Chapter 034
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Pill Bug
Edited by Gumihou
The wooden box was about half a foot long and lined with brightly coloured satin. Nestled on the satin was a wooden hairpin and a matching pair of earrings.
The hairpin was made of old peach wood. The body of the pin was dark brown with the head carved in the shape of a blooming hibiscus. The [1a] centre of the flower was lined with silver and, giving it texture and where the stamen should be was a rose quartz [1] about the size of half a fingernail.
The quality of the rose quartz was quite excellent. Though tiny, the stone was smooth and clear, [1a] settling perfectly within its silver centre. When placed against jet black hair, the blooming hibiscus flower would stand out very well.
Whether it was colour matching or craftsmanship, it could be regarded as a top-quality wooden hairpin.
The pair of earrings was made of the same material as the hairpin, crafted in the shape of teardrops. They looked simple yet charming, sure to be adored by any young woman.
Zhao’er was also a young woman who loved beautiful things, but due to always being too busy and too poor, she never bought herself such items. Now, with these pieces of jewellery in front of her, bought by none other than her little man, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy.
Seeing the joy in her eyes, Xue Tingxiang breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried she would scold him for recklessly wasting money.
As though prompted by his thoughts, Zhao’er asked, “How much did you pay for these? They must not have been cheap, right?”
Xue Tingxiang wanted to say a few coins or dozens of coins, but knowing that she would not believe him, he could only tell the truth.
When she heard he had spent a whole silver tael on accessories, Zhao’er felt a pang in her heart. Even so, the pain was not too noticeable. She had been making quite a lot of money from her recent business. Compared to her previous money-making attempts, in which she only made one tael after spending a few dozen coppers, she was now making a few silver taels by spending one silver tael.
Then, she wondered where the little man got his silver. It costs a lot to transcribe just one book. Had he copied more books?
She felt touched by the thought and said, “You must have used the money you made from copying books, right? Since you’ve bought it, then you’ve bought it. Later, I will give you the money for this.”
“I don’t want it!”
Zhao’er was still wondering what it was that he did not want when he asked, “Do you like it?”
She looked up and saw her little man staring at her with dark, bright eyes that were so shiny that they reminded her of a puppy’s eyes. In fact, his eyes reminded her of Heizi when the pup was first brought back from the Jiang family. Heizi had once looked at her like that and licked her hand with a little pink tongue.
Now, Heizi had grown into a big dog, and the little man had grown up too. He knew how to show his love to someone and even bought a hairpin to show his care.
Zhao’er couldn’t help but reach out and rub his head. “I like it, I really do. But since I don’t have pierced ears, I can’t wear the earrings.”
Xue Tingxiang stifled the urge to shake Zhao’er’s fingers from his head. Instead, his eyes subconsciously went to her earlobes.
Zhao’er’s earlobes were plump and blemish-free, and they looked very cute to him. There was an old saying in the countryside about people with such earlobes. They were said to be blessed with good fortune.
He felt an inexplicable urge to nibble at those ears, and something tightened in his chest. Ignoring the sensation, he focused on the hairpin and said, “Shall I put it on for you?”
“Now? With how messy my hair is?”
“I’ll put it on for you!”
What could Zhao’er do but agree at his insistence? She moved her head close to Xue Tingxiang, but seeing their awkward position, she squatted down a little so that he had better access to her hair.
Xue Tingxiang took the hairpin from the box and inserted it into her bun. He admired the way it looked in Zhao’er’s hair bun. The more he looked, the more beautiful it felt to him. He continued to stare until Zhao’er asked from her uncomfortable position, “Is it done?”
He quickly withdrew his hand and coughed to cover his embarrassment. “It’s done.”
“Does it look nice?” Zhao’er stood up, twisting her head about awkwardly as she tried to guess what she looked like with it on. This was her first time wearing such a girlish hairpin. Before this, the most she did was tie up her hair with a bit of decent-looking cloth.
Moreover, although the hairpin did not weigh much, she felt as though there was a sudden heaviness on her head.
“You don’t think it looks strange on me?”
Xue Tingxiang shook his head. “It looks very nice.”
“Does it?” In the end, she still could not resist hunting out the only mirror in the house to take a look.
The little mirror was very old and cracked, with scratch marks all over the surface. Moreover, due to its poor craftsmanship, the reflection was not very clear. The lack of light also made it difficult for Zhao’er to look at her own reflection. In the end, she set the mirror down in frustration and said, “I’m going to cook now. You rest in here for a while.”
She casually placed the box on the kang table, took a piece of meat from the basket she had tucked under the square table, and went out.
