Chapter 14: 14

After Steward Song’s announcement, he didn’t look up for fear that the pride in his eyes would be obvious and annoying to others.

However, Steward Song’s ears stood upright and clearly heard the sound of inhaling, which made him particularly gratified. 

As a matter of fact, as a steward, no matter how hard you work, the money you earn won’t fall directly into your pocket.

If you make more money, the employer will give more; if you make less, the employer will give less. The owner is still the boss.

Working in one place, everyone wants to win a jackpot. How much money you made in two months is how much strength you have!

Most of these stewards are older people who’ve followed the Qi family for many years, and they can only achieve this position if they’re trusted. Even if the three brothers of the Qi family are harmonious, the father is kind and the sons are filial, the people under them aren’t harmonious. It’s common for the stewards to quarrel and squabble in private.

Of course, the two stewards of the village are always one step ahead. The more money they earn, the straighter their backs [1] .

Now that Steward Song’s wine shop emerged, why shouldn’t he take this opportunity to be proud?

Qi Zhao was a little surprised. Because he stayed with Father Qi during reconciliation days, Qi Zhao knew very well of the shops’ prospects. While the wine shop makes a good amount of income, it wasn’t that much.

After the surprise though, he looked at Steward Song with a smile and heartily said: “No wonder Steward Song has been diligent these days. The income has multiplied three or four times – great!”

Hearing this, Fang Shi who was in the left room gritted her teeth.

What’s so good? The income is someone else’s, not yours. Why are you blindly joining the fun! 

Father Qi quickly looked through the ledger. Although he was illiterate, he could still recognize the numbers written in it.

One hundred and twenty one guan. Black characters on white paper – this couldm’t be fake.

Reaching out his hand to hold off Qi Zhao, who wanted to say something, Father Qi asked: “Steward Song, it’s only been two months. Where did all this income from the wine shop come from?”

It’s not that Father Qi doubted Steward Song; he simply wanted to clarify.

In terms of shop matters, Father Qi didn’t know them well and didn’t pay much attention to them; otherwise, he wouldn’t have given everything to Qi Yun.

But wanting to make money from the shop wasn’t something that happened overnight. Father Qi was naturally happy to see the income, but it was still necessary to ask clearly where it came from.

Put money aside first – it’s more important not to get caught up in trouble.

Steward Song glanced to both sides and saw a pair of curious eyes.

From his understanding, these things weren’t said out in the open. No matter who asked, one would not say.

Fortunately, Qi Yun discovered Steward Song’s thoughts early on and told him beforehand:

“If my father asks how this money was made, you don’t need to be too specific. Just explain in a general way. There’s no need to worry about others secretly learning anything. We’re all a family here and they’re in charge of different stalls. They can figure out what we’re doing as long as they inquire; it’s not good to deliberately conceal it.”

With those rules in mind, Steward Song said to Father Qi: “The Second Young Master asked me to contact several taverns in town a month ago and contracted some of their drinks.”

As soon as the words came out, several stewards’ faces were a little surprised.

Because the Qi family was the largest landlord neighborhood, there’s a lot of grain and the scale of wine-making was not small. They usually sold to nearby people and made money from the wine shop in town. But listening to Steward Song, apparently they were now being sold to taverns in large quantities at low prices?

Shouldn’t this result in a loss? How did they make money instead?

Steward Song didn’t explain, but he was proud. How could they know that today, the Qi family’s wine shop could sell as much wine as they’ve saved. It’s not like the previous years, where they couldn’t sell the stock!

The steward was proud of the aromatic and tasty wines.

The Second Young Master also said that the days of making money were coming – it’s only the beginning. As long as more people tasted the wine and advertised it, the Qi family’s wine shop’s reputation would be out of the park. 

However, Steward Song won’t raise his tail too high; it’s better not to say anything before the money’s in his pocket.

Steward Song calmly stood, trying to resist the tremble in his heart, but everyone could see that he was so happy his beard was about to grow back.

Father Qi wasn’t clear about the logic. He could tell it wasn’t an offensive affair though so he nodded and smiled: “Good job; Steward Song works hard.”

Qi Zhao, who also didn’t understand, didn’t think as deeply as Father Qi. He watched Qi Yun grow up from a young age; even if others were afraid of Qi Yun, as an elder brother Qi Zhao always protected his younger brother. He immediately looked towards Father Qi and said: “Father, I know that Second Brother is capable,” with unconcealable joy on his face.

