Chapter 94: Satisfied
By the time Yu Wen and Yu Yuan sent off the people from the Xiang family and rushed over, Pei Yan had already left and Yu Bo was greeting various shopkeepers and others who came to congratulate them on the opening of the store, people like Master Wu, and inviting them to go to the restaurant for a meal. Upon seeing Yu Wen, Yu Bo couldn’t help but smile and pulled his brother aside, who was just about to greet Master Wu and the others, and said quietly, “Our Ah-tang, she’s a national treasure. Today, Third Master Pei came over, and if it wasn’t for her, it would have resulted in a huge disaster.”
Hearing this, Yu Tang must have done something remarkable yet again.
Yu Wen immediately smiled and said with keen interest, “Tell me quickly, what exactly happened?”
Yu Bo told Yu Wen about how it was Yu Tang who entertained Pei Yan, and had thoughtfully arranged for a vegetarian banquet to be sent to the Pei’s residence, and concluded with an exclamation, “At that time, we didn’t think of arranging anything like that either. And the vegetarian banquet was from Zhaoming Temple no less!”
It was a half-day’s journey from Zhaoming Temple to Lin’an City, so they definitely wouldn’t have entertained such a request. This time they accepted the order from the Yu family only because the Yu family was sending the vegetarian banquet to the Pei family. With all this fanfare, before tomorrow, everyone would know that Pei Yan personally went to congratulate the Yu family’s store opening, and in turn, the Yu family made a special trip to send a vegetarian banquet to the Pei residence as a show of appreciation.
Yu Wen was overjoyed and felt that it was a great pity that his daughter was born a girl. Otherwise, she would have been far more outstanding than Yu Yuan. However, these words were not appropriate to be said aloud as his brother might misconstrue it as him not being able to raise his son well. He could only feel secretly pleased in his heart and said modestly, “What words are you saying? This is only because Brother and Ah Yuan taught her well. Otherwise, being a young girl, who would listen to her?”
Yu Bo didn’t think much of it. Since his brother was being modest, he too must be polite. The two brothers continued exchanging compliments for a while, and when they saw that the guests were all headed to the restaurant under Xia Pinggui’s guidance, they stopped their chitchat and went over to greet the guests together.
Yu Yuan followed his father and uncle in silence, thinking over what the Xiang family had said.
He and Lady Xiang’s wedding date was fixed, and according to the Xiang family, people in Fuyang were saying that Madam Xiang was too harsh on her stepdaughter. Madam Xiang became greatly upset, so Master Xiang’s intention was for the wedding to be an extravagant affair, so that everyone would see Lady Xiang’s importance to the Xiang Family. The Yu family was a family of average means, therefore all the costly wedding expenses like chicken, duck, fish and various others will all be borne by the Xiang Family. The Yu Family only needed to leave everything to them and wait for the wedding day.
Madam Wang was not around when this topic was discussed, Yu Wen and Madam Chen were not in a position to decide for them, and Yu Yuan was still a junior and could not speak freely. Thus, they could only send the Xiang family away first without making any sort of commitment. However, the Xiang family’s intentions were clear, so after the business matters of the store was settled, both his father and uncle would discuss how to handle it.
He had great sympathy for Lady Xiang.
Nobody wished to be born in such a family. Although the Xiang family’s request was a little insulting, Yu Yuan did not want to make things difficult for Lady Xiang.
He was only worried that with in-laws like this, they would have trouble in future.
However, he would not obey the Xiang family’s instructions in everything, lest they think their Yu family was easily bullied, leading to more and more outrageous demands. Still, Yu Yuan had yet to think of a good way to balance keeping Lady Xiang from getting upset as well as preserving the Yu family’s reputation.
After listening to his father’s words, he suddenly wanted to find Yu Tang for ideas.
In any case, Yu Tang was a girl, and women were generally more adept at dealing with domestic household affairs. Since she was able to placate Third Master Pei, she would certainly be able to do the same with the Xiang family.
