Compared to his two uncles, this fifth uncle was a man of few words, maintaining a very low profile in the household and remaining silent most of the time.
In the novel, this fifth uncle had poisoned and murdered the imperial heir—who was the male lead of the story. Once the female lead uncovered the plot, he took the blame entirely upon himself. The elderly emperor ordered that his eyes be gouged out and his tongue severed, turning him into a human torso in a bucket, a truly wretched death.
"Zhiliao, you shouldn't be cooped up indoors in this freezing weather. Aren't you cold out here?"
Xia Zhiliao shook her head. Such a gentle, thoughtful fifth uncle—how could he possibly deserve such a fate?
*(With so much snow, it's a real shame not to build a snowman!)*
Although Xia Zhiliao's past life hadn't been in the far south, it had been close enough that such heavy snow was a rare sight.
At this moment, she really did feel like an ordinary child!
Xia Jinqing's expression flickered. This wasn't the first time he had heard his little niece's voice. Second Brother was right; reading those books last night must have made him slightly delusional.
"Zhiliao, do you want to build a snowman?" Speaking to the little girl, Xia Jinqing used considerably more words than usual.
Xia Zhiliao nodded vigorously, trotted over with a bright smile, and rolled up a large sphere out of clean snow.
Xia Jinqing chuckled as well. This auditory hallucination of his was rather amusing—it felt just as though little Zhiliao had actually spoken aloud, and the best part was that it hit upon her exact thoughts.
Uncle and niece—one taciturn, the other unable to speak her mind—were having quite a wonderful time playing. Before long, a snowball fight broke out, and they were running all over the courtyard.
Xia Zhiliao packed together a large snowball and hurled it with all her might toward her fifth uncle. Xia Jinqing dodged quickly, but as ill luck would have it, Xia Jinxiu had just stepped outside and stretched lazily, catching the snowball right on her chest.
*(Oh no, oh no, Little Auntie, I really didn't mean to.)*
Xia Zhiliao hurried over to help brush the snow off her.
She assumed this would surely drive Little Auntie into a furious rage.
Xia Jinxiu's first instinct was to start cursing, but when she saw the look of terror on her little niece's face, she choked the words back down.
"Oh, fine, fine, what's a little snow?" Xia Jinxiu suppressed a pang of heartache—this was a brand-new padded jacket she had only made last year! Yet compared to her little niece, none of that mattered.
*(Little Auntie isn't even mad at me?)*
Xia Jinxiu let out a soft scoff. "Look at that face of yours. I'm your little auntie, not a man-eating tigress. Go play."
*(No way! Is my little auntie a celestial maiden descended from the heavens? How can she be so reasonable and wonderful?)*
Soothed by the praise, Xia Jinxiu lost all her temper, though a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Wait!"
Xia Zhiliao's body went rigid. *(Oh no, I spoke too soon! Little Auntie is going to lose her temper now!)*
"Fifth Brother, come over here too and help me think. Mother told me to take charge of the dishes for Third Brother's wedding banquet, but... how on earth would I know how to do that? I just cooked a casual dish the other day, and besides, that was only a single dish! Mother really puts too much trust in me—that's a formal banquet with a dozen or so dishes per table!"
Xia Jinqing gave an awkward laugh. "Jinxiu, as for this... I don't know a thing about it either."
Xia Jinxiu sighed. "If you don't know, at least try to think of something! This is completely lacking in sincerity."
*(A banquet? Isn't that just like a grand countryside feast? I love those! Braised pork meatballs, large pork knuckles—everything is delicious.)*
Xia Jinxiu cleared her throat. "Zhiliao, what do you want to eat? Why don't you write it down for Little Auntie?"
*(Me? Little Auntie cares about me this much? Does that mean whatever I want to eat, Little Auntie will make? The whole family is catering just to me?)*
Xia Zhiliao felt a wave of unprecedented affection.
Xia Jinxiu grabbed her hand. "Come, come, come, let's go get some paper and a brush from your father. You are our family's lucky charm; whatever you want to eat, we'll make, and then I can go get everything prepared!"
Seeing that the little girl had ideas of her own, Xia Jinxiu felt she already had a seventy percent chance of success.
