Chapter 33 : New Year

When Yuxi heard Mama Fang said that she had recognized Xiao Wei as her daughter, her face changed slightly, and she no longer reminded her obscurely. Instead, she said directly, “Is this family really reliable? Or did they come for mama’s craftsmanship?” Making thirty or forty-two silver a month was nothing to the masters of the residence, but it was a very attractive income for ordinary people.

Mama Fang hurriedly shook her head, “No, they didn’t say that I should accept the child as a disciple. It was because I am very fond of the child that I came up with the idea.”

Yuxi said bluntly, “Mama, I don’t agree.” It was not because she won’t let Mama Fang recognized the child as her adopted daughter, she just didn’t believed Mama Fang’s eyes.

Mama Fang still wanted to fight for it, as she said, “Miss, Xiao Wei’s family is also very rich. They won’t cast an evil eye (phrase : convert) on my craftsmanship.” She could hardly have said that Yuxi was being very oversensitive.

Mama Fang would think like that, mainly because she felt that this craft was not a great thing and was not worth calculating.

Yuxi sighed slightly in her heart and said, “Mama, I’ll accompany you to adopt one in the Children’s Charity Institution after a while. Mama, a child raised from a young age is more reassuring than an apprentice who comes halfway. “ After a pause, she added, “In case the adopted child is heartless, I will nurse mama till the end of the family (Chinese idiom : to look after one’s aged parents and arrange proper burial after they die).”

Mama Fang was filled with aggrieved and said, “Miss, I just looked at Xiao Wei, and saw that she resembles a lot like my daughter who died young. Since Miss said she was unreliable, then just forget it.“ She had been married before, but unfortunately her marriage life was not good. The second year she got married, her husband passed away, while her daughter passed away when she was four years old.

Yuxi felt a little guilty. “Mama, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned these things.” She could have said them a bit more tactfully.

Mama Fang shook her head, “I know Miss is thinking for my own good. It’s just that the shop is very busy now, so I have no time to take care of a child for the time being. Let’s wait for two or three years before we go to Children’s Charity Institution to adopt a child.“ Although she made a lot of money by opening a shop now, she would still grow old one day. What would she do when she got old? If she adopted a child, she would be able to rely on the child when she got old, and at that time, she would not be lonely.

“Okay,” replied Yuxi.

Mama Fang almost forgot the main business of her visit, “Miss, I want to rent the shop next door to expand the storefront. How about we ask two more people to help?“ At the beginning, the baozi (steaned stuffed bun) shop only sold baozi, but now it sold baozi and matou, as well as other wheaten foods. Their taste were very good, and business hours had also changed from early morning only to one whole day. This was also the reason why profits were increasing.

Yuxi shook her head and said, “Mama, if your health break down, no amount of money can make up for it.” It was not worth it to let Mama Fang ruined her health for that little money.

After a long period of persuasion, Mama Fang finally gave up the idea of expanding the baozi shop.

The two talked until noon. Yuxi asked Mama Fang to have lunch before leaving, and sent a lot of things to her. Now, Yuxi had Qiu Shi’s affection. Although she was not rich in terms of money, but her clothes and foods were all very good.

The old woman bought by Yuxi, old woman An, heard the sound of a carriage and hurried out from inside the shop. When she lifted opened the carriage, she saw the inside was filled with a lot of things, and her face was full of joy.

All the things were moved into the house. Old woman An saw two pieces of blue clothes inside. One was raven blue and one was in the colour of lilac.

Old woman An felt some fondness for the two pieces of material and whispered, “A piece of such good material must have costed several taels of silver!” She hadn’t worn such a good material yet.

Old woman An used to be a servant of a merchant’s family. The merchant committed an offence and was send to jail. All the servants in the house were sold one by one. It happened that Yuxi asked Xiangyang’s help to buy a strong old woman, and he bought her. She had gotten along with Mama Fang for more than half a year, and now their relationship was like that of sisters.

Mama Fang smiled and said, “The two pieces of clothes were given by Miss. You can made two new clothes too.” She already had gotten two sets of new clothes, one of which was fur jacket.

Old woman An’s heart ached when she listened to this. When did her family ever used this kind of good materials? “If we can find my family, I can enjoy these with them.” She had a husband and a child. However, the family of three were sold separately, and she hadn’t seen them for half a year already. Every monthly wage she earned was spent on finding them. Unfortunately, there was no news yet.

