Chapter 33

Pei Weixuan seemed to know what Yuniang was thinking. When she looked at him with shining eyes, he nodded slightly, “It’s possible.”

Xu Qinyu couldn’t help but laugh, “Fourth Brother, I haven’t even said what it is, and you’re already saying it’s possible.”

Pei Weixuan slowly replied, “I know what Yuniang wants to say, and it is indeed worth trying.”

Xu Qinyu tapped her fingers on the wooden table, pondering the plan’s feasibility. This plan would definitely require Fourth Brother’s help.

The Wen family wouldn’t easily let Concubine Gui leave, nor would they easily let Old Master Wen write a letter of release. If they let Concubine Gui go, how would they vent their anger and control Madam Wen and the Pei family?

If they didn’t find a way to bring Concubine Gui home soon, the Wen family might use her to coerce the Pei family or Xu Qinyu into doing something in the future.

Now, the Wen family was also commoners. They might still have some money, but it would eventually run out, and they would need to find a way to make a living. From what her mother-in-law said, the Wen family was now making the third branch and the two old concubines work, unwilling to buy servants. This indicated that their money was running low. If they found out about Xu Qinyu’s culinary skills, they might use Concubine Gui to force her to partner with them to open a restaurant or, worse, force her to work for them. Would she agree or not?

If she disagreed, Concubine Gui would suffer, and her mother-in-law would be heartbroken.

If she agreed—

No, she wouldn’t agree. She wasn’t someone who would easily compromise. She would find another way to rescue Concubine Gui.

So, they had to seize this opportunity to bring Concubine Gui back.

“Fourth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law, what are you talking about? Fourth Sister-in-law, have you thought of a way to bring Grandmother back?” Pei Jianing, anxious and seeing her brother and sister-in-law still being cryptic, couldn’t help but ask directly. She also hoped to bring Concubine Gui back quickly and didn’t want to deal with the Wen family. Although she felt uneasy about her mother washing clothes for the Wen family, it was because of Concubine Gui, and there was no other way. If it were her, she wouldn’t give up on her family either. Even though she often found her mother too gentle and somewhat weak, she deeply loved Madam Wen and her family.

Xu Qinyu smiled mischievously and leaned in to whisper a few words to the others.

Pei Jianing’s eyes lit up as she listened, “I think this plan could work. Being selfish and self-serving, the Wen family would definitely take the bait.”

Madam Wen was a bit worried, “Will this plan really work?”

Xu Qinyu smiled, “Fourth Brother believes it will work. Once he prepares the medicine, we’ll give it a try.”

They discussed the plan for a while longer before finally washing up and going to bed.

The next day, after breakfast, Pei Weixuan left the house.

Xu Qinyu asked, “Fourth Brother, do you need me to accompany you?”

Pei Weixuan glanced at her, “No need, I’ll be back soon.”

Xu Qinyu nodded and watched him leave before returning to the kitchen to start her busy day. Today, she needed to fry a lot of food, so she had to hurry and prepare everything. Frying meatballs, radish balls, and fish required vegetable oil.

Xu Qinyu had bought several jin of soybean oil in the past two days. Although soybean oil was available here, it was expensive, even more so than lard.

Frying requires vegetable oil for better flavor. She first prepared the meat mixture for the meatballs. The key to frying was the oil temperature and seasoning. She made a home-style recipe, mashing the pork, adding salt, chicken eggs, green bean starch, a bit of five-spice powder, and scallions, then gradually adding ginger water to remove the odor and enhance the flavor. When the oil reached seventy percent heat, she could shape the meatballs by hand and drop them into the oil.

Madam Wen helped her occasionally by turning the meatballs in the oil.

Pei Jianing was washing and slicing radishes. Although her knife skills weren’t great, it didn’t matter since the radishes would be mashed and mixed with eggs, salt, five-spice powder, and scallions, then coated in flour and shaped into radish balls.

The fried radish balls were just as delicious as the meatballs, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, even without any meat. After frying, there was still a lot of oil left, which she saved for cooking other dishes.

…

Meanwhile, Madam Wen took the ointment Pei Weixuan had prepared and went to the Wen family. Concubine Gui, looking old and frail, opened the door. Seeing Madam Wen, she sighed but said nothing, letting her in.