When Xia Jinjuan heard his sister's words, he shared the same doubt. "Jinxiu, are you joking? Zhiliao is just a child—you're going to make whatever she wants to eat? Will that actually work?"
"Why wouldn't it? When our family hosts a banquet, naturally it revolves around our family. Whatever we cook is what they eat, and in our family, Zhiliao is obviously the most important one."
Xia Zhiliao nodded happily, then took the blank paper and furiously brushed down a dozen dishes—some meat-based, some vegetarian—many of which the Xia family had never even heard of.
"So much meat? Won't we lose money?" Xia Jinjuan said.
When other households hosted banquets, having two meat dishes was already considered decent. Country folk simply didn't have that much money.
Xia Jinxiu had tasted some of these herself and nodded slightly. Yet since the words were already out, she felt bad about dampening her little niece's enthusiasm, so she came up with an excuse. "Second Brother, the Cheng family didn't even ask for bridal gifts. If our banquet turns out looking stingy, people will start wondering what's wrong with our family."
Xia Jinjuan nodded, conceding that this made some sense. "Still... I haven't even heard of these dishes. Could Zhiliao be making this up?"
*(I am not making it up! These dishes are all super delicious. If Little Auntie can make all of them, anyone hosting a banquet in the future will have to hire Little Auntie! A one-stop banquet service—that could make a fortune!)*
Xia Jinxiu cleared her throat. She, too, quite liked the idea of making money.
"So what if she made it up? We'll just cook it up however she wrote it. Though... I'll need to figure out how these dishes are prepared!"
*(No need to figure it out, Little Auntie, I know how.)*
Xia Zhiliao rapidly jotted down the recipes, covering a large sheet of scrap paper in dense handwriting, which left the brother and sister utterly astonished.
***
Chapter 37: Father's Sense of Crisis
Watching the reactions of her father and her little auntie, Xia Zhiliao knew she must have startled them.
She had even prepared a set of lies to explain it away.
Yet strangely enough, neither of them asked any questions; instead, they seemed to be helping her justify it to each other.
With a smile, Xia Jinjuan said, "Zhiliao probably read about these in books. I remember we seem to have books like that in the house."
Xia Jinxiu nodded. "Yes, yes, that's what I think too. Zhiliao doesn't read in vain. Second Brother, you must let Zhiliao read more books from now on."
Xia Zhiliao was somewhat baffled. Did the family really have books like this?
If such books existed, shouldn't her father have read them long ago? And if he had read them, he shouldn't have worn such a stunned expression just now.
Or could it be that her father focused solely on the Confucian classics and paid no attention whatsoever to cookbooks?
Never mind. At least she had muddled through and solved a major problem for Little Auntie.
Xia Jinxiu felt as though she had struck gold. Although she had never attended school—first because the Xia family lacked the means, and second because it was unheard of for girls to go to school—Xia Jinjuan had attended. After he returned home, the younger siblings had picked up things from him, and now that knowledge was finally coming in handy.
"Looking so pleased with yourself, what are you grinning about?" Seeing that her daughter was uncharacteristically happy, Old Lady Xia asked.
Xia Jinxiu curved her lips, revealing the dimple on her left cheek. "Mother, didn't you tell me earlier to prepare the banquet for Third Brother's wedding?"
"Mhm. You're the only one in the house who can handle things and pay attention to detail. How's it going?"
With a smile, Xia Jinxiu replied, "It's almost ready. I just need you to buy the ingredients, and I'll come back and do a trial run of the banquet dishes for you, just in case I mess up on Third Brother's wedding day."
"You girl, your tone is getting bolder by the day. You've sorted it out already?"
Xia Jinxiu glanced at the smiling little girl beside her; she couldn't possibly steal her credit. "Zhiliao helped me figure it out. She's the real hero."
Xia Zhiliao shook her head and leaned a bit closer to her little auntie.
"Zhiliao girl has earned her credit. Once we collect the gift money later, I'll make new outfits for both of you—from head to toe. A young girl ought to look pretty."
"Mother, you really are my own mother!"
