Chapter 16Yingniang's family still received New Year's Day visitors as they had for years. This year, no fewer guests came, and the dishes were just as abundant, but people's attitudes toward them had changed.The Feng family now lived in a large compound with three courtyards and two side wings. Their debts were fully paid, and they had even added servants to the household. Everything was orderly and prosperous, and Mrs. Jiang carried herself with newfound confidence as the mistress of the house.The Hou family hadn't come today. Feng Li asked Feng Cang, "Why hasn't Hou Xing returned either? His old mother is ill, lying in bed waiting for someone to tend to her."Feng Cang and Hou Xing both resided in the prefectural city. Though they didn't visit each other frequently, they had considerable dealings. Yet now, Feng Cang seemed reluctant to discuss the matter.This was precisely what Feng Li disliked about his eldest cousin—he appeared courteous and refined, but in truth, he kept himself detached from everything, terrified of shouldering even the slightest responsibility.While the adults conversed with undercurrents of tension, the children gathered to play together. Cousin Meijun, cousin Zuo Xiaoyu, and younger cousin Jiang Shumin were all about the same age. Those who were older stayed with the adults.Yingniang invited them to her embroidery tower for a chat. Feng Meijun hadn't returned last year, but now that she was back and saw the state of things, she couldn't help thinking that her cousin's not having gone missing was indeed a great fortune for the eldest branch of the family.Looking at the arrangement of the first floor—three rooms total, one bright central hall flanked by two darker side rooms, with clean windows and polished furniture—the center of the main hall held a yellow rosewood horizontal table. On it sat a celadon vase holding several branches of pith flowers, beside which rested a pot of narcissus. A portrait of the White-Robed Guanyin hung on the wall, with several rosewood round-back chairs arranged beneath it. The whole scene was quite elegant.The two side rooms were separated by shrimp-whisker curtains in pale pink and moonlight white. One room held two bookshelves—one a simple open design, the other a lattice-style shelf with character-shaped railings. The shelves were still empty, suggesting that her eldest uncle intended for his daughter to study and read in the future.The other room contained two bunk beds. Yingniang explained, "These are for the maids, but for now Suxin stays upstairs with me and doesn't come down much."Meijun understood—her eldest uncle was clearly planning to arrange more attendants for his daughter in the future. She knew very well that the eldest branch of the Feng family actually had less money than her own household. When her grandfather had passed away in her previous life, he had left a full five hundred taels of silver, and her mother alone had brought over a thousand taels as dowry. Yet even they might not have managed their household and raised their children as well as her eldest uncle had done with his resources.Yingniang didn't invite them upstairs but seated them in the main hall. She had Suxin bring out two kinds of delicate shortbread from the house, then brought out her own playthings—flower ropes, knucklebones, and porcelain dolls.She was exceptionally skilled at the knucklebones game, smoothly picking up from one to ten pieces, and soon everyone was playing along. Only Meijun, with her adult mind, claimed she wasn't good at it and instead played with the porcelain dolls.Yingniang had a wonderful time playing with her two cousins. She treasured such childhood moments and threw herself into the games with enthusiasm. When everyone grew tired from playing, Caixia arrived carrying a plate of plum blossom cakes."Miss, the Chang family at our back gate sent over plum blossom cakes. The mistress told me to bring them for the young ladies to enjoy."Yingniang smiled and said, "We were just getting tired from playing—this is perfect timing." She then invited everyone to help themselves to the cakes.Zuo Xiaoyu, the oldest among the girls at nine years old, was at her most curious age. She immediately asked, "What Chang family? Why would they send you pastries?""They're a family of a retired official. A few days ago, my mother and I went to pay a visit to the old lady of that household. We're neighbors, and they're very courteous," Yingniang explained.Cousin Zuo's father knew a few characters and had once been a teacher at a village school. When the school was disbanded, her parents became tailors at a shop opened by villagers. Their family wasn't well-off, and with two younger brothers and parents who favored sons over daughters, Zuo Xiaoyu had learned to be competitive and sharp.Just as Yingniang finished explaining, only she insisted on digging deeper: "What does 'retired official' mean?""It means a family whose member has resigned from office," Yingniang said.Meijun, however, knew exactly which family it was. When she had been married off as a concubine to Prince Chu, younger brother of Emperor Yongxi, her eldest son had died young, and when her second son fell ill, her family had wanted to invite a famous Dr. Chang to treat him. But the doctor had gone off wandering the realm, and as a result, her second son had also died.As she sank into her thoughts, the other young ladies had nearly finished all the delicious cakes. She picked one up and took a bite—indeed, the flavor was distinctive, very sweet.Everyone had lunch together, and then the others went out to play in the streets, since Yunshui Town was a lively place. Yingniang declined to join. Mrs. Jian and several young married women took the children out.Yingniang noticed Old Woman Feng packing quite a few wax goods into a basket and asked, "Grandmother, is that for Second Aunt?"Old Woman Feng was actually a very warm-hearted person who did things decisively, but she had soft ears—if anyone praised her a few times, she would show off her generosity. When Mrs. Jian said a few nice things to her and disparaged her own mother-in-law for not stocking up on such things, Old Woman Feng, to prove how capable she was, would pack quite a bit of cured goods for Mrs. Jian to take home every year."Isn't that so? They're pitiful souls. Your Second Aunt is terribly lazy and doesn't know how to run a household." Old Woman Feng said.Yingniang thought it was strange that people like Old Man Feng and Old Woman Feng could have a son like Feng Li who was