Chang was getting married, and she was asked to come and help. Madam Pengcheng was so happy that she didn't pay attention to Yuan's expression. She turned around and saw Yuan, and she greeted her with a loud smile: "Oh! Madam Yuan is here! Didn't you say you were sick? Are you feeling better? These days I have been busy helping the Chang family prepare for Aunt Chang's wedding, and I haven't had time to visit you. I wanted to wait until these few days were over before talking to you, but I didn't expect to meet you here. You look good, you should be feeling better now, right?"
In the past, Cheng Shao had lived in Xinglin Hutong with Yuan and others. Later, Cheng Shao moved here after he had a grandson. At that time, it was Yuan who came to help tidy up the house.
The courtyard used as the new house at this time was not the upper house in Shuangyu Hutong, but the cross courtyard to the east of the upper house.
There are three main rooms of moderate size, three side rooms on the east side, and two setbacks at the back. Behind the east side rooms is a row of old locust trees, and in the west corner is a rockery made of two Taihu stones, with a banana tree and two clumps of green bamboo planted on it. In the middle of the yard, under the grape trellis, next to the stone table and stone chairs, is a large fish tank with a few orchids painted on it. The floor-to-ceiling columns and window frames have been repainted and covered with snow-white Gaoming paper. The whole yard looks full of vitality, fresh and pleasant.
Yuan Shi felt inexplicably unhappy when she saw this, and felt that most men in the world were still unfeeling. Back then, the second aunt and Cheng Shao were in perfect harmony, but after only a few years, Cheng Shao was getting married, and he even renovated the house and happily became a groom.
She couldn't help but sigh in her heart and asked Mrs. Pengcheng, "Why are you here?"
Logically speaking, Lady Pengcheng, a widowed old lady, should not be in the new house. Wouldn't this ruin Cheng Shao's marriage
Madam Pengcheng chuckled and said, "I just came to take a look. He didn't go into the house. He didn't go into the house."
Although Chang did not worship her as her godmother, her younger brother did, so she was considered a relative of Chang. The Chang family's full-time host invited her niece from her mother's side, and when they went to see the new house, she took the opportunity to follow them.
Yuan sneered in her heart, and did not point out Mrs. Pengcheng's impoliteness. She just said, "I wonder what kind of dowry the new aunt has prepared?"
Lady Pengcheng seemed to want to say something but stopped herself.
Aunt Chang was on duty in the palace, and she had to pay her monthly allowance to favor guests, so how could she have money? When the uncle of the Chang family came, he brought 800 taels of silver, which was already all the family's savings. She privately gave 5,000 taels of silver to Chang as a dowry, but Chang returned it, including the 800 taels of silver from the uncle of the Chang family, and even gave 200 taels of silver to the uncle of the Chang family. The implication was that Mrs. Guo took 5,000 taels of her own money to help her buy a dowry and give her face.
No matter what, since it is Mrs. Guo’s personal property, both the son and the daughter-in-law have a share, so it is better for her not to mention this matter.
Mrs. Pengcheng thought of this and suddenly lost interest in chatting with Yuan. She said, "Have you met your mother-in-law? I've also seen the new house. I'll have something to say to Chang when I get back. I won't delay them here. I'll go sit with your mother-in-law and talk about family matters with her."
Yuan had never thought that Mrs. Guo was here at this time.
They were all so angry at Zhou Shaojin and Min that they were confused.
She muttered to herself and said hurriedly, "I was originally going to greet my mother-in-law, but when I saw you here, I came to greet you first - I will go to my mother-in-law with you."
Seeing that she was no longer paying attention to what she was doing in the East Courtyard, Lady Pengcheng was happy and at ease and didn't say anything anymore. The two of them smiled and went to the small courtyard at the back.
The weather was getting warmer, and Yun'er was only two or three days away from turning one year old, but he was suddenly able to walk a few steps without letting go of anyone's hand.
The whole family gathered around him, coaxing him to walk.
He also likes to move around a lot. He moves his hands and feet here and there all day long. When he gets tired of walking, he crawls. When he gets tired of crawling, he walks with the help of something. I don't know how many times he changes his clothes in a day.
Sometimes Fan Liushi would inevitably say to the maid in Yunger's room: "Don't let the master run around and play on the floor."
Mrs. Guo laughed and said, "After all, you are taking care of a young lady. You can't raise a girl and a boy in the same way. Girls are precious and should be treated like a treasure wherever they go. This boy was born to support the family. When he was young, you controlled him and didn't let him move. When he grows up, how dare he walk outside? Just let him crawl. It's just a matter of giving him a few more baths and making a few more clothes. If you make too many clothes for this little boy, can't you keep them for his brother to wear?" After saying that, she instructed the servants around Yun Ge'er, "If he wants to pick flowers, let him pick them. If he wants to play with snowballs, let him play, but you have to keep a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't fall or bite. You can't control the boy."
Now that she has spoken, who dares to say anything
It’s just that the maid in Yunger’s room has to work hard, and she doesn’t know how many clothes she has to wash every day.
Zhou Shaojin sympathized with their difficult lives. In addition to the 500 coins he secretly subsidized every month from her for Yunger's service in the room, he also gave two of his own maids to Yunger to use, to wash his clothes.
For this matter, Old Lady Guo even praised Zhou Shaojin in front of Cheng Chi: "… You are reopening the mansion. Your descendants will follow your rules in the future, and these rules must not be violated. Shaojin can pay for Yun'er's expenses from her own side. Just based on this, she has the posture of a mistress of the family. I think in two years, Shaojin will be able to support this family."
