Chapter 223: Something Unmentionable

Yang Wanqing smiled and stopped her, raising an arm.

“Oh, you mustn’t! Xiao Xiao is very efficient and can handle the cooking herself. You just take a rest. From the stove’s heat to the seasonings and cooking order, she knows it all like the back of her hand. She’s more attentive than you can imagine.”

Wei Guilan froze. ‘Xiao Xiao?’

‘Not a relative of the Shen Family, nor one of the younger generation… a hired helper?’

Her heart skipped a beat.

‘Oh my, it seems I’ve really stumbled into a wealthy, influential family.’

The more she thought about it, the more confused she became.

‘Why on earth did my daughter-in-law’s mother look down on her husband?’

‘And because of that, she just abandoned her own daughter?’

‘She didn’t even show up at the wedding banquet, just had a driver deliver a basket of apples.’

‘Could it be… that her mother was a goddess from the heavens, but her father was a homely mess?’

But she immediately shook her head.

‘Impossible!’

‘The man’s a leader!’

‘Leading soldiers into battle isn’t like putting on a monkey show. You can’t just fool your way through that, can you?’

‘Instead of guessing, it’s better to see him in person.’

Just as she was thinking this, a figure appeared at the courtyard gate.

Shen Zhenwu strode in.

Wei Guilan looked up.

Whoa!

He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a back as straight as a poplar tree and thick, dark eyebrows.

She secretly clicked her tongue in amazement.

‘My own husband was considered handsome in his youth, but standing next to this man?’

‘It was like comparing a clay figure to a bronze statue. The difference in vitality was worlds apart!’

‘Why wouldn’t her mother appreciate such a spirited man?’

The more Wei Guilan thought, the more confused she became.

When Shen Zhenwu saw her, he immediately smiled and extended his hand, his grip neither too tight nor too loose.

“Hello, Aunt Wei. I’ve heard so much about you. I came back especially to have a meal with you today.”

Wei Guilan could only sigh inwardly.

‘Ah, every family has its own troubles, its own secrets best left unspoken.’

She then said, “I came specifically to help Song Yao during her postpartum recovery. As for the few acres of land back home, my eldest son is there. I’ve asked him to look after them. I’ll rush back before the autumn harvest, just in time.”

Then she added,

“If… if the two of them are too busy and can’t manage the baby, I’ll stay and help out. I can go back home once the child starts elementary school.”

The moment she finished speaking, Song Yao jumped in.

“Mom! You’ve hit the nail on the head! I was really hoping you’d stay and help with the baby!”

“Don’t you worry about the land. Let my brother-in-law have it. You can stop farming from now on. Don’t go back!”

“Just stay here in Beijing, help me with the baby, watch the house, and manage things!”

Hearing this, Yang Wanqing immediately nodded.

“Since the children have put it that way, you can’t possibly refuse! It would be wonderful if you stayed. The young couple would be able to free up their hands for their own work.”

In truth, Wei Guilan hadn’t planned on insisting on leaving.

But she was still a little apprehensive.

“Will I… be a burden to you all if I stay here?”

Song Yao slapped her thigh and immediately replied.

“A burden? No way! There are plenty of ways to make a living in the city. My worry is having no one to help me watch the house and be with the baby. As for making money? You really don’t need to worry about that!”

Shen Zhenwu also quickly chimed in.

“That’s right! Song Yao is very skillful with her hands. Back in Ning City, she used to run a stall and could make dozens of yuan in half a day. And now she has a steady job here in Beijing.”

Song Yao had never discussed these things in detail with her mother-in-law.

Hearing this out of the blue, Wei Guilan was stunned and only recovered after a long moment.

“Well… if I can really be of help, then I’ll stay! I’ll make a call later to let them know, so they won’t worry.”

“You all go about your business. Don’t worry about me!”

“Leave the baby to me. I guarantee you can rest easy!”

Yang Wanqing immediately chimed in with a smile.

“Isn’t that the truth! No one can compare to having the baby’s own grandmother looking after them!”

They then gathered around the baby, cooing and laughing for a while until it was time to eat.

When the pot lid was lifted, Wei Guilan, holding her bowl, found her eyes wide with astonishment.

“Whoa, now this is what you call a truly wealthy household!”

