Chapter 159: Chapter 144, Delusional _1
The next morning, Yan Zhiyuan woke up with a bit of a headache.
“Did I say something I shouldn’t have said yesterday?”
Mrs. Sun glanced at him: “Remembering now, are you? You put on quite the display yesterday, slamming the table in front of mother, elder brother, and sister-in-law. That would have been enough, but you also loudly called Daohua an ill-mannered wild girl.”
“Just think about it, those words of yours, weren’t they criticizing mother, elder brother, and sister-in-law all together?”
Yan Yile, who was sitting nearby waiting for breakfast, joined in: “Mother, I think father was right. Eldest sister was yelling at father; that is a lack of manners.”
“Shut your mouth. When adults are speaking, children should not chime in.” Mrs. Sun glared at her younger daughter. Yesterday, elder brother and sister-in-law were indeed quite upset.
Their son Wenjie was not yet grown, and their family was still relying on elder brother for support. They couldn’t afford to let small grievances create a rift with the main branch of the family.
Yan Zhiyuan furrowed his brows, as his thoughts were even clearer and more far-seeing than Mrs. Sun’s. He spoke immediately, “Elder brother probably hasn’t gone to the Governor’s Office yet, I’ll go and apologize right now.”
Seeing her father leave in a rush without even eating breakfast, Yan Yile pouted, feeling unconvinced: “Mother, why do we have to tiptoe around Uncle all the time? Yesterday, it was clear Eldest sister was disrespectful to father.”
Mrs. Sun fell silent for a moment, looked at her unconvinced younger daughter, and her older daughter who seemed lost in thought. After pondering for a bit she spoke.
“It’s simple because your Uncle is an official, your father is a commoner. Our branch of the family must always concede to the main branch.”
“As for your eldest sister… even Uncle dares not challenge her, let alone fearing your father.”
Yan Yile curled her lip: “Mother, I know, Eldest sister dares to do this only because she is close to Little Prince. Uncle needs Little Prince’s favor to get promoted, that’s why he tolerates Eldest sister so much.”
“But mother, it’s different now. In the past, Little Prince only played with Eldest sister, but now he is willing to play with me and second sister, too. We’re not without backing anymore.”
Mrs. Sun looked at her younger daughter with surprise, not expecting such thoughts from her at such a young age. She smiled and nodded her head: “Little Prince only played with you once, who knows what will happen next time?”
Yan Yile tilted her head up confidently: “Little Prince will definitely play with us again. You don’t know, yesterday he talked a lot with us and was smiling the whole time.”
“Once we get to know Little Prince a bit better, I’ll ask him to help father get an official position too. Considering how powerful Little Prince is, that should be an easy task.”
Hearing these words, Mrs. Sun was outright shocked, but in her eyes flickered hope.
Over the years, she too had made acquaintances with many official’s families and heard about purchasing positions. However, buying an official position required significant backing.
Little Prince… he might indeed be able to help their family.
On the side, Yan Yihuan couldn’t help but speak up: “Fourth sister, you’re indulging in fanciful thoughts. Little Prince chatted with us because you brought Eldest sister’s flowers to him.”
She had seen everything very clearly from the sidelines.
Furthermore, the topics they discussed with Little Prince afterward were all centered around Eldest sister.
“Also, matters like buying an official position are not for us to consider.”
Yan Yile disagreed: “The flower was just an icebreaker. Afterward, Little Prince was willing to talk to us because we made the conversation interesting and kept him amused, right?”
“As for buying an official position, if Eldest sister could get Little Prince to allocate Academy places for elder brother, then securing an official post for father isn’t such a big deal.”
Yan Yihuan wanted to argue more, but Mrs. Sun interjected.
“Enough, stop arguing. Anyway, you two must remember one thing, you must get along well with Little Prince in the future and not offend him like your Eldest sister did.”
“Mother, rest assured, we won’t be foolish like Eldest sister!”
Main courtyard.
Seeing Yan Zhiyuan come to apologize so early in the morning, Yan Zhigao couldn’t keep faulting him.
Madam Li, though still fuming inside, refrained from pursuing the matter further out of respect for the old lady and her own husband.
So, with everyone’s tacit understanding, the incident that occurred on the Laba Festival was let go.
…
Two days later, Zhou Jingwan sent a box of silk flowers to Daohua.
“They’re so exquisitely made!”
