She Became A Downfall Noble Lady-Chapter 34 - Great Uncles Complaint
Chapter 34: Chapter 34 Great Uncle’s Complaint
Chapter 34 -34 Great Uncle’s Complaint
Ye Xinyan, of course, didn’t know how the villagers were talking about her family. By the time the family of three got home, it was already nearing noon, and it was time to prepare lunch.
Qi Younian and Ye Xinyan began to put away the items from the cart, taking down the utensils that needed washing and the furniture that needed careful wiping, and immediately set about cleaning them. There was quite a lot to do.
Just as Ye Xinyan had pushed Qi Younian into the house to rest, Qi Yougui walked into the yard. He hadn’t even entered the house when he asked loudly, “Old Second, are you back? How was business today?”
This must be his concern that their sales weren’t good, that they couldn’t sell everything, right?
Ye Xinyan felt amused and quickly ushered the Great Uncle into the house, “Great Uncle, please take a seat inside. My grandfather just went in. It’s perfect timing for you two to have a chat; otherwise, grandfather gets restless.”
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Sure enough, Qi Younian, who had just taken a seat, heard his older brother’s voice from outside and had already gotten off the kang to greet him.
Qi Yougui waved him off repeatedly, “We’re all family; there’s no need for such formalities. You’re not young anymore, and you’ve been tired all morning. Go rest on the kang. Don’t make Ye Zi worry about you.”
The two brothers settled on the kang, and Qi Yougui truly was worried about their little stall not taking off, so he came over to ask about the stall’s situation.
Nanny Jin brought two bowls of coarse tea for the two old masters.
Qi Younian pushed one of the tea bowls to Qi Yougui, explaining, “Today was our first day setting up the stall. We sold things cheap, so the sales were alright, but we didn’t make much money.”
Qi Yougui immediately looked worried, “How could you sell it so cheap? If you raise the prices tomorrow, people may not accept it. What if someone makes trouble or decides not to patronize you anymore?”
Qi Younian smiled and said, “Don’t worry, we’re running a proper stall and have paid the Silver to the constables in charge of the market at the Yamen, so we’re not afraid of troublemakers. We also told the customers today that it was a special offer just for them to try the taste, so it was cheaper. Tomorrow, we’ll go back to the original price. Brother, rest assured, there will be no trouble.”
“That’s good then, we are all poor folks without a backer or acquaintances in the county town. You must be very careful when running your stall, so as not to offend anyone.”
Qi Yougui, a farmer like this, had spent his whole life working the land and would not venture into the town unless necessary. He was genuinely unfamiliar with the business matters of the town. Hearing Qi Younian’s casual explanation made him half-believe.
The two men drank their tea, chatting away, and around noon, Nanny Jin finished preparing lunch.
Qi Younian said to Ye Xinyan as she entered, “Ye Zi, run over to your Great Uncle’s house and tell your Great Aunt that the Great Uncle’s lunch will be eaten here, so they don’t have to wait.”
Qi Yougui tried to refuse, “No need, I’ll go back to eat. The three of you got up early and have worked hard, you should eat something simple and get some early rest too.”
“Big Brother, you never come over these days, and now that you have some free time, we’re having such a good conversation. Big Brother must stay. There’s no rush for me to rest after lunch. We had some Corn Pancakes left over from the Rice tofu stall today. They won’t taste as good tomorrow and can’t be sold. Let’s have them at home, and Big Brother, you can also try how different this pancake is.”
Qi Younian pressed Qi Yougui back into his seat.
Qi Yougui then looked for Ye Xinyan, but she had already run off like a wisp of smoke, so he sat down again.
After lunch, Qi Yougui, empathetic to the strain on his younger brother’s family, took his leave early.
Ye Xinyan also persuaded Qi Younian and Nanny Jin to put down their work and take a good nap.
This business needs to continue for a long time, so from now on, every day we have to get up and start working before the Mao Hour, sleep must be ensured, or even if we earn a few silvers, if we collapse from exhaustion, it wouldn’t be worth it.
