Chapter 122: Echo (Pink Ticket 1170)

  The eleventh girl arranged the accompanying room well... The winter solstice arrived.

  In this era, the Winter Solstice is different from before. It's not just about the change in weather; both government officials and ordinary people celebrate it, calling it "Ya Sui". Everyone either makes year-round rice cakes or prepares special food to worship their ancestors. Women also present shoes and socks to their elders, known as "Lv Chang". The Xu family is different from others, not only did the Ministry of Rites send over a "99 Winter Solstice Poem Picture", but the Emperor also bestowed upon the Xu brothers warm ear muffs made of dark fox fur, while the Empress gave the Xu ladies various seasonal fabrics. The Xu family's breakfast also included an additional spicy soup.

  The eleventh daughter enthusiastically hung the "Ninety-Nine Cold-Expelling Poem" picture on the pink wall of the eastern wing.

  Xu Lingyi leaned against the windowsill, reading a book and listening to her and Hupo speaking in hushed tones, their voices filled with joy. She looked up and saw Shiyi Niang wearing a white fox fur hat that Tai Furen had given her, which set off her delicate face like a little rabbit, finding it amusing, she smiled and said: "You haven't seen this before?"

  "I've seen it." Eleventh Sister smiled, "In the past when Father was at home, he also personally painted a plum blossom picture with 81 petals and stuck it on the wall. Every day, he would paint one petal with his brush, and when the plum blossom picture was completed, spring would have arrived."

  Xu Lingyi smiled and said: "That's still better than the plum blossom picture. The things from the Imperial Censorate are always so serious."

  Eleventh Sister listened to Xu Lingyi's serious tone and found it very interesting, laughing brightly: "Why don't we stick this in your study? We can put up plum blossom pictures at our place?"

  During this time she often went to Xu Lingyi's study in the west wing to borrow books.

  To be honest, there's nothing good to say about it.

  Although it looks like his usual stuff, there are many military books and some biographies of historical figures, but only a few poetry collections. The blank pages in those military books still have his handwriting, from childish to mature, recording the growth of a person. Eleventh Girl found it quite familiar, but couldn't get interested, so she just went to take a look, without even touching a single book.

  Xu Lingyi knew that Shiyi Niang had been going to his study to pick books, but couldn't find one that she liked. He thought she was teasing him, and he wasn't someone who couldn't take a joke, so he played along: "Well, the things in the Imperial Censorate are indeed very compatible with my study."

  The eleventh girl smiled, and her eyebrows sparkled with a captivating charm that was hard to put into words.

  Xu Lingyi just felt delightful and pleasant, with a very good mood.

  A young servant came in and reported: "Master Hou, the shed for porridge has been set up. Third Master sent me to ask you if you are going to take a look!"

  It has been snowing since the beginning of November. Earlier, a group of refugees went to Yanjing to beg for food, but were stopped at the city gate. It is said that there have been cases of people freezing to death. Yongchang Hou Huang Laohouye stepped forward and coordinated with various officials in Yanjing to set up porridge stalls outside the city's west gate. The Xu family, although not the first, did not fall behind either, and set up their own porridge stall next to that of Weibei Hou Lin's family.

  Xu Lingyi heard this and threw down her book: "I'll go right now."

  Xiao Shu responded and went to report back, the eleventh lady was busy with Qingyun finding Xu Lingyi's otter fur cloak for him to wear: "Master Hou be careful on the road, it's cold and icy. Why not take a sedan chair instead?"

  "What's this?" Xu Lingyi, helped by Eleventh Sister, wrapped his windbreaker around him. "I've encountered far worse weather than this in the northwest. Don't worry."

  Eleventh girl nodded and saw Xu Lingyi out of the door. Before she could turn back, a little maid came running: "Madam, Eldest Madam has arrived."

  It's been several days since we parted ways at the intersection of West Avenue, and I haven't heard any news from Dà Nǎi. It wasn't convenient to send someone to ask about her either. Just as I was anxiously waiting, upon hearing this, I immediately followed the little maid to welcome Dà Nǎi back.