so clear-headed about everything. Just as she was thinking this, she saw the neighbor across the street come to ask Mrs. Jiang for oil. After the late rice harvest on the Feng family's eighty mu of land, they always planted rapeseed, producing several thousand jin of oil every year. Most of it was sold to the oil mill, earning about a hundred taels or so. Even so, the family still had plenty left over, and many people came to buy oil directly from them.Mrs. Jiang personally went to the side room and measured out one jin of oil, exactly forty-five wen.The person said, "Only your family's oil is good. Those oil mills like to mix in other stuff—it's all murky and dark."Mrs. Jiang smiled and said, "This is grown on our own land, so naturally it's different from what's outside."The person left satisfied with the oil. Mrs. Jiang saw her daughter come in and hurriedly said, "Why aren't you playing with your female cousins?""They went out to the town to have fun. I didn't feel like going out." Yingniang smiled.Mrs. Jiang said with relief, "You'd better not be too rowdy. Yesterday your father went to the Qiantang private school to ask—he said you'll be starting school after the New Year.""So soon?" Yingniang covered her mouth.Mrs. Jiang laughed. "Look at you, child. Your father and I both can't wait for you to go study and make more friends. Especially your father—he always says he was a wandering orphan, and after finally settling down here, even if he has friends, he doesn't know where they are. Now that you'll be living here for a long time, you'll be just like all the other children in Yunshui Town."Yingniang cherished this upon hearing it.After the mother and daughter finished talking, Aunt Jiang brought Cousin Jiang over to chat, and they moved on to other topics. Uncle worked as a clerk in the yamen, and their life was fairly comfortable. Cousin Jiang was fine in every other way, but she loved to eat.Aunt Jiang was just complaining: "She's just a child, but she ate a whole jin of melon seeds and got diarrhea from it. We locked all the snacks in the west room, and she piled up a stool and climbed in through the window. I have no idea what to do with her.""Eating melon seeds until she got diarrhea? Oh dear, that won't do. A while back, our Yingniang loved sticky rice cakes, and she always had to pour brown sugar over them. Then she'd drink cold water afterward and her stomach would always hurt. I was determined not to let her eat sticky rice, but my in-laws would secretly give it to her." Mrs. Jiang said, giving Yingniang a pat.Yingniang stuck out her tongue. When she was at the Fu household, she never lacked food or drink, but as a servant, she often ate from the communal pot. At home, whatever she wanted to eat, the family would make for her. She had recently become utterly obsessed with sticky rice, eating a big bowl every day, and then feeling thirsty afterward—one sip of cold water and her stomach would ache.Both mothers chatted about trivial household matters, and Yingniang found it boring, so she snuck out. By this time, Mrs. Jian and Mrs. Lian had returned. They had bought two stalks of sugarcane and quite a lot of fried tofu.Mrs. Lian's birth parents had disappeared without a trace, so she had no natal family to visit. Although she didn't have to grovel in her husband's household, she was still modest and courteous, and she got along very well with Mrs. Jian.When Mrs. Jiang saw them come over, she brought out a set of leaf cards to entertain them.After the first day of the New Year passed, it was time to visit relatives all around. The third day was for paying New Year calls at Second Uncle Feng's house. Many of the New Year dishes were made by Mrs. Lian—her pork tripe soup was quite delicious, and Mrs. Jian's fried shredded radish balls were tasty too.She sat together with the Lai family children. Those people were quick and ruthless with their chopsticks. In previous years, before she could even get a few bites in or swallow anything, the food would already be snatched up. Today she also started grabbing food first, filling half a bowl before she buried her head in eating.Feng Li looked at Lai Da at the neighboring table and also sighed. Those Lai family people were like unyielding slabs of meat. They had already snatched away Widow Zhao's fields, and Widow Zhao dared not speak out in anger. Fortunately, he had Mrs. Jiang give her some cotton and let her come over to weave cloth during the day to earn some money—that was his small way of helping.The fourth day was spent at the Jiang family's, the fifth at the Zuo family's, and it wasn't until the eighth day that all the relative visits were finished.After the visits were done, Old Man Feng and his wife went to see Aunt Hou. When Old Woman Feng came back, she said, "They hired a country woman to look after your great-aunt. She helps turn her over every day, cleans up the filth, and cooks meals. One person costs two taels, and they paid three months' wages in advance."Cheng Qiqiao always felt wronged. Her mother-in-law had two sons, yet everything was left for her household to handle. She didn't say anything out loud, but in her heart she found it disgusting, and she wasn't willing to pay the money either. She and Hou Wang took a dozen or so taels and pawned a two-story house in the east of town to live in. They pawned some of their old clothes and borrowed some silver from her grandmother, then enrolled their daughter at Scholar Huang's school."Scholar Huang is very learned. Nowadays, all the young ladies are taking up studies. That Mei-jie is studying under a scholar, and Ying-jie is preparing to attend the Qiantang private school. Our Xiu'er simply cannot fall behind the others. I don't want anyone holding us back." Cheng Qiqiao finally voiced her almost hysterical expectations.Hou Xiu understood her mother well, because her mother had nothing, so she hoped her daughter would excel at everything. But Hou Xiu said, "Mother, I can study with Master Jingwen at the temple. She was also from a distinguished family originally.""How can that be the same? I've made inquiries about this Scholar Huang—he's a close relative of the owner of the local Yellow Crane Tavern. I even paid an extra two taels of silver to get you in. If you can build more connections, it will benefit you as well." Cheng Qiqiao said with a smile.…Soon the Lantern Festival had passed. Yingniang woke up in bed, immediately opening her eyes and sitting up. Today was the first day of school—she couldn't be late!

Yingniang