Chapter 16
After leaving Liu Shi's place, Qi Ming came to see his second brother. Upon entering the courtyard and hearing the liveliness here, he walked to the side room but didn't enter, instead calling out from the doorway.
Ye Jiao remembered that Qi Ming had said he would come yesterday, so she didn't think much of it and said: "Come in."
Just then Little Su returned with the sand cakes, reaching out to lift the curtain for him to enter.
Qi Ming first formally greeted Ye Jiao like a little adult, then looked at Shi Tou.
He usually spent most of his time at the academy, so counting everything up, he and Shi Tou had only spent a few days together since Shi Tou was born. Now finally meeting someone younger than himself.
Little Shi Tou had a round head and face, especially his eyes, which were round and particularly endearing.
Even the mature Qi Ming couldn't quite control himself. He reached out to pick up Shi Tou. Qi Ming glanced at the brush in his hand, not looking closely at whether it was dipped in ink, and his face showed a faint smile: "Does little Shi Tou also know about reading and writing?"
Shi Tou wasn't shy by nature. Even though he had no impression of Qi Ming, he still replied crisply: "Reading and writing!"
Repeating adults' words was probably an innate ability of every little child.
Qi Ming was delighted to hear this and wanted to see Shi Tou's work.
He turned his head and saw a piece of large characters on the table.
Though called large characters, these were much harder to recognize than regular characters. They were round and somewhat flat. Qi Ming stared at them for a while before making out that it was the character "chu" (beginning).
Third Master Qi's own handwriting wasn't particularly attractive either. The academy teacher often said he needed to practice diligently, that without good handwriting, even if one had a belly full of literary talent, no one would appreciate it. But Qi Ming inexplicably found his confidence restored by looking at this character.
Obviously, Qi Ming didn't think it strange to compare handwriting with a baby.
Looking at Shi Tou in his arms, Qi Ming said: "This character is a bit ugly, but Shi Tou is still young. He'll definitely be able to write beautifully in the future."
The servant woman's face twitched, thinking whether Third Young Master was too young or had been made foolish by studying. What was he treating the young master as, a child prodigy who could write before turning two?
Little Su quietly reminded from the side: "Third Young Master, this character was written by Second Young Mistress."
Qi Ming: ...Huh?
His face stiffened. Qi Ming glanced at Ye Jiao and found she was holding blue cloth while staring at the large characters on the table.
Although he had only met Ye Jiao a few times, this was his legitimate second sister-in-law. What he had just said... Qi Ming's face immediately flushed red.
Little Shi Tou curiously looked up at him, reaching out to touch Qi Ming's red face, saying in his baby voice: "So red, date cake cake, Shi Tou eat cake cake!"
Qi Ming was only a boy of just over ten years old after all. Not even daring to discern Ye Jiao's expression at the moment, he immediately handed little Shi Tou back to the servant woman and stammered, "I... I'll come find second brother later," before turning and running away.
The servant woman naturally wouldn't get involved in the second house's affairs, just held little Shi Tou and coaxed him to eat the sand cakes on the table.
Ye Jiao spread out the blue cloth again, then picked up her own writing and studied it for a long while before turning to ask Little Su: "Is it really not good-looking?"
Although Little Su couldn't read, she could still distinguish good from bad. Usually when she looked at those shop signs, they were all square and proper. Her Second Young Mistress's circular style definitely couldn't be considered good.
But in Little Su's view, since she wasn't taking imperial examinations, as long as the writing was passable, that was enough. She was more worried that Ye Jiao might feel uncomfortable because of Qi Ming's comment.
But facing Ye Jiao's eyes, Little Su couldn't bring herself to say something against her conscience. The little girl thought for a while and picked up a piece of sand cake: "Young Mistress, why don't you eat something first?"
Ye Jiao: ...Hmph.
Meanwhile, in the small room, Manager Song was extremely excited. He didn't have any of the composure he had shown in front of Father Qi, but was full of joy: "Second Young Master was right. Now our Qi family wine shop's reputation has spread. Can we start negotiating business with the taverns and inns in town soon?"
