Monday 8 May 2023

ESWHYMY 132




Chapter 132. All because of snacks


"Although your younger cousin brother isn’t very old, he is steady and mature. He should be able to pass it in one go." He Hao came to deliver the letter of guarantee to Su Family in person and was sitting and chatting with You Jin in the parlor of the main courtyard. Right now, He Family’s life was getting better and better. The small restaurant by the pier had a very good business. He Family had earned a lot of money by relying on this small restaurant in just a year or two and had an addition of nearly 20 mu of fertile fields. They even hired long-term workers. On top of that, He Xuan Hai got admitted as Xiucai from last year’s autumn exam. The status of He Family in Wuliqiao was getting higher and higher. Although it can’t be compared to Su Family, it still caught people’s eyes in Wuliqiao.

After receiving the letter of guarantee and confirming that it was correct, You Jin got the servant to send it to the yamen, while she herself talked to He Hao: "Recently, the shop is so busy and I trouble you to come here personally."

While living in Su's house, third branch stated to the outside world that they were cousin relatives. This avoided a lot of explanation.

He Hao jollily laughed and replied: "What I’m doing is small, just enough to support my family. What's so good about it!"

He knew that Su Family had opened a new restaurant this year and had passed by a few times from a distance. The gilded signboard under the sun had dazzled countless people's eyes. How could he dare to compare with the other party?

You Jin exchanged pleasantries with He Hao for a long time before personally sending him to the gate of Su's house: "Thank you, Uncle Lizheng, for making this trip."

She took the food box held by the servant and handed it to He Hao: "These snacks are homemade. Bring them back for Auntie and Younger Sister Xiao Ning to try. I implore Uncle Lizheng not to dislike it."

How could He Hao not heard of Sujiaxiang? How could he possibly dislike it? According to his contact and understanding of Su Family in the past few years, You Jin would definitely not take it back after giving it away. So he happily accepted it and went back to Wuliqiao with the food box.

At the entrance of Wuliqiao Village, some idle villagers saw Lizheng returning from the west side of the river with a food box and knew Su Family gave him good things. Some people who couldn't stand it and wagged their tongues in private: "What Lizheng! Isn't he like a dog raised by Su Family’s group of females! If there is anything good, he want to fawningly send it to the rich people! Truly embarrassing!"

Some gossiped, while more were envious. How rich Su Family was now! Just looking at it from a distance, there were five or six carriages that come in and out every day! Not to mention the rest! Let’s not talk about other things, Lizheng had a good relationship with them. It was said that the shop on the side of the pier was leased to He Family at a discount of 30% of the market price. Look at He Family. It had only been two years and they had bought good land and built a three room spacious and elegant blue brick house! Who wouldn’t be envious!

He Hao didn't care what the envious villagers said. Though he was on good terms with Su Family, he can proclaim to be sitting upright and not be afraid of the shadow. What was there to be afraid of? After nodding and exchanging greetings with the villagers, he went home with the food box gifted by Su Family.

"Did you go to Elder Sister You Jin's house?" He Xiao Ning came out to open the door for He Hao and saw the food box he was carrying looked like the box that Su Family brought to the house as a gift last year. Recalling Su Family’s snacks, He Xiao Ning started drooling. Peeking at the box in her father's hand, she asked, "What delicious things did Elder Sister You Jin get Father to bring back?"

"You monkey!" He Hao poked his daughter's head, passed the food box over, and grinned: "You’re already a thirteen-year-old girl and still so gluttonous. Don't know if you're the reincarnation or glutton or what !"

He Hao only had one son and one daughter. The eldest son, He Xuan Hai’s marriaged at the beginning of last year and the becoming Xiucai at last year’s autumn exam was the family’s double happiness. Now, in two or three months, He Family will have a third generation; As for the youngest daughter who turned thirteen this year, she was pampered since she was little and turned out delicate and cute. He Hao was just worried about his daughter’s immaturity and how much she will suffer when she marries into her in-law's house in the future!

He Xiao Ning followed her father back to the upper room, put the food box on the kang table, opened the box, and saw that it was full of delicate and delicious snacks. She felt her mouth salivating. How could she have the mind to know what her father was thinking?

She broke off a piece of sweet-scented osmanthus cake and placed it into her mouth. The sweet-scented sweet-scented osmanthus cake that melted in her mouth was fragrant and delicious. The rich flavor of sweet-scented osmanthus spreaded in her mouth. He Xiao Ning almost swallowed her tongue from its deliciousness. In two-three bits, she finished one. She looked at her father who was drinking water and said, "Father, you want to try some? Elder Sister-in-law said in the past two days that she doesn't have much taste in her mouth. I'll send some to her to try!"

"Youngest Sister, did you buy this?" He Xuan Hai married his academy’s Teacher Liu's wife’s niece. Her name was Lian Hua-er. Both of Lian Hua-er's parents died when she was young. Although she was Teacher Liu's wife’s niece, Teacher Liu raised her as his own daughter. When Lian Hua-er was in the boudoir, she often went to the academy to deliver meals to Teacher Liu. Gradually, she developed a crush on handsome He Xuan Hai. So when Teacher Liu had such an idea, Lian Hua-er was both happy and shy. It went without saying she agreed to this marriage.

Lian Hua-er was an overthinker. After marrying into He Family, He Family’s conditions improved in the past two years despite being from the countryside. She was never short of food and clothing. It can't be said that she was unhappy. The only thing that made her dissatisfied was her discovery of her husband being too polite with her and she didn't know why. Since she became pregnant, her overthinking became a little worse and had couldn’t eat every day. Today she smelled the appetizing snacks brought by He Xiao Ning and her appetite was aroused. She picked up a piece to eat and asked.