Of course, Father Qi knew that his eldest son was pure and kind – always speaking to protect his younger brother. But Father Qi was as steady as a bowl of water: “It’s not easy for Steward Song to take care of everything for more than a month, running to and fro. His month’s wages should be a little more padded this time around.”

Steward Song thanked Father Qi and peacefully sat down. At the same time, he happily received the enviable eyes of the people around him.

The other stewards congratulated Steward Song for his “wealth and prosperity” and praised Qi Yun as the “reincarnation of the God of Wealth,” but the atmosphere was not lively. On the contrary, it was a little heavy.

Look at the village: fifty guan.

One’s wine shop: one hundred guan!

These geezers coming from both sides really don’t give people a way to survive. The (other) stewards hated them with a passion. [2]

Among these people, Dong Da, the steward of the pharmacy, looked upwards in thought and wondered if he should go to Second Young Master for a chat?

Putting aside whether or not Second Young Master was the reincarnation of the God of Wealth, as long as the pharmacy shop could be upgraded, Dong Da didn’t mind hugging Second Young Master’s leg and calling him God of Wealth.

In the left room, Ye Jiao held Little Stone and fed him a small piece of a peach pastry.

She could clearly hear what the people outside were saying, but only recognized parts of the conversation. What she understood was that Xiang Gong made money.

Ye Jiao had always believed that Xiang Gong was a capable person.

The difference between Ye Jiao and Fang Shi was that while Fang Shi was humming with pleasure, Ye Jiao didn’t respond much. She was thinking about asking Xiang Gong later what “send it” meant. [3]

The more Liu Shi looked at Ye Jiao, the more satisfied she was.

This child was blessed. Her son’s body was healing, and the shop he managed was making money. These were all great things.

As a wife that took care of the rear house, Liu Shi didn’t understand what was said outside, but she got the feeling that Ye Jiao brought fortune.

Her heart felt comfortable and her face revealed a kinder smile. Liu Shi specially asked Liu Pozi to prepare a bowl of apricot cheese that evening, since she remembered that Ye Jiao liked it.

But compared to Ye Jiao, Fang Shi’s heart wasn’t very happy.

She didn’t like business people. In the past, it seemed right that the shops didn’t make much money, but now that the shops were doing better, Fang Shi felt uncomfortable.

It wasn’t quite jealousy, but after being at the top for a long time and suddenly getting overshadowed, it was inevitable that one would feel uneasy.

Fang Shi didn’t dare express her feelings too obviously on her face and just listened to Liu Shi speak. The whole family was at peace until night fell.

Qi Ming arrived home after nightfall and the whole family had a reunion dinner together.

The doctor told Qi Yun that he still couldn’t leave the house at night, so he didn’t join.

As Qi Yun’s wife, Ye Jiao naturally wanted to attend.

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She also received the apricot cheese Liu Shi prepared for her, but she didn’t eat it. Instead, she asked Xiao Su to find a food container to pack it.

At dinner, Father Qi first praised his second son’s ability, then the rest of the time was devoted to the third son.

Qi Ming was only twelve years old this year. Normally at his age he would be naughty, but since he was a child he’s had the maturity of a young adult.

It’s only been two months since they’ve seen him. With his youth, it seemed like he grew a bit taller than they last saw him.

Qi Ming’s childish face was always calm. Only when Liu Shi heart-achingly talked about how much she missed him did his face get red.

After seeing him look around for a bit, it was clear that Qi Ming was looking for Qi Yun.

He was taught by Qi Yun, so his felt quite close to his second brother.

After dinner, he said to Ye Jiao with a straight face: “Second Sister-in-Law, it’s late today. I’ll wait until tomorrow to see Second Brother.”

“Okay.” Ye Jiao responded with a smile. When Qi Ming left, she picked up the food box and walked back.

Carrying the food box into the yard, she quickly walked to the bedroom door and cracked it open. As soon as Ye Jiao walked in, she quickly closed the door for fear of bringing the cold inside.

After closing the door, dropping the latch, and lowering the curtain, Ye Jiao thought that she would talk to Xiao Su tomorrow to replace the curtain with a thicker one like in the main hall.

As soon as she turned around, she saw Qi Yun sitting cross-legged on the soft couch with his coat on.

With his back to the door, sitting upright and focused, Qi Yun didn’t seem to notice Ye Jiao coming in.

Ye Jiao gently put the food container down and entered the inner room. She stood behind Qi Yun, leaning her head out.

On the soft couch stood a low table with a pine-colored chessboard. Qi Yun had two chess baskets next to his hand with pieces – one had black pieces and one had white pieces – he was slowly arranging on the board.