In the side room, Concubine Gui asked, “Why are you here when it’s almost New Year?”

She didn’t want her daughter to wash clothes for the Wen family and be tormented by the old lady. She knew that even if she told her daughter she wanted to leave, she couldn’t leave without Old Master Wen’s permission.

For the past few months, her daughter had been urging her to leave the Wen family and live with her and her grandson. She also spoke highly of Yuniang, saying how lucky they were to have such a good daughter-in-law.

Concubine Gui longed to leave the Wen family and stop being tormented by the old lady.

Madam Wen checked to make sure no one was around and whispered a few words to Concubine Gui.

Concubine Gui was startled, but after thinking it over, she found the plan feasible. She knew Old Master Wen and Old Madam Wen too well and understood their nature.

“Alright, I’ll apply it right away,” she said.

Madam Wen helped Concubine Gui apply the ointment under her arm, hiding the rest under the bed. “Xuan Ge’er said to change the ointment every seven days. It won’t harm you, but it will cause some symptoms. Yuniang believes this plan will work, as long as we keep it a secret from the Wen family.”

Concubine Gui nodded, feeling a bit sad that, at her age, she still had to rely on her children and grandchildren.

As the mother and daughter spoke in the side room, a clear voice called out, “Aunt? Is that you?”

It was Wen Yuling’s voice.

Madam Wen paused, but before she could respond, Wen Yuling had already pushed open the door and entered.

Seeing Madam Wen, Wen Yuling smiled, “It’s almost the New Year, Aunt. Why are you here?”

Madam Wen replied calmly, “I’m worried about my mother, so I came to check on her.”

Wen Yuling didn’t even glance at Concubine Gui and continued talking to Wen Shi at the door. “By the way, Aunt, I heard Fourth Sister-in-law sells some delicious food. Why don’t you bring some for us to try? Even if you don’t want to give it to us, you should bring some for Concubine Gui.”

Madam Wen became alert.

She said, “Yuniang’s cooking is just average. The fish she makes doesn’t have a strong fishy smell, which is why the poor people on South and North Streets like it. They haven’t had good food, and the fish is cheap and not fishy, so they enjoy it. Besides, my mother is old and could choke on fish, so I didn’t bring any. I usually buy buns and wontons for her on the way.”

She usually didn’t bring Concubine Gui any of Yuniang’s food, mainly because of Yuniang’s exceptional culinary skills and the nature of the Wen family.

Yuniang’s cooking was astonishing. Having eaten food from the imperial kitchen for twenty years, Madam Wen knew that no imperial chef’s skills could match Yuniang’s.

Yuniang’s culinary skills were extraordinary, but they could also attract trouble. Therefore, Madam Wen never praised Yuniang’s cooking to the Wen family.

If she brought Yuniang’s food to the Wen family, they might realize how talented Yuniang was and have ideas about her skills. With Concubine Gui still in the Wen family, they could use her to threaten Yuniang. So, Madam Wen knew Concubine Gui wasn’t well-fed but still didn’t bring Yuniang’s food, opting to buy meat buns and small wontons from the street instead.

Wen Yuling listened and found some logic in it, but something still felt off. Her half-brothers, Wen Shuncheng and Wen Shungong, had said that people on South Street praised Xu Qinyu’s fish as very delicious.

However, Wen Yuling thought about it carefully. Xu Qinyu was only about fifteen years old. How could she possibly surpass chefs who had been cooking for many years?

She concluded that Xu Qinyu’s cooking was probably just decent, and she happened to know a recipe for fish that removed the fishy smell, allowing her to sell it cheaply and make some hard-earned money.

Wen Yuling lost interest and left without further greetings to Madam Wen and Concubine Gui, exiting the side room and the main gate. After returning yesterday, she had complained to her grandmother, saying that her half-brothers didn’t help her and allowed outsiders to bully her. Her grandmother was furious and wanted to punish the two brothers, but they hadn’t returned and were nowhere to be found by dinner time.

Those two brats, if they had any guts, they wouldn’t come back to the Wen family!

Seeing Wen Yuling finally leave, Madam Wen didn’t stay long either. She gave Concubine Gui a few more instructions, knowing that she was gentle but not talkative and very discreet. She would never speak of this matter to anyone.

