After resting at home for a day, Cai Damei and Ye Yunniang, carrying baskets, arrived at the Zhou household.
"Eldest Sister, you're back," Cai Xiaomei greeted her warmly, looking Cai Damei over carefully.
Having rested well during her postpartum month, Cai Damei had gained quite a bit of weight.
Although incense helped mask it, a faint milky scent could still be detected up close.
"Eldest Sister, you..." Cai Xiaomei wanted to ask if it was true that her sister had really had a child with someone? But it wasn't appropriate to ask so directly.
"Little Sister, let me tell you. On my way back, I met a foreign merchant. They had lots of milk tablets and milk cakes, so delicious. You must try some."
As she spoke, Cai Damei took a milk tablet from her basket and popped it into Cai Xiaomei's mouth.
A rich, creamy flavor burst in Cai Xiaomei's mouth.
Cai Xiaomei chewed, her eyes lighting up. "So fragrant! Are there more?"
Cai Damei smiled. "Our tastes are similar. If I liked it, you're sure to. I brought you four catties."
Cai Damei opened the basket, revealing wrapped packages of milk tablets inside.
"Eldest Sister, you didn't bring all you bought, did you?" Cai Xiaomei looked at the half-basket of milk tablets.
"There are still five or six catties at home, enough for me."
"These aren't cheap, are they? Half a catty for me to try is plenty." Cai Xiaomei felt her elder sister was giving too much.
"An elder sister buying treats for her younger sister, there's no such thing as too expensive." Cai Damei pushed the basket into Cai Xiaomei's hands.
Hearing this, Cai Xiaomei stopped refusing and accepted it.
"That's right. There's also some dried fruit I bought for the children in the basket. Don't just save it all, let them eat it." Cai Damei instructed.
"Alright, I know." Cai Xiaomei took the basket inside, then came out to chat with Cai Damei, mainly asking about her travels.
Cai Damei smoothly recounted the stories she had told before.
Meanwhile, Ye Yunniang headed towards the kitchen.
Inside the kitchen, Zhang Cai'er and her daughter Zhou Lingling were busy preparing the midday meal.
Seeing Ye Yunniang, Zhang Cai'er did not greet her or speak, keeping her head down as she worked.
"Auntie is here," Zhou Lingling, sitting by the stove tending the fire, greeted her warmly.
"Is there anything I can help with?" Ye Yunniang said, rolling up her sleeves.
"No need," Zhang Cai'er refused curtly.
"Auntie, Mother and I can manage in the kitchen. It's smoky and a bit choking in here. You should go sit outside," Zhou Lingling tried to smooth things over for her mother.
"Alright then, I'll go for a walk." Ye Yunniang agreed and left the kitchen.
Not wanting to disturb the sisters' conversation, Ye Yunniang stepped outside the Zhou family shop and stood there for a while.
Inside the kitchen, Zhou Lingling tried to persuade Zhang Cai'er. "Mother, you shouldn't hold a grudge against Auntie. What happened with Grandmother's family has nothing to do with her."
"If it weren't for her, how could your uncle and aunt have quarreled so badly?" Zhang Cai'er truly regretted introducing Ye Yunniang to work at the Jiang residence.
"Uncle and Aunt quarreled so fiercely because of what happened to Uncle Wan. It has nothing to do with Auntie," Zhou Lingling had heard the story from Cai Xiaomei.
"He went looking for Ye Yunniang, that's why it happened," Zhang Cai'er retorted. After speaking, she seemed to realize she'd said too much and busied herself again.
"Mother, what did you say?" Zhou Lingling's tone changed. She glanced outside to make sure Cai Xiaomei and the others hadn't overheard the kitchen talk.
Zhou Lingling got up and went over to Zhang Cai'er. "Mother, tell me honestly. What really happened with Uncle Wan?"
"Nothing, little girl. Don't think nonsense. Tend the fire," Zhang Cai'er was unwilling to speak.
"Mother, what are you hiding? Tell me now," Zhou Lingling urged.
"Nothing, I'm not hiding anything." Zhang Cai'er paused briefly in her vegetable chopping, then continued with a rhythmic thump thump thump.