*(And my own grandmother too! But... Grandma, what about you and Mother? Women of any age should dress up and look nice!)*
It wasn't that Old Lady Xia begrudged the money, but right now the family had some income coming in, and there were still two sons and a young daughter whose futures weren't settled yet!
She had survived the bitter years of eating chaff and wild vegetables and enduring three years of severe drought, so her first instinct was always to scrimp and save.
Xia Zhiliao shook her arm, looking up at her with pleading eyes.
*(Grandma, you should wear one too! Let all the women in our family dress up beautifully, and let that Mother Yang have a good look!)*
Hearing the name Mother Yang instantly ignited Old Lady Xia's fighting spirit. "Fine then. There are only four women in our family total, and your second sister-in-law is earning her own money now, plus she's not old. When the time comes, we'll all four get ourselves an outfit."
*(Oh right, Grandma, by then Third Aunt will be here too!)*
Old Lady Xia narrowed her eyes. She held the third daughter-in-law in high regard because not only did she waive the bridal gifts, but her maiden family was also well-off and could even offer financial support.
Though she used to look down on the second branch's wife, who could have guessed that the quiet, unassuming woman would turn out to be capable of earning money and showing filial piety? Now, she didn't dare look down on her either.
Take this time, for instance: when Old Third was getting married, the second branch's wife had pulled her weight too. Old Lady Xia had figured it out—even if a daughter-in-law had certain shortcomings, once she was married into the family, there was no use dwelling on those things.
Xia Jinxiu smiled cheerfully and deliberately asked, "Mother, what about the brothers?"
Old Lady Xia drooped her face. "What new clothes do men need? They need to save money to get married! There's nothing for them!"
Xia Zhiliao shrugged. Father and uncles, I'm sorry.
Mainly, she also agreed with Grandma's reasoning.
Women ought to dress up nicely so they were a pleasure to look at. Men—especially someone like her father, who was naturally prone to catching the wandering eye and changing his affections—would become completely unbearable if they started dressing up too.
The next day, Madam Xia Chen embroidered a few more items. Being someone who disliked drawing attention to herself, she originally intended to let her husband take them to Jinyi Workshop, but Xia Zhiliao intercepted her.
*(Mother, why don't you go yourself? You can't always hide behind Father and play the shrinking violet. This is clearly your own skill, so the glory and prestige belong to you!)*
Madam Xia Chen patted her head. She truly hadn't thought that deeply about it. "If you want to go, I'll have your father take you. I... I've rarely gone out on my own!"
Xia Zhiliao shook her head, disagreeing even more strongly with that statement.
*(My dear mother, practice makes perfect! The money you earn should naturally be held in your own hands, so you won't be at a disadvantage. Think about it—if Father has to reach out to you for silver, he'll have to treat you all the better! And what about Grandma? She won't be able to look down on you anymore either!)*
Madam Xia Chen gave a soft smile. She knew her daughter's words made some sense.
It wasn't that she wanted to make her husband submissive, but she had never made her own decisions in her life, and now she actually wanted to give it a try.
*(And besides, what kind of patterns or items people want—if you tell Father, does he understand? You have to go yourself and communicate directly! What are you afraid of? Boss Su doesn't eat people.)*
Madam Xia Chen was persuaded. "Well... should Mother go instead?"
Xia Zhiliao clapped her hands happily. *(Mother, you've finally figured it out!)*
Sometimes Madam Xia Chen couldn't help but wonder why her daughter, at such a tender age, understood so many things.
Still, she didn't dare ask.
Hearing that Madam Xia Chen was going, Xia Jinxiu chimed in that she wanted to tag along. "Right, I'll go buy some pork to make those braised pork meatballs. Mother, let's get this straight first—it's not because I want to eat them; I'm preparing them in advance for Third Brother's wedding."
With her money pouch bulging today, Old Lady Xia had no reason to object. "Alright. Since you're going, buy a bit more. There are so many people in the house; if you make too little, it won't be enough to eat."
Xia Jinxiu held out her hand, and Old Lady Xia fished out several pieces of broken silver from her pouch, proving quite generous.
When Xia Jinjuan heard that his wife was going to Jinyi Workshop, he immediately recalled the way Boss Su had praised her to high heaven and the admiring gaze with which he had stared at her.