Although they had sold their wine a bit cheaper, they still made profit. Otherwise, they wouldn't have earned those hundred strings of cash.
But what made Manager Song even happier was that as they sold more and more wine, everyone within ten miles knew the Qi family had fine wine. Plus Manager Song had found some smooth-talking people to praise it enthusiastically, turning eight parts good into twelve parts excellent.
Combined with Qi Yun giving the Qi family wine shop's wine the elegant name "Jade Liquid Wine," which was refined and pleasant-sounding, it became even more in demand.
Qi Yun had anticipated all this, but Manager Song's abilities were strong, and everything had developed earlier than Qi Yun had imagined.
Putting the account book aside, Qi Yun adjusted the hand warmer in his arms.
Second Master Qi didn't show the same gentleness to outsiders as he did to Ye Jiao. He wasn't naturally inclined to socialize and was too lazy to pretend to be sociable.
Wearing thick robes, Qi Yun's complexion was still somewhat pale, but the dark circles under his eyes had disappeared, making him look cold but no longer sinister.
If it were before, Manager Song would have been afraid too, but now in Manager Song's eyes, he was a revered god of wealth. It was too late to worship him, and he couldn't even remember to be afraid.
After hearing Manager Song's words, Qi Yun thought for a moment and said slowly: "No rush yet. Wait a bit longer. Those taverns and inns don't lack wine suppliers. Let's stockpile first and discuss it at year-end."
Manager Song didn't ask the reasons and immediately agreed.
The two discussed what to do next. Seeing it was getting late, Manager Song took his leave.
Qi Yun saw Manager Song off and returned to the bedroom to find Ye Jiao wasn't there. He turned and headed toward the side room.
When he entered, the servant woman had already taken little Shi Tou back, Little Su was working in the courtyard, and only Ye Jiao was in the side room.
The woman was standing at the table, concentrating on writing with her brush.
Qi Yun didn't disturb her and walked to Ye Jiao's side, discovering a stack of large characters by her hand.
He knew Ye Jiao well. His wife enjoyed learning to read but had never been this diligent. It appeared she had been working for over an hour without rest.
Seeing Ye Jiao finish another page, Qi Yun reached out to embrace the woman's waist and took the brush from her hand, his voice gentle: "Learning to read and write isn't urgent. Don't be too hard on yourself, Jiao Niang."
Ye Jiao instinctively gripped Qi Yun's hand and looked up at him: "My writing isn't good-looking. I need more practice."
Hearing this, Qi Yun softened his voice: "You just started learning. Being able to remember so many characters and write them recognizably is already excellent."
Ye Jiao looked up at him hopefully: "It's not ugly?"
Qi Yun still smiled: "Not too ugly."
Ye Jiao: ...
Seeing her puff out her cheeks, Qi Yun squeezed her palm: "I don't mind anyway. Besides, this can be improved with slow practice. Don't be anxious."
If Qi Yun hadn't been there just now and Ye Jiao had been writing contentedly by herself, that would be one thing. But now that Qi Yun was here, Ye Jiao didn't want to suffer at all: "Practicing writing is so tiring." She lifted her hand to show him her sore wrist.
Such a pampered wife.
She was the one who said she wanted to persevere, and now she was the one who didn't want to continue. But Qi Yun just felt his wife had worked hard and gotten tired. After sitting down with her, he gently massaged her wrist.
The man's hands had been warmed by the hand warmer, pleasantly warm. When he kneaded her wrist, he was especially careful with his strength. Ye Jiao's lips gradually curved upward.
Seeing Ye Jiao's face show some smile, Qi Yun said: "How about this: practice for half an hour each day, and I'll let you eat two extra pastries in the evening."
Ye Jiao's eyes lit up. The little ginseng clasped the man's hand: "Three pieces."
Qi Yun smiled and nodded: "Fine."