Mama Fang also sympathized with old woman An’s experience. “Don’t worry, you will find them one day.” The capital was so big that it was not so easy to find a person. If the name was changed, it would be more difficult to find them.

Old woman An nodded and then she asked, “Sister Fang, did Miss agreed with the apprenticeship?” Xiao Wei’s mother was very enthusiastic, but she was not so polite to her. The front set of people and the back set of people, she tried several times to tear them apart but finally failed. When she saw Mama Fang wanted to teach Xiao Wei the craft of making baozi, she was really anxious and hurriedly said that it was a matter of great importance for Miss to agree to it first. Fortunately, Mama Fang had a lot of faith on their Miss and finally accepted her suggestion. Old woman An hoped their Miss was smart one and could guess that the Xiao Wei’s family had no good-intentioned.

Mama Fang shook her head and said “Miss did not agree. She said that this craft can only be passed to my own child, and can not be passed to outsiders.” The children adopted in the future would be considered as her own.

Old woman An asked in surprised, “Your own child? What does that mean?”

Mama Fang paraphrased what Yuxi had said. “I also want to raise a child, that will support me when I get old. But now I’m too busy that I don’t have time to take care of a child. So, I’ll talk about it again with Miss in two years. “

Old woman An couldn’t help exclaimed in admiration, “Miss is so kind to her mama.” Generally, some of the old women released still like to keep their faces, that they didn’t want to be rewarded with more money. Who would thought so thoroughly for Mama Fang like the Fourth Miss? Even she was touched by this sight. Of course, with such master, one’s heart would also be at ease.

Mama Fang liked to listen to others praising Yuxi. She smiled and said, “Yes, Miss is really a kind person.”

Old woman An felt in her heart that Fourth Miss was also a formidable person. She had not met her Miss, like how her Miss had also not met with Xiao Wei’s family. However, Miss knew that the family had no good-attention and had no hard time dealing with them. “Mama Fang, didn’t you promise to accept Xiao Wei as your adopted daughter before? How are you going to reply? “

Mama Fang did not felt at ease with this matter, “I’ll just say that Miss will not allow it.” Although she had been released from her contract, she still regarded Yuxi as her master.

Old woman An hastily nodded, “Sister Fang, you are right. Since Miss does not allowed it, you can’t help it either.“ With such powerful backer like their Master, there was nothing for them to be afraid of. .

Mama Fang sorted out what she had brought from the Duke of the State’s official residence, then divided the cake into several portions and sent them to the next neighbour’s house. Although she was not good at scheming, she was kind and got along well with the people around her. As for Xiao Wei’s family, she felt a bit guilty and brought gifts to their door in person.

When Xiao Wei’s family got the news, they were very angry. However, they did not dare to offend Mama Fang, so this matter was never mentioned again.

In a blinked of an eye, it was New Year. Children wanted to celebrate the New Year the most, while adults did not like it the most, because there were too many things for them to do. Qiu Shi had been busy from the beginning of the twelfth lunar month until the twenty-ninth day without rest.

Sedan Chair with 8 carriers

Image credit to 落兮 via Yzz.cn (官府任务新奖励时装及坐骑展示, April 17, 2014)

On New Year’s Eve, Old Madam Han and the Madam of Duke of the State’s official residence wore their court dresses and went to the Palace on sedan chairs with eight carriers to congratulate the Emperor. Then they went to ancestral hall to worship the ancestors.

Yuxi was a Young Miss of the official residence, so aside from attending family trees, she wasn’t required to go in at other times.

The New Year’s Eve dinner was held in the main hall. This evening, everyone from the Han Clan came. The Second Master of the residence, Han Jingjun, who had already separated from the main residenceq, also came with his family.

The Second Master, Han Jingjun, was an illegitimate son, and his biological mother was a beloved concubine of the Old Duke Han, who was also the paternal niece of Dowager Madam Han. Han Jingjun’s biological mother was relying on Dowager Madam Han and Old Duke to harras the Old Madam, and even wanted to compete with her for the position of Heir, which made the Old Madam hated her to her bone. Unfortunately, Han Jingjun’s biological mother died too early, so the Old Duke left a message when he died, saying that he would let Han Jingjun move out from the residence after the seventh day of his passing.

