Ye Shuying quietly went to give her nieces red envelopes and saw five nieces, among whom there was a little nephew present.
"So you’re all here. Your mother is so busy, why don’t you go and help a little? Daya, you’re already 11 years old, you should understand these things!"
The five sisters... From the moment their aunt arrived, her reproachful language made them feel she wasn’t here to celebrate the New Year, but to add to their troubles!
Seeing the aunt carrying gifts earlier, they had thought she had changed her demeanor. The old saying really hits the mark, "a leopard can’t change its spots"!
Ye Shiqi thought so in her mind, similar to the countries in this book that have always been ruled by King Zhao, always a peaceful and prosperous era.
Although this was just on the surface, many places, including mountainous regions, had many poor people unable to afford food, but the absence of war and natural disasters was already very good, and people were quite fortunate.
"Aunt, wishing you wealth and prosperity!"
The sisters each had their thoughts, but the person they now faced had grown accustomed to his ways, so they still politely smiled and offered New Year’s greetings.
"Hmm, wealth and prosperity!"
Ye Shuying, hearing this wish for prosperity, felt quite pleased and no longer dwelled on her previous words, handing out the red envelopes that she had prepared to six nephews and nieces.
Except for the six- or seven-month-old nephew who still couldn’t talk, the five nieces all politely accepted the red envelopes and said thank you.
They already knew the red envelopes weren’t significant, too lazy to open and see, kept them in their pockets, having something is better than nothing.
After handing out the red envelopes, Ye Shuying looked at her nieces, choosing to indulge her curiosity for gossip.
"Daya, why is the house next door built as a standalone unit? Is it being turned into a warehouse?"
Although Ye Luoqi already had a formal name, villagers and relatives often called her by her baby name, which was common, and it didn’t matter that people didn’t use her married name yet, nor whether she would take her husband’s surname in the future, it wasn’t something she thought about at this age.
Being asked this by her aunt, she didn’t know whether to speak or not.
In just a few days’ time, whether relatives or villagers would all know about grandfather taking a concubine.
The family made it so secretive; surely, grandfather and grandmother didn’t want outsiders to know.
Her parents might also be waiting for the right time to speak, but since Aunt was asking her, it meant that Aunt had not yet asked Grandmother.
She hesitated to talk, not daring to say anything; if it weren’t for her sisters eavesdropping, they wouldn’t have known either, as grandfather, grandmother, and parents hadn’t told them.
Knowing the truth of the matter, they dared not ask, naturally not wanting to be scolded by Grandmother.
Grandmother had been sitting at the doorstep cursing people early in the morning; they hid in their room, afraid to go out.
"Hurry up and tell me! You all definitely know something, or why don’t one of you speak up?"
Ye Shuying began to sense sensitively that perhaps the reason her mother was so angry and shouting at someone next door was for another reason.
If the house belonged to her eldest brother, it should be him getting scolded for wasting money.
But Mother was scolding father, which was rather telling!
"Aunt, it’s not that we don’t want to tell you, it’s just that we really don’t know, the adults haven’t told us anything."
Ye Shiqi was the first to speak, choosing to feign ignorance; after all, whatever happens later, they just needed to beware it wasn’t about father taking a concubine.
As for whether this person would trouble their mother in the future, they, as daughters, were no pushovers.
"Nonsense, you’re too cunning. If you say that, you all definitely know something."
Ye Shuying’s skeptical look.
"Aunt, you should go ask grandfather, or grandmother who is currently at the doorstep."
Siya Ye Fengqi was quite cunning, her aunt wanted to know the insider details, but if an argument arose later, it might be their fault for letting something slip.
They passed the responsibility to their parents. Ye Shuying kept asking but couldn’t get a definitive answer.
She knew that the reason might lie with her parents.
Ye Shuying wasn’t foolish enough to ask her mother who was outside; she hadn’t seen her elder brother or father when she entered the house, clearly, they were out handling some matters.
There was also another sister’s husband at home, she wondered if her brother-in-law knew about this matter.
Ye Shuying decided to return to the living room to seek gossip from her brother-in-law.
"Brother-in-law, come over here, I have something to ask you."
Since there were other relatives in the living room, Ye Shuying chose to talk to her brother-in-law privately, though they were relatives, after all, they were a man and a woman.
They could only find a quiet spot to talk privately, but could not go into a room or speak secretly, as it might arouse suspicion and gossip from others.
Tang Weixing had already experienced his wife’s strange behavior, which was really just being stingy and lacking slightly in morals; he wasn’t a truly bad person, after all, he never committed any atrocious deeds.