Ye Shuying couldn’t get an answer from her elder sister and didn’t want to go to her mother, feeling that seeing her father and asking him would be acceptable.
She waited patiently and finally caught sight of her father and older brother at lunchtime, just when she wanted to ask them.
At this time, the construction workers began to wrap up their work. On the first day of starting the construction, it was customary to treat the guests, and for the following days of construction too, as the house welcomed so many additional mouths to feed.
As the hosts, Hongji and his son were too busy to pay attention to Shuying.
The men and women were seated at separate tables. Shuying noticed that her brother and father had different expressions—her father’s face was beaming with joy.
In contrast, her brother did not share their father’s radiant smile amidst the housebuilding; his face seemed a mix of resignation and irritation.
Shuying sat at a table with her mother, elder sister-in-law, and the children, squeezed in tightly. Meanwhile, her mother kept muttering curses under her breath, unable to let go of her anger even during the meal.
Her mother, usually quick to partake in good food, was acting out of character today, ever since she had walked through the door.
Shuying saw that her little nieces wore indifferent expressions, as though their grandmother’s anger had nothing to do with them, while Mrs. Li held her young son to feed him, occasionally taking a few bites herself.
Shuying, too, focused on enjoying the meal with her son. Today, she had brought gifts and couldn’t leave without getting her money’s worth. Asking and comforting her mother or even questioning her father would have to wait until after the meal!
The men didn’t drink alcohol that day since the workers needed to get back to work in the afternoon. The hosts had liquor but chose not to serve it, citing afternoon commitments.
Tang Weixing didn’t mind; he had arrived by carriage today and, seeing that the hosts were busy, didn’t think to toast his brother-in-law.
Ye Senhai, his brother-in-law, had been busy since morning.
Later in conversation, it became known that the Uncle and father-in-law were not at home early that morning. They initially handed over the money to buy the land and then went to order bricks, tiles, and even made arrangements for wood and windows.
Tang Weixing did not share Shuying’s curiosity about the urgency of the Ye family’s construction. He knew the matter would become known in a few days.
He sensed that there was a mystery and had the feeling that his in-laws were definitely keeping something serious under wraps.
After lunch, Hongji’s father remembered that he needed to buy three gold items and quietly approached his son-in-law to speak to him in private.
When Tang Weixing heard his father-in-law ask for help to purchase three gold items from the Tang family’s small jewelry store, where he could get a discount as a member of the Tang Family, he silently surmised that his father-in-law was hiding something. Whatever it was might be related to why the Ye family was so eager to move into the new house.
It might not concern the Uncle; from the expressions of the mother-in-law, sister-in-law, his cousin, and father-in-law, the whole affair seemed to be related to the father-in-law.
Being astute, Tang Weixing understood the nature of men and guessed at the situation but did not ask outright.
He agreed to help, but for choosing the style of the three gold items, the father-in-law would have to pick them out himself.
Hongji’s father agreed and mentioned that he would go to the county the next day and suggested that they buy some things together.
He figured that with his son-in-law being from the Tang Family, he’d receive discounts on various gifts, potentially saving him a considerable amount of money.
Taking a concubine at his age, and having spent his savings over the past two years, he needed to be thrifty—soon he might have to provide for another son.
He had a lot on his mind, thinking that the affair from yesterday might have resulted in a young girl being with child. Wouldn’t that make him a father again quite soon?
In the end, Shuying chose not to approach her mother. She suspected—though she might be slow to realize—that something had angered her mother, possibly her father’s fault.
As a married daughter, there was little she could do if her parents ran into trouble, and she did not want to stir up problems.
Ye Shiqi and her elder sisters watched the situation unfold quietly, thinking it best to simply keep an eye on things. As long as the matter did not turn into a calamity, the family could likely manage some unrest, and a concubine wouldn’t be able to cause too much upheaval.
In the afternoon, the workers who had been well-fed returned to their tasks with renewed vigor. Given the high wages and the urgency described by the homeowners, the workers buckled down, possibly even working overtime into the evening.
Ye Senhai, supervising the project, also threw himself into the work alongside his brother and close relatives. With the pay being substantial during the New Year period, they did not want to take a break.
In the afternoon, an uninvited guest arrived at the Ye family home!
A matchmaker with red lips, a plump figure, and a handkerchief in hand sauntered up to the Ye family’s construction site.
She stopped, beaming with a smile at the young men hard at work and all the other men she recognized or did not, grinning at them.