Chapter 10
Qi Yun's body was currently weak, and the internal heat hadn't completely dissipated, so he didn't casually leave his room. This was also a good time to sort out the accounts properly.
Usually a doctor came to check his pulse every three days, and Ye Jiao also watched over him daily, but didn't dare sleep holding him anymore.
This meant Qi Yun hadn't actively visited Liu Shi in a long time, while Ye Jiao would go to Liu Shi's courtyard every morning after breakfast.
Although the little ginseng didn't quite understand what use it was to meet and chat every day, since Fang Shi went every day, she felt this was part of a daughter-in-law's duties, so she went too.
But what Ye Jiao didn't know was that Fang Shi originally didn't come every day either.
Normally, Fang Shi had to take care of things in her own courtyard. Eldest son Qi Zhao now managed affairs at the estate and was usually out early and back late. Fang Shi had to care for her son and Qi Zhao too, keeping her quite busy.
It was just that with winter approaching, Fang Shi wanted to come to Liu Shi's place to see if she could get some benefits from her mother-in-law. Plus the clothes Liu Shi had made for her son Shi Tou were already being worn, so Fang Shi came more frequently to please Liu Shi.
But just when she was thinking she didn't need to come every day, she discovered that Second Brother's wife always went to Liu Shi's courtyard.
This gave Fang Shi a sense of crisis.
Although the Qi family's sons were all grown now, with the elders still alive, they were still one family. Anyone who mentioned splitting the family would be cursed to death. The most influential person in this household, besides the men, was Liu Shi.
Usually Liu Shi didn't manage much, but when it came to food, clothing and daily necessities in the household, everyone had to listen to Liu Shi.
By rights, as the eldest daughter-in-law of the Qi family who had given birth to Shi Tou, Fang Shi was close to Liu Shi and shouldn't worry about her position in the family. But Fang Shi, having read many books, was petty-minded, not very clever yet always liked to think about complicated things.
Seeing that Qi Yun's health seemed better than before, and the fortune-bringing new bride who had just married in obviously had Liu Shi's favor, and this second sister-in-law was also beautiful with a voice more pleasant than her own.
Before she could get some benefits in front of Liu Shi, but now with Ye Jiao for comparison, would Liu Shi become picky about her?
If eldest son Qi Zhao knew about this thinking, he would definitely call his wife foolish.
Their family didn't have so many rules, Liu Shi was easygoing, and ordinary families weren't Imperial Courts or official residences with strict morning and evening attendance rules. Usually the three sons lived their separate family lives, plus they ate dinner together every night and could always see each other coming and going. Liu Shi had never been picky about anything.
She was the eldest sister-in-law with a son, and could walk sideways in this house without anyone managing her. What was she thinking about randomly?
If Liu Shi really disliked her petty ways, she would have acted long ago. How could she have tolerated her until now?
But Fang Shi had gotten herself all twisted up, and actually followed Ye Jiao, going to Liu Shi's place to talk at fixed times every day, making Liu Shi feel baffled for a while.
But Liu Shi didn't refuse either. Being able to see her grandson every day naturally made her happy.
So the two daughters-in-law actually mutually encouraged each other and persisted for nearly ten days, with Liu Shi always telling people she had found two filial daughters-in-law.
And her way of showing closeness was to prepare some food when the two came over, making Ye Jiao love going even more. Little Shi Tou also called every day to go eat sweet cakes at grandma's, making it impossible for Fang Shi to go late.
This day when Fang Shi came holding Shi Tou, she saw Ye Jiao was already in the room.
With winter arriving, Liu Shi's leg had been injured when she was young, leaving some problems. When it got cold it would hurt, so the charcoal fire in Liu Shi's room was always lit earliest.
Lifting the door curtain to enter, she only felt hot air hitting her face, warm and cozy.
Ye Jiao was holding a bowl in her hands, about to eat with a spoon. Seeing Fang Shi enter, she stood up smiling and said: "Elder sister-in-law, it's cold outside. Why didn't elder sister-in-law wear more?"
Fang Shi felt this sentence sounded strangely familiar, then suddenly remembered, wasn't this what she had said to her before?
At that time she was just being polite, but Ye Jiao had taken it to heart and was now using it back.
Fang Shi also said kindly: "Little sister-in-law is thoughtful, I'll remember next time." Then she held Shi Tou to greet Liu Shi. "Shi Tou, come, say hello to grandma and Second Aunt."
"Grandma, Second Aunt." Shi Tou was young, just learning to talk, his voice somewhat muffled. With his chubby head and face, he was at his most adorable age.
