Perhaps because Yinxing's prayers were sincere, when Qingnu returned, she indeed brought news that Yuniang had quit her apprenticeship.
"…Master, you should have heard what that Granny Zhang said—as if we were tyrants who buried Zhang Yuniang's jade-in-the-rough! Saying things like, 'a house full of women, heaven knows how they make their living'; and 'it's just cooking, who knows whether the diners appreciate the food or the cook who made it'… Aiya! Aiyaya! I can't even repeat all of it! Truly filthy words…"
Qingnu's sleeves were rolled up to her arms, hands on her hips, her pretty willow-leaf brows scrunched into fuzzy caterpillars, face flushed red, lips trembling.
She was clearly furious.
Before Qingnu returned, Lady He had just taken a dose of medicine for her dizziness and, with Meimei's help, had changed and lain down to rest.
She had slept less than a quarter of an hour before the news Qingnu brought had her climbing out of bed in a rage, throwing a soft pillow to the floor.
"What a shameless, filthy old hag!" Lady He's face went pale with anger. "I shouldn't have been soft-hearted back then! Nor should I have thought about making it a pair for good luck!"
What Fusheng knew of the circumstances behind Yuniang's apprenticeship was ultimately too little.
Back then, Lady He had only set her sights on Fusheng alone. Though Yuniang had some talent, it wasn't particularly outstanding, and since Lady He could see that Granny Zhang wasn't a clean person, she hadn't considered taking her on.
But Yuniang's gaze was too pitiful, and Granny Zhang kept pleading, saying things like "make it a pair—even numbers sound auspicious and nice."
That was how Lady He, who was somewhat superstitious, had taken Yuniang as a disciple as well.
When things first went missing in the kitchen, and she noticed Yuniang's expression seemed off, Lady He had already regretted taking Yuniang as her apprentice.
Now, her regret knew no bounds.
The only saving grace was that Yuniang was clumsy herself, and Lady He hadn't yet had the chance to teach her any real skills!
If she had taught her real skills, only to be slandered and abused like this…
That rival of hers, Madam Qian, would mock her the next time they met.
"Master, you set the plan, and Qingnu will follow!"
Qingnu had come back to report this precisely because she wanted to follow her master's arrangements—to march back in proper fashion, humble that foul-mouthed old crone Granny Zhang, and wash out that dirty mouth of hers.
If Lady He could swallow this insult, she wouldn't have spent all these years trading blows with Madam Qian, the other great female chef of Wenzhou City.
"Though only Madam Qian and I hold the two great reputations as female chefs in Wenzhou Prefecture, that doesn't mean there's no guild, nor that there are no other women chefs in the trade." Lady He took a deep breath, sat back down on the bed, and slapped the bedboard hard. "Qingnu, change into proper attire for visiting an elder, and go on my behalf to invite Guild Leader Song. Then… then go invite that nemesis Madam Qian as well! Since they want to quit mid-apprenticeship, we'll follow the guild rules; since they want to spew filth, they'll bear the consequences!"
In any trade, no one quit their master the way the Zhang family had.
Qingnu agreed in rapid succession, hurried off to her own room, and within moments was dressed and out the door.
Lady He's head no longer felt dizzy, and the unlucky affairs of the past few days were forgotten.
The anger had cleared her mind.
"Meimei," she said, sitting with her legs spread apart and her hands braced on her knees, "take out those two new sets of clothes from my cabinet, then go to the back and fetch Sanniang and Yinxing."
Since they were going to demand an explanation at the Zhang household, the entire household of Lady He's martial arts school should go together.
Earlier, when they had accepted the banquet commission from Fuqu Village—the pay being quite generous, a full twenty-five strings of cash—she had tailored a new set of clothes for every girl in the household, just right for this season. Light silk and plain gauze garments, made from fine materials.
Qingnu and Meimei's sets had been delivered by the tailoring shop yesterday and given to them right away.
The remaining three girls were of similar age, and the clothes had been meant to be given to them today—but who could have expected this business to crop up?
Lady He took another deep breath, glancing at the two sets of clothes Meimei had retrieved, meant for Fusheng and Yinxing, and found herself thinking ahead to when she might order another set, so there wouldn't be an awkward leftover.
Meanwhile, at the Zhang family's doorstep, Granny Zhang was tugging at Yuniang and holding forth to the neighbors who had yet to disperse.
She had been boasting there for quite some time now, weaving a dream of her own making and utterly entranced by it, unable to stop herself. When she spotted Yang Tieniang returning from outside with Meisheng in tow, she raised her voice even louder, practically shouting.
"…I say, what future is there in learning cooking from that He woman? She's just a kitchen mistress! Even Tiger Rakshasa fawns over her so much, and her family's Sanniang has only learned a tiny bit more than my Yuniang. As for the real family secrets—how could that He woman ever teach those?"
