The Lucky Farmgirl

Old Madam Liu agreed, her face showing approval, as she quietly spoke to the person persuading her, "Dear sister-in-law, how could I not know this? But you’ve been in the capital for some time now, you should know that buying a house here in the capital isn’t that easy."

She continued, "Over here in the inner city, any random small courtyard would cost a thousand strings of cash. Ever since Shanbao’s father passed away, Shanbao’s mother and I have just been scraping by, trying to support Shanbao’s studies, where would we get the money to buy a house?"

"Buying a place outside the city, our family cannot afford to lose face like that," Old Madam Liu said. "Moreover, the families living outside the city can’t compare to those here inside the city. How can we let the two children marry and move from Chongyuan Courtyard to an outer area?"

"It’s not that our in-laws won’t agree, but I can’t gamble with Shanbao’s future either."

The person making the suggestion forced a smile; she didn’t believe that Old Madam Liu couldn’t even produce a thousand strings of cash. Their family was rather wealthy, even after relinquishing some to the clan, she had taken quite a bit with her.

She still owned plenty of land and farms in Longzhou, which also contained property of the Bai Family, and I’ve heard the annual harvests have been considerable.

A few years ago, when there was a lively introduction of new wheat in Longzhou, it was said it was brought in by their family from the south—a definite profitable venture.

But since Old Madam Liu claimed she was without money, there was no way she could bring this up and could only offer an awkward smile.

Old Madam Liu wasn’t letting her off, and she continued holding onto her hand, "You may not know, sister-in-law, but the expenses between those holding an official position and those who are not are quite different. His mother and I only need enough to eat and drink, but we can’t let the child suffer."

She counted on her fingers, saying, "Others require the best Xuan Brush; though Shanbao doesn’t need anything quite so fine, he still needs Lake Brushes or Shanlian Brushes, right? Others might use Taohua Inkstones, and we certainly need to prepare a Chengni Inkstone, not to mention the daily paper, ink, and such. If they’re inferior, how can he hold his head high outside?"

Ms. Zheng was flabbergasted listening to this. Their family had similar things, but her son normally used very ordinary items. The brushes, inkstones, paper that mother mentioned were indeed used only for drawing or for writing that would be framed.

Old Madam Liu continued, "And then there are the clothing and accessories for the child. After all, he is a scion of an aristocratic family; even without a father, compared to others he may have less, but it cannot be significantly lacking. The clothes need to be changed regularly, the accessories can’t be few, and the comings and goings cannot be inferior in comparison to classmates—maintaining this dignity and expense..."

Old Madam Liu didn’t say much, but directly took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears.

She said, "I understand how improper it is to stay at the Zhou Family; not to mention something distant, when the two children are about to marry soon, how can his mother and I face my granddaughter-in-law?"

"You are family, that’s why I am saying this. If it were someone else, I wouldn’t say so much. Alas, isn’t it just because we’re widows that lost employment, and many ancestral items have disappeared, causing the child to face such grievance."

Her sister-in-law’s face slightly changed, no longer daring to broach the subject.

Upon returning home, she couldn’t help but summon her son and told him honestly what was said, asking, "What do you think she means by those words?"

Bai Min furrowed his brow, "Does she intend to convey a message through mother and to the clan?"

Grandmother said worriedly, "I too have that feeling. To say she’s out of money is impossible. Who in the clan doesn’t know she’s a capable person? When the ancestral property matter was a big fuss, it was still the clan who invited her maternal nephew over, and yet after coming, he stayed less than two days before changing his tune, collecting the clan items, and helping her instead."

Otherwise, back then Old Madam Liu wouldn’t have left suddenly.

"These years there’s been little contact between sides, but her family’s estates and farms are not far away, and the attentive in the clan know the management is not at all bad," she said. "I can believe Bai Shan’s expenses are high, but which family doesn’t have one or two descendants studying? No one else’s difficulties have reached that level, so when she said those words, perhaps it’s aimed at those ancestral properties within the clan."

Bai Min pursed his lips in displeasure, asking, "Why did she suddenly bring this matter up?"

Grandmother felt somewhat embarrassed, she couldn’t possibly say she was displeased and had brought up buying a house and property in the capital herself?

Seeing grandmother’s reaction, Bai Min vaguely understood some things, asking, "Were there many people present at the time?"

Grandmother said helplessly, "It was just a private quiet talk among us; besides me, only your wife and sister-in-law were there."

Bai Min: ...

Grandmother waited for him to make a decision.

Bai Min thought for a long time and finally said, "Let it be, I’ll discuss this with Five. And I’ll mention it to Eldest Brother; as for what to decide, we’ll follow his lead."

This Eldest Brother naturally refers to Bai Wei, the current head of the Bai Family. A couple of years ago, his father Bai Jing grew old, suffered two illnesses, not only retiring back home but also passing the position of clan leader to Bai Wei.

Bai Wei, like most heads of aristocratic families, did not enter officialdom but focused on managing family matters at home, now enforcing strict family studies.

And Five refers to Bai Yan, who in these past two years has been close with Bai Shan’s Zhou SiLang and family. Zhou SiLang still greets him as uncle and nephew.

Upon hearing they received such a strong response, Bai Heng nearly spat out blood, "Third Brother, why would Grandmother mention those things to their family?"

He said, "I purposely avoided this matter these past few years; who doesn’t know how formidable the aunt of the fourth branch is? So many clan elders couldn’t deal with her back then, why would you still purposely convey this message?"

Bai Min replied, "Grandmothers often compete and mock each other, what can I do?"

"Besides, avoiding this issue isn’t a solution," Bai Min sat heavily on the chair, taking a cup of tea to drink, pondering, "If you ask me, since the fourth branch is so domineering, we might as well give them the items."

"Give them?" Bai Heng smiled bitterly, pointing at himself, "Should I give them or should you?"

He said, "Even if both our families are willing to give, what about other families? Having held onto the belongings for over a decade, they’ve all become something once digested, do you think they can just cough them up?"

"Is this something we can decide?" Bai Min said, "To speak bluntly, back then even the fourth branch didn’t want to hand them over, but eventually they did, didn’t they? The same principle applies to us. It’s just about who’s stronger or weaker."

Bai Heng couldn’t help but mutter, "Is their family really that much stronger?"

Bai Min glanced at him, saying, "It’s precisely to return them when they’re not that strong yet, mending the relationship; if their family truly becomes powerful enough that we have no choice but to return, then it’d be better not to return them, directly find a reason to branch them out."

Bai Heng’s face turned pale at the mention, "Branching out? Third Brother, their family isn’t far removed from our main lineage, if this gets out, how would we Bai Family maintain our reputation?"

"That’s why we must take this opportunity while Bai Shan is still young, bring those items out, and even add to it, find a reason to give to the fourth branch. I think Aunt’s reason from the fourth branch is decent, Bai Shan has grown up, it’s time for him to establish a career and marry; giving him something from the clan is only right."

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