Whether Baise and Tie Yi would get married was something Ye Yunniang had no idea about.
"I'll go ask."
"Don't." Ye Yunniang reached out to stop him, but was a moment too late.
Li Ping had already jumped down from his chair and run across the room.
Facing the gazes of Baise and Tie Yi, Ye Yunniang smiled awkwardly. She hadn't known her youngest son possessed such great curiosity.
Soon, Li Ping ran back.
"Mother, I found out. On the 16th of next month, Auntie Baise and Grandfather Tie Yi are getting married."
"So soon!" Ye Yunniang was shocked; it was too rapid.
"Auntie Baise said when you meet a good man, you must seize the opportunity promptly," Li Ping recalled Baise's words. "You won't find this shop once you've passed this village."
"Alright. Sit down and eat." Ye Yunniang got up and lifted Li Ping back onto his chair.
Li Ping sat down, took a bite of steamed pork with rice flour, and remembered something.
"Mother, what wedding gift should we give?"
"After we finish eating, we'll go to West Street to look." West Street in Jiangcheng had shops opened by merchants from other regions, where there were many strange, amusing, and interesting items.
Hearing they were going to West Street, Li Ping sped up his eating.
During the New Year period, Ye Yunniang had taken Li Ping and the other two children to West Street.
The three of them had picked out quite a few good things there.
After lunch, Ye Yunniang took Li Ping to West Street to choose a wedding gift for Baise and Tie Yi.
"Mother, this one is good." Li Ping pointed at a wood carving. It depicted a bride and groom bowing to each other during the wedding ceremony. Even better, the bride and groom somewhat resembled Baise and Tie Yi.
Just as Ye Yunniang reached out to take it, another hand grabbed the wood carving first.
"Look, does it resemble you and me?" Jiang Mingyue held the carving next to her face, asking Li Mingshu who was following beside her.
"We saw it first," Li Ping said unhappily.
"Whoever grabs it first gets it," Jiang Mingyue retorted unkindly.
"Let's go pick something else." Not wanting a confrontation with Jiang Mingyue, Ye Yunniang held Li Ping's hand and walked towards another row.
"What are you looking at?" Jiang Mingyue was displeased that Li Mingshu's gaze was directed at another woman.
"It's nothing," Li Mingshu said, thinking he might have been mistaken.
Ye Yunniang and Li Ping selected a new gift: a pair of porcelain ornaments depicting dancing cranes.
This time, Ye Yunniang immediately picked them up and paid.
Li Ping also chose a beautiful wooden box to put the dancing cranes in.
On February 16th, Cai Damei returned to Sunset Lane by carriage.
"You're back?"
"Yes, I'm back."
"Ah, I encountered quite a few delays on the road."
"Isn't that so? This trip was practically a wasted effort. It's almost March, and the wild vegetables will be ready."
"Next year I'm not going. Not going anywhere."
"Did you gain weight? I am a bit plumper. Nothing to do on the road, my mouth was never idle."
"You smell of milk? Oh, I met a merchant from beyond the frontier. He brought a lot of milk tablets, milk cakes, and such. They were delicious. I bought quite a bit back. Let me give you some to try."
"Milk tablets are expensive. One piece each, no more."
...
While talking, Cai Damei handed out many of the milk tablets she had brought back. Eating them left a milky scent on one's person.
After Cai Damei's performance, no one paid further attention to the milky smell on her, instead asking about her travels.
Cai Damei chatted with them happily.
Only after seeing off all the neighbors did Cai Damei relax and drink some water.
"Mother, where is the child?" Ye Yunniang couldn't help but ask.
"Next door." Cai Damei said, glancing towards the No. 3 courtyard. "The child's name is Bao Shuyi, her pet name is Shushu."
"Shuyi, a good name." Ye Yunniang silently repeated it twice. "Mother, Shushu, what are your and Master Bao's plans?"
"She'll be raised under his name." It was better for Bao Shuyi to be the daughter of a prefectural official under Bao Min than to follow her.
Ye Yunniang hesitated for a moment, then decided to ask outright, "Mother, do you really not plan to marry Master Bao?" The two of them already had a child together.
Cai Damei sat up straight. "Yunniang, I will only tell you this once."
Ye Yunniang sat properly, assuming a posture of attentive listening.
"My husband in this lifetime is only your father, Li Min." Cai Damei spoke solemnly.
"I understand. I won't mention it again."
"The children will be out of school soon, right?" Cai Damei calculated the time.
Ye Yunniang looked at the sun outside and estimated. "Yes, soon."
"I'll go pick up the children." Cai Damei missed her grandchildren too much.
"I'll cook. I've learned a new dish, a one-pot stew." Ye Yunniang helped Cai Damei up.
"I brought back a piece of spiced beef. Slice a bowlful for dinner," Cai Damei instructed.
"Alright." As she said this, Ye Yunniang swallowed; she loved beef the most.
Oxen were draft animals and could not be slaughtered arbitrarily. Only those that died of old age, illness, or injury preventing them from working could be killed.
Eating beef depended on luck.
For dinner: a one-pot fish stew, spiced beef, mushroom and pork slices, cabbage with vermicelli, shredded radish, and scallion egg soup.
Six dishes and one soup, not many, but the portions were generous.
After feeding Bao Shuyi, Cai Damei brought Bao Min over to join the meal.
The family dined together in reunion.
After the meal, Bao Min checked Li Pan and Li An's schoolwork, while Ye Yunniang and Cai Damei did needlework.
Four children, changing day by day, went through clothes quickly.
Ye Yunniang told Cai Damei about Cai Xiaomei's suspicions.
"Rest tomorrow, go to the Zhou family the day after." Cai Damei decided.
"Alright." Ye Yunniang agreed, then told Cai Damei about Baise and Tie Yi's marriage.
Hearing that Li Ping had facilitated it, Cai Damei reached out and patted Li Ping's head beside her. "Our Pingping has a sharp eye, spotting right away that they were suitable for each other."
"Pingping is not only sharp with people, but also with account books!" Ye Yunniang recounted how she had taken Li Ping to look at the account books and he immediately spotted an issue with the side dish records.
Cai Damei pulled Li Ping into her arms. "How did Pingping discover it? Tell Grandma."
"It's simple. I knew as soon as I looked." Li Ping's answer was, as always, rather blunt.
"Is it really that simple?" Li Pan didn't believe it.
"Yes, simple." For Li Ping, looking at accounts was as easy as drinking water or eating.
"One piece of paper costs three coins. How much for 53 pieces?" Bao Min suddenly posed a question.
"159." Li Ping answered without hesitation.
"What are your answers?" Bao Min asked Li Pan and Li An.
"159." Li An calculated quickly.
Li Pan was a step slower but calculated it.
"Two pieces of paper cost three coins. How much for 53 pieces?" After speaking, Bao Min raised his hand to stop the three from speaking, telling them to write it down.
Li Ping couldn't write, so he whispered his answer to Ye Yunniang.
Ye Yunniang wrote the answer for him: seventy-nine and a half coins.
Li An and Li Pan couldn't answer; they hadn't learned that deeply yet.
"Explain your reasoning for the result." Bao Min asked again, looking at Li Ping first.
"Two pieces of paper cost three coins. 53 pieces is 26 pairs. That gives 78 coins first, with one piece left costing one and a half coins." Li Ping explained his calculation method.
Bao Min inwardly praised: truly worthy of being Jiang Mingzhe's son.