The handprint on her face was red tinged with purple, and ordinarily, Granny Zhang would feel pain the moment she opened her mouth.
But right now, she felt nothing at all.
She even dared to provoke!
"I say, some people—having their granddaughters become cooks or embroiderers—that's just short-sightedness, a lifetime of toil and drudgery! My Yuniang, what a delicate and clever girl she is, sharp as a whip—she has a great future ahead of her! In the days to come, she'll be absolutely extraordinary…"
That raspy voice, like a cracked gong, spun its meager vocabulary into flowers, repeating the same boasts over and over.
Meisheng, pulled along by Yang Tieniang, was still basking in the joy of Master Yan's words—that her eyes were clear, her vision sharp, her fingers nimble, and that she would formally take him as her master in three days. Honey seemed to fill the corners of her mouth. When she suddenly heard something about cooks and embroiderers, she looked up and saw Granny Zhang next door flailing about, and felt rather curious.
"Grandmother," Meisheng said, turning her head to look at Yang Tieniang, her tone utterly sincere, "is Granny Zhang envious that our family has two girls taking on masters? Doesn't her family have Yuniang too?"
It was plain she hadn't heard clearly, hadn't caught the full picture.
But the effect was still rather good.
Before Yang Tieniang could even answer, Granny Zhang—whose shouting seemed to come with ears that caught the wind—whirled around and sprayed spittle in Meisheng's direction.
"Who's envious of your family? Who's envious of your family, I ask? People who might not even finish their apprenticeship or earn money in three to five years, who begrudge even the smallest advantage—who'd be envious of that?"
Granny Zhang slapped Yuniang's thin back with resounding thumps.
"My Yuniang~ now she's different!"
With that, she laughed, smug and self-satisfied.
But she had been going on for quite a while now, recycling phrases like "will have great fortune" and "will have a grand destiny," without a single concrete or useful word.
The neighbors who lingered there to watch the spectacle weren't just there for entertainment—they were curious about this so-called "grand destiny" Granny Zhang kept mentioning.
But she hemmed and hawed for a long time without saying what this great fortune was, and now she was even chuckling about being an old chrysanthemum. Someone couldn't hold back their impatience any longer.
"Auntie Zhang, you said your Yuniang has a great fortune in store—what fortune is that? Tell us so we can be happy for her too!"
A short, plump woman with a nursing baby in her arms asked Granny Zhang in a booming voice.
She and her husband were blessed with many children—counting the one in her arms, they now had six in total.
The boys were fine; they could be sent to carpenters, blacksmiths, or butchers to learn a trade, which would both put food on the table and pave a way for their future.
But the girls were a different matter.
Some trades wouldn't take girls at all!
Her two older daughters were neither cut out for cooking nor suited to be embroiderers…
She kept thinking, she couldn't let her children end up like her, a washerwoman with her hands soaked in water all day long… She was so worried she had canker sores in her mouth!
Now Granny Zhang's granddaughter wasn't learning cooking to become a kitchen maid, and from what she was hinting, the great fortune wasn't in the direction of becoming an embroiderer either.
So she wanted to hear what good path Granny Zhang had found for her granddaughter, so she could borrow the idea for her own children.
"Well…"
Granny Zhang didn't have any great fortune direction at all!
Her original plan was to have Yuniang keep hanging around Lady He's place for a while longer, taking advantage of the situation, while she used that time to find this granddaughter a job that would show immediate returns.
Who could have imagined that Yuniang would do something so stupid today that it backfired on herself, and that He Qingnu would be so sharp-tongued that she ended up arguing with her directly?
She had originally wanted to squeeze some money out of that He woman.
At the very least, squeeze out some big fish and meat to nourish her son and grandson.
Who would have thought it would come to this?
Don't be fooled by her calm exterior—if she said she had no regrets, that would be a lie.
"Auntie Zhang, you're not just bragging, are you?"
The short, plump woman pressed on with a pout.
How could Granny Zhang admit to that?
She straightened her back proudly.
"That's my Yuniang's path, and I can't tell you for now, in case you steal it away!"
With that, she looked the short, plump woman up and down, her tone dripping with disdain: "Those two girls of yours take after you, so they might as well accept their fate and follow you as ordinary washerwomen! They don't have that kind of luck!"
As she spoke, Granny Zhang, in a rare display of gentleness, stroked Yuniang's hair—so much so that Yuniang was trembling with excitement…
Trembling so much she was shaking…
Granny Zhang felt her trembling and looked down to see Yuniang's face had gone pale.
"Good-for-nothing thing!" Granny Zhang slapped Yuniang. "You're destined for great fortune, so why are you putting on this miserable face for?"
She felt Yuniang had made her lose face.
But Yuniang didn't immediately put on a smile as she expected—instead, she grew even more anxious.
"Grandmother," Yuniang's voice was trembling as she pointed straight ahead: "Master… Master has brought a whole crowd of people here!"