LOFJN Chapter 13

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Although rain in autumn was nothing new, this pouring rain still exceeded many people’s expectations.

Generally, the academy would have a two-day holiday, but Qi Ming’s academy was a little more strict. He only had a few days off as a first year and then had to study hard afterwards.

Qi Ming, who was originally supposed to return, stayed at the academy and waited for the heavy rain to pass before coming back. Qi Yun also stayed at the village and looked after it with Father Qi.

Qi Yun didn’t stop the plan to rebuild the wine shop. Steward Song visited regularly every day, coming early in the morning and leaving before lunch, no matter rain or shine.

Instead of going to the study room, they often talked in the small (side) room.

Steward Song’s mood got better day by day. Even the heavy rain couldn’t wash away his joy. On the other hand, Qi Yun seemed very calm. He obediently took his medicine and regularly rested, which made the doctor who came to see him very happy.

To be fair, the former Qi Yun was not an obedient patient. He didn’t take his prescribed medicine on time, and his most frequent question during consultation was how long he could live. This made the doctor particularly frustrated.

Now it was different. Qi Yun’s body was slowly on the mend and he didn’t mention life or death. His attitude was really good. The doctor was naturally happy for him.

At the same time, the doctor was also happy for himself. If Qi Yun got better, the doctor’s consultation fees would be heavier than before.

It’s the job of a doctor to save the dying and heal the wounded, but the doctor was also a human being. Since people always have to eat, he would certainly not refuse extra money.

The Little Ginseng watched Qi Yun’s body every day. As for what he asked Steward Song to do in the shop, Ye Jiao never asked.

After the rain cleared up, Ye Jiao began to walk to Liu Shi’s place again. Steward Song was usually gone by the time she came back.

A bout of autumn rain and a bout of cold weather – taking advantage of the sun after the heavy rain, Liu Shi told Fang Shi and Ye Jiao to dry out the winter clothes and prepare to wear them.

That day, Qi Yun brought up a certain subject: “Jiao Niang, I said I would teach you how to write Chinese characters earlier.”

Ye Jiao was eating an apple as he spoke. Hearing this, she immediately nodded and excitedly asked him: “Are we starting now?”

Originally, Qi Yun just didn’t want Ye Jiao to be bored, but he could neither embroider nor arrange flowers. After thinking about it, he remembered Ye Jiao saying before that she wanted to read.

The first book Qi Ming learned was taught by Qi Yun. Now Qi Ming has the ability to take the exam; Qi Yun felt that he could teach his wife as well.

However, Qi Yun didn’t know whether Ye Jiao was trying to make him happy or whether she was sincere when she mentioned how she wanted to read. Seeing Ye Jiao’s happy promise this time, he knew that his Lady had a heart to learn.

This made Qi Yun smile; he let Tie Zi and Xiao Su bring back several books from the study. Ye Jiao excitedly started learning to read.

Unlike an ordinary child’s learning experience, Ye Jiao recognized characters quickly. Often after Qi Yun read them to her, Ye Jiao could generally recognize the characters. The words she used only changed in writing; the meanings were roughly the same. All she had to do was match them one by one.

But after learning for nearly ten days, Ye Jiao discovered that compared to Qi Yun’s brilliant penmanship, her handwriting looked particularly ugly…

The Little Ginseng defended herself in her heart: it’s not her fault. She only had leaves in the past, but now she switched to hands. They’re much harder to control than leaves!

Ye Jiao, who was accustomed to writing with leaves, picked up the brush again. She unconsciously wrote round characters.

The characters written by Xiang Gong were horizontal and vertical.

The words she wrote seemed like a big Lantern Festival…

Finishing up the big characters she wrote with a shake of her hand, Ye Jiao suddenly saw that Qi Yun’s expression was a little strange.

It was like he was holding something in by squeezing the corners of his mouth. His earlobes were also a little red.

Ye Jiao glanced at him strangely: “Xiang Gong, are you feeling okay?”

