Chapter 63: Qiu Yurou Hugged Jingxuan

Qiu Yurou hugged Jingxuan and coaxed her, “How about I fry tofu for you today, okay?”

Jingxuan had grown quite a bit now, no longer the kind of child one could tell at a glance was just a little girl.

So Qiu Yurou no longer patted her head the way she used to. Now, when Jingxuan needed comforting, she simply hugged her.

In her heart, Jingxuan wanted to eat meat. But she had never said it out loud. Eldest Brother had already spoken of how important it was to observe mourning. She wasn’t a foolish child; she knew what could be said and what mustn’t be.

Even leaving aside how lax mourning might affect Eldest Brother’s and Third Brother’s scholarly prospects, in consideration of their parents alone, Jingxuan had no objection to keeping the mourning customs.

But she was, after all, only a ten-year-old girl, and she had been raised with such care by Qiu Yurou all those years back in their village.

Now with meat and fish completely forbidden, even if she didn’t say she craved it, her body instinctively began to.

When Qiu Yurou mentioned frying tofu, Jingxuan happily agreed and linked arms with her as they went together to the back courtyard.

In the courtyard, Second Sister was overseeing Auntie Song, the servant they had hired, and her own maid, Dujuan, as they washed clothes. Jingxuan’s maid was out cleaning the rooms.

Second Sister had a reserved temperament, so Qiu Yurou had chosen an outgoing girl of the same age as her maid. Since Jingxuan was naturally lively, her maid was chosen to be the steadier sort.

Whether these pairings were suitable or not would show with time. Once their brothers passed the exams and ranked as zhuangyuan (top scholars), each sister could be assigned another maid.

Girls should be raised richly, but at the same time, they still needed to learn what young ladies were supposed to learn.

Speaking of the duties of a young lady, Qiu Yurou still felt deeply grateful to Magistrate Lu.

When the family moved to the county, Magistrate Lu had not yet been transferred away.

Now, in anyone’s eyes, Su Yunting was practically considered one of Magistrate Lu’s people. Since the whole family had moved into the county, of course they went to pay a visit.

Magistrate Lu’s wife hosted Qiu Yurou and her sisters-in-law. Magistrate Lu had been an official for more than ten years, yet his inner household was very clean, with no concubines or chamber maids.

This was one of the most important reasons Su Yunting chose to rely on him. The other was that he was still a fairly upright official.

Madam Lu was very different from Madam Sun (the mother of Sun Ruimin). Though she was an official’s wife, she had none of the aloof airs, and treated the three sisters-in-law with warmth.

Now that Su Yunting was relying on Magistrate Lu, and the magistrate was an official, Madam Lu made no mention of rank. She simply told the three sisters-in-law to treat her as an elder.

Since Madam Lu had been so approachable, and remembering Su Yunting’s instructions beforehand, Qiu Yurou told her about their greatest difficulty at the time that is she did not know how to properly manage the household affairs.

Since Magistrate Lu had already received a transfer order and was preparing to move, Madam Lu told them to come by daily, and she taught them how to handle household matters.

Thanks to that period of learning from Madam Lu, not only Qiu Yurou and Second Sister, but even Jingxuan became adept at speaking about household management.

Qiu Yurou even applied those methods of household management to extend into better management of the workshop.

Now, with Second Sister in charge of the household, everything from food to clothing to daily living ran smoothly.

As for herself, thanks to what she had learned from Madam Lu, she no longer had to handle every detail at the workshop. In the beginning she needed to be hands-on with everything. Now that sales were steady and staff plentiful, she only needed to stay half a day. The rest she could entrust to her apprentices and to Su Dani.

At noon, Su Yunting and his younger brother ate at the academy, so their meals didn’t need preparing. But even without the two of them, meals still had to be made for eight people.

Her apprentices and the household workers did not need to observe the no-meat rule. But if they were dining together with her family, they followed the same restrictions.

