Ye Jiu finally opened her mouth to explain, “Dad, Mom, do you still remember the water I was playing with on the kang a few days ago?”
“Speaking of which, in the dead of winter, you were messing around with some water on the kang, pouring and mixing it back and forth, weren’t you afraid of getting too cold?” Mrs. He complained.
It was only after Ye Jiu mentioned it that Mrs. He remembered.
A few days ago, for some reason, the child must have been bored lying on the kang and had her fetch a few bowls and pour some clean water into them, then she just played with them on the kang, not knowing what she was doing.
Mrs. He didn’t know what Ye Jiu was up to, and was afraid Ye Jiu would catch a cold. But when she forbade her to play, Ye Jiu didn’t want to stop, which worried Mrs. He immensely.
Fortunately, Ye Jiu only played for a little while. Otherwise, Mrs. He would have been heartbroken.
Ye Jiu smiled and then repeated the set of arguments she had previously prepared for Ye Wenqing, and in front of the stunned Mrs. He and Old Ye, she took out the remaining ninety-plus taels of silver from her person.
“Dad, Mom, I bought some cloth for you in town, and also some stuffed buns. Then, I also wanted to keep some pocket money, and the rest of the money is for you to keep for household expenses,” Ye Jiu said as she handed over ninety-five taels of silver to Mrs. He. However, she didn’t mention that she had given a tael of silver to Ye Wenqing.
Ye Jiu knew that if she said she wanted to keep some pocket money, Mrs. He would certainly not object. But if she mentioned that she had given a tael of silver to Ye Wenqing, Mrs. He would surely make a huge fuss.
“Oh my heavens,” Mrs. He exclaimed, “I’ve lived for so long and I’ve never seen so much silver!” She excitedly held a silver ingot in one hand, yet completely overlooked the fifty-tael silver note.
It was no wonder she lacked experience. Not just Mrs. He, but even Old Ye had never managed more than just getting by and sending their third son, Ye Gaoyun, to town for two years of schooling.
Having lived to such an age, with one foot nearly in the grave, they had never even seen such large silver ingots, let alone silver notes, which were possessions only the wealthy had.
Mrs. He looked rather greedy at that moment, but to Ye Jiu, she appeared very endearing.
“Mom, don’t get too excited; all this is for you,” Ye Jiu said cheerfully.
Mrs. He was not young anymore, and Ye Jiu was genuinely worried that she might get so excited that she could have an accident.
“I’m not excited, not excited. It’s just that I have never seen so much money in my entire life, and it’s a bit unbelievable for a moment,” Mrs. He said with a smile that creased her entire face, holding the silver ingot with trembling hands.
At the same time, Old Ye was so excited that he couldn’t contain himself, climbing up from the kang to snatch the money from Mrs. He’s hands, “Wife, let me take a look too. I’ve lived for so many years and never seen so much money. Moreover, this was all earned by my little girl. It’s just unbelievable.”
Mrs. He slapped Old Ye’s outstretched hand away and moved the two silver ingots to her back, “Let me tell you, you old coot, don’t get any ideas about this money. My girl earned it, and I’m going to save it properly to prepare my daughter’s dowry in the future.”
Although Old Ye was also fond of Ye Jiu, his favoritism wasn’t as severe as Mrs. He’s, and his sons were blood of his blood too. Besides, he was counting on his sons to carry on his lineage.
So, when Mrs. He said this, especially in front of Ye Jiu, Old Ye fell silent at once.
Old Ye didn’t mind Mrs. He’s slight bias usually, as he was also very fond of his daughter.