Eventually, Xue Tingxiang could hear Zhao’er speaking with Zhou’shi from the courtyard. In an attempt to study, he took out a book and started browsing through it. However, though he had the page of densely packed characters in front of him, the images of Zhao’er’s fair neck and those adorable earlobes kept floating inexplicably to his mind.
For dinner, Zhao’er made stir-fried pork, yellow croaker stewed with tofu, a stir-fried bok choy dish with sliced mountain yams and a large pot of rice. The rice was pure white rice, not produced in Xia County. In other words, Zhao’er had especially spent some silver to buy this special rice. There were only 5 catties of it, but it was still expensive rice.
As for the side dishes, she cooked a lot more stir-fried pork than was enough for two people and ladled most of it out into larger bowls. Then, she scooped some into two smaller bowls, these were meant for the second branch couple.
At that moment, there was a commotion in the courtyard. The main branch’s father and son duo had returned.
“Zhou’shi, go and get the dinner done. Quickly now.”
Zhou’shi had already prepared the ingredients, and the rice was already cooked. All she had to do was quickly stir-fry the side dishes once the main family’s father and son duo returned. Since Zhao’er had finished using the stove, she let Zhou’shi take over.
It took Zhao’er two trips to bring all the food back to the room. She had Xue Tingxiang start eating without her while she went to the kitchen to take the remaining bowls of meat and vegetable dishes to the main family room.
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In the main family room, Old Zhao had already pulled Xue Juncai aside to ask him all sorts of questions.
Zhao’er walked in, addressing Old Man Xue, who was seated on the kang and beaming at his favourite grandson, “Grandfather, I made some dishes. These are for you and Grandmother. Consider it a token of filial piety from Gouzi and me.”
“Very thoughtful, come join us for dinner.”
Zhao’er shook her head with a smile, “No need, I have already set aside our portion. Gouzi came back quite hungry, and while I did plan to wait until Juncai was back to eat, who knew that he would be back so late? In the end, I prepared Gouzi’s dinner a little earlier. Many thanks to Grandfather for the invitation, but since Gouzi is already eating now, I shall eat with him instead.”
Old Man Xue did not say anything more, and Zhao’er turned around and walked out.
Back at the second branch’s room, Xue Tingxiang was still waiting at the kang table, where four bowls of side dishes were neatly arranged along with a serving of rice for each of them. He had not touched his chopsticks.
Zhao’er took off her shoes and got on the kang, asking, “Why aren’t you eating yet?”
“I was waiting for you.”
“Why wait, ah? Eat quickly now.”
As the two of them ate, Zhao’er asked him about his time at the academy, whether he ate well, slept well, whether anyone bullied him and if the teachers were strict, as well as other trivial matters.
Xue Tingxiang answered everything one by one.
He glanced at her, hesitating for a moment before venturing to ask, “Are you still doing business with Jiang Wu? Are you still selling that bundle of clothes?”
Zhao’er picked up some choicer morsels of food with her chopsticks and moved them into his bowl, saying, “It had all been sold out long ago. In fact, I bought two more bundles of clothes. You may not know it, but those clothes sell really well. The profit is good too.”
Of course, Xue Tingxiang knew. Given Zhao’er’s character, unless her little money-making ventures were doing well, she would not have spent so much money on this single meal. It was not like Zhao’er was a stingy person, but she had always spent money with an eye towards the future and would only splurge on luxuries when she had extra money in hand.
“After this batch is done, don’t do it anymore,” he said with fake casualness.
“Why?”
Why? He definitely could not say that he was jealous of Jiang Wu.
“You are a woman. If you always go out and about, you would easily become a topic of people’s gossip.”
Zhao’er set her bowl down and said, “Who said anything about people gossiping? Don’t tell me you’re actually taking grandmother’s words seriously? Don’t you know what she is like? Since she doesn’t like us, she would find fault no matter what.”
Xue Tingxiang muttered, “It’s not like I heard anyone say it. Our family doesn’t lack money, so why work so hard outside?”
“I don’t find it hard at all. Also, we are very short of money. You just don’t realise it. Do you think that schooling is only about tuition fees? What about money for books? Where would you find the money for brushes, ink, paper and inkstones? In the future, when you go for exams, you will need travel expenses and money for inns. Don’t you remember the last time Uncle went for his examinations? It cost the family at least 20 silver taels. There’s also that vacant lot. I want to build a house there. This room won’t be enough for us in the future. Not to mention, with those people going in and out all day, it’s inconvenient for us to do anything under their watchful eyes…”
“I can earn all that. A woman like you shouldn’t run around all over the place and work hard!” Xue Tingxiang’s voice was a bit loud out of frustration.
