The carriage was faster than the ox cart, arriving at the village entrance at night.
Not to mention a poor little village, even in town, horse carriages were extremely rare and precious things. Even if it was a carriage that was so simple and crude that it was difficult to describe, the villagers would still feel envious when they saw it.
“Aiya, that’s Little Feng and Ah Wan, right? Did they come back in a carriage?” An auntie surnamed He heard the sound of the wheels rolling and came out with her half-eaten bowl to watch the commotion.
Auntie Xu, who was next door, also walked out curiously. She was carrying her two-year-old grandson in one hand and holding a steaming sweet potato in the other. As she chewed, she said, “Old Yu’s family has grown up. They even got on a carriage.”
Auntie He ate a mouthful of unpolished rice. “Is Old Yu’s family cooking something good again? It’s so fragrant.”
Recently, Old Yu’s mansion often smelled of meat. They could smell it even from half a village away.
Ever since Third Junior Yu had been taken away and First Junior Yu had broken his leg, the Yu family’s days had plummeted. No one expected that they would still be able to make a comeback even after they had become salted fish.
Of course, it was still too early to say that they had made a comeback. The Yu Family didn’t even earn enough money to treat Uncle Yu’s leg. However, in the eyes of others, being able to eat meat was already considered a way out of poverty.
“Sigh.” Auntie He gave Auntie Xu a look. “Why doesn’t her family eat meat anymore?”
In the past two years, the Zhao Family was the only family in the village who ate meat.
Coincidentally, Auntie Zhang came out with a basin of bath water. When she heard this, she raised her voice as though she wanted someone to hear her. “The pig is gone. Where can she eat meat?”
Auntie He and Auntie Xu were laughing together.
Not far away, Mrs. Zhao, who was rolling eggs over her bruises on her face, naturally heard the commotion. She was so angry that her face, which had gone down by a third, swelled up again.
“Push (pfft)!” Mrs. Zhao, who had one of her front teeth knocked off by Madam Jiang, spat. “You dare to laugh at me! Fine, just you wait! When Ah Heng hits the jackpot, you’ll regret it!”
The Yu Family actually beat her up and even extorted a pig from her! When Ah Heng returned, she would divorce that wretched girl!
…
Yu Wan naturally didn’t know about the Zhao family’s movements. Even if she did, she wouldn’t care. She wasn’t the Host, so she didn’t care if she could marry Zhao Heng or not. Right now, she only wanted to earn money so that her family wouldn’t lack clothes and food, so that her uncle could go to the Capital to treat his legs.
Before the siblings even entered the old mansion, they could already hear Little Bruiser chattering and the youngest daughter making a few sounds from time to time.
“Zhenzhen is more talkative than before,” Yu Feng said emotionally. Although she still didn’t say it very well, she still liked to talk. When did this start? It seemed like after the two families reconciled?
In fact, even if the two families had reconciled, the only person who would really accompany his sister to play was Little Bruiser.
But his sister was even happier.
They… they too.
“Sis!” Little Bruiser noticed Yu Wan and pounced on her like a whirlwind. He bumped into her and acted coyly. Then he looked at Yu Feng shyly and said, “Big Brother.”
The youngest daughter also turned over. “Sis… Big…”
Bang! She fell.
Yu Feng quickly picked up his sister and entered the house with Yu Wan and Little Bruiser.
The strong fragrance of braised meat wafted in the room, and the four siblings instantly felt hungry.
“Why did you guys take so long?” Yu Song walked in from the back door with a little firewood.
They set off before dawn and did not take long to buy things. The courier station was not too far away, so they should be back in the afternoon.
Yu Feng helped his brother put the firewood into the charcoal basin. “We were delayed by something.”
“What is it?” Yu Song asked. “Did someone bully you again?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?” Yu Feng glared at his younger brother, but he knew in his heart that his younger brother’s guess was correct. Today, they had almost been bullied, but the ending was a bit ridiculous.
“What are you laughing at?” Yu Song frowned. Before his brother could reply, his gaze landed on the quilt Yu Feng had placed on the chair after entering the house. “Did you buy a quilt?”
“Ahem.” Yu Feng couldn’t say that Yu Wan was the one who had shamelessly gotten it from someone’s carriage and dragged it out, so he could only give a vague “mhm”.
“Where’s Mom?” Yu Wan asked Little Bruiser.
Little Bruiser puffed up his chest and said, “She’s counting money with Aunt in the house!”
It turned out that Miss Bai had come today. She was here to try out Uncle Yu’s braised food. Uncle Yu had made a braised duck, a braised meat platter, a bowl of braised lotus root with dried tofu, and a pot of braised mutton with carrots.
Not only did Uncle Yu’s dishes taste good, but they also looked good. Miss Bai was very satisfied. She immediately decided to order all the dishes that she had tasted and paid half of the money in advance. She would pay the other half after the birthday banquet.
However, the prices of the dishes were rising rapidly now. Who knew what would happen in three days? After extracting the cost, they would probably only receive less than one tael of silver.
But it didn’t matter. There were many guests at the birthday banquet. If they could use this opportunity to make a name for themselves, their business would become increasingly popular in the future.
After Aunt Yu and Madam Jiang finished counting the deposit that Miss Bai had given them, they held hands and left the room with rosy cheeks.
Yu Wan, on the other hand, had already started to think about where she could reserve the ingredients for three days later.
…
It was snowing heavily in the long alley.
A luxurious carriage stopped in front of an ancient manor. On the plaque at the entrance of the mansion, there was a large “Yan Manor” written in brand new gold paint.
“Miss, we are here.” The middle-aged maidservant alighted from the carriage and lifted the curtain for the girl inside. “It’s snowing. Miss, watch your steps.”
With one hand holding the heater and the other on the middle-aged maidservant’s arm, Yan Ruyu stepped off the carriage on the exquisite wooden stool. She looked at the renovated manor and softly said, “Three years, I’m finally home.”
The middle-aged maidservant wiped her reddened eyes. “Yes, we’re finally home!”
“My daughter!” A noble lady wearing a light purple cloak walked out with the help of a maidservant, trembling with excitement.
When Yan Ruyu saw her, her eyes instantly reddened and she kneeled down. “Mother!”
Mrs. Yan grabbed her arm and helped her up. She choked as she said, “Stop bowing and let me take a good look at you!”
Yan Ruyu raised her head and revealed a tear-stained face. She was extremely beautiful to begin with, and when she shed her tears, it really crushed one’s heart.
“You’ve lost weight. You’ve suffered these past few years.” Mrs. Yan touched her face.
“Your daughter is unfilial. I didn’t come back early and caused Father and Mother to suffer.” Yan Ruyu shook her head with tears in her eyes.
The Yan Clan had met with a mishap a few years ago, and it had only been stabilized a few days ago. There were only people who came to repair this manor after everything was stabilized. Mrs. Yan was much more haggard than she was three years ago, but when she thought about her future glory, she felt that those hardships were nothing.
Mrs. Yan raised her eyebrows and said, “My daughter has given birth to Young Master Yan’s flesh and blood. From now on, you will be the most respected madam of the dynasty. I have already sent out the invitations. Three days later, it will be your welcoming banquet. I will let everyone in the Capital know that the daughter of the Yan family has returned. Young Master Yan’s fiancée has returned!”
