It was soon noon, and the Dong Family would be having lunch here, but Dong Wufu had to do the cooking. For a woman, her cooking skills are an important measure of her virtues.

Yang Ruxin watched Dong Wufu swiftly enter the kitchen and knew this girl was good at household chores. However, she couldn’t stay any longer. After all, she had been out for two hours, and the three little ones at home were probably hungry.

Third Uncle Grandfather and the others knew the situation, so they didn’t insist on her staying, and just handed her a bag of candies to take back home, following the custom. Yang Ruxin accepted it without refusing.

By now, both the Dong Family and the Yang Family knew about Yang Ruxin asking Dong Wufu to embroider the screen. Everyone was delighted because they knew that as long as Xinxin approved, Wufu’s worth would surely rise in the future.

Dong Wufu’s cooking skills were pretty good, and anyways, the Yang Family was quite satisfied, marking the perfect conclusion of this meeting.

Shortly after lunch, Chai Qin, who was with Yang Ruxin, came over with some fabric and threads to explain the color and type of wood for the screen’s base, then left.

"I thought it was beyond our reach before, but now it seems our Wufu isn’t lacking," said Wufu’s second aunt disdainfully after returning home.

"Shut up," Wufu’s second uncle glared at his wife, "You shallow-minded thing." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"What did I do?" Wufu’s second aunt was bewildered by the scolding.

"Sister-in-law," Wufu’s mother chuckled, "Do you really think it’s just because our Wufu’s skills are so good that they want to use her?"

"What do you mean, sister-in-law?"

"That Yang Ruxin is a third-rank official, with countless shops and businesses under her control." Wufu’s mother looked at Wufu’s second aunt, "I heard she has several embroidery villages, with no less than eighty to a hundred embroiderers, many of whom are better than Wufu."

"Then why would she..."

"Wufu is really blessed," Wufu’s father chuckled with a mouthful of smoke, "Yang Rulin is closest to Yang Ruxin, and she’s helping her sister-in-law. Just wait, once this screen is finished, Wufu’s dowry and all that won’t be a problem."

"Oh." Wufu’s second aunt, though a bit shallow, wasn’t a bad person, and she understood after hearing the explanation.

"It’s a good thing you didn’t say anything inappropriate at the time, or the marriage might not have happened," Wufu’s second uncle gave his wife a sideways glance.

"I’m not that foolish. I only said it at home," Wufu’s second aunt replied as she got up and went to the door of Wufu’s room, "Wufu, you focus on your embroidery work, and I’ll take care of the household chores. In the future, help out your younger siblings a bit."

Wufu smiled, "Second Aunt, we are family."

Wufu’s second aunt laughed, turned around, and went to discuss the marriage with the elder brother and sister-in-law. They finally decided to keep the ten taels of silver from the Yang Family as betrothal money, and whatever money Wufu earned from embroidering the screen would be added to her dowry.

As for Dong Wufu, Yang Ruxin indeed intended to offer her support. The screen was for the Empress Dowager’s birthday celebration on the nineteenth of December, and the two-month timeframe was just right. Of course, she didn’t pin all her hopes on Wufu, and had backup plans. If the work turned out well, great; if not, it didn’t matter.

With that covered, she returned home for lunch, fed the three little ones, and took an afternoon nap herself.

She had just fallen asleep when she was woken up by a noise.