Qi Yun waved his hand and said he was okay. His voice was soft: “I’m okay, Jiao Niang. Haven’t you wanted to read the medical scriptures? I just asked Xiao Su to retrieve it and put it on the second floor of the shelf on the right side of the study. If you grab it, I can read it to you.”

Hearing this, Ye Jiao sprung up and walked towards the door.

Suddenly there was a low laugh behind her. Ye Jiao turned her head at a loss and found Qi Yun sitting on the soft couch with a calm expression as if nothing happened. Feeling Ye Jiao’s gaze, the man gently asked her: “What’s wrong?”

Ye Jiao blinked, thinking that she must have heard wrong. She smiled: “Nothing.” Then she opened the door and asked Xiao Su to go to the study together.

In the room, Qi Yun stood up in his coat, walked around the charcoal basin in the middle of the room, and picked up the large characters written by Ye Jiao.

Ugly, they’re truly ugly. The characters were soft and seemed as if they were laying on the ground, too lazy to get up.

If his third brother wrote such characters, Qi Yun was afraid that he would beat him.

But when Ye Jiao wrote it, Qi Yun could see a child-like, fun energy.

After looking at it for a while, he really thought that this kind of unconscious circular font was quite cute.

Just now, he didn’t laugh for fear of demotivating Ye Jiao’s desire to study. Since Ye Jiao was gone, Qi Yun no longer held back. He curled his mouth upwards and laughed out loud.

I really married a treasure. [1]

On the way to the study, Ye Jiao bumped into Steward Song.

It was already late afternoon, and usually Steward Song came in the morning; it’s odd to see him around at this time. Ye Jiao stopped and smiled: “Is Steward Song here to see Xiang Gong?”

Steward Song bowed his hands towards Ye Jiao and replied with a pant: “Seen… I’ve seen the Second Young Lady, but I’m not sure where the Second Young Master is now?”

Ye Jiao thought he was running and hurriedly said: “Don’t be in a rush, Steward Song. Xiang Gong is in the yard. Go to the small room and wait.” With that, Ye Jiao turned her head and looked at Xiao Su: “Take Steward Song there. Remember to send some hot tea to relax Steward Song. I’ll call Xiang Gong.”

Steward Song’s panting was not because he was running out of breath, but because he was excited.

Instead of following Xiao Su, he handed the account book in his arms to Ye Jiao. He whispered to Ye Jiao: “Second Young Lady, I won’t go to see Young Master then. Just give this to the Second Young Master, and help me pass on a message.”

Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. These days, she’s been helping Steward Song deliver more than a few things to Qi Yun. She reached out and took the account book, saying: “Go ahead and speak.”

“Just tell the Second Young Master – let’s send it!”

Ye Jiao didn’t quite understand the meaning, but she remembered the message in her heart.

When she went back to tell Qi Yun, she saw the man smile. He whispered softly while looking through the account book: “Steward Song is really easy to satisfy.”

Ye Jiao was a little curious: “Xiang Gong, what do you mean?”

Qi Yun squeezed her earlobe and smiled without speaking.

A month passed in a flash. On the first day of the new year, Qi Ming finally got a holiday (from school) and found someone to bring a message saying he would return at night.

Liu Shi misses her little son very much. Because of the rainstorm, Qi Ming hasn’t been home for nearly two months. Liu Shi prepared a table of dishes for his return.

Actually, it’s enough to order other people to do these things, but Liu Shi always felt that the waiting time was very difficult if you didn’t have anything to do.

Ye Jiao followed her in and out, holding a plate, carrying a bowl, and watching the cooking process along the way, all with a look of exclamation.

It turned out that those delicious dishes were made in such a way. Ye Jiao was filled with respect towards the chefs of the house.

Upon seeing this, Fang Shi gave Little Stone to Liu Pozi to carry and went to help herself.

When the mother-in-law and daughters-in-law came to a rest, Father Qi brought Qi Zhao home.

Following them back were several stewards. Only then did Liu Shi remember that today wasn’t only the youngest son’s school holiday, but also the reconciliation day [2] that happened bi-monthly.

