Chapter 37: Brother Hong
Gu Yan’s gaze shifted from Miss Shi to Pan Shihui, the sixth young lady of the Pan family, who was behind them.
Pan Shihui was the younger sister of his eldest brother-in-law, Pan Shiwen, born of the same mother. When his eldest sister married into the Pan family, this youngest sister was just four years old. His eldest sister doted on her and always brought her along when she returned to her maiden home.
When he was young, he loved playing with Ah Hui. Ah Hui was very familiar with him and was too carefree and thoughtless. Gu Yan looked at the beaming Ah Hui and felt a headache coming on.
Besides being skilled at managing situations, Miss Shi was also very good at handling people.
Gu Yan slowly took a breath, put on a smile, and walked towards them.
………………………………
Sister-in-law Yin returned with her in-laws and came back shortly after. She called out Li Jinzhu from the courtyard gate. Li Jinzhu, with Li Xiaonan trailing behind her, went to Sister-in-law Yin’s house to discuss their partnership.
Several people gathered around the Old Woman, watching her use the abacus in her left hand and a brush in her right, quickly calculating the approximate capital. They then asked a mediator to write the partnership documents.
Li Jinzhu and Li Xiaonan had lunch at Sister-in-law Yin’s house. Sister-in-law Yin took out her dowry silver and went with Li Jinzhu to purchase lime, rice husk, tea leaves, and other materials.
When Li Xiaonan returned home, Li Yuzhu and Li Yin Zhu had already moved three to four baskets of eggs into the main house and side rooms, clearing a path for entry and exit in the courtyard.
Around the hour of Shen (3-5 PM), Qing Feng, the servant of the Second Young Master Hong, Hong Zhenye, came with a message: his young master had invited Li Xiucai for drinks that evening, and Li Xiucai would not be home for dinner.
Li Yuzhu remembered what Old Woman Zhang had said that morning: “Come to our house for dinner tonight.” She looked at Li Yin Zhu, not at Li Xiaonan, and discussed, “The old woman said that this morning, was she just being polite? Or was she serious?”
“What if she was serious? She invited Brother,” Li Xiaonan was also unsure.
She was truly unfamiliar with this place.
“Then we should still say something,” Li Yuzhu was a cautious person. “Yin Zhu, you go.”
“Third Sister, don’t say it directly, just say something like…” Li Xiaonan thought for a moment. “Brother was invited out for drinks by a classmate. If Da Bao has any homework, Brother might not be able to teach him. If it’s urgent, tell Da Bao to come find me, and I’ll teach him on Brother’s behalf.”
“Don’t say the last two sentences,” Li Yuzhu quickly added.
“Okay!” Li Yin Zhu jumped out of the threshold and ran off to deliver the message to the Zhang family.
Li Jinzhu returned very late. As soon as she got home, Qing Feng’s loud voice could be heard from outside the courtyard: “Li Xiucai is back!”
The sisters hurried out.
Li Xuedong was clearly tipsy. As he got off the cart, he almost missed his step. He spun around and extended his hand to Hong Zhenye, who was getting off behind him, “Brother Hong! There’s a pit here, let me help you.”
“There’s a pit at your doorstep? Hahahaha!” Hong Zhenye burst into laughter, stumbled, and lunged towards Li Xuedong.
Fortunately, Qing Feng reacted quickly and used his back to brace his young master’s lunge. Otherwise, both Hong Zhenye and Li Xuedong would have fallen face-first into the mud.
“Why did you drink so much!” Li Jinzhu rushed forward to help Li Xuedong.
“It’s fine, it’s fine, not much, not at all, right Brother Hong?” Li Xuedong slung an arm around Hong Zhenye’s shoulder, waving his other hand.
“You’re already this drunk, and you say you didn’t drink much!” Li Yuzhu rushed forward and stood on the other side of Li Xuedong.
“It’s precisely because I’m drunk that I say I didn’t drink too much,” Li Xiaonan pouted, watching Hong Zhenye and Li Xuedong, who were leaning on each other.
She hated drunks the most.
