Free Web NovelChapter 4: Chapter 2: Second Aunt Wei Hong
In this day and age, eating meat was a luxury. To have a broth with the taste of meat was to live better than many well-to-do families.
"The radish stew is almost ready. Brother Wei, have a taste and see if it’s seasoned right."
The flames in the stove roared. Wei Tu scooted the small stool he was sitting on back a few steps and stopped stoking the fire.
Just then, the kitchen maid, Xinghua, looked at Wei Tu with a smile. She used a wooden ladle to scoop a small portion of the stew into a bowl and handed it to him.
As the saying goes.
If a cook doesn’t pilfer, the grain won’t be harvested.
It was impossible to stop a kitchen maid from sneaking food. When Xinghua did it, Lady Li simply turned a blind eye. Besides, it wasn’t as if she could steal that much.
"Alright." Wei Tu’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he stared at the few pieces of cooked pork in the bowl. He shot a quick glance out the window, and seeing no one, he began to gulp it down.
In just a few moments.
Wei Tu had licked the bowl clean of every last bit of radish and meat.
"What’s the occasion? How come we’re having radish stew?" Wei Tu asked Xinghua curiously, setting his bowl on the counter.
The masters of the Li Mansion didn’t eat meat often—just twice every ten-day period, which meant once every five days.
And it had only been two days since Xinghua had last prepared a meat dish.
It wasn’t that the Li Family couldn’t afford to eat meat every day. For a wealthy household, however, such extravagance was seen as squandering the family fortune—an act for which their ancestors would surely scold them in the afterlife.
The Li Family had only come into wealth about a hundred years ago, their fortune built step by step by an ancestor who started as a traveling merchant.
"The Eldest Young Master returned from his studies in the Prefecture City. Eldest Granny Li was so pleased she had me buy two catties of pork from the butcher yesterday."
The kitchen maid, Xinghua, replied.
’The Eldest Young Master?’ Wei Tu’s heart stirred as he recalled his childhood playmate.
Unfortunately...
...times had changed.
The line between master and servant had been clearly drawn.
Despite their past friendship, he now had to address the man as "Young Master" to maintain the distinction between them.
"Could you ask Eldest Granny Li for some time off for me later? I have to go out for a bit."
Wei Tu said, tossing another piece of wood into the fire before standing up and patting the soot from his clothes.
Eldest Granny Li ran a strict household, but as long as you finished your chores, she didn’t mind you taking a moment for yourself.
Wei Tu was asking for leave, but it was really more of a formality to let the family know he’d be gone.
"No problem..." Xinghua replied, picking up an iron ladle to start on the next dish.
But just as the words left her mouth, she yelped, "Ouch!" Her face flushed red as she shot a glare at Wei Tu, who was already on his way out of the kitchen.
A moment ago, Wei Tu had pinched her bottom.
Country folk didn’t stand on ceremony. She and Wei Tu had been flirting for years, just waiting for Eldest Granny Li’s blessing to get married and start a family.
...
After leaving the Li Mansion, Wei Tu didn’t head straight for the Huang Family’s estate. Instead, he took out the wages he had saved over the years and went to a cosmetics shop.
In the first few years after his Second Aunt, Wei Hong, had married into the Huang Family, she had still been close with her relatives, returning home to visit every so often.
But over the past decade, her visits had grown infrequent. Since their grandparents’ death four years ago, she had only returned to the Wei Family home twice.
And one of those times was for the funeral.
Since he was going to ask his Second Aunt Wei Hong for a favor, Wei Tu didn’t want to be met with scorn. It was always better to bring a gift than to show up empty-handed.
The Huang Mansion wanted for nothing in the way of food or cloth.
The only thing he could afford to give was what a woman might use: rouge and face powder.
"Shopkeeper, what are your cheaper rouges and powders...?"
After a moment’s hesitation, Wei Tu steeled himself, walked into the cosmetics shop, and asked about the prices.
Cosmetics were never cheap. With the money he had, he couldn’t even dream of affording the high-end products.
"The cheaper ones?" The shopkeeper sized Wei Tu up. Seeing his patched, coarse gray clothes, he knew exactly what to show him.
