Clutching the one hundred taels, Old Granny Zhang couldn’t sit still any longer. She wanted to go back to her room to hide it away. After saying a few words to Wang Yongzhu, she went back to the main room to busy herself.
After Old Granny Zhang had left, Song Chongjin came out from the study, sitting down beside Wang Yongzhu, "Did Shopkeeper Wu give you your dividend today?"
Wang Yongzhu nodded her head and recounted the conversation she had with Shopkeeper Wu earlier that day.
Song Chongjin pondered for a moment, "Shopkeeper Wu is trustworthy, but his boss above, the one who stole the recipes last time, is not a good seed either. We still have to be cautious and on guard."
Wang Yongzhu also let out a sigh internally, realizing that her own power was too insignificant, which led to various restrictions.
"I know, that’s why I discussed with Shopkeeper Wu about selling the dye workshop and cloth business. After the spring, if his boss offers a fair price, I’m thinking of reducing my dividend by another ten percent."
Song Chongjin’s gaze sharpened.
"If next year turns out as I predicted, and Shopkeeper Wu and his boss expand the dye workshops across the country, the sales will be astonishing. At that time, if I still hold a twenty percent dividend, it might become a thorn in his boss’s side. It’s better to take a step back on my own."
Song Chongjin knew it was a move forced by circumstances. Shopkeeper Wu’s boss had major influence, something they couldn’t contend with at the moment. They could only build rapport and consider giving up a small portion of their interests as nothing.
Still, he felt the heartache and couldn’t help but pull Wang Yongzhu tightly into his embrace, "Yongzhu, rest assured, one day, I will ensure you won’t have to continue compromising and painfully relinquishing what belongs to you!"
Wang Yongzhu’s mentality was quite positive. In this world, there is no such thing as absolute fairness. The fact that she had gotten this far, with the support of the System in the form of Xiao Tiantian, already made her luckier than the vast majority of girls of this era. She didn’t feel aggrieved.
Even in modern society, if you want to gain something, you always have to give something up.
However, it was good that Song Chongjin had ambition and aspirations. After all, a man is most attractive when he is focused on his career.
Moreover, Song Chongjin’s current motivation to strive was for her. Although a man’s sweet nothings shouldn’t be taken too seriously, at this moment, it greatly satisfied her vanity.
She couldn’t help but reach back to hug Song Chongjin’s waist, nodding significantly, "Mmm! I’ll be waiting."
After Wang Laozhu sobered up from his drunken stupor, he was informed about Wang Yongzhen’s kneeling plea and Wang Yongzhu’s decision not to make a fuss. Everyone tacitly agreed not to bring it up again.
After the busy work of warming the house was done, it was time to prepare for Wang Yongping’s marriage. The steps of the betrothal gifts, exchanging of names, delivery of auspicious gifts, formal request for marriage, and setting the wedding date had all been completed.
All that was left was to wait for the day of the wedding to fetch the bride from the Wang Family’s home.
Now that the house was built, Lady Jiang finally had time to rush the production of Wang Yongping’s wedding robe.
The past few days, the family was busy hanging red banners around the exterior of the third courtyard, with Old Granny Zhang sitting in the wing room, cutting out red ’happiness’ characters and auspicious paper-cuttings for the doors and windows.
Wang Laozhu strolled around the courtyard with his hands clasped behind his back, inspecting for anything out of place, while discussing the wedding banquet menu with his sons.
Wang Yongzhu and Song Chongjin were discussing on the side, planning to deliver New Year’s gifts during their upcoming trip to the town.
In the past, the Wang Family only needed to give gifts to the Sun Family, Lin Family, and Qian Family.
The Jiang Family had also been given gifts before, but Old Granny Zhang became so annoyed with the Jiang Family’s shamelessness in only taking without reciprocating, that she simply stopped sending gifts.
This year, one daughter and three daughters-in-law didn’t require gifts to be sent to their parents’ homes.
However, several other families had to be considered—the Lizheng’s house, the Clan Leader’s house, and a few of the elders’ homes—they all deserved some gesture.
In town, Shopkeeper Wu, Wu Zhongbao’s family, and Steward Lu’s family had not been overlooked during the Wang Family’s celebrations. Now that the New Year was approaching, it was only right to reciprocate with some token of thoughtfulness.
Old Granny Zhang, after listening for a bit, also offered her advice: "We’re just peasant folk with nothing but countryside goods, no need to show off. Just select some of the produce from our fields and the mountain goods we gathered the other day to send. A token of our sincerity is enough."
So the list of New Year’s gifts was settled, and Song Chongjin wrote out the labels before the family began packing up everything, household by household.
Smoked dried meat, air-dried chicken, wild game from the mountains with dried mushrooms, and dry nuts like hazelnuts and chestnuts made for a rich selection.
Because Chongzi Gou was so far away and the weather was cold, making the mountain roads difficult to navigate, Wang Yongping had to leave a day early with a group to fetch the bride and stay overnight.
The next morning, they would bring the new bride back to the Wang family.
Weddings in a peasant family were significant affairs, especially when guests from afar were involved, as it wasn’t unusual for them to stay for several days since they rarely visited throughout the year.
The family had to attend to them, and after seeing off the relatives and waiting for the newlyweds’ return visit, it would be too late to send New Year’s gifts.
Thus, it was agreed that early the next morning, Song Chongjin and Wang Yongzhu would deliver the town’s New Year gifts, as well as purchase anything still needed for the wedding.
The very next morning, Song Chongjin and Wang Yongzhu left with a cart full of New Year’s gifts.
Reaching town, they first stopped at Shopkeeper Wu’s house. Shopkeeper Wu was not at home; his wife greeted them. Everyone was already familiar with each other, and after exchanging a few pleasantries, Shopkeeper Wu’s wife accepted the gifts.
They then visited Wu Zhongbao’s household. Zhongbao, clutching the wolf’s tooth that Wang Yongzhu had given him, went home and had a row with Benefactor Wu. He accused Benefactor Wu of robbing him of the chance to hunt wolves personally. He could have gone into the mountains, killed a wolf himself, and kept the tooth as a keepsake.
He also lamented missing the opportunity to boast about his hunting exploit in front of his peers; now he had to console himself with a wolf’s tooth taken down by someone else.
In the end, he vehemently declared that Benefactor Wu might stop him physically but could never contain his spirit...
Benefactor Wu was almost enraged to death by this; had it not been for the fact that this son was his own flesh and blood, and his only heir, he might have wished he could disown him.
Hearing that Wang Yongzhu and Song Chongjin had come bearing gifts only fueled his anger further. If it weren’t for that troublesome wolf’s tooth they sent, his wayward son wouldn’t have gotten such ideas.
Despite his temper, Benefactor Wu personally welcomed the two inside, though his expression clearly wasn’t cheerful.
Wang Yongzhu was clueless to the issue at hand.
How could Song Chongjin not understand?
After all, Benefactor Wu could not bring himself to vent his anger on the two visitors. But through his conversation, it was implicit that he hoped they could guide his son back onto the right path.
Once he heard this, Wang Yongzhu understood immediately: Benefactor Wu was at his wits’ end and desperate.
He laughed, "Benefactor Wu, what’s the difficulty in that? There’s an old saying, ’It’s better to divert than to obstruct.’ I think Brother Wu’s insistent desire to go hunting is mostly out of spite. The more you forbid him, the more determined he is to do it, always acting in defiance!"