The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 802 - 170: Selling the Mother for Wealth_5

Chapter 802: Chapter 170: Selling the Mother for Wealth_5

Pei Houli and Pei Wenbo, along with Kong’s, who brought her daughter Pei Qingya back, had arrived.

From the moment they were notified until their return, it had been more than a month. To say there had been no delays would be absolutely impossible. And Pei Wenlee had not come back for the mourning.

The time had been dragged out too long. Even though it was winter, Lady Chen’s corpse had started to stink.

Lady Zhu, disgusted, had it hurriedly buried as soon as people returned.

Of all people, it was Pei Wenbo who was the most unwilling and aggrieved by Lady Chen’s death. He was already seventeen and would turn eighteen soon—after abiding by three years of mourning, how old would he be!? Besides, he had already set his sights on a young lady in Capital Jingcheng; by the time the mourning period was over, she would have long been married off and had children!

Pei Houli also cried with deep sorrow. However, he wept over his son’s future being ruined again, with his younger son’s marital arrangements delayed due to the mourning period. As for Lady Chen’s death, he had only been distressed for a few days at the beginning. Then, he felt relieved. He no longer had to deal with Lady Chen’s dark, unpleasant, and meddling face ever again!

Soon, Lady Chen was buried. Old Pei’s House did not host a grand feast for guests and did not have many people to invite, settling the matter with a few ceremonial tables.

Now back in this home, Kong’s was no longer pressured by a mother-in-law above her, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before Pei Houli found a new stepmother for her, keeping her under someone’s thumb once again. And Lady Zhu, now looking even less favorably upon the main house, began ordering her about. Knowing the suspicious circumstances of Lady Chen’s death and how Pei Wenli conspicuously did not pursue the matter, she discussed with Qian Wanxiu, "My mother-in-law is gone, and I alone can’t take care of the whole household. The grandparents are getting on in years, and the second uncle and aunt are seldom home. How about we buy a couple of maids to serve them?"

"Maids are not nimble enough. Why not purchase two servant girls instead?" Qian Wanxiu looked at her, her eyes flashing with mockery. Thinking she had something on her and seeking to manipulate her!? With her status, Kong’s was simply not eligible!

Kong’s was momentarily short of breath, "Little servant girls are ignorant and not diligent in their work. Buying maids who are sensible and diligent, even if they’re not as agile as the little ones, have the advantage of being more stable. My mother-in-law has just passed away. If I were to bring in servant girls who don’t know better, wouldn’t they just gossip recklessly?"

Qian Wanxiu, thinking of those three thousand taels of silver, nodded, "You have a point! Once you’ve made up your mind, it’s not my place to interfere. The house is large, and since we don’t live there often, two maids will definitely be sufficient."

Kong’s took a while before she nodded and echoed with a single word, then went to consult Pei Wenli about buying the maids.

All the private savings of the house were now in his hands. He took out ten taels of silver and gave it to her to buy the maids.

Kong’s picked out two older maids to purchase and had them stay in the low cottages in the backyard, cooking and doing household chores.

The village, seeing that they had just buried Lady Chen and now bought servants to wait on them, immediately began living more extravagantly. The family members no longer did any work themselves but bossed the servants around, with everyone pointing fingers and whispering that Pei Wenli had gotten a large sum of silver.

Lady Zhu, upon hearing this, became envious and covertly questioned Pei Wenli about how much silver he had received.

Pei Wenli only mentioned it was a small part of Lady Chen’s dowry. As for the rest, it was just a few tens of taels given by the Qian family for funeral expenses, which had nearly been spent. He planned to use this money to buy a few books and writing materials to immerse himself in scholarship while mourning at home and to arrange a decent marriage for Pei Wenbo.

Lady Zhu’s heart itched like a cat scratch, yet she still couldn’t get the full story out of him. Inquiring with Qian Wanxiu, she received the same answer: just a few tens of taels for funeral expenses, nothing else. Otherwise, Butler Qian would not be able to escape being hired for murder, and that vile wench Pei Qin definitely would not let go of her father!

Every household began preparing for the New Year.

Pei Wendong sent a letter saying he wouldn’t be able to return before the New Year and would be celebrating outside with Xiao Yong and Chang Yonglin, sending gifts for the family. There was something for everyone, and Jiujiu particularly received a lot - both edibles and toys.

The biggest share was pastries: two large boxes of boned abalone snails and two large boxes of durian pastries.

Durian pastries were nothing novel, but boned abalone snails, considered a delicacy among pastries and hard to buy even with money, were a highly favored rarity in the households of the great and the nobility.

Pei Qin, tasting them, found them just so-so, as she had had her fill of cream and cheese. She thought the durian pastries, however, were quite nice and ate a few pieces in one go.

Both Pei Qian and Jiujiu liked them, especially Jiujiu, who finished a whole box by herself.

"Big sister!?" Pei Qian, looking at the empty box, called out to Pei Qin.

Seeing her look, the corner of Pei Qin’s mouth twitched slightly, "I cannot make them!"

Pei Qian gave her a look that said, ’How can she be a mother?’ and turned to Jiujiu, "Your mother knows how to make the boned abalone snails."

"Mom, make them!" Jiujiu immediately said.

"Mom doesn’t know how!" Pei Qin frowned.

"Mom can!" Jiujiu said with conviction.

"Mom can’t! Your aunt can!" Pei Qin told her earnestly.

Jiujiu immediately turned to Pei Qian, "Auntie～"

Pei Qian gave her elder sister a hard glare.

Pei Qin laughed, "Let’s all go milk the sheep together!"

The three of them got ready to go out when Zhang Gengshan came over with an unusual expression to report, "There is a Young Master Zhang at the door..."

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