Thinking it over this way, Yan Xi’s mother really did feel her two daughters-in-law were good. The eldest’s money was handed over every month, with not a bit kept back as private savings. The second one had no such skill, but she was good to Yan Xi, when the good food in the house went into Yan Xi’s mouth she didn’t make a fuss. In another family there’d probably be a fight every other day.
Having thought it through, Yan Xi’s mother turned and went into the kitchen and called the two daughters-in-law in to make breakfast. From now on the family would eat three meals a day. Getting their bodies in good shape was what mattered!
While Yan Xi’s mother and the two sisters-in-law were cooking, Yan Xi quietly added some more spirit spring water to the water jar.
Probably because the cooking and the little greens they ate lately all had spirit spring water in them, the family hadn’t felt so tired at work recently. It wasn’t to the point where all their tiredness was gone, but their spirits really were much better than before.
In fact Yan Xi’s mother and the others knew that the cooking seemed to taste a bit better lately, but they all thought it was because they were more free with the ingredients, and never once thought of Yan Xi.
Before long they had breakfast on the table. Nothing special for breakfast: a pot of coarse grits porridge, and a wild greens soup as well, a bowl each and eat your fill.
After they had eaten Yan Xi pulled her mother into the room and said she wanted to go into town and have a look, and buy some things while she was there.
Hearing this, Yan Xi’s mother turned and took the money box out of the chest, opened it and counted out a hundred wen for Yan Xi, telling Yan Xi to get herself a piece of cloth and make an outfit. Yan Xi’s clothes before weren’t good, they were made over from the family’s cast-offs. The old Yan Xi couldn’t wear good clothes either, she’d go out in the morning and come back filthy in the afternoon!
Afraid Yan Xi didn’t understand the present situation, Yan Xi’s mother hurried to tell Yan Xi everything she could.
It was only now that it felt real to Yan Xi that she was in the state of Tianqi.
First, Yan Xi learned that she was now in Songshan Town in Songhua County. Yanjia Village was about twenty li from the town, two hours by ox cart and nearly four hours on foot. The town wasn’t small, it was divided into four quarters.
The east market mainly dealt in livestock, while the north market was all kinds of implements and sundries, from all sorts of furniture and ironmongery down to a single bowl or plate.
The west market was all kinds of eating houses and taverns, pastry shops, apothecaries, rice merchants and so on.
The south market was mostly where the villagers hawked their own produce, and the town’s designated vegetable market was there too, along with two cloth shops.
The market wasn’t held every day, it fell on odd-numbered days, and today happened to be a market day. Yan Xi’s mother thought it over and decided to have the eldest son’s wife go along with Yan Xi and have a look, and hand in the embroidery work while she was at it and draw some new work.
Hearing what Yan Xi’s mother said, Feng Yue hurried back to her room to gather up all the finished embroidery, and took Yan Xi with her to wait for the ox cart under the big locust tree at the village entrance.
Ordinarily Feng Yue would have walked into town, but with her sister-in-law going along she had to spend the four wen and go together.
When they got to the big locust tree several women were already standing there. Zhou Ping was the first to see Feng Yue, she quickly pulled the two of them over and said, “How is it you two, sister-in-law and sister, are going into town together today? Isn’t it usually just you on your own?” The Zhou family and the Yan family were on good terms, the two houses were close by, and they were relatives within the five degrees of kinship, so naturally they spoke intimately.
“Third Aunt, there’s no rice in the pot at home, and the wild greens on the mountain have gone tough now, so Mom gave me some money to go and buy grain. And thinking that Little Sister still hasn’t been to town, I brought her along so she could get out and enjoy herself too.”
Feng Yue didn’t say she was going to hand in embroidery work, Mom had told her over and over not to tell anyone. Most women nowadays could do needlework, but that was only sewing clothes and embroidering simple patterns, it didn’t count for anything. To be able to take on embroidery work was already a mature skill, and saying so would earn nothing but envy.