Chapter 37: The Young Ladies and the Grand Plan to Save Money

The group of young women arrived at the Xunfang Pavilion. Just as they reached the entrance, a bright and charming girl in a goose-yellow dress came out to greet them. She was none other than Fan Wenxi, the only daughter of the main Fan family.

Xu Nian silently observed Fan Wenxi’s every move and sighed inwardly—this was what an aristocratic young lady of ancient times should look like.

It was only then that Xu Nian truly understood what it meant to have a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate daughters. Take the county magistrate’s two daughters, for example. Even though they were biological sisters, they each had their own social circles. The legitimate daughter had no interest in associating with the illegitimate one.

Fan Wenxi had prepared various spices for the group. Since the Empress Dowager in the palace was fond of incense, the children of officials had, to some extent, learned the art of making fragrances.

Xu Nian was quite curious about this. She had previously made DIY perfumes in a workshop, but this was her first time dealing with incense-making.

“Xu Meimei, do you recognize these items?”

The one who asked was Liu Ping. Xu Nian shook her head calmly.

“I don’t know. Liu Jiejie, would you explain them to me?”

Liu Ping’s smile froze for a moment, and she muttered inwardly:

“Is she stupid? Can’t she tell I’m mocking her?”

But in Xu Nian’s eyes, they were all just young girls. Even if they said something a little sharp, she wouldn’t take it to heart—let alone subtle jabs like this.

After all, young girls were thin-skinned. Liu Ping couldn’t continue teasing her too openly and was forced to begrudgingly explain everything to Xu Nian.

“Oh my, how can you be this clumsy? I told you to add half a liang of clove and half a liang of Lingling incense, but you’ve nearly added half a jin. Are you trying to suffocate someone with the smell?”

Xu Nian glanced at the small spoonful of spices in her hand, twitching the corner of her mouth. She felt that Liu Ping was deliberately giving her a hard time—but she had no proof.

Hearing the commotion, Fan Wenxi came over and lightly scolded Liu Ping. Seeing Xu Nian’s momentary distress had originally made Liu Ping secretly pleased, but now she was speechless.

After attending this birthday banquet, the previously unfamiliar girls became much more acquainted with each other.

Wu Ziqing was a typical well-bred noble lady with a gentle personality. Fan Wenxi, despite being only thirteen, was the natural leader among them, earning their respect. As for Liu Ping, she acted purely based on her likes and dislikes—ironically, making her seem like the most straightforward one of all.

When Xu Nian left the Fan residence, she let out a deep sigh of relief. Attending this banquet had been exhausting for her. Just thinking about how she would have to come back and learn all sorts of etiquette in the future made her head ache.

What she didn’t know was that her expression had been caught by Luo Jin’an, who was sitting inside a carriage across the street.

Earlier that day, Luo Jin’an had been at Lingshan Temple enjoying a medicinal hot spring bath. However, after hearing from Moyu—who had returned from delivering a birthday gift to Old Madam Mei—that Miss Xu had also gone to the Fan residence, Luo Jin’an quickly changed clothes and rushed over. It was only upon arriving at the Fan residence gate that he realized he had been too impulsive.

Seeing Xu Nian dressed so lightly in the chilly weather, Luo Jin’an suddenly felt that he had been negligent.

“Return to Lingshan Temple,” he ordered.

Moyu was confused. Hadn’t the prince come all this way just to see Miss Xu? Why was he leaving now? But no matter how curious she was, she didn’t dare to ask.

Meanwhile, completely unaware of this, Xu Nian returned to the county office with Tian Shi.

That night, Xu Nian received a bright red cloak. Aunt Xu, the maid who delivered the package, said that a girl named Mo had sent it. Xu Nian immediately knew who the sender was.

Tian Shi, curious, asked as she looked at the cloak in her daughter’s hands, “Who sent this?”

“Changsheng,” Xu Nian replied.

Tian Shi gave her daughter a light smack. “Mind your manners. You should address him properly as Lord Prince.”

