Transmigrated as A Farm Girl Making Her Family Rich

Chapter 43: Chapter 43 Ideas

Tang Shunyan’s just-awakened eyes were a bit hazy. He glanced at Mrs. Li and said to her, “Wet nurse, I want to drink water.”

Mrs. Li, with a smile, poured water for the Young Master to drink. The Young Master was growing up, and if it were not for his request to nurse, Mrs. Li would not have taken the initiative to breastfeed him.

Mrs. Li felt somewhat embarrassed, the Young Master was becoming more sensible, and her milk was not as abundant as before, making the job of a wet nurse increasingly stressful.

“Wet nurse, where’s my gift?”

“It’s in the box.”

“Then hurry up and close the door, unlock it; I want to see my gift,” Tang Shunyan, having quenched his thirst, was now fully awake, his bright eyes sparkling with the thought of the gift he received today.

...

Smiling, Mrs. Li went to close the door. As she did, Xiu Zhi, who stood guard outside the Young Master’s room, glared at Mrs. Li.

Mrs. Li chose to ignore the glare. In this yard, she could only trust the Young Master and listen solely to his words.

It was only after she had brought the Young Master back to the courtyard earlier that she had a chance to eat the meal delivered from the kitchen.

She wasn’t on good terms with the other people in the courtyard, never joining them for meals or conversation.

She also dared not drink the water they brought. Once she had drunk water delivered by a maid from the courtyard, which resulted in vomiting and diarrhea. Since then, she had been careful and cautious, preferring to boil water herself in the kitchen when the Young Master was asleep.

Sometimes she would drink water in the Young Master’s room. The people in the courtyard dared not harm the Young Master openly, but even so, Mrs. Li remained vigilant.

She remembered the time she went back home to visit her family, and the Young Master caught a cold—an incident that could have been aimed at framing her or intended to harm the Young Master. Either way, the character of the person responsible was despicable.

“Wet nurse, put all these gifts away. Put all the gold in a bag. I’ll use the money from here whenever I need it in the future.”

“Young Master, everything you need will be bought by someone. Do you ever need to spend money?”

Mrs. Li had never seen a child with so many chests full of clothes for spring, summer, autumn, and winter, nor one whose food and supplies were all of the highest quality.

Cherished to such an extent by his family, would Tang Shunyan ever have the chance to spend money himself?

“Wet nurse, who has been keeping my monthly salary?” Tang Shunyan had learned to count from the teacher and knew already the uses of gold, silver, and copper coins, and could do sums. He then remembered that he should have a monthly salary.

“Wet nurse doesn’t know. It should be with the young madam, I guess!” Mrs. Li had only been there for a little over two months, and perhaps the young madam didn’t trust her. Aside from the clothes, all other belongings of the Young Master were managed by others.

Nor had she heard how much the Young Master’s monthly salary was.

Mrs. Li made sure to heed Mrs. Pan’s advice to talk little and do more, and not to do anything harmful to others or herself.

“Oh, understood,” Tang Shunyan did not trouble his wet nurse with this matter and decided he would talk to his grandmother about it tomorrow. He believed his grandmother, being the housekeeper, was the one who dispensed the monthly salaries.

“Thump, thump, thump”

Mrs. Li, hearing the knocking at the door, helped the Young Master put away his gifts and money, then locked it up before going to open the door.

“Ah,” as the door opened, she saw Jufeng, who accompanied the young madam, standing at the doorway.

“Mrs. Li, take the Young Master to the young madam’s courtyard,” Jufeng said.

“Mhm,” Mrs. Li obediently took Tang Shunyan by the hand.

Sometimes Mrs. Li would carry him there, but more often, Tang Shunyan felt he had grown up and preferred to bounce and jump his way there on his own.

“Cousin!”

“Cousin, hurry over and play!”

In the young madam’s courtyard, there were relatives’ children who had not yet returned home.

Tang Shunyan joined in their play.

