Transmigration: A Farm Girl's Brocade-Chapter 69 - Special Enthusiasm (Please Subscribe)_1
Chapter 69: Chapter 69 Special Enthusiasm (Please Subscribe)_1
Chapter 69: Chapter 69 Special Enthusiasm (Please Subscribe)_1
The Third Watch of the Night
The next day, Qian Sangui asked Lady Wu to go cut two jin of meat and invited Old woman Qian and Qian Dagui father and son to come over for drinks in the evening. He wanted to thank them for looking after the family all these years and to discuss fixing up the house.
He didn’t invite Qian Ergui father and son because of Lady Tang and Qian Mandua; Qian Sangui didn’t want to have too much to do with the second branch of the family.
At noon, after finishing the farm work, Lady Wu went to the village store to buy a jin of wine; then she headed to the Xu Family Meat Shop in Darong Village to buy meat.
When Lady Wu returned, she didn’t look too pleased and whispered to Qian Sangui, “Boss Xu was especially warm today—I asked for two jin of meat, but he cut a full three instead, and insisted on giving me the pig lungs that were left. He said I could pay later and that it was a gift for us to eat. How could that be right? I can’t take advantage of others, especially not from Yama Raja Xu’s family. I insisted on paying, so he only charged thirty wen money.”
Qian Sangui’s face darkened as he thought for a moment before saying, “Yama Raja Xu’s grandson, Xu Fuzi, is a bit older than Auntie Xia, right? Remember not to buy meat from his shop again in the future; travel farther to the town instead.”
Lady Wu was startled, “They haven’t set their sights on Auntie Xia, have they? That whole family, they’re all beasts.”
“Whether they have their eye on her or not, and no matter on whom they do, we will avoid them,” Qian Sangui said. “We’ll also tell Auntie Xia and the kids to steer clear of that family’s people.”
That evening, the family cooked two bowls of green bean braised pork, a bowl of chili stir-fried pork, a dish of scrambled eggs with chives, two vegetarian dishes, and even boiled a pot of white radish and pig lung soup.
Normally, when the main house had meat to eat, as long as Qian Yeejin didn’t come, Old woman Qian would occasionally excuse herself by saying she wasn’t feeling well and have Lady Xu bring her meal to her room. In reality, she did it to save those few pieces of meat to give to her great-grandson in the third branch of the family.
Now, not only had the third branch provided her with some silver for spending money, they even had money to buy meat and invite her for a meal, which delighted her enormously, and she walked with a spring in her step.
When asked by neighbors, “Old Madam Qian, why are you hurrying so fast?”
She would loudly reply, “My third son has invited me over for meat!”
“Has the third branch’s life gotten better now?” the neighbor asked.
“Mhm,” the old lady answered, her face blooming into smiles like chrysanthemums.
That evening, not only did the three invited guests come, but so did Qian Yiduo, whose mouth was still swollen, insisting on tagging along.
Upon arriving, the little girl immediately clung to Qian Yixiu, babbling unclearly, “Embroidered older sister, let’s play house.”
Qian Yixiu was so bothered by the little girl’s persistence that she had to get up, find two pieces of candy to plug the girl’s chubby mouth, and then lead her to the main room to listen to the adults talk.
Qian Yixiu was attentive and warm to Old woman Qian, asking about her well-being, but the old lady hardly gave her a second glance in return.
As soon as Qian Yeejin came home, the old lady’s face wrinkled in a smile as she pulled him into her embrace as if she could never love him enough.
Qian Yixiu rolled her eyes in frustration. With Old woman Qian, the de facto leader of the Qian family, no matter how hard she tried, she knew her efforts would never be enough.
After deliberating, Qian Sangui and his brother agreed that the next day, Qian Dagui would go to a neighboring village to order roof tiles and mud bricks. As soon as there was no more farm work to be done at the end of the month, they would start the repair work on the house and the courtyard wall.
Suddenly, from the backyard came the shrill clucks and flapping sounds of a hen, followed by the gentle scolding of Qian Manxia, “Monkey Brother, don’t be naughty, if you scare the chicken, it won’t lay eggs.”
