She Became A Downfall Noble Lady-Chapter 35 - Bringing Someone Elses Child Home

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Bringing Someone Else’s Child Home

Chapter 35 -35: Bringing Someone Else’s Child Home

Nanny Jin hurried forward, helping Qi Cheng to put down his bundle of firewood while muttering, “Chengzi, you too are tired from daily toil, there’s still quite a bit of the firewood you brought last time. Take some time to rest properly, there’s no need to work so hard every day. Come inside and sit for a bit with our old master, Nanny will brew you some tea.”

Qi Younian also chimed in from the side, “Indeed, my body is still fit, and I can do some work to earn a living, so I can’t always let you do the work for both families. Come on, come inside and rest a bit. The other day Ye Zi bought some coarse tea, it tastes alright, let’s have a taste.”

Qi Cheng smiled and declined, “We’re family, why be so polite with me? I’m just doing this along the way, it’s no trouble at all.” Looking up at the sky, he said, “It’s getting late, I won’t go inside now. When I have some free time, I’ll come over to try Great Uncle’s tea.”

With many chores around the farm, Qi Younian didn’t insist on him staying, and after more expressions of gratitude, they saw Qi Cheng out of the courtyard.

Qi Younian turned back and began to discuss with Ye Xinyan the purpose of Qi Yourong’s visit, his tone revealing some embarrassment, “Your great uncle is the youngest of three brothers and doesn’t understand how to be considerate of others.”

Ye Xinyan was unperturbed by Qi Younian’s apology, “Grandfather needn’t worry so much. It’s inevitable for family members to have different opinions and views from time to time. It’s often said that even upright officials find it hard to settle domestic disputes; the matters of relatives are the hardest to clarify right from wrong. It’s just some leftover breakfast that the family would end up eating anyway. If Great Uncle wants it, just let him have it.”

Ye Xinyan’s own family also had numerous aunts and uncles, and she had seen her share of conflicts and disputes, among which there were naturally people like Qi Yourong who were always thinking about taking advantage.”

She roughly understood Qi Yourong’s thoughts, which amounted to this: since they are brothers connected by blood, if the second brother is doing well, then of course, he should help and support the younger brother; it is unthinkable and shameful not to do so. As for whether he should help out when the second brother is down on his luck, that’s certainly not within his consideration.

But for people like Qi Yourong, there were also those like Qi Yougui and Qi Cheng. Speaking of which, the Qi family’s main branch was really not bad; although Lady Wang and Big Aunt Lady Xu were always somewhat indifferent towards Ye Xinyan’s family, considering that Qi Cheng had been fetching water and chopping wood for her family for so long, at the very least it indicated that Lady Wang and Big Aunt Lady Xu approved of Qi Cheng doing so.

Generous and sincere people always deserve some good in return.

A few Corn Pancakes were not something Ye Xinyan would fuss over; if the Third Branch wanted them, then let them take it. But if they missed out on a bigger opportunity, Old Master Qi Yourong had no one but himself to blame.

Even Nanny Jin didn’t think much of it. Over the decades, she had been serving the main family in the large estate, seeing plenty of bloodless battles and bloodless killings. A few Corn Pancakes made from cornmeal were trivial as long as her own family had them; it was not a big ordeal.

The food stall for the next morning was set up, and what remained were two triangular pastries and three Corn Pancakes.

Probably because Qi Yourong had told his family about it the day before, as Qi Younian drove the donkey cart back home, Nanny Jin with her sharp eyes spotted Madam Pang holding a child, standing far at the entrance of her courtyard, looking down the small path towards the village.

Nanny Jin nudged Ye Xinyan, gesturing for her to look that way.

With just one glance, Ye Xinyan saw Lady Pang watching them, thinking: She really cares about it.

Luckily, Madam Pang didn’t come chasing after them, which allowed Ye Xinyan to breathe a sigh of relief. If Madam Pang, not minding the disdain, really came over holding her child, wouldn’t she have to turn the cart upside down to dig out those few cakes?

When they got back home and had unloaded everything from the donkey cart, it was nearly Noon.

Putting the pastries into a basket, Ye Xinyan said to Qi Younian, “I’ll go deliver these cakes to the Great Uncle’s family, Grandfather and Nanny can rest a bit.” She intended to deliver them early, to spare them the worry.

……

Days passed, and the second branch of the Qi family’s stall flourished. Every day, they sold close to a hundred bowls of rice tofu, along with triangle buns and corn pancakes, amassing a net profit of five taels of silver in addition to six hundred large coins each month.

An income of five taels of silver might not sound like a lot, but for an ordinary farming household, it already classified them as high-income earners.

When they first arrived at Clear Water Village, they had over fifty taels of silver. By the time they bought things, made furniture, and started up their stall, they had spent close to twenty taels of silver, leaving them with thirty-four taels in hand. Now, with an income of five taels of silver each month, the future looked much brighter. Once they had some savings, they could open a small shop, engage in a proper business, and avoid the daily grind.

The only trouble was Qi Younian’s unbearable brothers.

When Qi Younian initially agreed to provide food for the third branch, he was thinking of sending something over every few days. However, Qi Yourong didn’t see it that way. He felt that since the second branch was making sales every day, there ought to be leftovers daily. It couldn’t all be sold out, and these leftovers… weren’t they promised to him by his second brother to be sent to his family?

Consequently, Qi Yourong watched Qi Younian’s comings and goings with wide-open eyes. If one day the food wasn’t sent, the forlorn look in Qi Yourong’s eyes was enough to make Qi Younian’s skin crawl.

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Since food was sent to the third branch of the Qi family, naturally, they couldn’t neglect the main branch.

Qi Yougui was sympathetic to his younger brother’s household and didn’t fuss too much. However, there were others in the main branch who, unlike Qi Yougui, didn’t know of the third brother’s character or understand the second brother’s helplessness. The others might feel slighted by the second branch’s ingratitude and blindness to right and wrong.

In this era, farmers and commoners strove generation after generation just to fill their bellies. If they could receive a few decent meals each day, that was an unexpected gain. Moreover, these were good-tasting meals.

With the main branch of the Qi family providing manpower and resources for the second branch, there was no reason, from any angle, for the second branch to enjoy benefits while ignoring the main branch.

Furthermore, Ye Xinyan had realized that the folks of the third branch were the sort who only took and never gave. They felt entitled to benefits, and if one day Qi Younian’s family needed help, the third branch would undoubtedly turn a blind eye.

To avoid further headaches, Ye Xinyan simply scooped an extra bowl when she prepared dough every evening and made a few more items. Every day after packing up the stall, she would send portions to both the main branch and the third branch.

On this day, they closed the stall a bit earlier, and each family member busied themselves with their tasks. Nanny Jin seized a moment to take cakes over to the third branch of the Qi family. Yet, after quite some time, she was nowhere to be seen.

As Ye Xinyan finished preparing lunch without anyone coming back, she was about to go out and look for them when Nanny Jin returned with a face full of anger. She hadn’t brought back the basket for the spread cakes, and instead, she was dragging along a child who was clearly reluctant, pulling back against her.

“Why did you bring back the child without a mother from Great Uncle’s family?”

Ye Xinyan hurried over to inquire, “Nanny, what happened?”

She took another look at the child.

It was now summer, and Qi Congming was dressed in a tattered and filthy shirt, so torn in places that his skin showed through. His small face was covered in tears and fear, even though he stumbled after Nanny Jin due to the force of her pull, his little body was retreating, indicating his unwillingness to come along with her.