Zhao Minjun was also there, sitting on the side watching them play. She also wanted to join, but remembered her family’s admonition that girls should not be too mischievous.

Mrs. Li stood to one side watching them play, a smile on her face as her thoughts drifted to her own children at home.

The children at home were also this age, but instead of enjoying the noble happiness a girl’s life could bring, they were probably toiling away in the fields!

“Little cousin, I heard you can stand in horse stance. What other martial arts do you know?”

When Tang Xiyue asked this, he was actually hoping to have a little competition with Tang Shunyan.

“I only know the horse stance, but later I will learn Qinggong and other martial arts.”

Tang Shunyan felt he could brag about his cleverness a bit. @@novelbin@@

“Cousin, I’ve already started reading The Analects. What about you?”

Royce wanted to test Tang Shunyan.

“Ah! My teacher just taught me the Three Character Classic, and now he’s teaching me the Thousand Character Classic.”

Tang Shunyan looked at Royce with envy, as if he couldn’t keep up with his cousin’s pace.

“My teacher has taught me The Analects.” Tang Xiyue had only wanted to talk about martial arts, but after hearing them talk about their studies, he joined in to show off as well.

It turned out the boys only thought about playing their games or practicing the martial arts they’d just learned, and ended up reciting their lessons.

Zhao Minjun blinked and blinked again, feeling that what the boys were learning was different from what the girls were taught.

Her mother made her learn needlework, female virtue, Qin, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting. There were so many lessons she couldn’t remember them all, and she was often punished by her mother, who always called her stupid. In truth, she wanted to learn the martial arts that the boys played with.

Dinner was served in the courtyard outside the main hall, under the bright light of hanging lanterns.

Ten tables had been set up there, for distant guests who had not yet left and for family members of the host.

That evening, Tang Shunyan sat with the children again, but this time without Meng Zhaojun at the dinner table.

The cousins were leaving for the Capital the next day, and Tang Shunyan was reluctant to part with them, asking them to visit more often in the future.

“Cousin, the New Year will come soon, and you can come to our house to play at that time,” Zhao Minjun invited him.

“How far is your house?” Tang Shunyan had only been to the Capital once with his mother since he was born. Being too young, he didn’t remember the journey well, only knowing that it required a day’s carriage ride, which was very tiring. He had slept through most of the trip.

“Very far, a day’s journey, right?” Royce was unclear on the exact distance as well.

Zhao Minjun nodded along.

The next morning, as soon as Tang Shunyan woke up, Mei Zhi, the maid, told him, “Young Master, the young madam from your yard said that the servant from the county magistrate’s house brought over sheep milk, specifically for the Young Master to drink. Would you like some sheep milk?”

“No, have the kitchen make it into pastries!” Tang Shunyan had only heard others say it was fishy, and as he was growing up, he was slowly weaning off human milk and refused to drink any other kind.

“Hmm, the young madam mentioned that since they sent sheep milk, should the Young Master also send something to Miss Sun from the county magistrate’s house?” Mei Zhi certainly wasn’t making her own decisions; this was something the young madam had asked her to inquire about with the Young Master.

“Didn’t they bring sheep milk? Just pick some edible flowers from the yard and make them into flower pastries to send to Meng Zhaojun,” Tang Shunyan replied, finding the exchange of gifts a bit troublesome. He instructed Mei Zhi to make the arrangements, as he remembered the monthly salary he had thought about the day before and wanted to go find his grandmother.

Seeing that the Young Master didn’t want to talk further, Mei Zhi turned and left without giving Mrs. Li as much as a glance.

Mrs. Li helped the Young Master get dressed and wash his face without ever lifting her head to watch Mei Zhi leave.

“Wet nurse, I want to have breakfast at Grandmother’s courtyard.”

Tang Shunyan proposed as Mrs. Li was about to take him out the door.

“Young Master, the young madam has sent for you,” Xiu Zhi chimed in quickly.

“No matter, I will visit Grandmother first, then go to Mother’s,” Tang Shunyan replied with determination.