Chapter 167
Ye Yunniang's words caused the expressions of certain people in the crowd who had gossiped about her to change. They recalled whether Li Pan had overheard them.
After Ye Yunniang finished speaking to Li Pan and Li An, she turned to look at the surrounding crowd.
"I, Ye Yunniang, will take my children with me no matter where I go."
With that said, Ye Yunniang led her children home.
Jiang Mingzhe followed behind the mother and sons in a protective stance.
Upon arriving home, Ye Yunniang checked the two boys to see if they were injured.
"We are fine."
"I am not hurt."
"Whether you are hurt or not, it only counts after I check," Ye Yunniang said, inspecting the two children thoroughly. Only after confirming there were no injuries did she finally feel relieved.
"Next time you encounter such a thing, come back and find me. Don't fight her directly."
No matter what, Niu Dajiao was an elder. Fighting her would always put Li Pan and the others at a disadvantage.
Ye Yunniang did not want her sons' reputations to suffer even the slightest damage.
"Okay." Li Pan and Li An did not argue, but in their hearts, they thought: if anyone dared to badmouth their mother, they would beat them fiercely whenever they met.
After sending her two sons back to their room to rest, Ye Yunniang looked at Jiang Mingzhe.
"When will Pingping be back?" After discovering Li Ping's talent for arithmetic, Jiang Mingzhe had handed over the auditing work for his shops in Jiangcheng to Li Ping.
Ye Yunniang initially disagreed, but Li Ping was willing. He wanted to understand Jiang Mingzhe's wealth and external affairs, guarding against Jiang Mingzhe deceiving Ye Yunniang.
"He is doing very well."
"He is your biological son, don't bully him too much."
"I won't."
Li Ping, who had just finished reviewing a stack of account books on the desk, watched Wen Yuan carry two more stacks into the room.
"He is trying to bully me to death."
"Little Master, the master is doing this to train you."
Li Ping gave Wen Yuan a dead-fish stare, his face saying: Do you even hear the nonsense coming out of your mouth?
When the big and little masters clashed, Wen Yuan, as a subordinate, was also helpless.
Not wanting Ye Yunniang to focus all her thoughts on her sons, Jiang Mingzhe brought up their new house.
"The renovations are almost done. Do you want to go take a look?"
"No need, I trust your taste." Ye Yunniang didn't have high demands for the house; as long as it was livable, it was fine.
Thanks to Niu Dajiao's fuss, the news of Ye Yunniang and Jiang Mingzhe getting married quickly spread throughout Jiangcheng.
Many people were asking around for information about Ye Yunniang.
They wanted to know what was so special about this woman that made Jiang Mingzhe say he was fortunate in three lifetimes to marry her.
Invitations flew into Sunset Glow Alley like snowflakes.
Ye Yunniang rejected them all.
Her mind was entirely on her three sons, and she had no extra energy to socialize with people.
The day after the fight with Niu Dajiao, Li Pan developed a fever.
A doctor was called in and said the illness was caused by a long-term accumulation of stress. Ye Yunniang understood that because she had been abducted, Li Pan, as the eldest brother, had been bearing a tremendous amount of pressure.
Heartbroken for her son, Ye Yunniang stayed by his side day and night.
Just as Li Pan finally recovered, Li An fell ill.
It came on fiercely, even worse than Li Pan's condition.
Jiang Mingzhe invited several doctors and kept watch from morning till night, finally pulling Li An back from the brink of death.
When Li An recovered, Ye Yunniang thought of making some delicious food to celebrate.
After eating, Li Ping began vomiting and having diarrhea.
Fortunately, the doctor hadn't left yet, and another round of acupuncture and emergency treatment ensued.
Ye Yunniang then took to caring for Li Ping.
Once her three sons were well, Ye Yunniang herself collapsed.
Illness comes like a falling mountain, but goes like reeling silk.
She recuperated until the end of the year.
The opening of the Baise Embroidery Shop was postponed.
Cai Damei's side dish shop, Xiaocaiji, opened according to schedule.
On the opening day of Xiaocaiji, Cai Xiaomei cheerfully brought her whole family over.
"You guys really opened it."
"Big sister's method works best." Cai Xiaomei deeply admired her older sister.
Cai Damei did not persuade Cai Xiaomei to give up on finding a wife for Zhou Dong.
Instead, she advised Cai Xiaomei not to rush Zhou Dong into marriage right away.
Cai Xiaomei should look around privately first, and if she found someone suitable, she could find a way to arrange a meeting for the two.
Let them get familiar with each other without knowing it was a matchmaking setup.
Once Zhou Dong had feelings for the girl, then they could propose marriage.
Cai Xiaomei had been looking around for these past few months. After comprehensive comparisons, she took a liking to the daughter of a food shop that ordered bean sprouts from them.
"I've secretly observed her many times. Huixiang is quick at work and speaks straightforwardly. Her age is also suitable, she's 26." Cai Xiaomei praised the girl she had set her sights on.
"26 and not married?"
"Huixiang has just been unlucky." Cai Xiaomei knew what Cai Damei was about to ask and explained it to her.
Huixiang's family had arranged a marriage for her early on.
The two families were well-matched; their parents had known each other for a long time and knew each other's roots thoroughly.
Huixiang was also very satisfied with this marriage.
However, just a month before the wedding, Huixiang's fiancé, Ma Hui, fell ill and passed away.
Ma Hui's mother could not accept it and grew to hate Huixiang.
She felt that Huixiang was a jinx who caused her son's death. She desperately wanted Huixiang to be buried alive with her son.
Huixiang's family refused. She then demanded that Huixiang remain a living widow for her son.
Huixiang's parents loved their daughter dearly and strictly refused.
Consequently, the two families became estranged.
With her fiancé gone, Huixiang was also very sad.
She told her parents not to arrange any marriages for a year.
Huixiang's parents agreed.
A year later, they arranged another match for Huixiang.
Huixiang and the man found each other suitable and were about to finalize the engagement.
Ma Hui's mother didn't know where she heard the news, but she came dressed in white mourning clothes to cause a scene.
The engagement banquet was ruined.
The man's family felt it was bad luck, and the marriage was called off.
After that, whenever a match was proposed for Huixiang, Ma Hui's mother would wear white clothes and hold her son's memorial tablet to make a scene.
Huixiang had been delayed until now, unable to secure a marriage.
Cai Xiaomei sighed for Huixiang but also felt that it meant Huixiang's true destiny had not yet arrived.
Now that her son had appeared, their destiny had arrived. As for the troublemaking Ma Hui's mother.
Cai Xiaomei was not an honest and passive person like Huixiang's family. She had plenty of ways to deal with it.
For the opening of Xiaocaiji, Cai Damei bought a string of firecrackers and announced to everyone that there would be a 20 percent discount for the first two days.
Many old customers had been missing Xiaocaiji, and quite a few came to buy.
There were also some who were attracted by the discount and came in to purchase.
Cai Damei became busy and had no time to look after the child.
Cai Shuyi stayed by Ye Yunniang's side. The little girl knew Ye Yunniang had been sick, so she was very well-behaved and didn't make a fuss.
Ye Yunniang took Cai Shuyi along to sort threads.
The wedding date for Ye Yunniang and Jiang Mingzhe had been set for March of the following year.
The weather would be neither too cold nor too hot.
"Auntie, someone is looking for you outside," Cai Shuyi, who was playing at the door, called out to Ye Yunniang when she saw someone walk through the main gate.
Ye Yunniang put down the wedding dress in her hands and walked to the door.
Looking up, she saw Chunyao supporting Old Madam Jiang as they walked into her home.