CH 133

Chapter 133 – Additional Capital Funding

However, even if she knew what those terms were, she still couldn’t understand it. Pei Yan said to ask her father if she couldn’t understand the text, but she decided to slowly figure it out herself instead. If she still couldn’t understand it, she would look it up with the books at home and write down any questions she had on a slip of paper and ask the senior farmers back in the countryside when the weather turned cooler.

Without Yu Tang’s objection, Yu Wen’s participation in Jiang Chao’s business went very smoothly.

Not only did he bring Master Wu to meet Jiang Chao, but they also visited Ningbo. Master Wu, just like Yu Wen, wanted to add another 500 taels to his share, but was restrained by Yu Yuan’s persuasion.

Following the incident, when Yu Yuan came to Yu Tang’s house for dinner he couldn’t help but bring it up, exclaiming “Master Jiang is indeed capable. Anyone who spoke with him will be influenced. In this respect, I should learn a little from him.”

Yu Tang felt the same.

She handed the yellow magnolia flowers she plucked to Yu Yuan in a small bamboo box, saying “It’s for Eldest Aunt and Sister-in-law. I won’t be going over, so please help bring it to them.”

Yu Tang’s family did not grow yellow magnolia trees.

Yu Yuan asked curiously, “Where did you get the flowers? What have you been doing these days? I haven’t seen you playing at home.”

These days he was busy at the shop.

Summer was the peak period for working on lacquerware. One of the techniques used in the lacquer workshop is was the repeated application of lacquer, and the number of times the lacquer is applied affects both the durability and the quality of the finished product, so it was important not to be slipshod, and the Yu family would usually keep a close eye on the shop at this time.

Yu Tang said, “The yellow magnolias are from Young Madam Zhang. Mother and I made it a point to visit her.”

As for the things she did in her room these past few days, she felt ashamed to tell Yu Yuan.

This was because she found that even with the books on word interpretation, she was still struggling to understand the books Pei Yan gave.

This was likely because she was not as smart as Pei Yan.

When Yu Yuan heard what Yu Tang said, he blushed and hesitated to speak.

Yu Tang was puzzled by his reaction, but Madam Chen called her to help Old Aunty Chen carry the wine to the storehouse for Yu Wen and Master Wu, who were drinking in front of the house, so she didn’t have time to ask him about it. When she thought of it again, Yu Yuan had already helped Master Wu, who was slightly drunk, to leave.

She couldn’t help feeling curious and wanted to find an opportunity to ask Yu Yuan. However, early next morning, the Zhang family came bringing news that Ma Xiuniang had given birth to a daughter in the middle of the night.

Madam Chen was overjoyed, as she packed up the baby clothes and quilts for Ma Xiu Niang’s baby, and chattered with Yu Tang, “Xiu Niang is really lucky to have a daughter as her firstborn. If she has a son next, that would be a blessed combination. I wonder when your marriage will be settled. I don’t have the slightest idea, and your father says that there’s no hurry. You’re sixteen this year and you’ll be seventeen next year.”

Yu Tang didn’t dare to say anything in response.

Several families came to propose marriage after the New Years’, but neither Madam Chen nor Yu Wen were satisfied. Yu Wen kept Shen Shanyan’s words in mind and felt that Yu Tang was a capable and assertive lady, so it would be a pity to marry her off to just anyone, so he simply stated, “Our family is looking for a son-in-law to marry into our family, and not marrying her off. so we’re not afraid to delay her marriage until she’s older. Moreover, for a young lady like Ah-tang, once she’s a bit older, she will become more matured, and we can slowly take our time and chose a good one. As the saying goes, it’s auspicious for the bride to be older then the groom, If we really can’t, we can always look for a younger son-in-law.”

Madam Chen was overcome with anxiety.

She was thinking to speak with Mrs. Ma when she visited Ma Xiu Niang, so that Mrs, Ma could also keep an eye out for a suitable marriage candidate for Yutang.

Yu Tang, on the other hand, felt that her father’s words were reasonable.

She didn’t want to settle down right now, so instead of searching for a husband to start a family, she might as well wait for the right one to come along.

But she could empathise with Madam Chen’s feelings, so whenever Madam Chen spoke about these things, she smiled along for fear of upsetting her mother.

Both of them hired two sedan chairs and went to the Zhang family.

Mrs. Ma and other madams arrived early and were sitting around Ma Xiuniang, asking her many questions about the birth and child. When she saw them coming, Mrs. Ma got up and instructed XiQue to prepare some red sugar water, and Mrs. Ma’s female relatives also made room for both of them to sit down.

Madam Chen took Ma Xiuniang’s hand and asked her about the delivery last night.

Ma Xiuniang’s face was rosy and radiant. Yu Tang surmised that even though she suffered during childbirth, she managed to recover to this condition overnight, so her health should be fine. Hence, her focus turned towards the newborn baby,

The light green swaddling cloths were wrapped tightly around what seemed like an arm-length little person, with a rosy face, tightly closed eyes, and a mouth that was smaller than a cherry, and was slightly open. That sweet and docile expression made Yu Tang’s heart melt.

In her previous life, she entered the Li family as a widow with Li Jun’s tablet. She endured many long lonely days, and only then did she truly understand how difficult it was to be a widow. When she matured and came into her peak beauty and youth, she would see Gu Xi’s children and thinking over how she would never have children of her own in this life, she would be filled with feelings of envy, bitterness and pain and she could only laugh sardonically at her own plight. Especially when it came to Gu Xi’s two children, even when she was at loggerheads with Gu Xi, whenever she met the two children , she would still bring out any delicious treats and sweets for them to eat.

Seeing Ma Xiuniang’s daughter, who was also her closest friend’s daughter, her heart instantly melted into puddles of water and she couldn’t help leaning over to cuddle the child.