After the noon nap, Ye Xinyan and Nanny Jin began preparing for tomorrow’s stall, grinding rice batter, making toppings, and organizing all the necessary bowls, chopsticks, pots, and pans. Qi Younian took care of the livestock shed and the donkey cart, seeing to the donkey’s forage and water.
While the three were busy, Qi Yourong walked in from outside, came to Qi Younian’s side, and teased with a laugh, “Second brother only cares about being close to the eldest brother and forgets about his third brother.”
Ye Xinyan stepped forward, took the bucket Qi Younian was using to give the donkey water, “Grandpa has gone to chat with Great Uncle, I can take care of this.”
“Yourong is here.” Qi Younian greeted Qi Yourong and, after a slight hesitation, handed the bucket to Ye Xinyan.
Qi Younian and Qi Yourong walked into the house, and Qi Yourong continued the previous topic, “I heard that Big Brother had a good meal at your place at noon, and you two didn’t think of me at all, do you really consider me as your own brother or not?”
In a few words, he managed to make Qi Younian laugh and cry, “It was just that we happened to be around at mealtime, and we ate together, it’s not worth making such a big deal about it.”
Qi Yourong hummed vaguely and sat down on the kang, asking, “What’s for dinner in your house? I heard your corn pancakes are fluffy, soft, and delicious.”
Nanny Jin, who came up with the teacups, paused upon hearing this, realizing that rumors had spread about their family eating lunch.
The corn pancakes eaten at noon were leftovers from the breakfast stall. Making the pancakes requires the corn batter to ferment, and it’s too late to prepare them for tonight’s dinner.
Qi Younian passed the teacup to Qi Yourong and waved Nanny Jin off to continue her work.
He then said indifferently to Qi Yourong, “The corn pancake that Big Brother ate at noon was left over from the morning sale, we don’t have any ready now.”
Upon hearing this, Qi Yourong became unhappy, “Look how you talk, Second Brother, if there aren’t any ready, can’t we just make them now? Are you not going to prepare dinner? Are you unwilling to offer your own brother a simple meal?”
Qi Younian sighed inwardly and explained, “That dish is called ‘spread cake,’ and it’s fluffy because the aged and corn flours are fermented together. Ye Zi always prepares the dough the night before it’s used, so it’s ready in the early morning. Even if we start now, it won’t be ready for dinner.”
Is that so? Qi Yourong’s face showed displeasure, and he grumbled, “Second Brother, really, we all have hard lives. You and Big Brother enjoy good things, and you don’t think of another brother who eats chaff and swallows vegetables.”
Qi Younian said helplessly, “Let’s wait for tomorrow then. If any pancakes are left over at the stall tomorrow, I will have Ye Zi send them to you. Is that okay now?”
Qi Yourong immediately brightened, “Okay, okay, what’s not okay with that? Also, Second Brother, if there are any leftover Rice tofu, bring those along too. We’re not particular at home, we can eat them reheated, we don’t mind if they’re cold.”
The Rice tofu from Second Brother’s house were loved by both adults and children at home and should be more popular than the corn pancakes. If they could have both, then all the better—they could also enjoy the delicacies of the wealthier county town residents.
Just before he left, the old woman servant and daughter-in-law were nagging about the food business of the Second Branch family, talking about how the Second Branch was going to live better days. If Second Brother could bring the food sold for money in the county town to his own family, it would be even better. The family could all enjoy a few bites of fine food, saving him from their incessant nagging.
With the matter of tasty food settled, Qi Yourong didn’t linger for the wild vegetable pancakes at Second Brother’s home. After sitting for a short while, he said his goodbyes.
Qi Yourong had not even left the house when he met Qi Cheng coming in with a bundle of firewood. Seeing Qi Cheng, who always helped the Second Branch with physical work, Qi Yourong felt no discomfort and greeted him cheerfully, “Chengzi has arrived, eh?”
Without waiting for Qi Cheng to respond, he went home satisfied and at ease.