Ye Jiao also found him loveable, picked up a sweet cake from the table and handed it to him.
Shi Tou blinked his big eyes looking at Ye Jiao. Seeing Fang Shi nod to him, he smiled showing his little teeth, took the sweet cake with his small hands, and said in his soft voice: "Thank you Second Aunt!"
Shi Tou said this especially clearly. Recently when he came to Liu Shi's courtyard with Fang Shi, it was always this pretty aunt who gave him sweet cakes to eat.
Second Aunt always smelled like osmanthus, just like osmanthus candy. Shi Tou liked her very much.
Liu Shi, seeing him being so well-behaved, also smiled and said to Fang Shi: "Sit down. I just stewed some almond cream, try it."
Fang Shi sat down as told, put Shi Tou aside, and picked up the bowl to smell it.
Almond cream was almond tea, a snack that had spread from the Imperial Court to common people.
First almonds had to be ground into paste, the residue filtered out, rice flour added and stirred in, then sugar added and slowly cooked. It was much thicker than regular tea, a pretty milky white color, and smelled very sweet.
But this almond cream wasn't easy to cook well. Fang Shi's family background was decent, but the almond cream bought outside looked far inferior to this bowl. After tasting it, Fang Shi was even more surprised.
Not too sweet, but very mellow and delicious.
Although Fang Shi had married into the Qi family for over five years, she had never eaten this before. But now seeing that Liu Shi ate it regularly, she couldn't help asking: "Mother, where is this bought?"
Liu Shi's expression was indifferent as she turned the prayer beads in her hand: "Nanny Liu made it. Nanny Liu's cooking has always been excellent."
Nanny Liu was standing beside Liu Shi at the moment. Hearing this, she smiled and said nothing more.
Fang Shi couldn't help but look at the Nanny Liu who had always been by Liu Shi's side, suddenly feeling that coming to Liu Shi's place at fixed times every day was quite good. Just for this bowl of almond cream alone, it was worth it.
Ye Jiao didn't think so much, happily holding her bowl and eating sweetly.
After finishing the bowl, she said to Liu Shi: "Mother, can I take a bowl back for my husband?"
This made Liu Shi's expression immediately soften, saying gently to Ye Jiao: "Today I only made these three bowls. Next time I'll have some made for Second Son."
Ye Jiao's face showed some regret, feeling it was such a pity that her husband couldn't taste something so delicious.
Fang Shi looked at Ye Jiao with surprise, seeming not to have expected that Ye Jiao would be so concerned about Qi Yun.
Liu Shi held little Shi Tou in her arms, touching the little one's head, saying: "Third Son should return from the academy in a few days. When you go back, also tell Eldest Son and Second Son that when Third Son returns, we'll all eat together. Don't delay."
Fang Shi naturally agreed. Although Qi Yun was busy with estate affairs, in this family only Third Son Qi Ming was studying and pursuing academic advancement. In Fang Shi's heart, studying to become a scholar and take the imperial examinations was the most important matter. Even if estate affairs had to be set aside, Qi Ming's education came first.
But Ye Jiao pressed her lips together. Although she remembered Qi Yun saying to go along with Liu Shi, her worry for Qi Yun still took precedence. She said softly: "Mother, my husband's health isn't completely recovered yet."
Liu Shi, thinking of her weak second son, showed some heartache on her face, turning her prayer beads again: "Take care of his health first, let him rest well. You can just come when the time comes."
Ye Jiao responded with agreement, smiling as she reached for another sweet cake.
Liu Shi didn't stop her, just watched her and smiled.
Previously when Liu Shi visited Qi Yun, she had heard her second son say that his wife was good in every way, just a bit gluttonous, always adding snacks besides the three daily meals.
Qi Yun told Liu Shi this because he thought that recently Ye Jiao had been frequently visiting Liu Shi, and this small habit couldn't be hidden, so he might as well explain it clearly to prevent Liu Shi from minding.
Jiao Niang liked to eat and drink, and Qi Yun was happy to spoil and indulge her, but he feared Liu Shi would dislike his daughter-in-law for being gluttonous.
Little did he know that Liu Shi not only didn't dislike it, but rather liked it.
Fang Shi, because she was somewhat plump, usually ate very little. Even when the whole family ate together, she would only use her chopsticks a few times before putting them down, afraid that eating one more bite would show on her face.
Ye Jiao was different. She ate and drank without care, and always ate very heartily, making Liu Shi feel comfortable watching.