"I'll accompany you all."
Xia Jinxiu gave him a teasing look and made a clicking sound with her tongue. "Second Brother, why didn't I realize before that you're so clingy with Second Sister-in-law? Are you afraid we'll lose her?"
Xia Jinjuan blushed. "N—no, I just happened to run out of paper and ink, so I..."
"If you're out, we can just buy it and bring it back for you!" Xia Jinxiu interrupted. "You, you'd better focus on your studying. I'm still waiting for you to pass the imperial examinations and take us to the Capital!"
If he didn't go to the Capital to become an official, how would she ever get the chance to go to the Capital? And if she didn't go to the Capital, how could she ever meet the Emperor and become the Emperor's woman?
Therefore, she was truly anxious!
"It won't make a difference if I wait a day..."
"Oh, my good Second Brother, just set your mind at ease. We definitely won't get lost. However I take her there is how I'll bring her back. What grown man tags along behind women like that? Aren't you afraid people will laugh at you?"
Xia Jinxiu's words made Xia Jinjuan blush fiercely, but he was still somewhat worried. He hadn't felt this way before, but lately his wife seemed to be in high demand!
***
Chapter 38: Mother's Opportunity for a Comeback
Xia Jinjuan felt a bit embarrassed under his sister's gaze. "What are you looking at? I'm just afraid your Second Sister-in-law is nervous since she's never gone out without me before. When you get to Jinyi Workshop, just hand the items over to Boss Su, don't say any unnecessary things, ask what he needs, and leave immediately!"
Seeing his wife's innocent expression, Xia Jinjuan thought that such women were the easiest to trick. "Remember, you must be quick."
"If it's too quick, I'm afraid... I'm afraid I won't remember!" Madam Xia Chen had no ulterior motives; she simply lacked confidence in herself.
"You'll remember. Just make sure you don't talk too much with Boss Su!"
Xia Jinxiu was equally confused. "Second Brother, what kind of talk is that? Second Sister-in-law is doing business with the man—can she get away without chatting a bit?"
*(Exactly! What's wrong with Father today? Boss Su isn't a bad person!)*
"Ahem... Boss Su is a very busy man, so don't go bothering him when you have nothing to say."
Not understanding the twists and turns in his mind, Madam Xia Chen nodded obediently. "Jinjuan, going by myself... I really don't feel sure of myself!"
*(Mother, what are you afraid of? Boss Su thinks very highly of you and appreciates you; he won't make things difficult for you.)*
Madam Xia Chen quite agreed with that; Boss Su didn't put on airs at all, and every time she went, he was always polite and courteous.
Seeing the attitude his wife and daughter held toward Boss Su, Xia Jinjuan felt genuinely displeased. "Wife, our relationship with Boss Su is strictly a business partnership, and nothing more."
Madam Xia Chen nodded obediently. "Still, Boss Su is the best boss I've ever seen."
A trace of a smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of Madam Xia Chen's mouth.
That expression scared Xia Jinjuan half to death. "Merchants are crafty by nature! You're just too naive. If he's treating you well, it's only because he's counting on your embroidery to make money for him. No matter how good he is, could he possibly treat you better than I do?"
Madam Xia Chen nodded with a gentle smile. "Of course not."
Xia Jinjuan was quite satisfied to see his wife's reaction.
Watching from the side, Xia Jinxiu felt utterly nauseated. "Second Brother, are you running a fever?"
Xia Jinjuan shot her a glare. "I'm telling you, I'm entrusting your Second Sister-in-law and Zhiliao to you. If you lose them, don't you bother coming back!"
With a cold snort, Xia Jinxiu took Madam Xia Chen's arm and grabbed Xia Jinzhiliao's hand, setting off.
Xia Zhiliao was still lost in thought over why her father was acting so abnormal. Thinking it over, she actually figured it out.
Could her father be worried that her mother would be stolen away by Boss Su?!
Realizing this was the reason, Xia Zhiliao almost laughed out loud.
Even the father whom her mother unconditionally adored had days when he lacked self-confidence.