As soon as Yu Yuan thought of this, he instantly cheered up.
When the banquet at the restaurant coming to a close, he went to pay the bill, and then found an excuse to quietly slip out and return to the store.
Yu Tang hadn’t left the store yet. Madam Chen also came rushing over, and together with Madam Wang, the three of them were sitting around the desk in the accounting room discussing. When they caught sight of Yu Yuan, they all unanimously halted the conversation, and Madam Wang even forced a smile and said, “You’re back! How did things go at the restaurant? Did your father drink too much? Why didn’t you return together with your father and uncle?”
Yu Yuan thought for a moment, without evading the issue, he said frankly, “Mother, aunt, you were just discussing the Xiang family and me, right?”
Madam Wang and Madam Chen exchanged looks, and after a brief pause, they felt that there was no need to hide it from Yu Yuan. Madam Wang answered, “Yes, your aunt and I were talking about your marriage to Lady Xiang. This Xiang family is really a nuisance. It’s problematic for us whether we agree or reject it. Earlier, your aunt was thinking that since this is your marriage, you have to be willing to accept it – all other things are minor issues. We will do according to what the Xiang family says.”
After all was said and done, the root of the problem was money.
If they didn’t lack in silver, as the adage goes ‘sparing no expenses to marry a daughter, lowering oneself to obtain a daughters-in-law’, no matter what demands the Xiang family had, their Yu family could simply accede.
Yu Tang kept her head low as she listened to the elders talking, but in her heart she was thinking about the auction, and if she could obtain the silver before her eldest cousin’s wedding. If they couldn’t collect it yet, could they borrow some from the Pei family first?
Yu Yuan turned to look at Yu Tang and asked, “What do you think? What should our family do?”
Both Madam Wang and Madam Chen were dumbfounded.
Yu Tang was struck speechless for a moment.
Yu Yuan continued, “I heard Father say earlier that when Third Master Pei came over, it was your resourcefulness and tact that prevented catastrophe from occurring. So why don’t you help me out with on this as well?”
Listening to his tone of voice, Yu Yuan still wanted to support Lady Xiang, only that he was discontented with the Xiang family.
Yu Tang breathed out a sigh of relief.
That’s good.
She feared that her brother and Lady Xiang would have a fallout during the wedding which would then affect the couple’s relationship.
She had to do something about it!
YuTang’s mind raced as she spoke, “The Xiang family only said it has to be a big and grand marriage celebration, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be very expensive. It could mean to have the wedding follow a very high standard, for example, inviting all the notable people in Lin’an to attend……”
In this way, the wedding reception would not require inviting a lot of people and it would even enhance the prestige of the event. Especially so if they invited the Pei family to the wedding.
But this will again involve implicating Third Master Pei to show support for their family.
Yu Tang shrank her shoulders and said sheepishly, “For the Pei family, as they are still in mourning, it would not be possible for them to come, but it might be possible to ask one of the Pei family’s stewards to set off a firecracker or something. There is also Teacher Shen, his family is in Hangzhou, and he’s the main local school teacher, so we’ll need to ask around in advance to see if it’s possible.”
I wonder if Shen Fang still recognizes her, and if she goes to ask Shen Fang, would he be willing to help?
As Yu Tang thought about it, she sighed internally.
But Yu Yuan’s eyes lit up and he said enthusiastically, “That’s a good idea.”
Because their Yu family was small, most of the people they knew were all locals living in Qingzhu Lane, so at very most they would only fill seven or eight tables, and together with the scholars from Lin’an City, probably not more than twelve tables altogether. If all goes well, their problems will be solved.
Yu Yuan exclaimed, “Then let’s hurry up and draw up a list.”
For the actual invitations, Yu Wen probably had to step in.
However, Yu Tang did not go to grind the ink, but instead consulted with Madam Wang and Madam Chen. “About brother’s social status, is there a need to elevate it?”