Although the Old Madam did not immediately retaliated against the Han Jingjun’s family, his family still returned to their hometown to keep filial piety. When he came back three years later, it was not appropriate for the Old Madam to begin her retaliation. So all these years, except when they came back to worship their ancestors on New Year’s Day, the Old Madam refused to let them go through the door of the residence. Naturally, they could not also get any help from the official residence.

Source Wes Radez via Chinese American Family (How to Give Red Envelopes at Chinese New Year, January 30th, 2019)

After dinner the family sat together and talked. Also at this time, the elders would give red envelopes to the younger generation.

Han Jingjun’s wife, Ma Shi, looked at Yuchen and said with a smile, “The older the Third Girl is, the more beautiful she is.” After that, she handed Yuchen a thick red envelope.

Yuchen looked at the Old Madam and saw her nodded before she accepted, “Thank you, Second Aunt.”

Ma Shi praised Yuchen again, then handed the red envelope to Yuxi.

Yuxi took the red envelope, neither grateful nor disgusted. She took it and said, “Thank you, Second Aunt.” The one she got was not as thick as Yuchen’s. Even when she was given a red envelope, she was been treated differently, making her unhappy.

That night, Yuxi got a lot of red envelopes.

Yuxi was a girl, so she was not needed to stay up on New Year’s Eve. When the banquet was over, she took her maid and old woman back to her courtyard. On this day, the road was full of lights, and the whole Duke Han of the State’s official residence was brightly lit, so there was no need for her to carry lanterns back.

Ruyi

Image source Amazon

Back at Rose Courtyard, Yuxi poured out all the inside of the red packets. The one given by the Old Madam was the most generous. Each of the six small bare golden ruyi worth 1 taels. This one made her earned big profit. Combined with the ones given by others, the red envelopes she received this night had more than one hundred taels of silver.

On the second day of New Year, Yuxi had to visit relatives and friends. However, she had no mother’s family, and her relatives were no longer there, so there were no relatives for her to visit. When she heard that Han Jianye wanted to take her to the Qiu Family’s Residence, she was very surprised. She asked, “Second Brother, you’re going to your maternal grandparents’s home to celebrate the New Year. Then, what am I supposed to do there?”

Han Jianye said laughingly, “Is my grandparents’s home not your grandparents’s home too? Just go, why are there so many words of arguments?”

Yuxi was not willing to go, but she was not good at directly swept her Second Cousin’s kindness, so she asked, “Second Brother, does Aunt knew about this?”

Han Jianye said with a chuckle, “I told my mother and she agreed. Just come, even if you come just as a guest, and stop giving so many words of arguments. “

Naturally, Yuxi didn’t not believed his words.

Han Jianye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Does Second Brother has no trust in your heart? If you don’t believe me, you can go ask my mother right now.”

Yuxi didn’t want to go to Qiu Family Residence because she was the Young Miss from the Third House. Wouldn’t it looked bad if she went there in such big way? “Second Brother, that is your maternal grandparents’s home. It will not be good if I go there.”

Han Jianye dislike the sound of sighing and people grinding the most, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow.” After dropping the words, he left, leaving Yuxi stunned in the same place. She didn’t know whether she should laugh or cry.

Hongshan who was nearby tried to persuade, “Miss, Second Master can actually read Miss situation. Isn’t this is a good thing?” Second Master would always felt gratitude to Madam Ning’s life-saving grace, so he could always follow and looked after her Miss. This was her Miss’ good luck.

Yuxi went to the main courtyard in an instant and talked about the matter with Qiu Shi, “Aunt, it is inappropriate for me to follow Second Brother to pay New Year’s visit to his grandparents home tomorrow.”

Qiu Shi stroke the small hair buns on Yuxi’s head and joked, “What’s inappropriate? It’s just a visit to relatives’ houses as you should also stretch your legs sometimes. You can’t stay inside the courtyard all the time.“ In fact, she felt that Yuxi worked too hard and normally did not have time to loose up, which made her could not just standby and watched. It was good for a child to work hard, but Yuxi did it too much. She worried that Yuxi would become a bookworm in the future.

When all the words were said, Yuxi could not refuse any more. Only that, she just felt a little puzzled in her heart. In her past life, there was no this kind of thing. So, how came everything had changed now?