“You can earn it? How? By copying books?” Zhao’er looked at him seriously. “Now that we are talking about it, I don’t want you to copy books anymore. You should be studying hard at the academy. I may not know much, but I do know that you should not mess up the cart and the horse.”
“It’s called putting the cart before the horse.”
“Right, you shouldn’t put the cart before the horse. You need to focus on the important things. You’re going to the academy to study, not copy books for money.”
“Copying books won’t affect my studies.”
“Anyway, there is no need for you to worry about household matters. Don’t bother thinking about money either. Just study your books well.”
Xue Tingxiang sighed and looked at her, “Zhao’er, do you really like money that much? Money can be earned slowly; you don’t need to strain yourself so much.”
Zhao’er was taken aback, and after a while, she lowered her eyes and said, “I do like money.” She liked it very much. Veeeeeery much indeed.
The two of them did not speak anymore. Zhao’er’s stubborn expression showed that she had no intention of budging on this matter at all. Even though Xue Tingxiang had a thousand more words to say about the matter, he dared not talk about it either.
After dinner, Zhao’er tidied up the kang table and took the bowls outside to wash.
Xue Tingxiang wanted to help her, but she refused to allow him to do so.
The main room sounded noisy and lively. It sounded like they were already done with dinner. In contrast, the courtyard appeared quiet.
Zhao’er filled a basin with water and tossed the bowls in. She stared blankly for a while before moving to wash them.
She did like money; she had liked it since she was a child.
When the second branch couple passed away, no one knew what Zhao’er had gone through. The warmth they brought her was too brief. Warmth and joy. They were all clearly in front of her, but in an instant, they vanished. She didn’t even have time to grieve before she had to start fighting for what should have been hers by right.
From arranging the funeral to erecting the tombstone, the Zhao’er back then was like an untouchable mad beast, tearing at anyone who provoked her. Once everything was over, she finally came to her senses, only to discover that the main branch couple turned out to be the duplicitous sort.
It was only then that she regained her instincts and remembered that her greatest wish had always been to have lots and lots of money. Many problems could actually be solved with money, but the simple lack of money gave birth to all sorts of tragedies.
For example, there was her sister being sold into slavery, then herself being sold into this family, the problems that came with the death of the second branch couple, not to mention all the various conflicts within the Xue family.
Lacking money?
In fact, she no longer ‘lacked money’ after a few of those business deals. In 10 short days, even after deducting Jiang Wu’s share, Zhao’er had made more than 10 silver taels.
This alone was enough to cover the second branch’s expenses for a year, even taking her little man’s schooling into consideration. Come the autumn harvest, the family would have even more money. However, Zhao’er still felt that it was not enough.
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In the main room, a family was having dinner at the table.
On this day, Old Zhao had specially gone out to buy meat and had even slaughtered a chicken. The food was not bad, but it was still not as popular as the single bowl of dish that Zhao’er had brought to the table.
Zhao’er was good at cooking. Moreover, she was willing to use ingredients as necessary just to make things taste good. The stir-fried meat was smooth and shiny with oil, the black wood ear and white of the bok choy stems, along with plenty of small red peppers, made the dish look especially fragrant, spicy and appetising. As soon as the call to eat was given, whether intentionally or unintentionally, all chopsticks stretched towards that bowl, and soon enough, the entire heaping bowl of stir-fried meat was gone.
Yang’shi extended her chopsticks for the final piece of wood ear but was beaten by Xue Qinghuai. Her hand twitched and, feeling a little disgruntled, muttered, “Surely there’s no need for that Zhao’er to be so stingy. After making such a good thing, she hid most of it away, knowing well that there would be so many of us at the table. How could a single bowl like this be enough?”
When Zhao’er brought the bowl of food to the table earlier, Xue Juncai happened to be there. He said in a low voice, “Mother, if you want to eat, just eat. What are you trying to say?”
Yang’shi was quick to understand that she had somehow offended her son, and she hurriedly said, “Mother was just saying it casually. Speaking of which, Mother, what has that Zhao’er been up to lately? How is it that I have not seen her at all lately?”
As soon as this was mentioned, Old Zhao began to grumble, “Who knows what she’s up to every day? She is gone from morning until evening and only comes back when it’s almost dark.”
The more she talked about it, the angrier Old Zhao got. She turned to Old Man Xue, “Ever since the family split, I can no longer command any respect from any of them. When I spoke to her just now, she actually talked back to me. Whose daughter is like her anyway? Never home, constantly running out and about with a man? Just what are the intentions of that Jiang Wu from the Jiang family? Don’t tell me he has his eye on Zhao’er?”