…

Xu Qinyu had already finished frying the fish pieces and stuffed lotus root, so there was no need to prepare anything else.

For the next two days, she took a rare break while the family did a thorough cleaning. Madam Wen insisted she not lift a finger, saying she was already busy enough and deserved a few days of rest. The weather was sunny, so during the day, Xu Qinyu sat on a small stool in the courtyard, watching the two children, munching on sunflower seeds and five-spice peanuts, and observing the little black panther running around with a stick or carrying the little white snake.

After interacting with the little white snake for over two months, Xu Qinyu found herself less afraid of snakes.

Well, not all snakes—just Bai Yu. Despite being a snake, Bai Yu was clean and harmless, without the creepy factor. She would still jump three feet high if she encountered other snakes like cobras or rattlesnakes.

Although the little white snake mostly ate and slept, it had grown significantly since Fourth Brother brought it home.

Xu Qinyu sat in the courtyard, munching on sunflower seeds, watching her mother-in-law, Ning Jie’er, and Fourth Brother busy themselves.

Ning Jie’er, seeing her sister-in-law resting, had no complaints. She knew how exhausting it was for her sister-in-law to cook every day. However, being a bit childlike, she would occasionally join her sister-in-law for some sunflower seeds before returning to help with chores.

Watching Madam Wen, Xu Qinyu thought that she was the kind of mother-in-law any daughter-in-law would love, regardless of the era. Having been an empress, she was exceptionally gentle and willing to handle all the household chores. Even Xu Qinyu’s personal laundry was hand-washed by her. Xu Qinyu felt embarrassed and wanted to do it herself, but Madam Wen insisted, saying it was just a small task and that Xu Qinyu was already busy enough.

In Osmanthus Alley, it was common for daughters-in-law to do all the work, including cooking and washing the family’s clothes.

A mother-in-law willing to wash her daughter-in-law’s personal laundry was rare in this era.

After two days of rest, Xu Qinyu felt much better.

Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve, and the family planned to have a reunion dinner and then visit the market.

This was Xu Qinyu’s first New Year here, and she had mixed feelings. In her previous life, she was an orphan with no family, relying on no one. She didn’t know why her parents abandoned her. According to the orphanage staff, she was found in a trash can, crying like a kitten. If someone hadn’t heard her cries that night, she might have been thrown into a garbage truck and died.

In this life, she had a family. She occupied the original body’s life and wondered how the original parents were doing in the capital. She hoped everyone would have a happy and prosperous New Year.

Turning over, Xu Qinyu wiped her eyes and prepared to sleep.

She heard Pei Jianing speak, “Fourth Sister-in-law.”

Xu Qinyu responded, “Yes?”

Pei Jianing said, “Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve.”

Not only Xu Qinyu but the entire Pei family found it hard to sleep.

Xu Qinyu responded again, “Yes.”

“Fourth Sister-in-law, thank you,” Pei Jianing said softly.

Without her, they wouldn’t have known if they could survive in this place, and even if they did, it would have been extremely difficult. Now, thanks to her, they had no worries about food and drink. She was truly grateful.

Xu Qinyu smiled, “We’re all family. Let’s work together to make life better.”

After the New Year, she had some other ideas. Once Concubine Gui returned, Madam Wen wouldn’t need to wash clothes for the Wen family anymore. She planned to have Madam Wen and Ning Jie’er make and sell bags.

Yes, bags—an essential item for modern women.

She had this idea after seeing the pouches at the Xia family’s fabric shop a couple of days ago.

Here, the young women only carry pouches when they go out. These pouches can hold a few small coins but not much else. This gave her the idea that bags could be a fashionable necessity. Even if not for fashion, carrying a bag would be convenient. She thought of giving it a try. If it worked, Madam Wen and Ning Jie’er would have something to do.

She hoped Madam Wen and Ning Jie’er could have their own careers.

After the New Year, she planned to set up a stall for a few months to save enough money to open a food shop. Then, she could hire some helpers and apprentices so Madam Wen and Ning Jie’er wouldn’t have to revolve around her business.

As for Fourth Brother, she hadn’t yet figured out what he could do. For now, he could continue helping her. He was already skilled at pounding fish paste and cleaning fish.

With these thoughts, Xu Qinyu gradually fell asleep.