CHAPTER 140: CHAPTER 139: GETTING A HEADACHE FROM CLASSICAL CHINESE

When Sun Daji’s wife got married into the family, Mrs. Sun had already married off, and the two had only met a few times over the years, not being very familiar with each other.

But today, seeing Sun Daji’s wife hurriedly running over with a sauce pier, Mrs. Sun was touched.

After Sun Daji’s wife took the leftover dishes away, Mrs. Sun found Yu Xiaolian, took her to the storage room, asked her to enter the space, and took out a few bottles of aged white spirits, taking the opportunity to take out some soap for a few aunts in that yard.

In the pitch-black storage room, not even a light was on, Mrs. Sun stood guard at the door while Yu Xiaolian entered the supermarket.

First, she took five bottles of aged white spirits from the shelf, then took six pieces of soap, removed the boxes, and wrapped them individually in oil paper.

"Mom, I took six bars of soap, one aunt gets two bars, is that okay?"

"It’s fine, it’s fine."

"Fang Gu..." Mancang came over holding two large gourds.

Sun Chunfang received them, handed the gourds to Yu Xiaolian, and gave the soap to Mancang, "For your mother and your two aunts, each person gets two bars. Tell them this thing is called soap, it can be used for washing your face and taking a bath."

Mancang took the soap and ran back to the yard next door.

Yu Xiaolian seized this moment to unscrew the caps of the white spirit bottles and pour the liquor into the gourds.

The aged white spirit she took was fifty-five degrees, packaged in one pound bottles, and it took only three bottles to fill the two gourds.

Yu Xiaolian had no choice but to put the remaining two bottles back into the space.

Ancient liquors were not very strong, generally only a dozen degrees, and rarely exceeded twenty degrees.

Ancient people mostly used grains or fruits to brew wine, resulting in wine with low ethanol content, which wouldn’t make one drunk even if they drank a lot.

Perhaps this is why those famous poets could drink a thousand cups without being drunk.

Not to mention, if the spirits Wu Song drank back then were this fifty-five degree white spirit, would he need to drink eighteen bowls?

Eight bowls would have made him a meal for the tiger.

After Yu Xiaolian filled the spirit gourds, she waited at the door for Mancang to come to pick them up.

This Mancang is a year older than her, twelve years old this year, but not very tall, about the same height as her.

Mancang is Sun Wuye’s eldest grandson, and there are six younger siblings below him.

That day, when helping Xiaohuzi beat Liu Dazhuang, he was among those involved.

After delivering the soap, Mancang ran back to get the spirit gourds.

He carefully took the spirit gourds without walking too fast, fearing to spill the spirits and get his legs broken by his grandfather later.

Xiaohuzi took his small quilt to the edge of the kang, so his oldest uncle could sleep in the middle, next to his father, because he disliked the smell of alcohol on his father’s body.

Grandmother Sun had lain down early but was not yet asleep.

According to Mrs. Sun’s idea, they would set off for Yangcheng in a few days. Grieving to leave home, Grandmother Sun often stared blankly at a corner.

"Fangzi, if we are going to the Capital, why return to Yangcheng?"

The Capital is to the south, Yangcheng is to the north, they’re not in the same direction at all.

"Mom, I want to give birth in Yangcheng before leaving, and besides, it’s not necessarily going to the Capital."

Not long ago, the daughter said Yuan State is also quite good, mentioning that the crops there could be harvested two to three times a year. By then, they might stay in Yuan State for a while, and if it was nice, settling there would be fine as well.

Grandmother Sun didn’t understand; giving birth would be in late autumn, and it would be so cold on the road. Is her daughter a bit foolish?

Though there are warm things in the carriage, a newborn can’t endure the journey.

Besides, the road is barren, with no water sources. What do the horses eat? What do they drink?

Grandmother Sun said, "If you are going to leave, go soon, while it is early spring, so the journey isn’t as hard."

Yu Xiaolian laughed, finally finding someone who agreed with her opinion.

Mrs. Sun was already entangled in this issue and hadn’t made up her mind.

Now, hearing her mother’s opinion, combined with Yu Xiaolian’s analysis of the pros and cons of traveling now versus in the late autumn, she immediately decided to leave now.

But what about the house in Yangcheng? What about Zhao Erya?

They still needed to return to Yangcheng.

The next day, Mrs. Sun informed Yu Changhe of her decision.

It was finally agreed that Yu Changhe and Yu Xiaolian would make a trip back to Yangcheng.

They would sell the house in Yangcheng and bring Zhao Erya back.

A while ago, Su Jingchen told Yu Xiaolian that after the spring exams, he would go to the county school. Since the county school was far away in Linzhou, he would entrust his younger brother Su Jingyue to the care of his father’s concubine, Concubine Huo.

Concubine Huo was chosen with the help of his maternal grandfather and was trustworthy.

After the spring exam results were posted, Su Jingchen sent Su Jingyue to the new residence his father bought for Concubine Huo.

When he wanted to say goodbye to Yu Xiaolian, he found she wasn’t home, and since he was in a hurry to report to Linzhou’s county school, he left a letter for Yu Xiaolian.

So, when Yu Xiaolian arrived home, Zhao Erya handed her the letter from Su Jingchen.

The letter from Su Jingchen was lengthy and verbose, spanning five full pages.

"In this letter, I have pondered for a long time. I had intentions but didn’t know how to start writing.

The thoughts in my heart are hard to put into words. Now my mind is made up, and I express my intentions through this family letter, hoping that you read it with a calm mind. If there are any disrespectful parts, I hope for your forgiveness.

I have always known of your kindness, and I dare not forget..."

Can’t you write in the vernacular?

Do you think it shows you are educated?

Yu Xiaolian forced herself to endure a headache and read through the letter, finding that Su Jingchen wrote mostly trivial matters.

So she folded the letter and casually tucked it into the space; she hated classical Chinese the most.

Thinking of Su Jingchen mentioning that during school vacations, he would return to Yangcheng.

Yu Xiaolian felt it was necessary to leave a letter for Su Jingchen.

Her letter was simple and clear, which in brief meant: there would be a severe drought soon, she was leaving and heading south, with the most likely destinations being Yuan State or the Capital.

She urged Su Jingchen to study well, become a high-ranking official in the future, and be her support so she could go out and show off.

The next day, Yu Changhe went to the broker to discuss selling the house.

The house, bought for six hundred taels, was offered by the broker’s boss for only four hundred and fifty taels.

Seeing that Yu Changhe was not satisfied with the price, the broker’s boss smiled and said, "If you are in a hurry, that’s the price. If not, you can wait for a few days for a better offer, which might get you more."

Four hundred and fifty taels was too much of a loss, so Yu Changhe didn’t sell, and went to another broker instead.

This other broker offered a slightly better price than the first one. After looking at the house, they offered five hundred taels; however, they required that all the new furniture inside be left behind.

This price seemed quite reasonable, but Yu Changhe didn’t immediately agree, saying he would consider it and sent the person away.

Yu Xiaolian delivered the letter to Mingxiang Pavilion, intending to greet Zheng Yuanfeng in passing.

As soon as Shopkeeper Hai saw her, he started complaining. Why hasn’t she been able to deliver goods for so many days? What has she been doing?

There are many customers who have pre-ordered daily necessities. When can they receive them?

Shopkeeper Hai showed the reservation list to Yu Xiaolian, who felt it was necessary to earn another sum before leaving.

Yu Xiaolian told Shopkeeper Hai that these were the last ones, and not to accept any more reservations as she was moving house.

She couldn’t continue doing business with Mingxiang Pavilion in the future.

Shopkeeper Hai was surprised, why not continue such a profitable business?