Village Chief He remained silent, pondering something without uttering a word.
He Dacang anxiously said, "Dad, why arenât you speaking? Donât tell me youâre thinking of keeping it a secret?"
Village Chief He said, "Am I that kind of person? Today is already the eleventh, and Mid-Autumn Festival is just a few days away. It wouldnât be good to bring this up now and ruin the festival. Letâs wait until the sixteenth and then tell Gu Dafuâs family about this."
He Dacang thought his father had a point. Indeed, it was terrible to mention such an ugly matter during a festive time: "Alright, letâs wait until the sixteenth then."
However, He Jinseng could not wait. He said, "Grandfather, when our family goes to deliver festival gifts to the teacherâs family tomorrow, please tell them that I wonât be attending Wanâs Private School anymore..."
Village Chief He said, "But weâve paid a yearâs worth of tuition and stationery fees. If you withdraw now, those wonât be refunded, and weâll still have to give Wanâs family a generous gift in compensation."
To study in Wanâs Private School, one had to pay yearly to cover the cost of writing materials. It was said that buying ink, writing brushes, and paper in bulk would be cheaper, but there wasnât much of a discount to be seen.
He Jinseng was adamant, not willing to return to Wanâs Private School: "...Brother Wan has done such a disgraceful act, acting so recklessly in the backyard. I donât believe the teacher doesnât know about it... I refuse to study under such a teacher..."
To put it unkindly, what good students can such a teacher teach?
He did not want to be taught into becoming someone like Wan Lifang, without morality or integrity!
Village Chief He was still quite troubled: "Apart from Scholar Shang in our town, only Scholar Wan is known for his good knowledge. Scholar Shangâs family doesnât lack money, so he does not take outside students. If you withdraw, where else can you continue your studies? How will you take part in the exam next year?"
He Jinseng firmly said, "Grandfather, I will self-study at home. Please help me withdraw from school. I will not go back to Wanâs Private School."
He felt disgusted even at the thought of going there one more time!
Village Chief He, who doted on his eldest grandson the most, seeing that he truly did not wish to attend Wanâs Private School, could only nod in agreement: "Alright, grandfather promises you."
The next day, He Dacang didnât set up his stall but instead prepared a generous gift and followed Village Chief He to Wanâs Private School to inform Scholar Wan about He Jinseng withdrawing from school.
The excuse they used still managed to save face for Wanâs Family, saying that He Jinseng was ill and needed some time to recuperate, not being able to attend school every day.
Scholar Wan didnât believe it and thought that He Jinseng was holding a grudge because he was made to do servantâs work, deliberately finding an excuse to withdraw from school. He was so infuriated he almost smashed his inkstone: "Since He Jinseng is so seriously ill that he canât even attend school, then it would not be right for me to insist on his attendance. If he wishes to withdraw, let him withdraw. But if he fails to achieve any official position in this lifetime, he should not blame me."
Village Chief He almost couldnât restrain himself from hitting Scholar Wan when he heard this. He had never seen such a teacherâcursing his familyâs Jinseng with serious illness in one breath and dooming his prospects of achieving an official position in the next. How could one have such a malicious heart!
Village Chief He felt very uncomfortable hearing this, but Scholar Wan was, after all, a scholar and they would need his recommendation for Jinsengâs future exams. He didnât want to break ties, so he could only apologize profusely with a smile and hurried home.
On the way back, He Dacang kept cursing Scholar Wanâs family and almost couldnât help himself from going straight to Gu Dafuâs family to expose the scandal of Wanâs Family.
Gu Dafuâs family was unaware of the affair between Wan Lifang and Ni Ruiniang and was at home preparing festival gifts for Wanâs Family.
These days, Gu Dafuâs family was living on borrowed money, and Mrs. Chen felt the pinch but still thought of Gu Yumei as the only daughter in the family and prepared a decent set of festival gifts for Wanâs Family: half a bolt of cotton cloth, two roast ducks, two pounds of meat brine, five pounds of vegetarian brine, a basket of bean dregs cakes, a basket of dried tofu and fried tofu, plus six homemade moon cakes.