  A big-breasted woman wearing a grey mouse-fur cloak with cyan lotus embroidery, her face looking somewhat dispirited.

  The eleventh girl felt something was off in her heart.

  Da Nai saw Shiyi Niang coming over and immediately reached out to hold Shiyi Niang's hand, the icy fingertips making Shiyi Niang tremble slightly.

  The two of them didn't say a word, as if they had an unspoken understanding. After entering the house, the maid helped Da Nai take off her cloak, and Shiyi Niang sat down with her on the large kang by the window in the western wing. Tea was served, and Shiyi Niang dismissed the servants who were waiting on them. Before she could even open her mouth, Da Nai's eyes reddened: "It's all because of Shiye Ye, he caused the child to be miscarried... And to make matters worse, Shi Niang refused to say anything. I wanted to take charge for her, but there was no way to do it."

  Although she had guessed some of it, when the news was confirmed, Xiāng Niáng's heart felt a bitter sorrow that couldn't be expressed.

  "I thought it was strange at the time. This is the first child, and tenth uncle didn't say a word." The big lady's face turned red with anger, "I go to see her every day. If Silver Bottle hadn't leaked some news to me, I wouldn't have known until now." As she spoke, her face sank, "Your older brother doesn't like taking in maidservants, so I let Golden Lotus and Silver Bottle follow tenth sister when she got married, also thinking of finding them a good marriage. It was a done deal. But tenth uncle is really something, didn't even give a greeting, on the third day after the wedding he already slept with the two maidservants... What kind of looks does our tenth sister have? Isn't she good enough for him? He's basically slapping the face of the Luo family..."

  Da Nai spoke with righteous indignation, Shi Yiniang just listened quietly, occasionally refilling her cup of tea.

  It wasn't easy, but Da Nai finally calmed down. "Who else knows about this?" she asked. She heard her own voice, calm and rational. "Since she doesn't want to say anything, she must still be considering the Wang family's reputation. We can't just insert ourselves into a woman's affairs, once we start, it'll be hard to stop. We should find someone to remind her instead. If possible, let's avoid him and not provoke his anger."

  "Of course I know," said Da Nai, nodding her head. "But as for Shige, do you know why he beat up Shi Niang?" Her eyes flashed with indignation as she spoke. "He had his eye on Shi Niang's attendant's wife, and when Shi Niang refused to agree, he gave her a good beating... The child was born prematurely, and without even looking at Shi Niang, he turned around and left for Cui Hua Alley. What a scoundrel!"

  Eleventh daughter was silent.

  She didn't know what else to say.

  Dai Nai hurriedly grasped Shiyi Niang's hand: "Is Master Hou treating you well?"

  The eleventh girl nodded: "Hou Ye is very good!"

  This is true.

  Xu Lingyi has great respect for her, which is already the foundation of everything.

  But Da Nai saw Shi Yi Niang's expression was very serious and let out a sigh of relief.

  Is she worried about herself and Wu Niang?

  The eleventh girl was deep in thought.

  But things didn't go as planned. Yesterday, Chang Jiuhu came to her for a loan of silver. The snow was too heavy and the house in Tianzhuang had collapsed. He wore a black cotton-padded jacket with a greasy face, shivering at the door: "Just lend me two taels of silver, I'll temporarily set up a thatched hut to get through this winter."

  Since even the house has collapsed, what's worth stealing. Eleventh girl let him take his wife and children back to Jin Yu Xiang to live: "...... wait for the snow to stop before saying anything. Don't freeze people to death."

  Chang Jiuhu was extremely grateful, his eyes were moist, and he thanked him again and again.

  His arrival reminded Shiyi Niang, who let Hupo go to deliver a message to the Wan Yizong family, asking them to also move to Jin Yu Xiang. She also had Hupo bring ten taels of silver to the Liu Yuanrui household, telling her to arrange for their meals.

