Chapter 52: There is Room For the Poor Daughter
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Chapter 52: The Importance of One’s Maternal Family
Madam Li and Yan Zhigao had returned to their usual respectful and courteous relationship, but the atmosphere between them made Daohua feel a bit odd.
Her mother no longer seemed as attentive and considerate towards her father as she had been when Daohua first arrived.
And as for her father, he often stole glances at her mother, sometimes beginning to speak only to hesitate and leave his words unspoken—quite a strange behavior.
“Could it be that Father has finally realized how good Mother is and changed his mind?” Daohua thought to herself.
“What are you muttering about?” Madam Li knocked lightly on Daohua’s forehead.
Daohua quickly shook her head, “Nothing.” She immediately lowered her head and began flipping through the account book with one hand while her other hand quickly worked the abacus, her movements impressively fast.
Recently, seeing her mother’s eyes becoming red and strained from reviewing the accounts, Daohua felt it was her duty as a daughter to help out. So, she had volunteered to assist her mother.
With the end of the year approaching, Madam Li was extremely busy, and there wasn’t much time to teach her daughter how to review, record, and calculate the accounts. But she knew it was her daughter’s filial heart and didn’t want to let her down. Furthermore, now that Daohua was 9 years old, she should start learning these household management skills.
Thus, Madam Li made time amid her busy schedule to teach Daohua how to read and manage the accounts.
Compared to the dowries of wealthy families, Madam Li’s dowry was not particularly remarkable. However, in the Yan family, which came from humble beginnings, it could be considered substantial.
Though over the years, a significant portion of their family’s finances had been used for household expenses and to support Yan Zhigao, Madam Li, who was good at managing finances, had still managed to slowly add to their assets.
So, at the end of every year, reviewing the accounts became an essential task.
Madam Li smiled contentedly as she watched her clever daughter, gently asking, “If you find anything wrong with the accounts, just make a note, and when I return, I’ll explain it to you.”
Daohua didn’t even look up, “Got it, got it. Mother, you go ahead and do your other tasks. Leave the accounts to me.”
Madam Li smiled silently and watched her daughter seriously calculate for a while before quietly leaving the room and heading next door.
“Madam, here are the lists of gifts sent to us over the years.”
At the end of every year, sending and receiving gifts was a significant matter, as it maintained relationships and connections between families.
In the past, Madam Li had to check the accounts and prepare gifts for various families, often making her feel overwhelmed and tired.
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This novel is translated by the Eternal Novel Hits translators. Please read it at https://eternalnovelhits.blogspot.com
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This year, however, she unexpectedly got a bit of relief thanks to her daughter.
She had prepared to spend a late night guiding her daughter through the accounts, but to her surprise, after just a brief explanation, Daohua took over the task and handled everything herself.
Madam Li had reviewed the accounts, and every single expenditure was accurately recorded by Daohua. Furthermore, Daohua had even thoughtfully changed the way the accounts were written, making everything much clearer.
This left Madam Li once again amazed by her daughter’s intelligence.
“This year, I guess it’s the easiest year for Madam, right?” Ping Tong, a servant, teasingly remarked.
Ping Xiao, another servant, added, “That’s right! Ever since the Eldest Miss arrived, Madam has been smiling every day. I can see her health has improved a lot.”
Ping Tong nodded, “The Old Madam said that the Eldest Miss is a blessing. She used to bring good fortune to the Old Madam when she was in the old house, and now that she’s here, she’s bringing good fortune to Madam.”
Madam Li felt that this was true. She had witnessed how poor the Old Madam’s health had been in the past, and now, some people even younger than the Old Madam seemed to have worse health.
Perhaps it was just her impression, but she also felt that her own skin had become better recently.
“Alright, stop praising that girl so much. Don’t go around calling her a blessing.” Madam Li said with a smile, but her tone was a little stern.
Reputation was important for a woman, but too much of it might not always be a good thing.
Some women gained fame that attracted all sorts of unwanted attention, and in the end, they often met tragic fates because of it.
She just wanted Daohua to live a simple, peaceful life, free from the need for empty fame that attracted outside attention.
Ping Tong and Ping Xiao saw that Madam Li didn’t wish to say more, so they quietly began to organize the list of New Year’s gifts.
“Did we not receive any gifts from the capital this year?” Madam Li asked after reviewing the gift lists.
After looking through all the lists, she sighed.
The lack of gifts from her maternal family meant that her younger sister’s life in her in-laws’ house would be difficult. She couldn’t even send gifts home.
Ping Tong asked, “Madam, shall we still send gifts to the capital?”
Madam Li nodded, “Of course, we must send gifts. Even if they look down on what we send, they still need to know that my sister has a maternal family.”