"Mother, I'm going to find Grandmother," Zhou Lingling turned to leave.
Zhang Cai'er grabbed her.
"I'll tell, I'll tell." Zhang Cai'er glanced outside and whispered that Wan Guiyong was arrested after going to look for Ye Yunniang.
"I've seen the constable who arrested your Uncle Wan. He's on good terms with your Great-Aunt's family."
After listening, Zhou Lingling uttered two words: "Serves him right."
"What are you saying?" Zhang Cai'er was displeased with Zhou Lingling's comment.
"What's going on?" Cai Xiaomei in the courtyard, hearing noise from the kitchen, called out.
"Oh, it's nothing. Mother, you talk with Eldest Aunt," Zhang Cai'er called back loudly. She pinched Zhou Lingling's arm. "Don't say anything to your grandmother."
Zhou Lingling said nothing, but her understanding of her mother's attitude—that everything concerning her natal family was right—deepened.
She thought of how Zhang Cai'er had often whispered in her ear before, urging her to marry her cousin to strengthen family ties. If she had a hard time at the Zhangs', her mother could go and stand up for her.
Before today, Zhou Lingling thought her mother's idea wasn't bad. But now, she felt she needed to think it over carefully.
Unaware that her attitude towards Ye Yunniang had just dashed her long-held plans for a marriage alliance, Zhang Cai'er continued her work.
Ye Yunniang hadn't been standing outside for long when she ran into Baise returning from elsewhere.
"Here to see me?"
"My mother is back, I accompanied her to visit my aunt," Ye Yunniang explained.
"Come sit in my shop for a bit. I've thought of a few new embroidery patterns. Help me take a look," Baise invited.
"Alright, let me tell my uncle first." Ye Yunniang went into the Zhou family shop, informed Uncle Zhou who was at the counter, and then followed Baise to the embroidery shop.
Inside Baise's Embroidery Shop, two display stands for folding screens stood empty.
"Are you closing down?"
"Mhm. After Tie Yi and I get married, we'll be leaving Jiangcheng for a few months," Baise explained.
"You could find someone to manage it for a while," Ye Yunniang didn't want to see Baise's shop close.
"It's hard to find someone trustworthy," Baise had originally planned to find a replacement but hadn't found anyone suitable after looking around.
As she spoke, Baise's eyes lit up.
"Yunniang, you come and manage it for me for a while."
"Me?" Ye Yunniang pointed at herself. "No, I've never managed a shop before. I can't do it. I can't even make sense of account books."
Ye Yunniang refused.
"If you don't understand, you'll learn by looking at them more. No one is born knowing everything. When I first opened the shop, I also learned slowly after many mistakes." In Baise's view, this wasn't a problem.
"I have to take care of the household, and I still have Pingping to look after," Ye Yunniang continued to refuse.
"Pingping, that clever little one, you can bring him along to the shop. I have a feeling with him there, you'll find it easier to take over." Baise had a clearer understanding of Li Ping's cleverness than even Ye Yunniang did.
Ye Yunniang never expected that just visiting her aunt's house would land her a job as a temporary shop manager.
On the way home, Ye Yunniang told Cai Damei about the offer to be the temporary manager at Baise's Embroidery Shop.
"If you want to try it, do it. Don't overthink it," Cai Damei supported Ye Yunniang in giving it a try.
"If I go be a manager, the household chores will fall on you, Mother. I'm sorry about that," Ye Yunniang felt apologetic.
"I can manage the household work," Cai Damei waved her hand dismissively.
Cai Damei's support eased some of the tension in Ye Yunniang's heart.
"Mother, Shushu's first month has already passed. Are we still having her celebration feast?"
"No, we're not. It's bitterly cold, carrying her back and forth could easily give Shushu a chill. We'll hold a birthday banquet when she turns one," Cai Damei had already discussed and agreed on this with Bao Min.
As mother-in-law and daughter-in-law talked, they reached their doorstep.
Liang Maimiao was pacing back and forth in front of the Li family gate.
"Yunniang, I need to talk to you about something."