Ye Jiao was happy. She dropped her brush and pulled Qi Yun to go eat. After the meal, Ye Jiao held the Stone Sprout Grass pot and walked around the courtyard, helping the little plant absorb sunlight while digesting her food. When the Stone Sprout Grass's branches and vines stretched out, Ye Jiao returned to the bedroom to set it down, then let down her hair and went for an afternoon nap.
But Qi Yun didn't have the habit of afternoon naps. Seeing Ye Jiao had fallen asleep, he went to the courtyard and called Little Su over, asking quietly: "Just now, who came by?"
Little Su was always afraid of him. Being asked this way, she poured everything out like beans from a bamboo tube.
After listening, Qi Yun said nothing, just replied flatly: "Good, I understand."
Little Su: ...What do you understand?
Qi Yun waved his hand: "Go call Third Brother over. I haven't seen him in a long time and miss him quite a bit."
Little Su looked at Qi Yun's expressionless face. No matter how she looked, he didn't seem to miss Third Young Master, but Little Su didn't dare ask more and ran off.
Ye Jiao, lying in bed, knew nothing of this and slept peacefully.
When she woke up, instead of going to kick shuttlecock or listen to Qi Yun explain medical texts as usual, she tidied herself up and went to Liu Shi's courtyard.
Liu Shi had invited a seamstress to the house today. She had mentioned making clothes for Ye Jiao before but had been delayed by various matters. Today she could finally do it all together.
Ye Jiao had never been measured for clothes, but fortunately she didn't need to do anything. The whole process just involved lifting her arms when told and raising her head when asked. After measuring, she just needed to select two fabric colors and patterns she liked.
After sending off the seamstress, Liu Shi took Ye Jiao for a walk in the garden, saying: "You're still young, still growing. Clothes need to be changed and renewed regularly to fit properly. That seamstress comes every six months. If you can't wait for her to come, find time to have someone accompany you to the tailor shop. It's the same."
Ye Jiao always kept Liu Shi's words in her heart. Without asking much and regardless of whether she understood everything, she would obediently reply: "Thank you, Mother."
Liu Shi wanted to hear exactly this thanks and nodded at her warmly.
At this moment, several people had strolled to outside Qi Ming's courtyard.
Liu Shi was full of loving care for her youngest son, but now she didn't go in. She just stood at the courtyard gate, looking inside while smiling broadly: "Third Son mentioned to me before that he would write for two full hours today. My son knows to work hard."
Hearing this, Ye Jiao's eyes widened considerably.
No wonder the little fox liked scholars. Being a scholar really wasn't something ordinary people could do.
She had just written for barely an hour and her wrist was already sore, but being a scholar required writing for two hours a day?
People who wanted to become top scholars were indeed different.
Ye Jiao also poked her head to look inside. There were several pages of large characters hung out to dry in the courtyard.
With her good eyesight, she looked carefully and could recognize most of the characters, but when they were put together into literary sentences, Ye Jiao didn't quite understand them.
"Sincere within, manifest without, therefore the gentleman must... something... alone..."
Not understanding it, the little ginseng stopped looking and accompanied Liu Shi for a while longer. When the sky began to darken, she also prepared to return home. Liu Shi had someone pack a clay pot of the stewed pork rib soup for her to take back.
Ye Jiao carried the clay pot, not needing anyone to escort her, and walked quickly back by herself.
But just as she entered the courtyard gate, she saw Tie Zi holding a stack of papers, about to deliver them to the small room.
Ye Jiao called out to him: "Tie Zi, what is this?"
Tie Zi immediately stopped. He was going through voice change, so his voice sounded hoarse: "Second Young Mistress, these are characters for Second Young Master."
Hearing this, Ye Jiao didn't ask more questions and said to him: "Then call my husband and tell him when he's finished with his business to come out for dinner. Mother sent pork rib soup. Drink it while it's hot."
Tie Zi immediately nodded: "I'll remember."
Ye Jiao smiled and glanced at what Tie Zi was holding, seeing the top page. She unconsciously stopped in her tracks.
"Sincere within, manifest without, therefore the gentleman..."
Eh, wasn't this what Qi Ming had written?