Old Man Xue scolded, “What nonsense are you rambling about?! I heard from the Old Fourth that Zhao’er was doing some kind of business with Jiang Wu.”
Old Fourth, otherwise known as Xue Qinghuai, quickly nodded.
He had accidentally found out about the matter the last time he did some hawking when no one came up to buy his wares even after shouting for customers for half a day. Later, he found out that everyone had gone to the wheat field.
Curious, and having nothing better to do, he went to the wheat field to investigate and found a veritable sea of people there. It was almost as if the entire village had gathered there. The men were squatted at the edges of the field, smoking and chatting while the children played nearby. As for the women, well, all of them were huddled around a pile, digging for who knew what.
Soon, a woman’s head popped up and she shouted, “Husband, bring that thing over!”
One of the men, presumably her husband, hurried up with a basket on his back. The other men laughed at him, “Well, well, who knows how much money is being squandered this time, eh? I see that you’re prepared to buy a lot.”
The man chuckled, “The mother of my children isn’t one to waste money. She is usually very frugal. Young Brother Zhao’s wares are just too good this time. This one-time purchase means our family can save a lot in the coming years.” With that, the man hurried over to his wife with his basket.
How strange. Just now, the women were frantically scrabbling through the pile as though digging for silver. However, when the man reached the group and handed his basket over, everyone stopped their frantic digging and passed the basket along cooperatively until it reached the wife.
Xue Qinghuai was even more curious. Just what were these women grabbing? He soon found out.
It was clothes. Zhao’er was selling clothes with Jiang Wu.
However, Xue Qinghuai did not mention any of what he had seen at the table. All he said was that he saw Zhao’er and Jiang Wu doing business together.
“Not to mention, Zhao’er is Gouzi’s wife. Once Gouzi is of age at fifteen, they will consummate their marriage and live together. Who in this village does not know that Jiang Hai was a close friend of Old Second, or that Jiang Wu grew up with Zhao’er? How could Zhao’er do business alone as a young woman? Naturally, it is more reassuring to have Jiang Wu with her. Do not let your thoughts wander down crooked paths.”
Old Zhao snorted, but did not say anything.
“As for Eldest’s Wife, Zhao’er is not one to skimp on anything. After making a large bowl of stir-fried meat, she did not eat any herself and sent one large bowl of food to your mother and me. It takes a lot of meat to fill up such a large bowl. The fault is on our side, with too many of us eating. If one day you were to show filial piety to us this way, your mother and I could shut our eyes and lie down happily in our coffins.”
Old Man Xue’s eloquence was partly due to the few celebratory drinks he had already downed. His old leathery face alternated between red and black, but his joy was clear. The issue of the family separating had been plaguing his mind, and he was worried that his sons would become estranged because of it. It just so happened that he was able to use this opportunity to criticise the main branch and make his stance known.
Yang’shi had intended to stir up a little trouble for the second branch but ended up getting reprimanded by her father-in-law. In the end, she dared not make another peep.
Xue Qingshan was quick to step forward and smooth things over, “Do not worry, Father. Should anyone dare to be unfilial towards yourself and Mother, I shall be the first to deal with them.”
“That is good.”
Old Man Xue gave him a glance before picking up his wine cup and sipping from it. For now, the matter was considered settled.
[Gumihou: Well, well, well, someone just had to complain, yeah?]
[1] 芙蓉石 Rose quartz, AKA “Hibiscus Stone” in direct translation. [1a] ‘The head of the pin was shaped like a hibiscus flower, the base was wrapped in silver’
Gumi has problems with this line. The ‘base’ of what? The stick that sticks into the hair? The underside of the flower? What? It can’t be the stick, because the entire purpose of a wooden hairpin is to show the beautiful dark wood, especially if it’s ‘old wood’. The base of the flower? Like, the sepal? As in, the green part of the flower? Or, is this a multi-petal hibiscus with the bottom petals in silver? Or, more likely, since there’s a stone embedded into the middle of the flower, the silver was used to attach the stone to the flower, and the silver inside was there to be shiny. Although, considering how easily silver corrodes, don’t know how they’re supposed to take care of that!
Overall, it made more sense for the actual flower to be made of silver with a stone in the middle, especially if the body of the pin was dark brown. It would certainly stand out more against black hair, especially since there’s no mention of any tassel or dangling bits.
Hibiscus hairpin made entirely from silver (or silver-like product)
https://detail.1688.com/offer/547465016171.html
Entirely wooden hairpins – intricate, but doesn’t stand out
http://www.dashangu.com/postimg_1527725.html
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