12 Reaping What One Sows

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“Your parents are really too calculating, asking our three families to each contribute fifty strings of cash—why not just ask for the moon? I was just dismissed from the guild; I have no prospects anywhere, and I don’t have a single coin to spare.” Huang Shi hadn’t expected her good-hearted attempt to arrange a marriage to backfire so badly, leaving her like tofu fallen into the ashes—impossible to blow clean.

Xu Dalang smiled politely, “I wasn’t around when this happened. I’ll explain everything to our parents in a few days.”

Huang Shi sneered, “Explain what? I’m not counting on you for anything. Your mother and the third brother’s wife came over and said the second brother’s family agreed as well. So why is it just our family left out? Why should we be the ones to pay?”

Upon hearing the second brother had agreed, Xu Dalang asked in disbelief, “The second brother? That can’t be right.”

“The second and third brothers are all businessmen, masters of deception. Maybe they haven’t paid either, just hoping we cover it,” Huang Shi said, both anxious and angry.

Xu Dalang was already reluctant to stay in Suzhou Prefecture. “If that’s the case, why don’t we all go to Jinling together?”

Only then did Huang Shi agree. Staying in Suzhou was risky; who knew how they might be encroached upon. But Xu Dalang was not a scholar and couldn’t obtain a travel permit; he also didn’t want anyone to know his identity. Crafting a sly plan, he told Huang Shi, “If I go to the government office for a permit, my second brother will find out—he’s a prefectural student. Better to get some bolts of cloth from your uncle, say we’re just helping him deliver goods. That way, we can slip away unnoticed.”

This was a good strategy of acting first and explaining later. Huang Shi, unwilling to pay fifty strings, agreed. The two pretended to be merchants, brought Miaoyun along, paid three taels of silver, and boarded the boat to Jinling.

When they left, Xu Erpeng was naturally unaware. Meanwhile, Xu Laotai and Mrs. Bao came together as well. At that time, Mrs. Mei was still unaware of the situation and had gone to the neighboring Ma family with Miaozhen.

Miaozhen personally made a set of skincare products to gift to Lady Qiu. She first bought some jasmine flowers from a flower seller, dried and picked only the petals, then sealed them in a jar with camellia oil to soak for six months. During this time, she filtered the oil through gauze, added fresh jasmine flowers, and repeated the process three times to extract the essence. Then she added beeswax and jasmine oil, melted over a water bath, and packed the mixture into small porcelain boxes.

Having made plenty, she gave some to her mother and relatives.

Besides the jasmine soap, she also made moisturizing balm and jade orchid powder. The balm was based on recipes from the “Taiping Huimin Bureau Prescriptions,” while the jade orchid powder was made from the seeds of the purple jasmine. She crushed the seeds, extracted the contents, added borneol for fragrance, and used safflower rouge to tint it. Knowing Lady Qiu preferred light makeup, she made just enough color—not too bright—and stored it inside the bud of a jade orchid flower, drying it slightly before placing it in the makeup box.

In addition to skincare, she crafted two forehead bands: one embroidered with lotus patterns on lotus-pink silk, the other made of rabbit fur shaped like a sleeping rabbit.

All skincare products were neatly placed in a small makeup box, labeled, and given to Lady Qiu.

“Sir, I truly can’t bear to see you go,” Miaozhen felt a sting in her heart.

Lady Qiu’s luggage was also packed, guarded by a few maids and guards sent by her brother, all efficient and capable. She left quietly, without telling others the exact date; if it weren’t for Miaozhen and the others living next door at the Ma family, no one would have known.

“Miaozhen, you’re a diligent and ambitious child. Your essays are excellent, and your poetry quite good. When I entrusted you with managing the accounts at the academy last time, only you handled it meticulously. Our family’s ancestral home is in Yangzhou; if you ever need anything, you can write to me.” Saying this, she gave her an address.

Miaozhen carefully kept it and knelt, bowing deeply, “Your kindness is profound, and I have no way to repay it. I only hope that someday on the road, we meet again so I may serve you once more.”

After the two returned home, they found Xu Laotai and Mrs. Bao had come together.

Mrs. Bao smiled and asked, “Sister-in-law, where have you and your niece gone?”

“To the Ma family next door. Miaozhen’s teacher is about to leave, so we went to send some things. She taught us a place; we couldn’t just show up empty-handed.” Mrs. Mei knew they never came without reason and didn’t press further, asking the maids to prepare tea.

Xu Laotai, seeing her second son’s progress and that Mrs. Mei was being fawned over, felt uneasy. “Your place is better than the third brother’s. Even I don’t enjoy such fortune—servants waiting on me, living in such a big house. We don’t have such blessings.”

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Mrs. Mei said nothing, thinking Xu Laotai had no shame, always helping the third brother’s family and only thinking of herself in old age.

Miaozhen, standing nearby, laughed, “Grandmother, the third uncle’s business is so good he’ll naturally get a house one day. Why say such things in front of the third aunt?”

Miaozhen’s interruption made the third aunt’s face darken immediately. “We’re nothing compared to you. Our family is large and expensive to maintain.”

“True, speaking of small families, the eldest uncle’s household is the smallest.” Miaozhen knew the third aunt relied on her grandparents for free labor in the shop and begrudged the food they consumed.

So she mentioned the eldest household: her father was not the eldest son and didn’t need help from grandparents, so why complain here?