She didn't care in her heart whether her daughter-in-law was fat or thin. Fang Shi was pretty when plump, Ye Jiao was pretty when thin. As long as they were healthy, that was enough. But watching Jiao Niang eat so heartily always made Liu Shi feel it was especially appetizing, also making her feel comfortable.
Older people always felt that youngsters had too little food in their bowls, and that was just how it was.
But Fang Shi still didn't eat or drink much. Even when leaving Liu Shi's courtyard, she had only consumed the almond cream and hadn't touched anything else.
Ye Jiao returned with a full belly. First she entered the room to check on Qi Yun. Seeing the man's complexion was normal, she picked up the flowerpot. Without disturbing Qi Yun who was looking at account books, she backed out, gently closed the door, and said quietly: "Husband's complexion looks really good today."
Little Su, who was cleaning nearby, couldn't help but peek over, looking through the door crack the moment the door closed.
She saw a pale face with gloomy eyes flash by.
Little Su: ...Where was it good! Young Mistress was lying!
Ye Jiao carried the flowerpot around the courtyard, specifically looking for sunny spots.
The Stone Sprout Grass in the flowerpot was no longer as small and weak as before. It had grown taller, and though it hadn't added to the three flowers already blooming, the flowers had changed from half-open to fully opened.
Of course, they were still very small and quite unremarkable.
She didn't know if she could actually keep this little thing alive now. She could only do her best and leave the rest to fate, going out to walk around when free, getting some sun, seeing if she could raise it well.
After wandering around for a while, Ye Jiao put down the flowerpot and had Little Su teach her to kick shuttlecock.
Don't look at her being somewhat gluttonous, but the little ginseng was restless by nature. Having gotten a body, she naturally wanted to play well, and seemed able to burn off however much she ate.
Ye Jiao had never kicked shuttlecock before, and the original Ye Jiao in her memories hadn't really played these games either, so now she had to learn from scratch.
But what made the little ginseng frustrated was that while her brain was fairly good, her physical coordination really couldn't be called good. After learning for several days, she could only kick it seven or eight times in a row.
Little Su taught Ye Jiao very patiently. Actually for Little Su, who was just over ten years old, rather than teaching Ye Jiao, it was more like playing with Ye Jiao.
Being able to have someone to play with naturally made the little girl happy.
But every time she saw the black feathers on the shuttlecock, she felt heartache.
Her poor Little Black...
But compared to being taken by Second Young Master to make chicken soup, sacrificing a few feathers was still worth it.
But Little Su was somewhat curious: "Second Young Mistress, why do you insist on learning this?"
Ye Jiao bent down to pick up the shuttlecock, already having a thin layer of sweat on her head. Hearing this, she smiled and said: "This was given to me by my husband. Wouldn't it be a waste to just let it sit there?"
Little Su didn't quite understand what this had to do with who gave it, but hearing Ye Jiao say this, she also nodded as if she understood, preparing to continue playing with her.
But what they didn't know was that Qi Yun, who had gotten up to change account books at the table, clearly heard Ye Jiao's words when passing by the window.
The window was closed and appeared tightly sealed, but the paper window couldn't completely block out the sounds from outside.
Qi Yun heard Ye Jiao's words, lowered his eyes, pressed his lips together, and finally turned it into a smile.
His Jiao Niang.
Ye Jiao didn't stay in the courtyard all the time. When noon came, she entered the room, wiped her face, let down her hair, and went to nap on the soft couch.
Because Qi Yun's health hadn't been good recently, Ye Jiao let him sleep on the bed while she slept on the couch.
As for why they still slept separately, Qi Yun feared passing his illness to her, and Ye Jiao feared that supplementing him too much would cause his condition to relapse. So they reached the same conclusion through different paths, sleeping separately, living in harmony.
When she woke from her afternoon nap, outside was still bright, with quite some time before dinner.
Ye Jiao sat up, stretched, and turned to look at Qi Yun, but found he wasn't on the bed, and the screen beside it was also gone.
"Splash."
The sound of water made Ye Jiao look over, and she saw the screen had been moved to the outer room.
Both inner and outer rooms had charcoal fires burning, making it warm and cozy. Ye Jiao just put on her outer garment and shoes and walked directly to behind the screen.
So, standing Ye Jiao and Qi Yun in the bathtub suddenly made eye contact.
Qi Yun froze, not reacting for a moment.
Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. Those bright, clear pupils remained clean and pure. She glanced at Qi Yun once, then said: "Husband, you're so white too."