Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Only when running a household does one realize how expensive firewood and rice are. Although Ming Rou couldn’t really be considered the one running this household, with just the two of them, their food, clothing, and expenses were clear at a glance. No matter how little Ming Rou had dealt with these trivial matters before, she knew that the firewood, rice, oil, and salt in the home didn’t simply appear out of thin air. The seeds for spring planting, the desire to raise a couple of chicks, the need for another set of clothes—all these things required silver. Yet when she and Ye Qiuniang had left the Ming Residence, they hadn’t brought any valuables with them.

After their meal, Ming Rou held the Ming Family’s heirloom jade pendant in her hand and fell into deep thought.

Ye Qiuniang came over and sat down with her on the stone stool in the courtyard. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, sprinkling dappled patterns on the ground.

“This, I’m returning it to you.”

As Ming Rou heard the soft, clear voice beside her ear, she turned to meet Ye Qiuniang’s luminous eyes. Her gaze traveled down to see a crumpled piece of Xuan paper in Ye Qiuniang’s hand.

Ming Rou, of course, knew what it was. She didn’t know how many times she had touched that Xuan paper before. Each time she held it in her palm, it felt as though she was holding Ye Qiuniang’s entire life. With this indenture contract, Ye Qiuniang would have to obey her every command.

She turned her head away, neither taking the paper nor looking at her anymore, and said glumly, “I already gave it to you. Why are you returning it?”

“This was originally yours and must eventually be returned to its rightful owner. Besides, I’ve never thought about redeeming it in this lifetime.”

Ming Rou was displeased by her words. “You are you. You don’t need to belong to anyone. Since there’s a chance to remove these shackles, why would you still want to take someone else’s surname, be their servant, and toil like an ox or horse for the rest of your life? Isn’t it good to be yourself?”

Ye Qiuniang gave her a deep look and said, “If it’s you, I don’t mind at all.”

Ming Rou felt uncomfortable under her intense gaze, and every word she said seemed to burn her. A faint blush rose on her face unbidden, and she said rather awkwardly, “I’m not that stubbornly traditional. Setting aside whether this scrap of paper can even bind you, if I truly wanted to keep you, I’d find another way.”

Ye Qiuniang laughed. “I know. The reason I’m staying now indeed isn’t because of this indenture contract. Eldest Miss doesn’t need to think of any other ways, because Eldest Miss already has a very good way.”

“I have a good way?”

Ming Rou raised her head and looked at her in confusion.

Ye Qiuniang merely smiled without answering. She stuffed the Xuan paper into Ming Rou’s hand and stood up to leave. Although the Old Patriarch had held her in high regard, he also feared Ming Rou would be unable to control her, so he had secretly given this indenture contract to Ming Rou. And that was even ignoring the fact that Ye Qiuniang didn’t care about it at all. Even if this indenture contract truly fell into someone else’s hands, with her abilities today, she wouldn’t feel the slightest panic.

But since it was in Ming Rou’s hands, Ye Qiuniang had absolutely no concerns whatsoever.

What she never expected, however, was that the young girl would take the paper stuffed into her hand, lightly crumple it, tear it—and in an instant, the thin Xuan paper shattered into tiny fragments. Then with a wave of her hand, these scraps were carried away by the autumn wind.

Ye Qiuniang, who had just stood up, was momentarily stunned by this action.

But then she lowered her head, and a faint smile curved the corners of her pursed lips.

This scene happened to be witnessed by Ming Rou, who looked up at just that moment, and it transfixed her. She felt that Jiujiu was growing more beautiful with each passing day. Even a simple act like lowering her head and pursing her lips was enough to captivate her.

Ming Rou didn’t know if her tearing up the indenture contract had just pleased her, or if it was something else. All she knew was that Jiujiu was so happy right now, and it was surely related to her. Her mood instantly soared, and she stood up, trying to catch her.

By now, Ye Qiuniang was a mature woman. Naturally, she wouldn’t engage in childish games like a child. With just a slight glance, she fixed Ming Rou in place.

“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be working on the estate. You stay home and behave yourself.”

Ming Rou blinked and looked at her. “Didn’t we rent land? Why are you still going to do labor?”

“We just finished the autumn harvest. Rice planting isn’t until next year. If I don’t find work during this time, there won’t be anything to eat at home.”

Ming Rou’s eyes immediately dimmed.

Then, raising her little face to Ye Qiuniang, she said, “Jiujiu, I’ll go with you too. Whatever you do, I’ll do it with you. I can work too.”

She pounded her chest with a thumping sound.

Hearing this, Ye Qiuniang looked at her with a half-smile. “What can you even do? Thresh grain or plow the field?”

Ming Rou was instantly at a loss for words, but still refused to back down. “Even if I can’t do it now, if I go with you, I can learn.”

Ye Qiuniang looked at her frail little frame and thin shoulders, thought for a moment, and ultimately swallowed the words she had been about to say. She couldn’t bear to strike down her young spirit.

“I’ll go work for a few days and see if Manager Tong needs more help before bringing you along. For these few days, you should rest at home. A Tao is free in the mornings. If you feel bored, let him take you around to get familiar with the place.”

Ming Rou watched as Ye Qiuniang seemed determined to go work, and dared not make a fuss. But the thought of her refusing to take her along made her sulk again.

Ye Qiuniang’s eyes were gentle as water. She lowered her head to look at the unhappy Ming Rou and softly stroked her hair. “Just these few days. In a few more days, when the new master returns, I’ll take you to see her. Then there might truly be suitable work for you to do.”

Hearing this comfort, Ming Rou’s pouting lips finally relaxed.