Old woman Qian frowned and said, “Dogs can guard the house, so it makes sense to keep them. But why on earth did you start keeping a monkey? Creatures that are both mischievous and useless, just a waste of food to keep.”
Qian Sangui chuckled and said, “That little monkey is the one rescued by the monk from Daci Temple. They couldn’t keep it there, so they gave it to Yixiu. Everyone in the family likes it, so why not just keep it? It doesn’t really eat that much.”
Old woman Qian glared at Qian Yixiu and scolded, “Just a girl, and you’re all indulging her.”
Old woman Qian sat at the big table with her two sons, Qian Manchuan, and Qian Yeejin. Lady Wu sat at the small table, leading Qian Manxia, Qian Yixiu, Qian Yiduo, and Monkey Brother. Since there was a guest, Cheng Yue didn’t want to come out for the meal and ate alone in her little room.
Old woman Qian was already unsettled when she saw that a big bowl of pig lung soup had been filled for Dashan, and now, seeing that the monkey had to come to the table to eat, she felt even more uncomfortable. She thought to herself, no wonder the third branch of the family is getting poorer, treating animals as if they’re masters, how could their days be good!
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She feared Dashan, so she could only take out her anger on the monkey. She berated Lady Wu, “Have you gone mad? Since when do animals eat at the table with people? Aren’t you afraid of becoming the laughingstock of others if the word gets out?”
Monkey Brother was unhappy, daring to insult him as an animal! It stood up, and with a sweep of its hand, flung the spoon it was holding straight at Old woman Qian.
Qian Yeejin knew Monkey Brother had a bit of a temper and had earned some credit for the family; aside from his sister, hardly anyone dared to speak harshly to it. Hearing Old woman Qian say this, he knew things had gone south, quickly stood up to shield Old woman Qian, and when he saw the spoon flying towards them, he reached out and caught it.
Old woman Qian wanted to continue the scolding, but then she saw the little monkey standing on the stool, its eyes rounded with anger, its face turning purpler than an eggplant, pointing at her while baring its teeth and making strange noises, clearly furious.
Qian Sangui hurriedly whispered to Old woman Qian, “Mother, don’t be angry. That naughty monkey can understand human language and has a bad temper as well as strength. Everyone at home gives way to it, even Dashan is afraid of it.” He then looked up and scolded Monkey Brother, “This is Yixiu’s Great-grandma, you should respect her from now on.”
Old woman Qian found the monkey’s display of anger amusing, and after hearing what Qian Sangui said, she was even more incredulous, forgetting her anger.
Qian Yixiu was unhappy. The family indulged the monkey because they were charmed by it and it could “find treasures,” allowing its temper to become ever worse. They couldn’t keep spoiling it or someday it would really cause a disaster. So she put on a stern face and scolded, “What are you doing, how can you just hit people? What if you really hurt someone? You need to behave, be a good child…”
Monkey Brother was already feeling rejected and seeing his little master not siding with him, he felt even sadder, opening his mouth and wailing loudly. He was truly heartbroken, with tears and snot flowing, just like a crying child.
The family stopped eating and watched the monkey show.
Lady Wu and Qian Manxia had softer hearts and quickly tried to console Monkey Brother. It ignored them and continued crying while eyeing Qian Yixiu.
Qian Manxia said, “Yixiu, please pacify Monkey Brother, look how pitifully he’s crying.”
Qian Yixiu, left with no choice, picked up Monkey Brother and gently pinched the tuft of white fur at the back of its neck to soothe it, “How can you hit people at will? What if you really injure someone? You need to be obedient, be a good little one…”
Only then did Monkey Brother sob and nod his head. Qian Yixiu used a handkerchief to wipe the tears from its eyes.
Old woman Qian and the others were agape, exclaiming in unison, “Heavens, this monkey has become a spirit.”
Little Qian Yiduo was so envious that she caused a fuss for her father to buy her a monkey to take home. Even after Lady Xu coaxed her for a long time, she wouldn’t listen, and it wasn’t until after Qian Manchuan swept her legs twice that she cried and dared not ask for it anymore.