Ye Jiao was about to take another look, but she felt someone catch her hand.

As soon as the woman turned her head, she met the man’s eyes.

It was already night and the candles in the room covered everything with a soft, ginger-tinted light. Even Qi Yun’s unceasingly pale face looked softer now.

He originally held Ye Jiao’s hand with one hand. When he felt the woman’s fingertips were slightly cold, he released the chess piece and held her hand with both of his, warming the temperature of her palm. He asked: “Why is your hand so cold?” 

Ye Jiao stretched sideways next to him, tucked her fingertips into the man’s palm, and smiled: “Mother made apricot cheese. I brought it back for you.”

Qi Yun looked at her disapprovingly: “It’s good if you eat it yourself. It’s so cold, why bother bringing it back and letting yourself freeze?”

Ye Jiao still smiled and looked at him: “I promised Xiang Gong.”

Qi Yun thought for a while before remembering that Ye Jiao said she would bring back apricot cheese for him to eat. As time passed, Qi Yun forgot, but Ye Jiao clearly remembered it.

With a warm heart, Qi Yun held her other hand and softly whispered: “Next time, let someone else send it over. Don’t always strain yourself.”

Ye Jiao responded with a sound while her eyes looked at the chessboard.

Qi Yun originally played chess to exercise his mind. Seeing her interest, he asked: “Want to learn?”

This time, Ye Jiao’s agreement was not as enthusiastic as before, when she was learning to read.

She learned how to read in order to understand medical scriptures and to not be completely illiterate. Even if it was difficult and troublesome, she was happy to learn.

However, these black pieces and white pieces looked difficult (to use) at first glance. After learning, she still wouldn’t know how to use it. Ye Jiao frankly asked: “Is it difficult? If it is, I won’t learn.”

Qi Yun couldn’t help but curl up the corners of his mouth. Still holding her hand, he let her sit opposite to him and slowly said: “Let’s not learn anything hard. We’ll just play a light game of gobang. [4]

As long as Qi Yun said it wasn’t hard, it wasn’t hard. Ye Jiao always trusted her husband and immediately nodded with excitement. 

Qi Yun cleaned up the chess pieces on the board and explained the rules at the same time.

When Ye Jiao heard it, it was really simple.

Holding the chess basket, Ye Jiao was in wonder at how the spirits were actually quite human. It was really interesting.

When playing chess, Qi Yun struck up a conversation and Ye Jiao didn’t hide anything. She told him about what happened during the day in detail.

Qi Yun wasn’t surprised that Steward Song was praised. Although the wine shop was finally on the right track but made much less money than the other big wine shops, it was indeed a great improvement from before.

It was a little surprising to Qi Yun that it exceeded the village’s income, but it wasn’t surprising.

After hearing Fang Shi knocked over the teacup, Qi Yun raised his eyes and softly said: “Jiao Niang, don’t think about it too much.”

Fang Shi was a little stingy and not very bright, but with elder brother Qi Zhao around, nothing big will happen.

Qi Yun just didn’t want Ye Jiao to think too much because of Fang Shi.

Ye Jiao was holding a chess piece and staring at the chessboard, thinking about her next move. Hearing that, she looked at him in surprise: “What’s to care about? Sister-in-law didn’t break our teacup, and mother said she didn’t have to pay for it.”

Qi Yun was taken aback for a moment, then curled up his mouth: “That’s right, Jiao Niang is so smart.”

How could he forget that his wife’s heart was the cleanest – as pure as water – with a kindness rarely seen in ordinary people.

So nice.

After playing a little bit, Qi Yun gave way to her and the two won a game each before clearing the board.

Qi Yun ate apricot cheese while Ye Jiao took down her hair and got ready for bed after washing.

However, before blowing out the candles, Qi Yun sat up from the bed and looked at Ye Jiao who was lying on the soft couch, wrapped in a quilt. He hesitated for a moment before whispering: “Jiao Niang, how about sleeping together at night?

***

The author has something to say: 

Ye Jiao: I won this game!

Qi Yun: Jiao Niang is awesome. [Looks at the hidden chess pieces he stole]

***

Footnotes:

[1] Straight backs due to pride, in comparison to slouching in embarrassment.

[2] Literal translation is that the other stewards had itchy teeth. It describes someone’s hatred to the point of itchy teeth.

[3] If you recall from the previous chapter, this is what Steward Song’s message to Qi Yun was.

[4] Gobang, which is also called Gomoku or Five-in-a-Row, is a simple game using Go pieces. (Wikipedia)

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