Once she had soothed Ming Rou, Ye Qiuniang stood in the courtyard, gazing toward the distant main courtyard, and sank into contemplation.

By now, Pingle County had clearly formed into a standoff between the Du and Zhang families. Since ancient times, food was paramount. Whoever controlled the grain would be the victor. Currently, both families were grain magnates. When Old Patriarch Ming was alive, the Ming Family had essentially been dominant. Now, the Ming Family under Du Xian’s control had been split off a large chunk, greatly reducing its strength. In contrast, the Zhang Family, who had been close behind, now seized the opportunity to catch up.

Du Xian had previously been in close private contact with Master Zhang. Now, with the two dividing their influence across the county, their relationship had become quite delicate.

Ye Qiuniang was happy to see this. These two had previously exchanged sweet sentiments in private. Now that the situation had changed, there was bound to be infighting. For the time being, the situation in all of Pingle County wouldn’t change much, which would give Paulownia Village more time and opportunity to develop slowly.

However, there were many things to attend to on the estate right now. After the Old Patriarch passed away, she had returned to the Ming Residence. Nearly half a year had gone by. With Manager Tong overseeing things, there were no major problems. But there were still several smaller businesses outside that had been separated off earlier, which needed tending. That was why, for now, she had to leave Ming Rou behind to handle some urgent matters first.

It wasn’t that Ye Qiuniang didn’t want to directly elevate Ming Rou to a position of power. It was that their footing was still unstable, and Ming Rou was too conspicuous a target. No one could guarantee what Du Xian might do out of envy.

Besides, in this Paulownia Village, some spies had been planted in the remote corners and crevices. Ye Qiuniang didn’t want to alert the enemy too early.

Therefore, Ming Rou—for now, it was best to keep her in the dark.

Ye Qiuniang’s own identity wasn’t so conspicuous, making it much more convenient for her to do things. After the earlier paperwork for Paulownia Village was processed, her identity had been kept hidden. The servants noticed that Manager Tong seemed to treat her with a certain deference, but they all assumed it was because the new master valued her and had entrusted her with some tasks.

No one knew that this seemingly unremarkable young woman was their new master.

But Ye Qiuniang knew she was merely holding Paulownia Village, this last family asset, in trust for Ming Rou. Once Ming Rou could stand on her own one day, she would return these things to her.

Ming Rou was unaware of Ye Qiuniang’s painstaking efforts, but she knew that Jiujiu was going out to work now for the sake of this household, to support her. So although she felt dejected, she dared not throw a tantrum. Only a sense of self-loathing surfaced in her heart, along with a bit of stifled frustration.

After breakfast, the two had a free day. The clothes they had changed out of the previous day still hadn’t been washed. They had been soaking in the wooden tub since morning before they went out. Now that they had time, Ye Qiuniang pulled up a small stool and sat by the well to do the laundry.

Ming Rou, a thousand-gold Eldest Miss, had no idea how to arrange these matters. Now, seeing Ye Qiuniang wash clothes, she felt guilty that she hadn’t even noticed the tub of dirty laundry sitting there all morning, forcing Jiujiu to wash it only after returning from the mountain.

She had never washed clothes before, but living in the Ming Residence, she had inevitably seen the servants do it. She hurried forward to snatch the tub from Ye Qiuniang.

“Jiujiu, let me wash.”

Now that Ye Qiuniang was living with Ming Rou, her intention was for her to understand the hardships of life. But when it came to actually doing the chores, she still hesitated to let go and couldn’t bear for her to toil.

“It’s just a few clothes. I’ll wash them.”

After being refused, Ming Rou didn’t insist further. She silently carried another small stool over and sat to the side, watching her wash the clothes.

Jiujiu wouldn’t let her do it herself today, but after she left for work tomorrow, she’d wash them then! No big deal!

Doing laundry was nothing special, but Ming Rou was now blossoming into a young lady. When she saw Ye Qiuniang washing her own undergarments, she suddenly felt an inexplicable wave of shyness.

At the Ming Residence, the wet nurse had washed these clothes. Even when she occasionally saw those small garments being washed, she hadn’t felt embarrassed. But now, watching that thin scrap of fabric being scrubbed and rubbed between Jiujiu’s slender fingers, why did it feel so utterly mortifying?

Ming Rou felt a rush of heat surge to her face. She abruptly stood up, no longer looking at Ye Qiuniang.

She failed to notice that after she turned and stood up, the woman bent over the laundry had an almost imperceptible smile on her lips.

Ming Rou found an excuse to leave the courtyard and wandered around the house for a while. Only when the heat on her face had somewhat receded did she notice several hens with their chicks scratching for worms in the nearby field. What she found amusing was that these few clumps of chicks were all painted with different colors. Even if they mixed together, they could be clearly told apart.

Ming Rou’s interest was immediately piqued. She thought to herself that if she raised chicks, she would definitely paint them with a cinnabar red, like lip rouge, so they’d look different from the neighbors’ chicks—easy to distinguish and pretty.

Being a young girl, Ming Rou was naturally very interested in rouge and lip rouge. When she used to play with Xu Qionghua, they would often go shopping for all kinds of lip rouge and rouge to play with at home. They’d put on makeup in front of the mirror like the older girls, painting their eyebrows and applying rouge to make themselves beautiful.

It was a pity that now she had arrived here without bringing anything, and without any gold or silver on her, let alone buying rouge, even putting food on the table was a problem.

Watching the colorful chicks darting about before her eyes, chirping nonstop, she felt deeply regretful.

But suddenly, an idea struck her. Since she had nothing to do anyway, why not make the lip rouge herself?