Daohua happily looked at the silk flowers in the box, and immediately chose a plum blossom for Wang Manman to place in her hair, then turned to Zhou Jingwan: “Does it look nice?”
“It looks great, you look good in anything!”
Zhou Jingwan saw that Daohua liked the gift she had given and felt especially happy, “Let me tell you, this is the most fashionable silk flower in Beijing. My second uncle specially brought it back for me, saying it’s nice to have for going out during the New Year.”
Daohua was surprised, “Your second uncle has come back?”
Zhou Jingwan shook her head, “He’s busy, how could he come back at this time? It was the servants from his residence who sent the New Year gifts, and they brought this along for me.”
Daohua: “Your second uncle sends New Year gifts really early, it’s still over twenty days until the New Year.”
Zhou Jingwan shook her head, “Not early at all. Ever since my grandfather returned, it’s always my second uncle who sends the New Year gifts first, then my mother prepares the return gifts. It’s better to send them early, to ensure our return gifts can reach their destinations before the New Year.”
Daohua’s expression changed slightly, “Has your family sent out the New Year gifts yet?”
Zhou Jingwan: “Not yet, my second uncle’s just arrived yesterday, and my mother still needs to check and verify them, it won’t be so quick.”
Daohua: “Does your family send New Year gifts by waterway? Then, can our family join yours to send the New Year gifts together?”
After entering December, Madam Li began preparing the New Year gifts.
The thing she heard most about was sending New Year gifts to her fourth aunt.
The fourth aunt lived in Beijing, quite a distance away, so she needed to find a good route and then dispatch someone to deliver them.
She knew her grandmother had been missing her daughter who had married far away all these years, so she always had this matter on her mind.
Zhou Jingwan was surprised, “Does your family also have relatives and friends in Beijing?”
Daohua nodded her head, “Mhm, my aunt.”
Zhou Jingwan immediately said, “I have to go back and ask my mother first, then I will give you a reply right away.”
Daohua smiled and agreed.
That same day, not long after Zhou Jingwan returned, she sent someone to tell Daohua that her mother had agreed.
The Zhou Family sent New Year gifts using their own boats, simply taking the Yan Family’s gifts along, a mere trifle.
Once Daohua received the confirmation, she immediately went to find the old madam and Madam Li.
When Madam Li heard that the New Year gifts could be sent with the Zhou Family to Beijing, she was also very happy, “That’s great, now I don’t need to find another ship specially.”
Daohua sat next to her somewhat silent grandmother, “Grandmother, this year, as father has been promoted to Prefectural Governor, we really must prepare a good New Year gift for fourth aunt.”
Thinking of her daughter she had not seen for many years, Old Madam Yan’s eyes moistened, “Good child, it’s hard on you to still think of your fourth aunt.”
Daohua smiled, “Of course I do. I not only think of fourth aunt, but also of my male and female cousins. Ah, I haven’t sent them gifts before, Grandmother, you must help me pick carefully, so I don’t lose face in front of my cousins.”
Hearing this, Old Madam Yan’s face showed a smile, “Alright, Grandmother will help you check, and ensure that you, girl, won’t lose any face.”
Daohua: “Since we’re taking the waterway, it shouldn’t take many days to reach Beijing. The vegetables in the warm room you grew, Grandmother, are already ripe. We should also send some to fourth aunt, so that even far away in Beijing, she can taste the vegetables grown by her mother.”
Old Madam Yan’s voice choked up, nodding with reddened eyes.
Ever since her daughter married, she had never again tasted the food she made or the vegetables she grew.
Although she couldn’t personally cook a meal for her now, sending her some vegetables she had grown herself was still good.
“Also, I still have several jars of the grape wine I made, let’s send two jars to fourth aunt. Whether for her own enjoyment or to give to others, they’re respectable gifts.”
“And the sweet rice wine and the potted plants.”
“Grandmother, you’re the only one who knows what kind of flowers fourth aunt likes, so it has to be you who choose them.”
“…”
Madam Li, watching the enthusiastic discussion about New Year gifts between grandmother and granddaughter, also felt a sense of relief.
Over the years, due to the Yang Family intentionally keeping their distance, the old master’s official career had not been promoted, and they dared not mention the little aunt too much in front of the old madam.
Now things were better, this year the old master had been promoted, and the family had also earned some silver from selling watermelons, so they could prepare a substantial New Year gift for the little aunt.
Presumably, the Yang Family would not dare to slight the little aunt anymore.