Since her father wasn't entirely bad at this point, she intended to try and alter his fate. That being said, she should make good use of this discovery so that her romantic-minded mother could also claim some initiative in the relationship.
Thinking of this, Xia Zhiliao beamed from ear to ear.
She suddenly felt that transmigrating into a book wasn't all that bitter; it actually offered plenty of amusement.
"Oh, if it isn't Jinxiu? All dressed up like a peacock—off to fish for a wealthy husband?" Old Mother Yang glanced at Xia Jinxiu, cursing her as a little vixen in her heart.
That was because her youngest son had always fancied Xia Jinxiu, yet Xia Jinxiu was a proud girl who wouldn't give her son a second look.
Naturally, Old Mother Yang believed her own son was the finest in the world, and she resented that a run-down family like the Xia clan dared to look down on them.
Xia Jinxiu swept a cold glance over the old woman who was always at odds with her family, and mimicked her tone. "Oh, if it isn't Auntie Yang? Early in the morning with no food at home, so you've come out here to drink the northwest wind instead?"
Xia Zhiliao laughed uncharitably.
Little Auntie's sharp tongue truly lived up to its reputation; she simply refused to take a loss.
Xia Jinxiu triumphantly arched an eyebrow at her little niece—loss wasn't anything tasty, so why would anyone want to take one?
Fearing a conflict between the old woman and the young girl, Madam Xia Chen hurried over to pull Xia Jinxiu along, hoping to leave quickly.
Xia Jinxiu cast a disdainful look at her; knowing her timid personality, she couldn't be bothered to say anything.
Mother Yang hadn't expected the young girl to talk back like that, and her mouth twitched twice. "I may not have your mother's good fortune of giving birth to a daughter whose sole ambition is to hook a rich man. I only managed four boys. But come to think of it, if I'd given birth to a daughter, I'd have taught her to know her place!"
"No kidding! Your daughter would certainly take after you—ugly and twisted, wanting to find a rich man when even rich men would turn their noses up at her!" Xia Jinxiu arched an eyebrow, daring her with her expression: *Go on, say something else, see if your auntie doesn't talk you to death!*
Mother Yang was nearly choked to death with rage. "Little girl, don't think you're something special just because you've got a bit of looks..."
Xia Jinxiu interrupted her with a scoff, neither hurried nor flustered, wearing a pretty smile. "What can I do about it, though? I *do* have a bit of looks. Aren't you just furious?"
"You..." Mother Yang's teeth itched with hatred, completely forgetting that she was the one who had started this verbal skirmish. "What do I have to be furious about? At least I don't have to be sold off to pay back my brothers' debts so they can get married! How hilarious—and here you thought your mother cared about you so much? She's just treating you like a cash cow!"
"You'd like to have a cash cow, wouldn't you? Can you even give birth to one? My mother caring about me is a fact. As for money? Is it that hard to make?"
With that, Xia Jinxiu shook her money pouch. "Oh my, I suppose we'll have to buy half a pig today. What on earth are we going to do with all that meat? It's downright sickening!"
*(Little Auntie is amazing! Talk this old hag into the ground, I really can't stand her.)*
Madam Xia Chen sighed. One of them was a spark ready to ignite, while the other kept fanning the flames.
Seeing all that silver, Mother Yang's mouth twisted up toward the sky. "No wonder you're strutting around so high and mighty—turns out you're spending the money from selling your eldest sister-in-law! Zhiliao's mother, you just wait, next time you might be the one getting sold off. Is there any despicable thing the old Xia family won't do?"
Madam Xia Chen had originally wanted to keep the peace, but even she couldn't stand it anymore. "That won't happen. Stop talking nonsense."
*(Mother, you're too soft-hearted! That combat power won't do at all; you need to be like Little Auntie.)*
Xia Jinxiu held some disdain for this timid second sister-in-law of hers, but when it came to scolding matches, she had inherited her own mother's true mantle. "No matter how despicable our family is, we'd never stoop to beating a pregnant daughter-in-law to death! There's a reason they say Heaven has eyes, leaving their whole household a bunch of bachelors. Let's go, Second Sister-in-law—talking too much to this kind of person brings bad luck!"