Chapter 82: Chapter 81 Protecting Shortcomings

Daya was scolded by the Maid Mei Zhi for lacking proper upbringing and was also accusing Mrs. Li, which made Daya clench her teeth, glaring at Maid Mei Zhi with fierce eyes.

Mrs. Li’s face turned red with anger. Normally, she could endure the bullying from these people in the mansion because she needed to keep her job, but now that her daughter was being spoken about like this, how could she bear it?

Tang Shunyan was the first to stand up and scold Maid Mei Zhi loudly:

“How dare you be so presumptuous outside, do you find this Young Master displeasing to the eye? Jufeng, after we get back, have my mother send Maid Mei Zhi away. My courtyard cannot have such a maid around, and that Xiu Zhi too, don’t think I don’t know she always bullies my wet nurse.”

Jufeng nodded to Tang Shunyan and placated him: “Yes, young Master, do not be angry. When we return, Jufeng will surely report to the young madam and punish these two.”

“Young Master, please don’t send this servant away, this servant will not dare again,” pleaded Maid Mei Zhi as she bowed her head. Having previously detested the dirty ground, now she knelt on it, heedless of the filth, for the sake of her livelihood.

Xiu Zhi also knelt on the ground, knocking her head on the floor before Tang Shunyan and said, “Young Master, please don’t send this servant away, this servant will not dare again.”

Tang Shunyan, now angry and with the protective look in his nursing sisters’ eyes, continued relentlessly:

“Hmph, you are far too bold. Mrs. Li is my wet nurse, how can you show her such disrespect? Disrespecting my wet nurse is like disregarding me, the young Master; your audacity has grown too great.”

Ye Shiqi watched with interest as Tang Shunyan, the young Master, protected his mother, angrily rebuking those who had bullied her and her sister.

It seemed to her like the book she had read, in which there wasn’t such a character. Could it be that because her mother had survived, this stepmother never entered their household, and everything was changing?

Oh, that’s right. With her arrival, the family started to become wealthy, and in the book, her father had not taken up carving toys, a business that made money.

Ye Shiqi thought of her father, and if they could collaborate with the Tang Family, selling the products they made at their place would just be a partnership and not a servant relationship, which would be relatively more free.

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After her father earned money, her mother could also quit her job as a wet nurse and return home once again.

She had just overheard her father and the housekeeper speaking in hushed tones; thankfully, her father had declined the job in the county. She could imagine how miserable she and her sisters would be without their father around.

Ye Shiqi was still lamenting the fact that she couldn’t express what she wanted to say, feeling useless due to being too young.

After Tang Shunyan had his fill of scolding, he then spoke to Jufeng:

“Jufeng, go and call the housekeeper grandfather over.”

“Yes, young Master.”

As Jufeng went to look for the housekeeper, the housekeeper was instructing the guard to go to town and bring back the vegetables they had ordered for their meal here.

A guard took a driver and a horse-drawn carriage to a restaurant in the town to collect the meat and vegetables they had ordered.

“Housekeeper, the young Master has summoned you.”

“Oh, all right,” the housekeeper wondered why Tang Shunyan was calling him again. He guessed that the young Master had encountered some issue he couldn’t resolve on his own and therefore sought his help.

When the housekeeper arrived at the entrance to the farmer family’s room, he saw how small the room was, with the bed visible at a glance. It looked very simple and bare; the quilt on the bed had many patches. This did not seem to be the home of a carpenter with a well-to-do family, prompting memories of what Hongji had said to his mother earlier.

This honest man and Mrs. Li didn’t have a single copper coin saved up; the grandmother had taken all of Mrs. Li’s earnings from working outside.

The housekeeper indeed felt some sympathy for Mrs. Li and Hongji and harbored thoughts of helping them out of their predicament.

Seeing those little girls of such young age working outside the house, even an outsider like him felt pity for them.

“Young Master, what instructions do you have for your servant?”

When Tang Shunyan saw the housekeeper standing at the door, he didn’t invite him in. With so many of their elder sisters around, the wet nurse as a woman present, and the room being so small, he pointed to the toy in his hand and said to the housekeeper,

“Housekeeper, look, this is the toy that my youngest sister gave to me, she said uncle made it for her, and she gave it all to me. I want to give my sisters gifts too. Please fetch the box I have in the carriage. There is a little bit of money inside; let’s not worry about other gifts. Bring the broken silver and gold pieces, and I will give them to my sisters to buy snacks with.”

The housekeeper, listening to how many words Tang Shunyan had said, memorized them in his heart and replied with a smile,

“They are so young, they don’t need that much money to buy snacks. The little sister gave you a gift, and you want to give her one. It’s fine if you want to give her silver, I will fetch the box right away.”

The housekeeper then walked out, and Jufeng opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing.

Xiu Zhi and the maid Mei Zhi bowed their heads, not daring to speak, yet they tugged at Jufeng’s sleeve.

Jufeng ignored them, knowing that if she said anything, it would surely make the young Master dislike her.

It is natural for the young Master to reciprocate after receiving gifts from others.

If there were no gestures at all, it would make them, the Tang Family, appear too stingy.

Yet, Mei Zhi and Xiu Zhi did not see it that way; they felt the young Master was too generous and would give the Li Family a lot of silver.

The young Master’s visit to the Li Family’s house had brought them great honor and many gifts.

Mrs. Li wanted to say it was unnecessary, but her daughters held her back, opened a piece of candy, and put it in her mouth. The joyous laughter of the girls eating candy made Mrs. Li happy as well.

Ye Shiqi glanced at the people at the door and then back at Tang Shunyan. Such grand gestures of gift-giving by the young boy, the things given to them, would surely be fought over by their grandmothers and others once they had left.

Sigh… unable to voice it, unable to warn them.

Ye Shiqi could think of only one solution, to keep some of the things they received and put some out. Even if the grandmothers found out, they couldn’t take everything.

The housekeeper retrieved a box from the carriage and, carrying it, arrived at the Li Family’s room’s door, immediately drawing the attention of everyone in the courtyard.

Especially Mrs. Lai, Ye Shuzhen, and Ye Shuzhi, who thought that such an exquisitely carved box surely contained money.

The mother and daughters followed the housekeeper to the door, and even Hongji and his father couldn’t help but gather around to see.

All the other guards, maids, and old women in the courtyard were also crowding around the door to look.

Seeing the housekeeper arrive, Ye Shiqi realized that indeed, the grandmother and so many others had come to look. She hadn’t been careful enough and should have given the young boy something when he was about to leave.

If she had given it when he was leaving, the family would have known about it.

“Young Master, is this the box?” asked the housekeeper, holding the box respectfully towards Tang Shunyan.

“Yes, Grandpa Housekeeper, please bring the box in. I want to give the things inside to my sisters,” said Tang Shunyan, seeing the box and smiling brightly.

“Alright, Young Master, please be careful with it,” said the housekeeper, suspecting that the box must contain something valuable. The box wasn’t heavy; if it fell to the ground, it would surely break something inside.