Mrs. Bao, seeing her niece’s words silenced her, couldn’t retort and instead turned to Mrs. Mei, sticking to her usual tactic: “Second sister-in-law, it’s like this. Our father-in-law agreed to the Gong family’s match, but they want us to provide a dowry of 150 strings. Our parents are old and want the three families to split it—each paying fifty strings.”

Actually, Mrs. Bao hoped that the eldest and second households would pay their shares so that the remaining fifty strings would be left to the in-laws, who lived with the third household and dared not speak ill of them.

Mrs. Mei was stunned.

...

Upon hearing this, Xu Erpeng flew into a rage. “Father’s actions are outrageous. A mere weaver isn’t from a prestigious family. Whoever agreed should pay their own share! I was going to contribute more, but now I’ll only give ten strings, not a single coin more.”

“Your third sister-in-law even says she gave the money to the in-laws already,” Mrs. Mei said.

Xu Erpeng sneered coldly, “If I don’t see the third brother giving the money myself, I won’t pay. Anyway, the spinning wheel for the fourth lady was bought by me—that’s a considerable dowry already.”

Xu Erpeng was firmly against such a large dowry, feeling the family was like bloodsuckers.

After bidding farewell to Lady Qiu, it was already the end of the year.

The Xu family bought three bundles of firewood, costing six to seven taels each, less than two qian in total. They wouldn’t eat old rice for the New Year; Xu Erpeng ordered fifty jin of late rice, which was fragrant and pricier than others.

The neighboring Ma family ate wolfberry sauce and rose sauce, while the Xu family ate bean paste—not because they couldn’t afford better, but Xu Erpeng didn’t want to indulge after a few good days.

Miaozhen no longer needed to attend school and managed household chores with her mother, visiting Lady Ru’s home every now and then.

Lady Ru was delighted by the water-field clothes Miaozhen sent. Later, at free clinics, she only brought Miaozhen, even letting her try moxibustion and acupuncture, and attempted to teach her syndrome differentiation and prescription. If Miaozhen erred, Lady Ru would personally instruct her.

Therefore, the Xu family prepared a grand gift for the Tao family’s New Year: Jiading chicken, Jintan wine, lotus flower fine cakes, shredded meat rolls, fruit-filled salted cakes, and, besides food, two boxes of freshly made silver-red satin fabric.

Feng Niang returned with the gifts and told Miaozhen, “Madam Tao asked me to tell you that they bought a cow for milk and want you to visit before New Year’s Eve to make some abalone with bone.”

“Milk must be fermented first. Xiaoxi, go to my teacher’s place and bring back some milk in a small jar,” Miaozhen instructed.

Feng Niang, seeing her young mistress usually proud but now treating her like a servant, was undeterred and eager to help. She said, half-joking, “The Tao family is treating the young lady like a maid now.”

She was an elder in the family and spoke out of care. Miaozhen smiled, “Not so exaggerated. I regard her as my teacher; she has taught me everything. This is nothing.”

After fetching the milk from the Tao household and fermenting it, Miaozhen boiled it into curds, stirred vigorously until cream appeared, then added honey and cane sugar. Once ready, she sent it over directly.

Lady Ru was surprised to see her come in person. “Why did you come yourself? It’s very cold.”

“I meant to come with the New Year gifts, but something at home delayed me. I came specially today. How does it look? If it’s not good, I’ll try again.” Miaozhen wanted to show her sincerity.

Opening the food box, Lady Ru saw the spiral-shaped milky white abalone with bone and smiled. “This is it, good child. I won’t hide it from you—your eldest brother’s father-in-law asked me to do this.”

Lady Qiu had taught many pastry recipes. Miaozhen knew this abalone was precious, so she worked hard to perfect it, spending all her pocket money on buying milk. Unexpectedly, it truly helped her social connections.

“I’m glad I could help,” Miaozhen said.

Lady Ru invited her inside to help choose her outfit for the day: a plain silk top paired with a five-colored brocade skirt, and even a small bowl-shaped hairpin with honey amber inlaid with gold and pearls. Miaozhen praised the ensemble.

Perhaps Lady Ru didn’t see her as a child but as mature and steady, quietly complaining, “The girls at home only know a few simple characters and are vain. I don’t know what spell your eldest brother fell under.”

Miaozhen just listened and advised, “You’re not living with them.”

Lady Ru, of course, wouldn’t let Miaozhen deliver gifts for nothing. She wanted to give her a beaded flower, but Miaozhen refused—she just wanted to owe favors and learn more. She dashed off swiftly.

Lady Ru and her husband said, “This girl from the Xu family is more hardworking than Xi Niang and talented too. In another year, I’ll have taught her all I can.”

Later, Miaozhen returned home to find her father had come back from the bookstore with a letter from his eldest brother, saying he had gone to Jinling to seek out friends and not to worry.

“Why would the eldest brother leave just before the New Year?” Xu Erpeng asked, puzzled.

Mrs. Mei smiled subtly, “Probably scared off by the fourth lady’s dowry.”

Xu Erpeng laughed helplessly, “He could have just refused. Leaving like this, I don’t know what he was thinking.”

Even Xu Laoguan and Xu Laotai were disappointed. Xu Laoguan spread his hands, “The eldest left, the second will only pay ten strings, and the third just said he’d lend twenty. What are we to do?”

“Blame you. Half the bride price was already spent,” Xu Laotai grumbled.

Xu Laoguan smirked, “You said it was for medical treatment, so I took that much. The fourth lady’s clothes cost me only twenty, and you complained already.”

The couple was at a loss, sitting on the floor, tearless and helpless, unwilling to cover for him anymore. What could he do now?

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