If Yu Yuan takes on the role as the sole heir of the Yu family and supports both Yu Families, Yu Wen will become an official father in name, thus his circle of scholar friends would naturally come and attend the wedding as a sign of support. However, in that case, Yu Tang can only be married off instead of recruiting a son-in-law. This has its own pros and cons.
Madam Wang didn’t wait for Madam Chen to speak up but said immediately, “There is no need to discuss this with eldest uncle and your father, just announce that it’s a nephew’s marriage, you should not make things too concrete, lest Ah-tang’s marriage be adversely impacted.”
In Madam Wang’s opinion, it was a good thing that Yu Tang wanted to recruit a son-in-law for her marriage – if she could recruit a good one, everything will naturally fall into place. However, should Yu Tang’s marriage remain unsettled in the next two or three years, they would still have sufficient time to choose a suitable and good family for her to marry into.
Of course, Madam Chen thought the same, and thus didn’t graciously give her consent on this matter. After all, this involved Yutang’s lifelong happiness, and although she too loved her nephew, Yu Yuan, she definitely loved her own biological daughter more.
However, the fact that Madam Wang was so considerate of Yutang made Madam Chen appreciate her kindness.
She replied, “Don’t fret, when Huili and eldest uncle are back, we can discuss it properly, and come up with a better solution.”
Madam Wang nodded. The four of them sat together again and discussed for a while. Finally, when Yu Bo and Yu Wen accompanied Master Wu and other people back to the store, the two brothers were all red in the face from all the drinking and their speech was slurred, so it was not a good time to talk about serious things. It was only until the next day when the Yu brothers were completely sober that the two families sat down again to discuss the demands of the Xiang family.
Yu Bo, of course, did not agree.
He was outraged and snapped, “Our Yu family has always been honest and modest in our bearing, we aren’t capable of excessive flattery to increase our family’s prestige unlike the Xiang family.”
Yu Yuan’s face turned pale.
Was it because he was afraid that the wedding would be called off?
Yu Tang once again felt Yu Yuan’s deep commitment towards this marriage.
In her previous life, the Gao family’s relatively modest requests were all met with a lukewarm response from Yu Yuan, and tensions arose between the two families even before Madam Gao married in, and Yu Yuan had never interceded on Madam Gao’s behalf nor lowered his head.
This clearly showed that Lady Xiang and her brother were meant to be together.
Yu Tang slanted her eyes and smiled. She brought a plate of mandarin oranges to her eldest uncle, and signalled to Yu Yuan with her eyes, before leaving the room and spoke with Yu Yuan bracing the chilly wind outside.
“You’re so uneasy now, sister-in-law must also be unsettled too.” She urged Yu Yuan, “She is now living with the Xiang family, so it’s difficult to exchange correspondences. Do you want to find a way to comfort sister-in-law?”
Yu Yuan was still a bit reserved at first, but he couldn’t help but soften up under Yu Tang’s knowing gaze and said in a low voice, “How, how can I reassure her?”
Yu Tang laughed, “I’ll make some flower headpieces for sister-in-law, and you can have someone deliver them to her.”
Yu Yuan hurriedly asked, “Is that appropriate?”
“It’s perfectly fine!” Yu Tang said, “What’s wrong with giving my sister-in-law flowers? However, I have some conditions before making the flower headpieces for sister-in-law.”
Yu Yuan gave a chestnut to Yu Tang as he replied, “You are her younger sister-in-law, how could you even think about bargaining for favours?”
Yu Tong held her head in dismay and scolded Yu Yuan that just because he had a wife, he didn’t care about his sister anymore. Yu Yuan was so ashamed that his face turned so red that it could drip blood. He pleaded for mercy and promised to buy Yu Tang a custom-made silver bracelet worth five taels when he got married before Yu Tang agreed.
Putting all jokes aside, Yu Tang said in seriousness. “I want to go to Hangzhou City. Brother, come accompany me.”
