The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 879 - 191: Losing Face_2

Chapter 879: Chapter 191: Losing Face_2

By the time Li Hualing had drawn hot water for Feng Xiaolang to clean up, everyone else had gradually left.

Pei Yuan brought a thin quilt for Feng Xiaolang to wrap around himself, "It’s cold and far away, so I won’t keep you any longer."

Madam Zhao hurriedly had the servants prepare the return gifts and carried them out.

Grandma Fang and Lady Yu began to admonish Pei Yuan again to take good care of herself, "...Don’t think that just because the postpartum month is over, you can neglect your health. You need to take good care of yourself to avoid illness in the future!" The childbirth had been dangerous, and if she hadn’t been so sturdy, she might have lost her life.

Pei Yuan responded with a smile to all their advice, saying that her mother-in-law wanted more grandchildren and that she would indeed look after her health.

Madam Zhao also spoke about providing Pei Yuan with a good recovery for a year or so, "After all, there are servants at home, and if all else fails, I’m still here. We don’t have any work for her to do; I will make sure she’s looked after!"

Pei Yuan was also thinking of partnering with Pei Qin and Pei Qian to open a ready-to-wear clothing shop and quietly mentioned to Pei Qian that she would move back to her parents’ home in a few days to discuss the matter.

The carriage was brought over, and Jiujiu and Fang Xin had already taken their seats in the carriage and left.

Once Pei Qin had bid her goodbyes, she departed as well.

Zhao Xiaochen escorted their party out of the town.

As soon as they were far away, people immediately began to gather in groups and talk about Feng Xiaolang’s overeating, "Even the adults didn’t watch over and restrain him, letting him stuff himself like that!"

Fang Hui’s face had been looking terrible the whole way, especially since Feng Xiaolang had to stop twice on the road due to an upset stomach.

Li Hualing wanted to change the quilt, but as there was only one thin quilt for wrapping him, they had to endure the circumstance for the time being.

Grandma Fang’s face had also turned sour during the journey, and after passing Taiping Town, she started to criticize Fang Hui, "Even little children understand this—if you indulge them too much, they’ll overdo it! Look what you’ve pampered Feng Xiaolang into; if you don’t start disciplining him, you’ll be the ones to suffer in the future!"

Fang Hui was very reluctant to hear such words, "My family is poor, does that mean our child is any worse than others? Feng Xiaolang hasn’t seen anything good before, so he just ate a bit too much. The embarrassment is not because of us, but because they made it into such a big deal!"

Grandma Fang was so angry that she didn’t want to talk to her anymore, "Just take care of yourself!"

Fang Hui’s face darkened with anger. That little bitch Pei Yuan had even made a show of calling the doctor, and that little bitch Pei Qian fed Feng Xiaolang laxatives prescribed by the doctor—they clearly did it to embarrass her! She couldn’t believe that her aunt would lose face while they gloried in it!

Pei Qin was also criticizing Pei Qian at home for the same thing, "She acts without considering the consequences!"

Pei Qian retorted with a pout, "Without this incident, they would have definitely spread rumors that your son and daughter switched places, ending up God knows how!"

"So this stops the gossip, does it?" Pei Qin gave her a disdainful look.

Pei Qian snorted coldly, "At least people are laughing at them directly now! Otherwise, the gossip would have been about us!" She muttered under her breath that Fang Hui needed a lesson and was only acting so high and mighty because the noodle shop made money, she dared to make trouble!

Indeed, word spread quickly outside: someone ate so much at a banquet that they needed laxatives, which was a rare occurrence. After all, if one overate, it was usually taken care of discreetly, without creating such a public spectacle.

Although Fang Hui was embarrassed and momentarily forgot about the incident, she became even more resentful afterward, intensifying her complaints. She claimed Feng Xiaolang’s stomach ache was due to crying too much, and that he was scolded and cursed by Jiujiu for not having been raised properly. She also warned that Pei Qin must not sit with anyone during her next pregnancy, otherwise her son might be swapped again!

Then, whispers started circulating, speculating whether Pei Qin’s next child would also be a girl, "... like her mother, who had three girls before finally giving birth to a son, and it wasn’t even the husband’s."

"Having daughters is still better than other families. At least those that look like Mo Heng are beautiful and won’t have trouble getting married in the future!"

"How could that be! Maybe the first child looks like him, a bit more distinguished. But this latter one doesn’t look like him at all, not even as much as my daughter! Even if their family’s daughters don’t have to worry about marriage, without a son, what good are so many daughters?"

Pei Qian heard this and immediately stood behind them, "Kong Yijia’s family! Whether my older sister has daughters or sons, what business is it of yours?"

The woman from Kong Yijia’s family was startled and quickly turned around. Seeing it was her, she was guilty and tried to run away.

The two women speaking with her also changed their expressions. They had just asked Pei Qian days ago about joining the workshop to make spicy pickled cabbage to earn some extra money for their homes. Now that Pei Qian caught them listening to gossip from Kong Yijia’s family, their chances of working in the workshop might be dashed.

The woman from Kong Yijia’s family was also fearful and forced a smile, "I heard wrong! I wasn’t talking about Lady Mo!"

Pei Qian looked at her coldly, "Whether it’s sons or daughters, it depends on luck and into what kind of family they’re born. If they are born into a good family, not to mention anything else, even the servants are of good quality! Being born into a less fortunate family, no matter how self-righteous, they cannot compare!"

The woman from Kong Yijia’s family, trying to appease her, said, "I was talking about others! Having a bunch of daughters without a son, their days are hard. I was not talking about Lady Mo; even if your family has two more daughters, you won’t worry! You’ll eventually have a son!"

"Silver isn’t something that always comes easily!" said Pei Qian with a meaningful glance, then turned and walked away.

After Pei Qian left, the woman from Kong Yijia’s family, looking upset, spat, "Just because she has some stinking money! And talking about family background, what sort of lineage does she have! Having a brood of daughters, what use is that! If she can’t have a son and needs someone else’s help..."

The other two women heard her spit and decided not to talk to her anymore, quickly walking away. The sweet potato flour workshop in Fang Family Village had already started operations, and Pei Qin’s workshop had expanded by half, but there was still no movement. They were still waiting to work in the workshop!

There was a higher demand for fine sweet potato flour than last year, and many had pre-ordered. Old Scholar Fang also suggested that Pei Qin open another sweet potato flour workshop, as one was not enough to handle the workload and complete all the business.

Pei Qin expanded the workshop not to produce sweet potato flour, but to have a place to dry the fermentation starter for soy sauce. With increased soy sauce production, there was no space left to dry the starters.

The workshop wasn’t large, and part of it had to be used for Pei Qian’s production of spicy pickled cabbage and radishes, but the expansion made just enough room.

When it was time to make spicy pickled cabbage, Pei Qian had her people start collecting cabbage and radishes everywhere.

However, Sun Quanliang took a round of the area and found that the cabbage and radishes had been bought at high prices by others.