She considered this for a moment and then added more items to the list of gifts being sent to the capital.
Ping Tong saw Madam Li adding things to the list for the Yang family and hesitated before speaking up, “Madam, if we do this, the family may face some financial strain next year.”
Madam Li didn’t stop writing, “There isn’t much we can do to help my sister, but if we make the gifts presentable, it will make her life a little easier in her husband’s family.”
She had deeply felt the hardships of being married into a higher-status family.
She herself was a high-married woman!
Though everyone in the Yan family appeared to respect her, she knew very well that most of them valued her dowry and the fact that her maternal family was reasonably well-off.
Even the Old Madam had agreed to her marriage with Yan Zhigao because of this.
The maternal family was incredibly important to a married woman.
She was fortunate to have two brothers who cared for her. Even though the Li family wasn’t as prestigious as the Yan family, the gifts sent by the Li family during every festival made it easier for her to hold her head high in the Yan family.
Madam Li continued carefully sorting through the gift lists and preparing appropriate gifts to send back.
Meanwhile, Daohua finished reviewing one of the account books, stood up, and stretched lazily.
The ancient account books were really hard to read, and her eyes were beginning to hurt and feel strained.
She needed a break.
In ancient times, if one became nearsighted, there were no glasses to help them.
Daohua walked to the window to admire the cold orchids she had specifically sent to Madam Li to relieve eye strain.
She had found the orchids in the mountains near her old home, and she had kept them in her space ever since. Now, they were blooming beautifully and lushly.
Just then, Ping Xiao came in, holding a bowl of freshly prepared cow’s milk.
“Miss, Madam had someone specially prepare this cow’s milk for you. Please drink it while it’s still warm.”
Daohua sat down at the table, took a sip of the milk, and then asked, “Sister Ping Xiao, what happened to the red plum I sent to Mother? Didn’t she put it out?”
Ping Xiao smiled, “These days, the Master has been resting in Madam’s room, and when he saw the red plum, he liked it so much that he took it to the front office to show it to everyone.”
Daohua pouted, “Father sure is bold to take it.”
She had spent over half a month planting the red plum in her space’s fertile black soil just to make sure it bloomed beautifully, and now it was fragrant and pleasing. In this cold weather, the scent of the plum made everything feel a little fresher and more energetic.
Her mother had been so busy and tired lately, her energy was visibly low, but Father had just taken the red plum away.
Daohua sighed and asked, “Father’s annual leave is coming soon, right?”
Ping Xiao nodded, "Master will start his holiday on the 28th of the twelfth month."
Daohua said, "Make sure to remind me. I’ll need to ask Father to give the red plum back to me then."
Ping Xiao couldn't help but smile secretly at how stingy the eldest miss was with her father.
In the past, although Master treated Madam with respect, he often made her suffer because of Concubine Lin.
Now that the eldest miss had arrived, Ping Xiao couldn't help but admire her for standing up for Madam when needed.
Meanwhile, in the Yang family in the capital.
As she watched her mother-in-law and three sisters-in-law laugh and discuss how to send New Year’s gifts back to their maternal families, Yan Siyu tightly pursed her lips, her hands clenched under her long sleeves, her nails digging into her flesh.
Every year around this time, she had to endure such a scene.
She knew that her in-laws despised her maternal family, and she had been mentally prepared for it. But she never imagined that the Yang family would be so ruthless, refusing even a single New Year’s gift for the Yan family.
Though her elder brother had been the county magistrate for nine years, that didn’t mean he had no chance of promotion.
The Yang family’s treatment of the Yan family was terrifyingly cold!
If it weren’t for her two children, she would have longed to escape from the Yang family.
Madam Yang glanced at her youngest daughter-in-law, whose face was full of gloom, and snorted coldly in her heart.
She knew that her daughter-in-law was still holding onto the hope that her elder brother would be promoted. But that dream was destined to shatter.
If Madam Yang hadn't known that Yan Zhigao’s chances of promotion were gone, there was no way she would have treated the Yan family so badly.
When she had agreed to her youngest son's marriage with Yan Siyu, it was because she valued his elder brother's future.
But who would have thought that Yan Zhigao was a man too proud of his own talent, and he didn’t understand the ways of governance. His first foray into the officialdom had him offending people he shouldn’t have.
If not for his ability to get some real work done, he wouldn't even have been able to hold the position of county magistrate.
Now, even though he held the position of county magistrate, he was only sent to a remote, backward county to do menial work and add to the achievements of his superiors.
A man like that was done for. Madam Yang could still keep her youngest daughter-in-law around for the sake of her two grandchildren, but that was about it.
End of Chapter
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