Chapter 94: Satisfied
By the time Yu Wen and Yu Yuan sent off the people from the Xiang family and rushed over, Pei Yan had already left and Yu Bo was greeting various shopkeepers and others who came to congratulate them on the opening of the store, people like Master Wu, and inviting them to go to the restaurant for a meal. Upon seeing Yu Wen, Yu Bo couldn’t help but smile and pulled his brother aside, who was just about to greet Master Wu and the others, and said quietly, “Our Ah-tang, she’s a national treasure. Today, Third Master Pei came over, and if it wasn’t for her, it would have resulted in a huge disaster.”
Hearing this, Yu Tang must have done something remarkable yet again.
Yu Wen immediately smiled and said with keen interest, “Tell me quickly, what exactly happened?”
Yu Bo told Yu Wen about how it was Yu Tang who entertained Pei Yan, and had thoughtfully arranged for a vegetarian banquet to be sent to the Pei’s residence, and concluded with an exclamation, “At that time, we didn’t think of arranging anything like that either. And the vegetarian banquet was from Zhaoming Temple no less!”
It was a half-day’s journey from Zhaoming Temple to Lin’an City, so they definitely wouldn’t have entertained such a request. This time they accepted the order from the Yu family only because the Yu family was sending the vegetarian banquet to the Pei family. With all this fanfare, before tomorrow, everyone would know that Pei Yan personally went to congratulate the Yu family’s store opening, and in turn, the Yu family made a special trip to send a vegetarian banquet to the Pei residence as a show of appreciation.
Yu Wen was overjoyed and felt that it was a great pity that his daughter was born a girl. Otherwise, she would have been far more outstanding than Yu Yuan. However, these words were not appropriate to be said aloud as his brother might misconstrue it as him not being able to raise his son well. He could only feel secretly pleased in his heart and said modestly, “What words are you saying? This is only because Brother and Ah Yuan taught her well. Otherwise, being a young girl, who would listen to her?”
Yu Bo didn’t think much of it. Since his brother was being modest, he too must be polite. The two brothers continued exchanging compliments for a while, and when they saw that the guests were all headed to the restaurant under Xia Pinggui’s guidance, they stopped their chitchat and went over to greet the guests together.
Yu Yuan followed his father and uncle in silence, thinking over what the Xiang family had said.
He and Lady Xiang’s wedding date was fixed, and according to the Xiang family, people in Fuyang were saying that Madam Xiang was too harsh on her stepdaughter. Madam Xiang became greatly upset, so Master Xiang’s intention was for the wedding to be an extravagant affair, so that everyone would see Lady Xiang’s importance to the Xiang Family. The Yu family was a family of average means, therefore all the costly wedding expenses like chicken, duck, fish and various others will all be borne by the Xiang Family. The Yu Family only needed to leave everything to them and wait for the wedding day.
Madam Wang was not around when this topic was discussed, Yu Wen and Madam Chen were not in a position to decide for them, and Yu Yuan was still a junior and could not speak freely. Thus, they could only send the Xiang family away first without making any sort of commitment. However, the Xiang family’s intentions were clear, so after the business matters of the store was settled, both his father and uncle would discuss how to handle it.
He had great sympathy for Lady Xiang.
Nobody wished to be born in such a family. Although the Xiang family’s request was a little insulting, Yu Yuan did not want to make things difficult for Lady Xiang.
He was only worried that with in-laws like this, they would have trouble in future.
However, he would not obey the Xiang family’s instructions in everything, lest they think their Yu family was easily bullied, leading to more and more outrageous demands. Still, Yu Yuan had yet to think of a good way to balance keeping Lady Xiang from getting upset as well as preserving the Yu family’s reputation.
After listening to his father’s words, he suddenly wanted to find Yu Tang for ideas.
In any case, Yu Tang was a girl, and women were generally more adept at dealing with domestic household affairs. Since she was able to placate Third Master Pei, she would certainly be able to do the same with the Xiang family.