Xiao Ning sat across from Lian Hua-er, and said with a smile: "Elder Sister from Su Family gave it to Father. Their snacks are delicious!"

Speaking of Su Family’s snack, He Xiao Ning appeared very proud and honored. Excluding her parents and her eldest brother, Su Family’s Elder Sister was her favorite person!

"Su Family on the other side of the river?" Lian Hua-er had been married to Wuliqiao for a year. Although He Family had a lot of contact with Su Family, Lian Hua-er can't explain why she didn't like the always smiling Su Family’s Eldest Miss. Maybe it was because her smile was too annoying. Maybe it was because the clothes she wore were made of too good material. Maybe it was because her husband always smiled when he occasionally mentioned her...

Thinking of this, Lian Hua-er's appetite reduced after only a little bit of improvement. She put the snack she took a bite back on the plate and irritatedly uttered: "Forget it, I can't eat it. Youngest Sister, you eat it! "

He Xiao Ning looked at Eldest Sister-in-law strangely. Wasn't she quite happy just now? Why did she suddenly have a gloomy face again? However, He Xiao Ning didn't dare to ask her anything. With an ‘oh’, she walked out of the east wing with a plate of half eaten snack and left Lian Hua-er alone with a gloomy and strange expression as she stifled in anger.

Sitting in the room with a big belly, Lian Hua-er felt sick when thinking about how the snack she ate just now was from Su Family. In the end she vomited it all up. Her originally bad complexion became even worse. "Su You Jin, what exactly do you want to do?"

Why did she give Father-in-law snacks for no reason? Why did Youngest Sister bring the snack to her? Could it be that she instigated it?

The more Lian Hua-er thought about it, the more anxious she felt. Her whole person collapsed back and slept. It was only when it was dark and Xiao Ning knocked on the door to tell her to have dinner did she wake up.

***

On the dining table of He Family, there was a large pot of delicious pickled cabbage stewed with pork, two kinds of fresh vegetables, and some deliciously marinated meat bones that Zhao Chun Hua brought back from his small restaurant. He Xiao Ning specially set aside snacks for her mother and eldest brother.

"Today’s meat was stewed well. Xuan Hai, you should eat more after studying hard." Zhao Chun Hua felt so tired after a day of work in the small restaurant that she lost her appetite. After a mouthful of pickled cabbage, her appetite had opened up a lot. Seeing her son absent-minded, she put a piece of a stewed-soft fatty meat into his bowl: "Look at your poor spirits. Although studying is important, you still have to take care of yourself."

He Xuan Hai accepted the meat from his mother and said, "It's just that I have a lot of homework recently. Not a problem." Although He Xuan Hai was now a Xiucai, he changed from the original academy to the official school in Luohe Prefecture. He had always been somewhat intelligent. He had been favored by the teachers of the academy when he was in the academy and was somewhat arrogant. But now when he attended the official school, he realized that there were so many talents in Luohe Prefecture. It was inevitable that he was a bit dull among the crowd. Because of this, he studied hard day and night. His energy was indeed not as good as before.

Lian Hua-er watched it all. Husband didn't stretch his chopsticks towards the meat more than a few times. However, he ate two pieces of snacks that were placed in front of Youngest Sister. Recalling how every time the eldest girl from Su Family came to the house, Husband would be especially upbeat. Her poor appetite became even worse even when the pickled cabbage and stewed pork was clearly stewed deliciously and appetizingly. Lian Hua-er couldn't even hold the chopstick. She sat there with a sullen face and said nothing.

Zhao Chun Hua glanced at the daughter-in-law who suddenly acted up. She pursed her lips and said nothing. She clipped a piece of meat and put it in He Xiao Ning's bowl: "Xiao Ning, eat more too."

It wasn’t that she, Zhao Chun Hua disliked this daughter-in-law. It was just that their personalities were incompatible. She had always had a straightforward temper. Whatever came to mind, she would voice. While Daughter-in-law was introverted. When Daughter-in-law first married into He Family, she got into a petty temper for a few days because of her careless words. In other families, daughters-in-law served their mother-in-law who set the rules. While she, the mother-in-law was serving her like a master! If she had known earlier, she might as well have found a country girl as a wife for her son!

Naturally, He Xuan Hai didn't know the grievances between his old mother and his wife. After dinner, he went back to his room to continue studying. Lian Hua-er simply put down the dishes and followed him back to the room.

"To those who know, they would say our family married in a daughter-in-law. But those who don't, they would think that our family married in an ancestor!" Seeing the door of the east wing closed, Zhao Chun Hua berated in a low voice.

He Hao knew that his wife and daughter-in-law bump heads. Seeing her like this, he still persuaded her a few words: "Alright, Daughter-in-law is young and ignorant. You are going to be a grandmother. Don’t mind her, okay?"

However, He Hao was also internally sighing. Everyone said that marrying a wife was marrying a virtue. With the way Lian Hua-er, he really didn't know whether she was virtuous or not. She had only married in to the family for more than a year. How will the future days pass in the future?

Zhao Chun Hua grumpily glared at the sloppy He Hao: "You're the only one who pretends to be a good person and be a peacemaker here."

After that, she didn't say anything more. The family of three comfortably finished the meal.

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6 comments:

  1. I guess that woman will bring trouble.
    Thank you for the translation!

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  2. I see trouble in the horizon. Thank you for the chapter!

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  3. Maybe is the hormones of pregnancy? but you need to calm down. Now you star to see and afair where there isn't.

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  4. hm .. doubt ever knowing that she was a far away second choice as dil for the family will better that temper

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  5. She's just overtly insecure and anxious. If her husband was a little smarter, he would know not to be obvious about his old crush and kill it. And she has to get a backbone to voice out her problems. For now, she's not bad just a very insecure 15 or so year old girl.

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