He took a brocade box from a display cabinet. "This is Golden Mink. One box costs five maces and will last for two months."
"If you’re buying it as a gift, young man, the Golden Mink is a fine choice."
The shopkeeper paused, then added, "We have cheaper options, like the Purple Cloud Ointment for three maces a box. But that one isn’t quite proper for a gift..."
"I’ll take the Golden Mink." Wei Tu thought for a moment, nodded, and pulled out five large Dangqianwen coins, placing them on the counter.
’His Second Aunt, Wei Hong, is a noble lady of the Huang Mansion,’ he thought. ’She’s been to cosmetics shops far more often than I have. If I give her the Purple Cloud Ointment, she might not say anything, but she’d definitely be displeased.’
’A valuable gift shows valuable sentiment!’
’Besides, since Purple Cloud Ointment is the cheapest product in the shop, someone of Wei Hong’s status would be very unlikely to ever use it.’
’A gift of Purple Cloud Ointment would just be put on a shelf and forgotten.’
As for haggling...
They were all local townsfolk. If a shop cheated its customers, it wouldn’t stay in business for long.
The one thing Wei Tu appreciated about this ancient world was the general trustworthiness of people. Aside from a few despicable outsiders, locals rarely tried to swindle each other.
Besides, large shops like this rarely allowed haggling; their prices were fixed.
Wei Tu was short on cash, but he wasn’t about to waste time trying to save a few copper coins.
"I’ll wrap it up for you," the shopkeeper said with a chuckle.
A short while later, Wei Tu arrived on a street lined with official residences, gift box in hand.
Compared to the Li Mansion, the Huang Mansion’s Master Huang was far wealthier. It was located in the Victorious Workshop, a district in Qingmu County where all the high-ranking officials and nobles lived.
Finding the estate with a plaque that read "Huang," Wei Tu knocked on the side gate and explained his purpose to the gatekeeper.
"Family of the Second Mistress? Wait in the sedan chair hall. I’ll go inform a maid from the inner courtyard."
The gatekeeper stepped aside, letting Wei Tu take a seat in the sedan chair hall, then headed toward the inner courtyard of the Huang Mansion.
The sedan chair hall, where large households stored their sedans, was located in the front courtyard.
Wei Tu waited for a short while before a maid named Qinghe led him to a side room in the front courtyard to await his Second Aunt, Wei Hong.
Great houses had strict rules and did not permit outsiders—especially men—to enter the inner courtyards.
After about a quarter of an hour, a stunningly beautiful woman with skin as smooth as polished jade pushed open the wooden door and entered.
She was followed by two maids, one of whom was Qinghe, the one who had guided him earlier.
"Wei Tu, what brings you to see your Second Aunt? Is something wrong at home?" Wei Hong asked with a gentle smile, sitting on a stool by the table and taking a sip of the tea a maid had poured for her.
"Nothing is wrong at home." Wei Tu rose to his feet and remained standing, giving a slight bow. "I came to see you, Second Aunt, because I have a favor to ask."
Although Wei Bao had sold him to the Li Mansion, he hadn’t completely lost contact with his family.
Wei Bao had only sold him out of desperation.
Six years ago, the Red Dragon had turned, causing a great drought in Qingfeng Prefecture. The harvest failed completely. Going to the Li Mansion for a bite to eat was better than starving to death at home.
Wei Hong’s smile vanished. She set her teacup down, her gaze turning sharp as she looked at Wei Tu. She didn’t say anything harsh, but her attitude said it all.
If Wei Bao needed something, she, his younger sister, might still help out for the sake of their sibling relationship.
But a nephew...
"Your nephew bought you some rouge. Please accept it, Second Aunt..."
Wei Tu took out the gift box, placed it on the large, square table, and slid it toward Wei Hong.
At the sight of the gift, Wei Hong’s expression softened slightly. She could see that Wei Tu was not a shameless boy who lacked manners.
After years of marriage into the Huang Family, she was a Huang now, not one of the Wei Family.
"What is it you want?"
"If it’s something I can help with, your Second Aunt will do her best. But if it’s not..."
Wei Hong shook her head, letting her words trail off.