But even with such gifts, when they were delivered to Wanâs Family on the thirteenth, Mrs. Chen was still bitterly scolded behind their backs.
Ms. Ni pointed at the half piece of cotton cloth, her face set sternly, "There are six people in the family, and you only send half a piece of cotton cloth, who would that be enough for to make clothes? And that Gu Yumei, how can she be a daughter-in-law? Now that weâre engaged, she doesnât even think of sending a few pairs of shoes to the family during the holidays. Truly clueless."
Ni Ruiniang was massaging Ms. Niâs back, comforting her, "Auntie, Gu Yumei is just inexperienced, but once she enters our household, you can teach her gradually. As the wife of a Scholar, youâll surely be able to turn this country girl into a lady of refinement."
Upon hearing this, Ms. Ni was not only not soothed but cursed instead, "Indeed, sheâs just a country bumpkin with no manners, nowhere near as articulate as our Ruiniang."
Ni Ruiniang said with a smile, "Ruiniang can speak well because Auntie taught me."
Ni Ruiniang flattered Ms. Ni and glanced at the two roast ducks and seasoned meats, swallowing her saliva before suddenly retching, "Ugh!"
"Ruiniang, Ruiniang, whatâs the matter... Oh, itâs morning sickness." Ms. Ni was overjoyed and supported Ni Ruiniang, saying, "Sit down quickly, donât overexert my precious grandson."
"Ugh!" Ni Ruiniang continued to retch, covering her mouth and nose, and pointing to the basket with the roast duck and meat, "Auntie, I canât stand the smell of these. Better send them back to the Ni family."
Ms. Ni never suspected that Ni Ruiniang was faking it. Seeing her continuous retching, she immediately agreed, "Alright, alright, alright, if my precious grandson canât stand the smell, I will get Old Ni to send these roast ducks and meats back to the Ni family."
Therefore, when Scholar Wan and Wan Lifang returned to the backyard and saw the festival gifts sent by Gu Dafuâs family, they were nearly furious to death.
What is this gift? Itâs all vegetarian, not a bit of meat in sight. Indeed, theyâre swindlers, dirt poor at home!
...
Gu Dafuâs family was completely unaware that most of the festival gifts they borrowed money to buy ended up being sent to Ni Ruiniangâs family, and because of this, they were severely scolded by Scholar Wan and his son.
Today is already the 13th, and in the past few days, Gu Jinli has been busy making scar removal ointment.
This batch of scar removal ointment is different from before; it needs a fragrance added. She tried making it three times and produced three boxes of strangely scented ointment before she finally succeeded in making the fragrant scar removal ointment right.
Now, she is simmering the new batch of scar removal ointment over a small clay stove.
"Second Sister, it smells fragrant, even more so than mountain flowers," Brother Cheng squatted beside, tending the fire for the small clay stove while looking at the light red medicinal clay in the copper pot, "Second Sister, is this also scar removal ointment? Itâs different from the grey clay from last time. Does it remove scars?"
Wonât it be a botched job?
Gu Jinxiu was beside them, sifting through the medicinal materials, "Donât you always trust your Second Sister? You donât this time?"
Brother Cheng replied, "I do, but the ointment Second Sister makes is different from before. This ointment looks nice and is pricier, so Iâm worried Second Sister might mess up and lose money."
Gu Jinli was stirring the medicinal clay in the small copper pot and glanced at Gu Jincheng, "I wonât suffer a loss. These medicinal materials were all given to me by Aunt Wu. If I mess it up, itâs Aunt Wu who suffers the loss."
But...
"Donât you have to compensate if itâs botched?" Brother Chengâs big eyes twinkled, his expression as if to say, donât trick me; botched things have always required compensation.
Gu Jinli was cornered by the question, grabbed a medicine pestle lying beside and tapped Brother Chengâs head with it, "Are you just hoping that I lose money? Canât you say something nice? If you dare to agitate me again, I wonât make you New Moon Cakes to eat tomorrow."