A full twelve dishes—soups, stews, stir-fries, and more—were spread across the table, steaming hot.

Even though there were quite a few people, back home, even when they had honored guests and the whole family crowded around one table, they would have four dishes at most.

Wei Guilan shoveled rice into her mouth as she pondered.

‘When I get back, I absolutely have to go door-to-door and tell all my relatives and neighbors about this!’

「After the meal.」

Shen Zhenwu and the others had matters to attend to, so they left first.

Song Yao and Wei Guilan weren’t in a hurry to leave, staying to chat with Yang Wanqing in the courtyard for a good half hour.

Before leaving, Song Yao made plans with Yang Wanqing.

The three of them would go explore Beijing together tomorrow morning!

As they left, they also took a box of pastries that Xiao Xiao had just made.

For the next three days, the three generations—grandmother, mother, and child—went out and about together.

Song Yao only agreed to lie down and rest when the soles of her feet were burning from all the walking.

But after lying around for two days, she couldn’t sit still anymore.

“I feel all out of sorts just being idle!”

An idea suddenly struck her.

‘Might as well get back to my old trade!’

She immediately ordered new fabric, old-fashioned copper pieces, and wood carving molds, and started making vintage-style earrings and bracelets.

She also stocked up on a pile of colorful beads to make bracelets.

For the bracelets, she was only responsible for drawing the designs, choosing the color combinations, and explaining the method.

“Red with black, with a green one in the middle; five blue beads, three white beads, and remember to wrap the knot twice…”

Wei Guilan listened intently, and her hands were quick.

In a single day, her wrists never stopped, stringing together several hundred bracelets.

Song Yao then asked her mother-in-law to help make several batches of small hair clips and butterfly bow ornaments.

The two of them worked nonstop in their room for three straight days, and soon a small stack of semi-finished products piled up in the corner.

Song Yao calculated in her head.

‘If sales go well this time, I’ll get a new sewing machine right away.’

‘I didn’t buy one earlier, firstly because we had just moved into Li Hanchen’s single-room dormitory and it was too cramped.’

‘Secondly, I was in a hurry to come to Beijing later on. The train ride was seven or eight hours, and after getting off, I had to transfer to two different buses. Even if I’d bought one, it would have been a pain to lug around.’

‘But things are different now.’

‘The room is spacious, and life has settled down.’

Song Yao, with her round belly, wore a dark blue cotton skirt with an elastic waistband.

Wei Guilan carried two large baskets of goods on a bamboo shoulder pole, inside which were neatly arranged hair flowers, earrings, bracelets, and small sachets.

At the street corner was an old, well-known candied hawthorn stall, its vendor’s cries echoing nonstop.

As soon as they set up their stall, Song Yao put out a small, handmade wooden sign.

She had planed, sanded, and varnished the sign herself.

They had just gotten settled when passersby began to gather and ask.

“How much is this?”

The items weren’t expensive, but they were charming.

The hair flowers were fifty cents each, the earrings one-fifty for a pair, and the bracelets one yuan each.

As soon as they opened for business, a line started to form.

The hair flowers sold moderately well, but the earrings and small bracelets that Song Yao had designed herself were in high demand.

In just one morning, they sold over one hundred and twenty bracelets.

Don’t be fooled by the simple beaded strings; they weren’t exactly cheap.

The listed price was one yuan each, but she would sell them for eighty cents if customers haggled.

But many people just paid the full price without even trying to bargain.

Wei Guilan was flustered taking the money, the coins in her pocket JINGLING. As she counted, she almost blurted out,

“Oh, you know, eighty cents is fine too…”

The words were on the tip of her tongue when she glanced over and saw her daughter-in-law smiling as she packaged an item for a customer.

“Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful time in Beijing!”

‘That’s when it hit her: we’re the sellers!’

‘What sense does it make to offer a discount voluntarily?’

They were busy until the baskets were empty, down to the very last bead.

Only then did the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have a moment to find a small shop and sit down for a hot meal.

During the meal, Wei Guilan picked up a plump wonton with her chopsticks and leaned in to ask quietly,

“Song Yao, why do these people keep buying?”

“But we’re not some established brand, and we don’t have a company name printed on anything. You don’t think they’ll come looking for trouble later, do you?”