  Now that Dà Nǎi has said so, Shíyī Niáng thought of Wǔ Niáng's newly opened business: “...with such a big snowfall, the business will likely be affected.”

  "Who says it isn't." Da Nai let out a long sigh. "It's been open for several days, and the daily business is only worth a few coins."

  It will take some time to get better gradually.

  Dà nǎi nodded, and the two of them chatted for a bit. Seeing that it was getting late, they stood up to bid each other farewell.

  Eleventh Sister saw her off at the door and repeatedly reminded her, "Have someone go to Tenth Sister's place and tell her. Her temper is stubborn, lest she suffer a loss before her eyes."

  "Don't worry, I'll quietly tell her. We can't do anything about it if we encounter such people. I see that Old Lady Wang is quite fond of Shier. Hopefully, she will take pity on Shier because of her sensible nature. After all, if this matter gets out, the reputation of the Wang family will be ruined."

  After all, this is not in her world, and can only be handled according to the rules of this world.

  But the eleventh girl couldn't help but say: "If it doesn't work out, can we catch someone in the act and then have big brother step in to let tenth girl move into her own dowry house..."

  "It's out of the question. That would completely sever ties with the Wang family. Who knows, they might even come up with some excuse to say that Shining is guilty of treason and ruin her reputation. This kind of thing can be thought about, but absolutely must not be spoken of carelessly."

  The eleventh girl could only remain silent.

  In the evening, Xu Lingyi returned and saw Shiyi Nang doing needlework with her head down. He smiled and said, "Why didn't you go to your mother's place to play cards?"

  The eleventh girl hurriedly went forward to help Xu Lingyi take off her cloak: "Sister-in-law has arrived today."

  "What's wrong?"

  "Went to see tenth sister, came over and sat down at my place."

  As it was a woman's affair, Xu Lingyi found it inconvenient to intervene and sat down on the large kang by the window in the west wing room, saying: "Many shops on East Main Street and West Main Street have closed their doors, and Zichun's place will likely be affected as well."

  "Eldest sister-in-law also said so." Eleventh daughter served Xu Lingyi to sit on the large kang by the window in the west wing, took over the hot tea handed over by the servant girl and gave it to him. "It's said that there are only a few dozen coppers of business every day." She also said, "When fifth sister mentioned it at first, I thought this idea was good. Now it's just that we've encountered a bad harvest year, and it's not that we've taken the wrong path, but rather we'll just have to hold on for a few more days."

  Xu Lingyi listened and the tea was already in his hand, smiling: "According to what you said, whether business is good or bad doesn't matter, the key is whether the path has been taken correctly."

  "That's natural." Shí yī niáng smiled and said, "The road is right, but the business is not good. It's just a matter of looking at where you went wrong and correcting it in time. But if the road itself is wrong, it will only get farther and darker... wasting energy for nothing."

  Actually, what Eleven said is a matter of setting up a project. If the project is set up correctly and in line with social development, it will have great potential. Even if it doesn't develop for a while, as long as you hold on to the most difficult years, you'll be able to turn things around. But if the project is set up incorrectly, it's just a business that society is eliminating, and the longer you hold on, the more losses you'll incur, with no chance of turning things around... Take Five's dried fruit shop as an example. It's a part of daily life for people in Yanjing, something every household needs when celebrating holidays. As long as she can open up the market, business will definitely pick up. On the other hand, if Five were to go into the flower business, I would be opposed to it. Because now, farmers on the outskirts of Yanjing have built greenhouses specifically for supplying fresh flowers to wealthy households year-round, occupying the most profitable market. If Five wants to take over this business, she'll definitely face great difficulties.

  After all, the two of them have to live together for a lifetime. The eleventh girl wanted to communicate well with Xu Lingyi, but this does not mean that she will pour out her thoughts in front of him and be treated as a monster, only slowly seeping in like gentle breeze and fine rain.

  So when Eleventh Sister saw Xu Lingyi reveal a contemplative expression after listening to her words, she immediately smiled and changed the subject: "How's the situation outside?"