As soon as Yu Yuan thought of this, he instantly cheered up.
When the banquet at the restaurant coming to a close, he went to pay the bill, and then found an excuse to quietly slip out and return to the store.
Yu Tang hadn’t left the store yet. Madam Chen also came rushing over, and together with Madam Wang, the three of them were sitting around the desk in the accounting room discussing. When they caught sight of Yu Yuan, they all unanimously halted the conversation, and Madam Wang even forced a smile and said, “You’re back! How did things go at the restaurant? Did your father drink too much? Why didn’t you return together with your father and uncle?”
Yu Yuan thought for a moment, without evading the issue, he said frankly, “Mother, aunt, you were just discussing the Xiang family and me, right?”
Madam Wang and Madam Chen exchanged looks, and after a brief pause, they felt that there was no need to hide it from Yu Yuan. Madam Wang answered, “Yes, your aunt and I were talking about your marriage to Lady Xiang. This Xiang family is really a nuisance. It’s problematic for us whether we agree or reject it. Earlier, your aunt was thinking that since this is your marriage, you have to be willing to accept it – all other things are minor issues. We will do according to what the Xiang family says.”
After all was said and done, the root of the problem was money.
If they didn’t lack in silver, as the adage goes ‘sparing no expenses to marry a daughter, lowering oneself to obtain a daughters-in-law’, no matter what demands the Xiang family had, their Yu family could simply accede.
Yu Tang kept her head low as she listened to the elders talking, but in her heart she was thinking about the auction, and if she could obtain the silver before her eldest cousin’s wedding. If they couldn’t collect it yet, could they borrow some from the Pei family first?
Yu Yuan turned to look at Yu Tang and asked, “What do you think? What should our family do?”
Both Madam Wang and Madam Chen were dumbfounded.
Yu Tang was struck speechless for a moment.
Yu Yuan continued, “I heard Father say earlier that when Third Master Pei came over, it was your resourcefulness and tact that prevented catastrophe from occurring. So why don’t you help me out with on this as well?”
Listening to his tone of voice, Yu Yuan still wanted to support Lady Xiang, only that he was discontented with the Xiang family.
Yu Tang breathed out a sigh of relief.
That’s good.
She feared that her brother and Lady Xiang would have a fallout during the wedding which would then affect the couple’s relationship.
She had to do something about it!
YuTang’s mind raced as she spoke, “The Xiang family only said it has to be a big and grand marriage celebration, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be very expensive. It could mean to have the wedding follow a very high standard, for example, inviting all the notable people in Lin’an to attend……”
In this way, the wedding reception would not require inviting a lot of people and it would even enhance the prestige of the event. Especially so if they invited the Pei family to the wedding.
But this will again involve implicating Third Master Pei to show support for their family.
Yu Tang shrank her shoulders and said sheepishly, “For the Pei family, as they are still in mourning, it would not be possible for them to come, but it might be possible to ask one of the Pei family’s stewards to set off a firecracker or something. There is also Teacher Shen, his family is in Hangzhou, and he’s the main local school teacher, so we’ll need to ask around in advance to see if it’s possible.”
I wonder if Shen Fang still recognizes her, and if she goes to ask Shen Fang, would he be willing to help?
As Yu Tang thought about it, she sighed internally.
But Yu Yuan’s eyes lit up and he said enthusiastically, “That’s a good idea.”
Because their Yu family was small, most of the people they knew were all locals living in Qingzhu Lane, so at very most they would only fill seven or eight tables, and together with the scholars from Lin’an City, probably not more than twelve tables altogether. If all goes well, their problems will be solved.
Yu Yuan exclaimed, “Then let’s hurry up and draw up a list.”
For the actual invitations, Yu Wen probably had to step in.
However, Yu Tang did not go to grind the ink, but instead consulted with Madam Wang and Madam Chen. “About brother’s social status, is there a need to elevate it?”