She didn’t go forward and just asked Liu Pozi to serve them tea. She took her two daughters-in-law to sit in the left room next to the main hall.

There was a plate of peach pastries on the table. Ye Jiao looked at Liu Shi. Seeing her nod, Ye Jiao reached out to pick one to eat. Fang Shi was afraid of gaining weight and resisted.

The left room was just a door away from the main hall. Since the door was open, the sounds from the main hall could clearly be heard.

Several managers were separately seated, but their expressions were all different.

The proudest ones were the stewards of the village, since the village usually earned the most money.

The Qi family was the largest wealthy household among ten miles and eight villages, and the largest landlord. They’ve lived in peace and stability for many years by relying on the land to make a fortune.

As soon as a few more stewards entered the room, the steward of the village smiled and said: “Master, this year’s harvest is good. The Eldest Young Master has been keeping an eye on it these days. Even a heavy rain didn’t cause too many losses for the tenants. There are seven warehouses, and three are full.”

Ye Jiao munched on the peach pastries. She didn’t know the significance of having three full warehouses, but it was clear in Fang Shi’s heart. By selling all that grain, they would have an income of 50 guan.

[3]

This immediately straightened Fang Shi’s back as she proudly smiled.

Qi Zhao was in charge of the village, so naturally Fang Shi was happy.

Father Qi also smiled, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned his head and looked at the remaining stewards.

Some of these stewards were in charge of the Qi family’s orchard, and some handled the medicine garden, pharmacy, and wine shop, but none of them spoke. They secretly cursed the village’s stewards to the sky.

If they came out with such a high standard, wouldn’t anyone that followed up be ashamed? 

They were all making eyes at each other, hoping the others would step up to the plate first and pick up the slack for the group.

At this moment, Steward Song slowly stood up.

The other stewards weren’t surprised that he was willing to stand.

Wine shops were relatively profitable outside of the village. Usually they received 20 or 30 guan every two months. Although it wasn’t as profitable as others’ 50 guan, it’s not too bad.

Steward Song was not young, and he had more wrinkles on his face than Father Qi, but he looked radiant at that moment. His voice was full of confidence: “Master, I brought the wine shop’s account book.” With that, he handed over the ledger.

Father Qi didn’t look at it, and just asked: “How’s the income?”

Steward Song seemed to bow his hand modestly, but his voice had an undisguised triumph: “More than a hundred guan.”

“Thud.”

Ye Jiao was holding the peach pastry and looked at Fang Shi’s overturned teacup in surprise. Then the Little Ginseng dabbed her hand with a handkerchief and hugged Little Stone, who was frightened by the noise.

But Liu Shi didn’t respond to any of this, and instead looked at the main hall in astonishment.

A hundred guan?

On such a bright and sunny day, Steward Song must be dreaming!

***

The author has something to say: 

Ye Jiao: Does my handwriting look good?

Xiao Su: Pretty good

Ye Jiao: Why are you holding chopsticks on your head?

Xiaosu: If you talk nonsense then you’ll get struck by lightning.

Ye Jiao: … Hmph.

=w=

It’s a little bit late, please send red envelopes to your relatives Q3Q

***

Footnotes:

[1] Literal translation are the characters used for “baby,” which are also the characters used for “treasure.” In this context I feel like it would make sense to use either one: “baby” because of her child-like writing and desire to learn, “treasure” because she’s a one-of-a-kind woman/spouse. But I’m not a fan of infantalizing women, so “treasure” it is.

[2] More specifically, the day they reconcile the accounts/businesses of the family.

[3] Guan: string of cash coins. They varied by region but during the Qing dynasty, for example, 1 guan would be a string of 1000 cash coins, valued at 1 tael of silver. Wikipedia

***

Translator Notes:

Honestly these past two chapters had some new Chinese phrases for me. Who knew that the literal translation of “fresh” could also mean “curiosity”? Lol, good thing I consult with my mom about these things. She likes reading Chinese webnovels herself in her free time.

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