“Little sister is right! When you’re drunk, you say you didn’t drink too much. Look at me, I’m not drunk, I just drank too much!” Hong Zhenye waved his hands erratically.
Li Yin Zhu let out a giggle.
“Qing Feng, quickly take your young master back. We can’t keep him here, and your young master wouldn’t be used to staying here,” Li Jinzhu stepped forward to help Hong Zhenye, while Li Yuzhu forcefully pulled Li Xuedong.
“I’m fine, Brother Li has poor alcohol tolerance, trash! I! Have good tolerance! I’m fine, let me see, Brother Li said your house, a courtyard full of… Qing Feng, a courtyard full of what?” Hong Zhenye tripped over his own feet and stumbled towards the courtyard gate.
“Eggs!”
“Whoa!” Hong Zhenye crashed into the doorframe, hugging it, and looked at the courtyard full of eggs. “It really is a courtyard full! Brother Li, have you, have you made enemies? They want to stink you to death with these eggs! I’ll tell you, if these eggs go bad, they’ll stink terribly, they can really stink to death…”
“Hurry up and take your young master back!” Li Jinzhu patted Qing Feng hard on the shoulder.
Qing Feng, who was leaning against his young master and craning his neck to watch the commotion, yelped in pain as Li Jinzhu’s pat landed on his shoulder. He quickly agreed and dragged his young master down the steps.
“Brother Li, let me tell you, who sent these? They want to stink you to death!” Hong Zhenye was pushed onto the cart by Qing Feng and the cart driver. He stuck his head out of the car window, “Brother Li, don’t be afraid, I’m here for you, just wait… Ouch!”
The cart backed up slightly, and Hong Zhenye hit his head on the car window, letting out a cry. He quickly retracted his head, dazed for a moment. When he stuck his head out again, the cart had already left the alley.
Hong Zhenye took the strong tea handed to him by Qing Feng and drank it down in a few gulps. He felt a bit more sober. He blinked a few times and asked Qing Feng, “Brother Li’s courtyard full of eggs, did you smell anything rotten? Why do I smell eggs?”
“Hmm?” Qing Feng furrowed his brows. “I was only paying attention to my young master and didn’t get a chance to smell.”
“Well, I definitely smelled it! Have Old Wang make a trip, tonight! Go back and tell Weng Weng that Li Xiucai is being bullied! Ask Weng Weng what to do, we need to hurry!
“When we get home later, I forgot, you directly give the order, don’t forget, it’s a matter of great importance! I’m a bit dizzy here,” Hong Zhenye instructed with a furrowed brow.
“Yes!” Qing Feng replied with a serious expression.
Li Yuzhu dragged from the front, and Li Jinzhu pushed from behind, dragging Li Xuedong into the side room and onto the bed.
“How could you drink so much!” Li Jinzhu, angry, slapped Li Xuedong on the head.
“No, not…” Li Xuedong struggled to move up, half-lying, half-sitting, holding up two fingers to Li Jinzhu.
“Just two cups, the wine was very sweet. Brother Hong said it was fine, Brother Hong also said he was heartbroken because his engagement was broken off, and I’m his brother, so I had to accompany him for a drink.”
The slap from his eldest sister made Li Xuedong much more sober.
“Why was his engagement broken off?” Li Xiaonan poked her head out and asked.
“They said he didn’t pass the Xiucai exam. It was said to be a girl from the Lu family. Before the engagement, it was agreed that if he passed the Xiucai exam, they would marry, and if not, they wouldn’t. This is just between us, Brother Hong doesn’t want it spread around,” Li Xuedong looked at Li Xiaonan, lowering his voice, with a gossipy expression.
This was something he could only tell his sisters.
Li Jinzhu and Li Yuzhu looked at Li Xuedong speechlessly, while Li Yin Zhu giggled again.
Yesterday, when setting the time, my eyes were blurry and I set it for next Friday!
I woke up before six in the morning, rushed to grab group-buy groceries, tidied up the house, and just sat down to catch my breath and check everyone’s book reviews. Oh my, where’s my update!
Alas, this is yesterday’s.