When Qiu Yurou taught her apprentices cooking, she would let Second Sister’s maid, Dujuan, come help. Since Dujuan had been bought as a maid and would stay with Second Sister for life, learning some kitchen skills would become a support for her mistress in the future.

Currently, the household’s lunch was guided by Qiu Yurou and cooked by her apprentice. In the evening, the apprentice cooked freely. Breakfast was made by Dujuan.

In the afternoons, Qiu Yurou had little to do. Because they were in mourning, she didn’t need to go out to socialize with Su Yunting’s classmates’ families. At most, she interacted with neighbors.

At home, she would read, do some needlework, or take her sisters shopping.

Previously, in setting up the house, furniture, and hiring staff, they had spent nearly four hundred taels of silver. Of the seven hundred Magistrate Lu had given Su Yunting, after repaying what they owed and household expenses, about two hundred taels remained.

Two hundred taels was an enormous fortune in the countryside, and even in the county it was enough for comfortable living. Not to mention that Su Yunting had tax exemptions, and Qiu Yurou’s workshop now brought in several taels a day.

With the household financially secure, apprentices obedient, and siblings well-behaved, her relationship with Su Yunting was steadily deepening.

If one had to point out what was unsatisfactory in life, first would be the mourning rules that forbade meat.

And second… when their affection grew strong…

Because of the mourning, Su Yunting seldom joined his classmates in evening outings. After school, he went straight home, never lingering outside.

Once home, he would first report to Qiu Yurou everything he had done that day. Then he would check on Yunche’s lessons at the academy, and occasionally look over his sisters’ assignments.

After dinner, Su Yunting would wash up and then head over to Qiu Yurou’s room.

Girls always took longer than men to tidy themselves up, so when Su Yunting arrived, Qiu Yurou was usually applying face cream.

Once she finished, Su Yunting liked to help her comb her hair. After combing, he would hold her close, unwilling to let go.

The two of them were always in the state of kissing foreheads and hugging waists. But no matter how restrained, two young people at the height of youth holding each other; how could their hearts not be set aflame?

This evening, when Su Yunting came after washing up, Qiu Yurou refused to let him comb her hair again.

Seeing her flushed face, Su Yunting knew it was because yesterday he hadn’t managed to restrain his body’s reaction.

He sighed inwardly. In his previous life, he had been single all his days and never felt it hard to bear. But in this life, waking up with his wife beside him, it seemed he was burning with all the passion he had lacked before.

Since she wouldn’t let him comb her hair, Su Yunting sat down on another chair in the room.

Qiu Yurou felt embarrassed under his gaze. “If there’s nothing else, you should go back and rest early.”

But Su Yunting didn’t want to go. Even if she didn’t let him hold her, just being near her filled his heart with happiness.

Since he refused to leave, he picked out amusing stories from the academy and told them to make her laugh.

After chatting and laughing for a while, the two forgot that he wasn’t supposed to comb her hair. Out of habit, Su Yunting picked up the comb and began to smooth his wife’s hair.

Once her hair was smoothed, he pulled her into his arms again.

Qiu Yurou: …

Holding his wife, Su Yunting also recalled how she had just told him not to come so close.

If he had remembered before hugging, he might have been able to restrain himself. But now, with his soft, fragrant wife in his arms, he truly could not bear to let go.

Since the one in his embrace wasn’t resisting, Su Yunting simply pretended he hadn’t remembered and continued talking as before.

When two people are in love, how could they not want to linger together? Of course, Qiu Yurou also liked being in Su Yunting’s arms as it gave her a strong sense of security.

…

When life holds no great worries, the days pass especially quickly. In the blink of an eye, a year had gone by.

The Su siblings were finally about to finish their mourning period.

To leave mourning, they first had to return to their hometown to honor their parents’ graves.

Their father and mother had died within a hundred days of each other. So when the father’s mourning ended, they had not held a large ceremony. But when the mother’s mourning ended as well, a grand ceremony had to be held.