“Don’t be foolish!” Madam Chen pulled Yu Tang back and said, “The baby is still so young, you can’t just go picking her up casually, you have to watch out for her little waist and arms.”

Mrs. Ma chortled, saying “It’s okay, it’s okay. She can hold her if she wants to. Just tell her how to hold the baby.” She quipped, “Perhaps my family’s Xiuniang will be counting on Ah-tang to come over and help her carry the baby in future!”

Madam Chen politely declined, “That decision wouldn’t be hers.”

Yu Tang, however, jumped at the chance and was smacked again by Madam Chen.

The crowd burst into laughter.

Xique came in and requested that everyone go to the hall to eat some sugared eggs.

Everyone stood up and went to the hall.

Yu Tang volunteered to stay behind to keep Ma Xiuniang company, and it took her a while to finally learn the proper way to hold the baby.

As soon as the baby was in her arms, she couldn’t help but tense her shoulders a little.

Ma Xiuniang was a first-time mother, and recalled that her mother also held her brother like this when she was a child, so she didn’t mind letting Yu Tang hold him as she chatted, “…… we thought of lots of nicknames before. The name Ah Fu, Ah Bao, Ah Zhu, they were all so corny. You would think that your brother-in-law as a literate person, would have thought of more sophisticated names, but why was it so difficult for him to come up with a good name? I think that if the baby was born in the evening, it would sound better to call her Wan Xia or Wan Qing!”

Yu Tang was envious of her joy as she smiled along listening to Ma Xiuniang’s words. However, when she returned home in the evening, she noticed that she was unable to lift her arms.

Madam Chen chuckled, saying “Serves you right! I told you not to hold the baby so much, but you didn’t listen, now you know the consequences!”

Yu Tang laughed sheepishly. The very next day, she went to the Zhang family to see the baby again, not even bothering to read the books Pei Yan had given her. On the third day of the ceremony of the baby’s birth, she even pleaded with her mother to throw in a piece of silver as a gift as an unmarried lady was not allowed to send gifts.

When Mrs. Ma learned of this, she hugged Yutang affectionately and said with a smile to the women who came to attend the ceremony, saying “Look at what our Ah-tang this aunt has done. In the future when Qing’er grows up, she must remember to be filial to her aunt!”

Ma Xiuniang’s baby was named Zhang Qing, and her nickname was Qing’er. Ma Xiuniang even grumbled to Yu Tang about this, saying “Your brother-in-law said he was afraid that the child would get confused if she had to remember two different names, so he told me to call her that.”

Yu Tang burst out laughing.

She was amazed at Zhang Qing’s changes from one day to the next.

After spending so much time at the Zhang family, the bad consequences came.

Zhang Qing could not sleep unless she was carried, so Zhang Qing’s nursemaid, Xi Que and the Ma couple took shifts to carry the baby. This resulted in Zhang Hui having two dark circles under his eyes everyday as he organized the baby’s first month celebrations. This made Ma XiuNiang frustrated, so much so that she called Yu Tang over and said, “From today onwards, you are to sleep at our house and carry Qing’er for two hours every day so that we can have some time to rest. “

Yu Tang smiled cheekily and found a way to escape. Upon returning, she asked Madam Chen, “Was I really the cause of the problem?”

“If not you, who else would it be?” Madam Chen was in tears laughing when she found out and poked her daughter’s forehead, before saying wistfully, “Gentleman Zhang is really nice man, he even helped Xiuniang with the baby. If your future husband is half as good as Gentleman Zhang, I’ll be satisfied.”

Yu Tang beamed and said, “Don’t worry, my future husband will definitely be a hundred times better than him.”

“You just continue bragging! ” Madam Chen sniffed, “Your father has really spoiled you.”

Yu Tang smiled cheekily and went to give Madam Chen’s shoulders a massage.

Yu Wen’s voice was heard from outside the door, “A-tang, come out quickly. The sea buckthorn saplings I asked Mr. Shen to get for you are here.”

Yu Tang was overjoyed and ran out of the door.

Madam Chen chased after her, chiding “Slow down, watch your step!”

“Got it, got it!” Yu Tang laughed as she ran all the way to the front yard.

The sound of soft laughter echoed in the courtyard with the wind, causing Madam Chen, who was standing under the veranda looking at her daughter’s back, to smile with the corners of her mouth tilted up.

Yu Tang saw a cart of saplings parked in front of their house from a distance, and by the door, beside Yu Wen, stood a man in his twenties, tanned and thickly built.

She let out a sound of acknowledgement.

Yu Wen waved at her and said, “This is the man Mr Shen found for us to plant the trees, his name is Wang Si. I’ve told Ah Cam to take Wang Si to find Uncle Wu and plant them first, then I’ll go back with you in the morning. “

Yu Tang nodded as she examined the saplings in the cart.

The saplings were about three feet high, wrapped in thick soil and cloth, and stacked high, about ten or so of them.

No wonder they were so expensive.

To send them over from the northwest in this condition would have cost a lot of silver for the man and the mule pulling the cart, not to mention the other things.

She asked Wang Si, “Where did you come from?”

Wang Si spoke in a partially incomprehensible way, and it took several times for Yu Tang to understand that it was “Xi’an”.

Yu Tong said, “Didn’t you say you were from Gansu?”

Wang Si smiled and did not say anything.

Yu Wen coughed gently and explained, “Earlier a batch of saplings wilted on the road, so Mr Shen asked someone from the Ministry of Household Affairs, and it just so happened that someone from the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province went to the Ministry of Household Affairs and heard about it, so he took the initiative to take the job on ……”

It was not just a small matter of transportation of a few trees.

Just for these, many favours were owed.

If the preserves don’t come out as expected, how will she be able to account for all the work done?