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "Mom, she is where she is today because of your good teaching. As for the household chores, you should take on more responsibilities in the next few years. We are also planning to give Yun Ge'er some brothers and sisters!"
Mrs. Guo loved to hear this. She couldn't help but smile and said repeatedly, "That's good, that's good! As long as you can have more children, I will definitely help you manage this family."
Zhou Shaojin was so embarrassed that his face turned red and he couldn't utter a word for a long time.
Mrs. Guo thought that if this happened, Yun'er would probably follow her most of the time. She thought Yun'er was the eldest son, so she cared more about him. When Cheng Shao got married, she took Yun'er to live in Shuangyu Hutong, also wanting to see if Yun'er was afraid of strangers. She spread lichen in the hall for him to roll around on.
When Yunger was tired of playing, he lay on his back on the lichen, playing with his little feet, and mumbling something in his mouth.
Mrs. Guo looked at her and laughed.
Yuan and Lady Pengcheng lifted the curtain and came in.
Mrs. Pengcheng immediately exclaimed "Oh!" and said enthusiastically: "Isn't this our Yun'er? Why is he lying on the ground alone? Did your grandmother offend you? Get up quickly, get up quickly!" As she said that, she was about to pull Yun'er.
Yun'er's wet nurse didn't dare to stop Madam Pengcheng and looked at Madam Guo.
Madam Guo waved her hand disapprovingly and said, "Don't worry about him. He likes to play like this." Then she said, "When did you come? Why didn't you ask the maid to inform you so that I could go and greet you?"
Mrs. Pengcheng didn't dare to say that she had glanced at the new house in the yard. She smiled and said, "I happened to meet your eldest daughter-in-law, so we came here together." As she spoke, she hugged Yun'er, but Yun'er was unexpectedly heavy. She almost couldn't hold him up. She tried hard again and finally held Yun'er, who didn't look very fat but was very strong, in her arms. She smiled and said, "How are the preparations for our Yun'er's first birthday gift going?"
Mrs. Guo smiled and said, "Everything is ready. We are just waiting for the guests to come. It is our Yun'er who is lucky. When the old men from the Yuan family in Tongxiang and the Li family in Lujiang heard that my second uncle had remarried, they thought it was okay and they were old, so they all came to the wedding after receiving the invitation. Yun'er's first birthday ceremony happened to be just a few days away from my second uncle's, and the old men all said that they would go to see Yun'er's first birthday ceremony!"
"Our Yun'er is so lucky!" Madam Pengcheng knew that these old masters were all well-known scholars from all over the country. It was rare for them to get together. She gave Madam Guo some advice, "We must ask the old masters to leave a piece of calligraphy for our Yun'er, so that it can be passed down from generation to generation."
The Cheng family has never lacked such things.
Mrs. Guo laughed.
However, Yun'er kept falling down in Lady Pengcheng's arms.
Mrs. Pengcheng had no choice but to hand Yun'er over to his nurse: "This child is really heavy. How can you hold him?"
Yun'er's nurse hurriedly said, "I'm very strong!"
After hearing this, Mrs. Guo laughed again, invited Mrs. Pengcheng to take a seat, and asked about the situation at Chang's side.
Yuan was listening nearby, but her eyes seemed to be glued to it. She finally managed to move her eyes away from Yun'er's face, but after a while she couldn't help but look over again.
She had never looked at this Yun Ge'er seriously before.
Only now do I realize that the child is good-looking.
He inherited the black hair from Zhou Shaojin, but the handsome facial features from Cheng Chi. He was chubby, not as chubby as other children, but had strong hands and feet, and moved nimbly and agilely, which made people's hearts soften just by looking at him.
How nice it would be if this was my own grandson!
The thought flashed through her mind, and Yuan's brows were tightly furrowed.
If Min could give her a grandson, that child would be of the blood of both the Cheng and Min families, and would definitely be a promising scholar, better than Yun'er.
It's a pity that this Min is incompetent and is unwilling to bow her head. Otherwise, why would she still not have a grandson today
Then she remembered that Cheng Xu was sent away.
I felt even more uncomfortable.
If Min doesn't make any move within five years, don't blame her for being rude and let Min arrange someone for Cheng Xu's house to expand the Cheng family.
Yuan thought about it and finally felt better. She took the initiative to talk to Madam Guo and Madam Pengcheng about Yun'er's Grasping the One-Year-Old Ceremony: "... Want to borrow the seal of his uncle? Great! I'll tell his uncle when I get back. He will definitely be happy."
"It doesn't matter if you want his uncle's official seal. You can use a fish symbol instead." Old Madam Guo said, "It's just for fun."
"You can't say that." Madam Pengcheng disagreed, saying, "His uncle's official seal is of the first rank, what a good omen! Don't listen to your mother-in-law, listen to me, it won't go wrong. You can take it directly to Chaoyang Gate tomorrow."
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Hey guys, today's update.
O(∩_∩)O~
PS: I would like to recommend a book to you.
Title: The Family's Heir Plan
Author: Don't sweep the snow
Summary: Fifteen years ago, the mother and son of the Ye family died unexpectedly, and the eldest daughter was frightened and became insane. Fifteen years later, Ye Nianchen, who had been receiving treatment outside, suddenly recovered and returned to Beijing.
After careful planning, the truth that had been buried for many years finally surfaced. All Ye Nianchen had to do was to live well and watch the retribution that was fifteen years late unfold magnificently!
※(To be continued)