Xu Nian sighed. “Yes, yes, yes.”

“Nian’er, the prince has sent quite a few gifts. Should we return the favor? Our family doesn’t have anything valuable, but we still can’t ignore propriety.”

Xu Nian agreed completely.

“Don’t worry, Mother. Leave it to me.”

The next morning, Xu Nian packed her things and returned to Wanying Village. Tian Shi stood at the door, reluctantly watching her daughter leave.

Before setting off, Xu Nian rented a covered carriage from the carriage house—she had no intention of enduring an open-air ride in this weather again. On the way home, she considered asking her uncle to modify the family’s flatbed cart into a covered carriage.

Meanwhile, completely unaware of this, Xu Weian was at home talking about Xu Nian.

“I wonder when Nian’er will be back. Ever since she left, Mother has been getting stingier by the day.”

Xu Fugui and his brother, who were sitting nearby organizing farming tools, silently agreed but didn’t dare say a word. If their mother overheard, they would be the ones getting beaten—not Xu Weian, who always ran away the fastest after causing trouble.

“Second Brother, Third Brother, say something!”

The two men forced out an awkward chuckle and continued their work.

“Sigh~ My poor, newly gained weight is disappearing again. I wonder if Nian’er will feel sorry for her little uncle when she gets back.”

Xu Fugui and his brother burst out laughing. They couldn’t help but picture their eldest niece bossing their youngest brother around—he was completely under her control.

Speak of the devil, and she shall appear.

Xu Nian started shouting before even stepping into the courtyard.

“Uncle! Uncle! Come out for a moment!”

Xu Weian, who had been muttering to himself in the courtyard, was startled by the sudden call.

He quickly stood up and ran outside, followed by Xu Fugui and Xu Youliang.

“Uncle, come take a good look at this carriage. Tomorrow, modify our family’s flatbed cart to look like this,” Xu Nian instructed Xu Weian carefully, pulling him closer to examine the details.

She had initially planned to buy a ready-made one, but who would have thought that in Beijiang, even an ordinary carriage would cost several taels of silver?

Xu Nian’s financial principle was simple: save where you can, spend where you must. Since her family had a carpenter in the form of her uncle, she decided to take full advantage of it. On the way home, she had also gone out of her way to befriend the coachman, even tipping him an extra ten wen for the rental. Thinking about the money she was saving, she felt quite pleased with herself.

Xu Weian stiffly followed Xu Nian around the carriage, inspecting every detail. Not only that, but she also made him crawl under the carriage for a thorough examination—she wasn’t about to let her ten wen go to waste.

Meanwhile, Xu Fugui and Xu Youliang arrived just in time to see Xu Weian wriggling under the carriage.

The two brothers: “…”

Seeing her two uncles, Xu Nian greeted them with a smile.

“Second Uncle, Third Uncle, my little uncle is learning how to modify our flatbed cart into a proper carriage. This is why I say Grandma has great foresight—thanks to Uncle, our family has saved a lot of silver!”

Xu Fugui and Xu Youliang couldn’t help but laugh.

“Our big girl sure knows how to manage a household.”

“Your little uncle is more capable than you think.”

At that moment, only Xu Weian felt wounded and alone in his world.

Despite the teasing, Xu Weian still spent a whole week building a carriage that met Xu Nian’s satisfaction—but that’s a story for another time.

That evening, when Wang Shi saw her granddaughter return, she was overjoyed and prepared a table full of delicious dishes. Even the vegetables she had originally planned to sell for money were used to make several stir-fried dishes.

Xu Weian clicked his tongue in amazement.

“Nian’er, you better not leave home again. You have no idea what your little uncle had to eat while you were gone!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Shi smacked him with her chopsticks.

“You still can’t keep your mouth shut while eating? Hurry up and finish your meal, then get back to work!”

Xu Weian protested pitifully, “Even livestock get a break to catch their breath…”

For a moment, the dinner table was filled with the laughter and chatter of the Xu family.