Liu Ruyi’s eyes lit up immediately. He asked at once, “Eldest Young Miss, do you happen to have any of those dried meat strips left? The taste has been on my mind ever since — if you have some, would you be willing to sell me a portion?”
“…” Hua Zhi felt a strong urge to press her hand to her forehead. Was this change in tone not a little too abrupt? Then when she looked over and saw that Peng Runze and Qi Hongdong were both wearing expressions of equal anticipation, she could not quite suppress her laugh. Those three — no wonder they were such close friends.
And Hua Zhi was not wrong about them. These three had indeed become friends because of their shared sensibilities, and their faces had been seen often enough along the green moss lane and the oriole cloud lane. They hadn’t tasted the dried meat Liu Ruyi had been talking about, but they had heard him describe it more than once, and they had been wanting a bite ever since. Now that the chance was right in front of them, how could their eyes not light up?
“The dried meat strips were not something I planned to turn into a business.” Watching all three of them deflate in unison, Hua Zhi finally did laugh. She was a lover of good food herself — she would not have had such an extensive knowledge of all manner of dishes otherwise — and toward others who shared the same pleasure, she could not help but feel a little warmth. So she said: “But there are a few left at home. I’ll have someone bring them to the private dining restaurant tomorrow — the three of you can go and collect them there.”
“What about today…”
“Good — we’ll go to the restaurant tomorrow.” Liu Ruyi cut Peng Runze off. “Might I ask how the eldest young miss intends to price them?”
“They aren’t worth much, and I truly have no plans to make a business of it.” Hua Zhi had no desire to elaborate further and dipped her head slightly before boarding the carriage.
Liu Ruyi’s voice carried in from outside: “Then we are most grateful to the eldest young miss.”
Hua Zhi did not even lift the curtain, leaning against the side of the carriage as she replied, “It is a small thing. Farewell.”
The carriage rolled slowly away. Wu Zheng and Xia Hong had no idea who these three were, but one look at their bearing was enough to make them wary of giving offense. They made a brief, perfunctory bow and retreated some distance away.
The three men collected their reins from the servants and mounted up, setting off at an unhurried pace.
“The eldest young miss has no wish to give others cause for gossip — she would not hand us anything directly herself.”
“I caught on the moment you stopped me.” Peng Runze rolled his neck and let out something like a sigh. “She has it hard too — she has to be careful about everything.”
That she did. When everyone had assumed the Hua Family would crumble just like the He family, she had single-handedly propped the Hua Family up and kept them standing firm in the capital — a woman doing it, no less. She had not begged anyone for favor, had not sacrificed her sisters through arranged marriages for connections, had not even let her reputation suffer. She had kept every member of the Hua Family in their proper place — those meant to marry did marry, those meant to study did study, and even the ones who had married into difficult households and come away hurting had not been abandoned. She had not let anyone’s dignity be bent. And yet none of it had come without a price; the hardship she had endured was hers alone to know.
It was difficult for any of them to hold a woman in high regard — and yet whenever mention was made of the eldest young miss, not a single derogatory word came from any of them. She had earned her dignity through what she had done.
“I heard something recently.”
Both turned to look at Qi Hongdong.
Qi Hongdong drew his horse closer to the other two and lowered his voice. “My third cousin, Jiang Huanran — he once wanted to propose marriage to the eldest young miss.”
Both men reined in their horses at the same time. Liu Ruyi asked, “When was this?”
“Not long ago. I found out and tried to get it out of him, but my third cousin keeps a very tight mouth — not a word he shouldn’t say passed his lips.”
“The eldest young miss didn’t agree.”
Qi Hongdong nodded. “Correct — a flat refusal, without any opening left for negotiation.”
“As expected. The Hua Family cannot do without her, and there isn’t a family out there that would welcome a daughter-in-law who comes with an entire clan as part of the arrangement.” Liu Ruyi shook his head. “What’s more, Jiang Huanran is a second son — if the eldest young miss truly entered that household, how would the eldest daughter-in-law carry herself? Jiang Huanran might not have seen this, but Magistrate Jiang certainly would. Still — I admire his courage.”
