secretly for two or three years just to learn characters, eventually memorizing only a few. Yet, the young girl delighted in it.
This kind of spirit was beyond him, let alone Yang.
——
Song Wei’s words enlightened Xie Zheng. That evening, after returning home from the Lower Court, he no longer stayed alone in the study but pulled Yang in whenever she was free to teach her.
Yang had been bothered by the mistake she made due to being illiterate. With her husband now patiently teaching, she dared not lose focus and applied herself to learning, though still clumsy. Xie Zheng, unlike back at home previously, wasn’t aggravated by her. Unable to learn once, he would teach again, and again the third time.
——
After the Xu family brought the betrothal gifts, the wedding date was set for December.
The time was tight, but fortunately, the embroidery workshop had already finished Song Fang’s wedding dress, while her own tasks were also nearing completion.
The Xu family was the General Mansion, bringing numerous and precious betrothal gifts, all stored in large boxes that could not fit in one side room. Wen Wan opened another room to store them.
Xie Tao’s wife clicked her tongue in wonder, "Wow, so many betrothal gifts— in our village, it could have married a hundred wives."
Grabbing casually into the box of jewelry yielded a handful of gold and silver, dazzling everyone.
Granny Song felt a bit troubled and asked Song Wei, "With so many betrothal gifts from them, how should we prepare the dowry?"
Song Wei said, "You can look over those gifts, mom. I’ll prepare some estates for her and equip them with silver to press the boxes, which should suffice."
Song Fang was marrying into a higher station, so Granny Song didn’t want her daughter to be mistreated in her new household because of this. She decisively said, "We won’t keep any gifts from the son-in-law’s family; we’ll return them all as part of her dowry."