At night, Old Lady Song took the new bedding out of the chest and laid it out on the heated brick bed. As she unfolded it, a fragrant sachet fell out.
She picked it up and found that it was filled with silver ingots weighing one tael each, fifty of them in total.
"Old man, come here quickly," Old Lady Song turned her head and shouted to Old Man Song, who was soaking his feet just outside the room.
"Coming," Old Man Song replied while wiping his feet.
Unable to wait, Old Lady Song took the sachet to the main hall to show him, her eyes flashing with a pleasant surprise.
"I just found this in the bedding. There are fifty taels of silver inside."
Old Man Song took the sachet and opened it. The gleaming white silver caught his eye, and he asked, "Did Jinzhao give this?"
Old Lady Song hesitated for a moment, "Jinzhao must have put it there. It couldn't be anyone else."
Old Man Song handed the sachet back to Old Lady Song for safekeeping. He slipped on his cotton shoes and walked to the door, noticing that the room in the west wing was dark.
"That steward must be asleep. I'll ask him tomorrow."
When Fushun woke up the next day, Old Lady Song was kneading dough in the kitchen.
Ever since the two of them moved out of the old house, the grain harvested this year combined with the rent from their fields meant the elderly couple enjoyed a much better standard of living than before.
Since the guest had come all this way in the bitter winter to deliver New Year's gifts and was leaving today, Old Man Song asked Old Lady Song to knead dough in the morning to make steamed buns, both plain and stuffed, so he could take some to eat on the road.
After washing up, Fushun tried to help out but was shooed out by Old Lady Song.
Seeing that he was awake, Old Man Song approached him with the sachet and asked, "Did Jinzhao give this to us?"
Fushun took a close look, broke into a wide smile, and said, "The Eldest Miss gave it for you and the old madam to use. The Second Miss even made this sachet with her own hands."
Old Man Song's rough fingertips stroked the soaring crane embroidered on the sachet, his eyes filled with uncontrollable joy.
Having thought about it all night, Second Song and Second Aunt Song came over early in the morning, pushing Song Yaozu and the two sisters, Song Laidi and Song Pandi, to come and get things.
Thinking of the bedding, clothes, various meats, and now even the silver that Song Jinzhao had prepared, the more Old Man Song looked at Second Song, the more displeased he felt.
They always said to raise sons for support in old age, but in the end, a son was not as useful as a granddaughter.
"We will wait until the two children from the first branch come over, then we will divide everything together. You two go back and leave the three children here."
Old Lady Song beckoned the Laidi sisters to sit down. She was growing more and more fond of her granddaughters.
People always said girls were useless, yet the girls in her family were the most promising.
"Have you had breakfast? Grandma made some stuffed buns, come have a taste."
She picked up two meat buns from the plate and stuffed them into the hands of Song Laidi and Song Pandi, smiling lovingly as she said, "They are fresh out of the pot, still piping hot."
The two sisters exchanged a glance. They had eaten breakfast, but it was just watery porridge, and their mother had rushed them so much that they hadn't eaten their fill at all.
Taking a bite of the meat bun, the savory aroma of meat filled their noses and mouths.
The filling was made by Old Lady Song, stir-fried with cured meat and bamboo shoots. It was savory and crisp with every bite.
The gluttonous Song Yaozu didn't wait for Old Lady Song to hand him one. He reached out, grabbed a meat bun himself, and took a huge bite. He looked completely satisfied, though his eyes remained fixed on the remaining buns on the plate.
Sitting on a small stool, Fushun observed silently. The Eldest Miss hadn't gone into detail with him about the first and second branches of the family, but judging by the New Year's gifts prepared, it was obvious that her relationship with the first branch was much better than with the second.
From yesterday to today, it now seemed there was good reason for that.
Just looking at the second branch's only male heir and the two young misses, the difference in their clothing and appearance was extraordinarily huge.
One looked like he lived a pampered life, while the other two had definitely suffered a lot. The calluses on their hands were even thicker than those of the kitchen maids in the manor.
Second Song and Second Aunt Song looked resentfully at the steamed buns on the table, their mouths watering. They wanted to eat too.
The sound of their swallowing was unusually loud, yet still, no one paid them any attention.
Not wanting to be scolded, the two had no choice but to leave dejectedly. Before leaving, they kept winking and signaling at Song Yaozu and the two sisters.
When it was time to divide the items, they absolutely had to fight for them and make sure they didn't get less than the first branch.
Song Qiaoniang had eaten a good breakfast and waited for Song Yongnian to finish reviewing his books before they came over together.
Seeing that all five children had arrived, Old Lady Song placed the items she had sorted out last night onto the table.
Song Jinzhao and the others had bought the gifts according to the number of people, so there was no need to agonize over it; it was clear which item was bought for whom.
Old Man Song called the five children to stand before him and handed the gifts to them one by one.
"These are the gifts your cousin-sister and cousin-brother sent you. Yongnian, Yaozu, you two must study hard. Grandpa doesn't ask that you pass the provincial exams like Qiming; I'd be satisfied even if you just pass the county level."
Song Yongnian happily hugged his books and promised loudly, "Don't worry, Grandpa, I will definitely pass next year."
Song Yaozu felt guilty and didn't dare look up. He kept his head down and mumbled softly, "Grandpa, I will try my best."
Song Laidi and Song Pandi held a thick stack of new clothes, topped with hair flowers and handkerchiefs. They were all things they had never seen before, and they looked even better than the ones sent for last year's New Year.
Looking at his three granddaughters, Old Man Song thought of Song Jinzhao and Song Shixue, who were thousands of miles away. It would be wonderful if these three could also study.
Even if they couldn't take the imperial exams, just knowing how to read would be good enough. Their future lives would always be a bit better.
"Yongnian, Yaozu, when you have free time, you two can try teaching your sisters to read. Knowing how to read is always better than being illiterate."
Song Yongnian and Song Yaozu looked at Old Man Song in astonishment, then turned their gazes to their respective sisters.
Teach them to read? Would that work?
Fushun, who was feeding the horse in the courtyard, silently made a mental note of all these matters, so he would have something to report if the Eldest Miss asked.
Seeing that Old Man Song had finished speaking, Old Lady Song stuffed a bowl of steamed buns into the hands of each family. "Come over for dinner tonight, and tell your parents to come too."
Song Yongnian nodded, holding his books in one hand and the bowl in the other.
Song Laidi handed half the clothes she was holding to Song Pandi, freeing up one hand to take the bowl, and obediently nodded her chin. "I know, Grandma."
After they had all left, Fushun finally walked in and said, "Old Master, Old Madam, it's getting late, so this humble one will take his leave now."
Old Man Song nodded. "The snowy roads are slippery, be careful on your way."
Old Lady Song turned around and brought out a cloth bundle, handing it to him. "We don't have anything fancy at home, but take these buns to eat on the road."
"Thank you very much, Old Madam," Fushun smiled as he took the bundle and placed it on the carriage.
The carriage traveled for about half an hour when Fushun heard the sound of gongs and drums in the distance. As he got closer, he realized it was people from the local government office, so he hurriedly pulled to the side to make way for them.
Gongs, drums, and suonas, and they were all wearing red flowers. What were they doing?
Even if it was a wedding procession, they shouldn't be wearing official uniforms, and the sedan chair didn't even have a single red silk ribbon tied to it.
After the procession left, Fushun didn't think much more about it and drove the carriage forward to continue his journey.
It wasn't until he entered Xining City to buy charcoal that he heard the shop owner chatting with a customer.