And that it was — courage. More than a few others had harbored such thoughts, but of those who had truly dared to act on them, Jiang Huanran was so far the only one. The eldest young miss was simply too capable. In her presence, they all felt woefully inadequate — taking on a wife like that would likely mean never holding your head up for the rest of your life.
The three exchanged a glance and laughed at themselves with the same rueful smile. Men who came from families like theirs seemed to have everything, yet in truth, nothing was theirs to decide. That eldest young miss, on the other hand — as hard as it was to run the household — had won herself the right to determine her own fate. There truly was no gain that did not come with a loss.
The rain finally fell, dense curtains of it wrapped in wind, making the already-arriving autumn feel colder still in an instant.
Hua Zhi stood under the covered walkway, gaze drifting somewhere far away. A rain this heavy — she wondered where Gu Yanxi was right now, whether he had shelter, whether he was safe.
A weight settled on her shoulders. The cape cut off the chill seeping in from outside, and her body, which had grown cold, began to warm again.
“Miss, let’s go inside — you’ll catch cold.” Nian Qiu’s voice was like the person herself, gentle and mild with not a trace of temper. Yet even she, after a year of trials, had gained something — self-assurance, perhaps. She was no longer the maid who went weak in the knees at a sharp look. In fact, the final decision to purchase the seafood shop had been hers.
“It is pleasant out here.” Hua Zhi pulled the cape closer. Even if she was indulging herself for a moment, she knew she could not afford to fall ill, and dared not. “How are things at the seafood shop?”
“A small portion is still unloaded. Steward Xu took one look at the sky and had everyone stop for now.”
“Your eye for people keeps getting sharper.”
Nian Qiu, thus praised, lowered her head shyly. By nature a woman of few words, she had on the tip of her tongue a reply — that it was only because their miss had trusted them enough to give them the chance — but the words came and then refused to come out.
“Is that not the maid who serves Hua Qin?”
Nian Qiu quickly looked up and confirmed it with one glance. “Yes — that is Qing Xiang, the maid who serves the young miss Qin.”
Qing Xiang seemed to have little patience for picking her way along the covered walkway. She popped open an umbrella and came quick-stepping through the puddled courtyard. Hua Zhi’s heart seized the moment she saw her coming in such haste; her whole body went tense.
“This servant Qing Xiang greets the Eldest Young Miss.”
“Never mind formalities — is there something wrong with Sister Qin?”
“This servant has come to bring good news.” Qing Xiang could not contain her smile. “Our young miss is with child.”
Hua Zhi’s heart thudded back into place, and her pulse steadied. She smiled immediately. “She has been married barely any time at all and is already expecting — truly joyous news.”
“It is. The Cai family is overjoyed too — they say our young miss has great fortune.”
By Hua Zhi’s reckoning, it had been a full two months at most since the wedding. Hua Qin had genuinely earned the words “great fortune.” Hua Zhi turned and went back inside, and Nian Qiu motioned for Qing Xiang to follow.
“Has Fourth Uncle’s household been told?”
“Yes — this servant went there first before coming here. The young miss says the pregnancy is still in its early days, so for now she only wished to let the Madam and yourself know. Once the baby is settled more securely, she will send out red eggs to the other households.”
Qing Xiang accepted the dry cloth Nian Qiu handed her with a soft word of thanks.
Nian Qiu shook her head and turned to brew a cup of tea for her miss — after so long outside, she needed something to drive the chill away.
“Tell her not to worry herself with anything else — just rest and take good care of herself. If she needs anything, send someone to tell me.”
“Yes.” Qing Xiang quickly glanced up at the eldest young miss, something clearly hovering on her lips.
Hua Zhi’s brow arched slightly. “Say it.”
Qing Xiang lowered her head even further as her voice dropped. “The young miss is unsettled in her heart — she would like to ask you to come and see her.”
Was something amiss with the Cai family, or was Hua Qin afraid she would not be able to carry the pregnancy to term? The more Hua Zhi thought about it, the less she could remain seated. Never mind that it was already mid-afternoon — she called for the carriage to be prepared and headed for the door. She was likely destined to a life of toil: in other households, it was the birth mother who worried over a married daughter. In hers, it fell to a cousin-sister instead.