Sitting in Ye Yunniang's arms, Li Ping suddenly uttered a name, "Grandpa Tie Yi."
"No." Ye Yunniang refused; it would mess up the generational order.
Baise looked at Li Ping, "Does little cutie think Tie Yi suits me?"
"Mm, suits you." Li Ping nodded.
"Let's listen to the little cutie." Baise turned to Ye Yunniang, "What's Tie Yi's relationship with Tie Xiong? What does he do?"
"You really want to get to know Uncle Tie Yi?" Ye Yunniang was truly impressed by these two—one dared to suggest it, the other dared to agree.
"Mm, tell me about this Tie Yi." Baise urged.
Ye Yunniang told Baise everything she knew about Tie Yi.
Baise stroked her chin in thought; Tie Yi sounded pretty good.
"Where does he work?"
Ye Yunniang told her the location of Tie Yi's blacksmith shop, finally advising Baise, "Take it easy."
"Don't worry, I'm very friendly towards elderly folks." Baise's words made Ye Yunniang even more uneasy.
Carrying the embroidery work she had taken on, Ye Yunniang held Li Ping's hand and left Baise's embroidery shop.
"Yunniang." Cai Xiaomei came out of the Zhou family's shop.
"Auntie."
"Great-aunt."
"Pingping, here's some candy for you." Cai Xiaomei handed two pieces of candy to Li Ping. "Yunniang, has your mother-in-law returned?"
"We received a letter two days ago saying she could return next month." Ye Yunniang told Cai Xiaomei the agreed-upon date.
"Really?"
"Of course."
Cai Xiaomei wanted to say something, but seeing the surroundings weren't suitable, she pulled Ye Yunniang into the backyard.
"Tell me the truth, where has eldest sister gone?"
"She went south to buy vegetables." Cai Xiaomei didn't believe Ye Yunniang's answer.
"Yunniang, don't try to fool me. Eldest sister didn't go south; she's at the estate outside the city." Cai Xiaomei spoke while staring intently at Ye Yunniang.
Ye Yunniang was first surprised, then laughed, "Auntie, what kind of joke is that? If mother returned from out of town, she would definitely come home. Pan'er and I are both waiting at home. She wouldn't abandon us."
Cai Xiaomei thought that made sense, but still,
"Didn't your mother tell you anything?"
"Tell me what?"
"About remarrying?" Cai Xiaomei said softly.
"Auntie, what nonsense are you talking about? My parents' feelings were so good; she wouldn't remarry." Ye Yunniang spoke with great certainty.
"Could I really have been mistaken?" Cai Xiaomei doubted herself.
"What did you see, auntie?" Ye Yunniang asked curiously.
"Just the other day, I went to help someone."
The Zhou family's grocery shop didn't need the whole family present all the time. When she had time, Cai Xiaomei would take on odd jobs to supplement the household income.
Two days ago, she took on a job dyeing red eggs for a wedding supplies shop.
It was said that a certain official in the Prefect's residence had a child. The official was so happy he wanted to give red eggs to everyone in the Prefect's residence.
The quantity needed was so large that several wedding shops in the city had to work together to handle the order.
Cai Xiaomei was originally just dyeing red eggs, but because the shop had taken on so much work and was short-handed, she was assigned to follow the donkey cart to deliver the red eggs to a villa outside the city.
While reporting to the master of the house, Cai Xiaomei caught a glimpse of the woman resting in confinement inside the room, who looked a bit like Cai Damei.
Then she thought it impossible; her eldest sister had only left less than three months ago, how could she have a child?
Furthermore, the male master looked wealthy.
Her eldest sister wouldn't know someone like that.
Even if she did, such a person probably wouldn't look twice at a 40-year-old, illiterate widow.
Even though she tried to convince herself of this, after returning, Cai Xiaomei couldn't shake the feeling that the person was Cai Damei.
"Auntie, you must have been mistaken. My mother has only been gone a few months, how could it be?" Ye Yunniang was inwardly shocked that Cai Xiaomei had discovered this, but on the surface, she firmly denied it.