Now, Old Man Su’s household was nothing like before. After being swindled out of nearly all their savings, and having sold off much of their land, what remained was not utter poverty, but compared to their former life, it was worlds apart.

These days, in Old Man Su’s house, quarrels erupted every three days, fights every five; it was a household in constant turmoil.

Compared to them, the life of Su Yunting’s family was enviable.

Su Yunting had won the favor of an official, bought a house in the county, and both brothers studied at the county academy. Qiu Yurou even ran a pastry and sauce workshop.

To the villagers, their family now had both wealth and influence.

So when the father’s mourning ended, some villagers suggested that Su Yunting should reconcile with Old Man Su.

Now, faced with such persuasion to be magnanimous, Su Yunting no longer grew angry.

Not only did he not grow angry, he even thanked them for considering his well-being.

His calmness was because a year of happy life had smoothed away the harshness in his heart. As for Old Man Su’s side, the most he could do was refrain from seeking revenge. As for reconciliation, he absolutely could not.

It wasn’t just that he wouldn’t but Yurou didn’t want it either!

So, after being urged by the villagers, Su Yunting went to the clan leader’s home.

No one knew what he said there, but within a few days of his family returning to the county, the clan leader’s grandson, Su Shuo, also moved his wife and children to study at the county academy.

In Su Village, while Old Man Su was feeling proud because many villagers had suggested reconciling with Su Yunting, the clan leader came to his house.

The clan leader only asked Old Man Su and his son to stay and said to them, “Do you still remember Magistrate Lu, the one who appreciated Yunting?”

Of course, the father and son remembered.

The clan leader said, “Magistrate Lu has been promoted. Now he serves in the prefectural city as deputy prefect. Because he once wrote a plaque for our town’s physician, after becoming prefect he focused on women’s childbirth safety. Within just a year, he had visible achievements. It won’t be long before he rises even higher.”

Old Man Su and Second Son looked at each other, puzzled about what Magistrate Lu’s rising career had to do with them.

Seeing their ignorance, the clan leader grew angry, “Have you forgotten? Magistrate Lu’s nephew is Yunting’s close friend. This time Yunting only came back for a small memorial, so he couldn’t invite classmates and friends. But next time, when there’s a grand ceremony, all of them will surely come. We may think past matters are over, but those scholars won’t see it that way. With just a stroke of the brush, they could accuse you of being unfilial in a petition to the current magistrate! And then, your reputation, and the future of your Second Son’s household, would all be ruined!”

At this, Old Man Su felt truly afraid.

The clan leader continued, “With the example of the last magistrate who earned achievements, the new one will also be eager to prove himself. If he seizes you as an example, parades you through the whole county in shame, it’s not impossible!”

Old Man Su had always been shameless in his doings, but not so shameless as to ignore the disgrace of being paraded through the county. He was truly frightened.

Second Son was no less scared. If the old man was paraded through the streets, he too would not escape.

The clan leader said, “If you ask me, whether reconciliation happens or not, Yunting is still your grandson. If you truly get into trouble, he wouldn’t abandon you. But if you really reconcile, and then his fellow scholars accuse you, dragging the magistrate’s record into it, even if Yunting wanted to help, he’d be powerless!”

Cold sweat broke out on Old Man Su. “No…no reconciliation! We signed a written agreement back then. Each family lives its own life, no interfering in each other’s affairs.”

His legs trembling, he forced himself to sound tough, “I didn’t lift a hand when they were about to starve, so now that they’re living well, I won’t go fawning over them either!”

Cultural Notes:

• Deputy Prefect: was an assistant or deputy official who helped the Prefect, the head of a prefectural government who handles administrative affairs.

• Mourning period: the mourning period, usually three years in Confucian tradition, during which children should avoid indulgences (meat, wine, marriage).
• Zhuangyuan: the title given to the top scorer in the highest level of the imperial examinations.