If Yu Yuan takes on the role as the sole heir of the Yu family and supports both Yu Families, Yu Wen will become an official father in name, thus his circle of scholar friends would naturally come and attend the wedding as a sign of support. However, in that case, Yu Tang can only be married off instead of recruiting a son-in-law. This has its own pros and cons.
Madam Wang didn’t wait for Madam Chen to speak up but said immediately, “There is no need to discuss this with eldest uncle and your father, just announce that it’s a nephew’s marriage, you should not make things too concrete, lest Ah-tang’s marriage be adversely impacted.”
In Madam Wang’s opinion, it was a good thing that Yu Tang wanted to recruit a son-in-law for her marriage – if she could recruit a good one, everything will naturally fall into place. However, should Yu Tang’s marriage remain unsettled in the next two or three years, they would still have sufficient time to choose a suitable and good family for her to marry into.
Of course, Madam Chen thought the same, and thus didn’t graciously give her consent on this matter. After all, this involved Yutang’s lifelong happiness, and although she too loved her nephew, Yu Yuan, she definitely loved her own biological daughter more.
However, the fact that Madam Wang was so considerate of Yutang made Madam Chen appreciate her kindness.
She replied, “Don’t fret, when Huili and eldest uncle are back, we can discuss it properly, and come up with a better solution.”
Madam Wang nodded. The four of them sat together again and discussed for a while. Finally, when Yu Bo and Yu Wen accompanied Master Wu and other people back to the store, the two brothers were all red in the face from all the drinking and their speech was slurred, so it was not a good time to talk about serious things. It was only until the next day when the Yu brothers were completely sober that the two families sat down again to discuss the demands of the Xiang family.
Yu Bo, of course, did not agree.
He was outraged and snapped, “Our Yu family has always been honest and modest in our bearing, we aren’t capable of excessive flattery to increase our family’s prestige unlike the Xiang family.”
Yu Yuan’s face turned pale.
Was it because he was afraid that the wedding would be called off?
Yu Tang once again felt Yu Yuan’s deep commitment towards this marriage.
In her previous life, the Gao family’s relatively modest requests were all met with a lukewarm response from Yu Yuan, and tensions arose between the two families even before Madam Gao married in, and Yu Yuan had never interceded on Madam Gao’s behalf nor lowered his head.
This clearly showed that Lady Xiang and her brother were meant to be together.
Yu Tang slanted her eyes and smiled. She brought a plate of mandarin oranges to her eldest uncle, and signalled to Yu Yuan with her eyes, before leaving the room and spoke with Yu Yuan bracing the chilly wind outside.
“You’re so uneasy now, sister-in-law must also be unsettled too.” She urged Yu Yuan, “She is now living with the Xiang family, so it’s difficult to exchange correspondences. Do you want to find a way to comfort sister-in-law?”
Yu Yuan was still a bit reserved at first, but he couldn’t help but soften up under Yu Tang’s knowing gaze and said in a low voice, “How, how can I reassure her?”
Yu Tang laughed, “I’ll make some flower headpieces for sister-in-law, and you can have someone deliver them to her.”
Yu Yuan hurriedly asked, “Is that appropriate?”
“It’s perfectly fine!” Yu Tang said, “What’s wrong with giving my sister-in-law flowers? However, I have some conditions before making the flower headpieces for sister-in-law.”
Yu Yuan gave a chestnut to Yu Tang as he replied, “You are her younger sister-in-law, how could you even think about bargaining for favours?”
Yu Tong held her head in dismay and scolded Yu Yuan that just because he had a wife, he didn’t care about his sister anymore. Yu Yuan was so ashamed that his face turned so red that it could drip blood. He pleaded for mercy and promised to buy Yu Tang a custom-made silver bracelet worth five taels when he got married before Yu Tang agreed.
Putting all jokes aside, Yu Tang said in seriousness. “I want to go to Hangzhou City. Brother, come accompany me.”