"Am I overthinking it?"
Ye Yunniang nodded vigorously. Yes, you are overthinking it.
"Ah, these past few days because of this, I haven't been eating or sleeping well." Cai Xiaomei was truly afraid something had happened to Cai Damei.
"Auntie is worried about mother. When mother returns, I'll accompany her to visit your home." Ye Yunniang suggested.
"No need. When your mother returns, just notify me. I'll go see her."
"Alright." Ye Yunniang agreed.
Bidding farewell to Cai Xiaomei, Ye Yunniang held Li Ping's hand and went home.
She took out the recipe book and prepared dinner for Cai Damei.
When delivering it to Courtyard No. 3, she told Luo Xin about the incident with Cai Xiaomei.
That night, Ye Yunniang continued learning to recognize and write characters with Li An.
Li An played the part of a little teacher quite well, instructing Ye Yunniang on her writing.
After finishing ten large sheets of characters, the day's study ended. Ye Yunniang returned to her room to rest.
In early February, Ye Yunniang took Li Ping to Little Cai's Shop.
First, she inspected all areas of the shop for cleanliness. Confirming it was clean and in order, Ye Yunniang went to the counter to check the accounts for January.
She flipped through the pages one by one.
"Wrong." Li Ping pointed at a page. "The numbers are wrong."
"How are they wrong?"
"The price is wrong. 16 coppers per catty, 3 catties and 8 taels should be 56 coppers, not 50 coppers.
Pickled cabbage is 8 coppers per catty, 9 catties and 6 taels should be 75 coppers, not 72 coppers..." Li Ping pointed out multiple errors in a row.
"This is rounding down for the customers," explained Zhang Yuan, the bookkeeper. But the rounding was excessive, and he hadn't mentioned it to Ye Yunniang beforehand.
Last month's check didn't have these deductions.
Seeing he couldn't hide it, Zhang Yuan told the truth.
During the first month of the lunar year, he had some business and had his son substitute for him for half a month.
"I will definitely make it up, please don't fire me, boss." Zhang Yuan pleaded.
Ye Yunniang looked at Li Ping.
"We'll give you one chance. If there are any more problems, you will be dismissed directly." Li Ping made the decision.
"No, never again, young master." Zhang Yuan wiped the sweat from his forehead. He couldn't imagine a child having such a strong presence.
After leaving Little Cai's Shop, Ye Yunniang hugged Li Ping tightly. "Son, you're amazing. How did you spot the problems in the accounts?"
Ye Yunniang hadn't noticed anything at all.
"It's simple, I could tell at a glance." Hearing Li Ping's words, Ye Yunniang felt a slight itch in her hands.
"Wait, how do you know how to read?"
"Second brother was teaching you, and I learned just by listening while lying beside you."
Every night when Li An taught Ye Yunniang, Li Ping would lie next to his mother and learn just by listening and watching.
Ye Yunniang had only one thought in her mind: her son was a genius.
"Pingping, do you want to go study with your two older brothers?"
"No." Li Ping didn't hesitate for a second. He had no intention of studying hard at an age when he could be lounging around.
Li Ping's answer didn't surprise Ye Yunniang in the least.
"Then Pingping can stay home and keep mother company for a couple more years." Ye Yunniang also couldn't bear to have Li Ping leave her.
"I'll stay with mother forever."
Li Ping's answer made Ye Yunniang happily hug her son.
"Today, we're going for a big meal."
Ye Yunniang took Li Ping to Jiangcheng's famous Hui Xian Lou restaurant.
She ordered their signature dishes: Gathering of Heroes (a stew of various small fish) and Lotus Fragrance Powder (steamed pork with rice flour wrapped in lotus leaves).
The two dishes were very generous portions.
Mother and son buried themselves in eating.
"Mother, Aunt Baise." Li Ping pointed in a direction.
Ye Yunniang looked over and saw Baise having a meal with Tie Yi.
Judging by how they were sitting, their relationship seemed good, even somewhat ambiguous.
"Is Aunt Baise really going to marry Grandpa Tie Yi?"
