Chapter 9 : Livelihood (1)
From the Old Lady’s courtyard to Rose Courtyard, it only took a quarter of an hour journey. But today, for Mama Fang, it somehow felt a bit difficult for her to walk as usual.
When they finally arrived in Rose Courtyard, Yuxi waved away all her servants and brought only Mama Fang into her room.
Mama Fang took Yuxi's hand and cried, "Miss, what will happen to you if this old servant leaves?" Her husband had died early and she had no children. She didn’t know where her relatives, those who worked in Ning's family, had gone to. Leaving the resident and her Miss, she did not know what else she could do. She felt afraid and also confused when thinking of her future.
Yuxi had already thought a lot on her way back just now. If Mama Fang was released in this way, her future life would surely be sad. So, Yuxi was going to find something for Mama Fang to do. If a person had something to do, that person's life would be much easier. Just like what she did in her previous hard life. She spent most of her time doing embroidery all day, and somehow she had felt, at that moment, time surely had flown much faster. She took Mama Fang's hand and said, "Mama, Grandmother wants to let you off. Maybe...this is a good thing for us."
Mama Fang's eyes glazed over as she asked, "What did you say, Miss? Did you say it was a good thing? "
Yuxi answered in a low voice, "Mama, you also know that I am currently short of silvers. If you can open a shop outside, you can help provide me with more money, and then, I'll be much better off in this residence."
Mama Fang didn't know what else she could say to that. "But Miss, what can I do when we don't have any money to open a shop? Where would we get the money from?" asked the nervous Mama Fang. She didn't know a thing about opening a shop. Without any knowledge, she would completely lose the money if she opened one!
Yuxi told Mama Fang her plan, "Mama, don’t you remember? You know how to make baozi and dumplings, right? I'm sure we can make money by opening a baozi shop." Although it would be hard to find money to open one, it was still the best option for Mama Fang. If she had something busy to do, she won't waste her time worrying about her life.
Baozi (Chinese: 包子), or bao, is a type of filled bun or bread-like (i.e. made with yeast) dumpling in various Chinese cuisines. There are many variations in fillings (meat or vegetarian) and preparations (usually steamed). In its bun-like aspect, it is very similar to the traditional Chinese mantou. - Wikipedia
Image credit to Leah Sprague
A baozhi shop is like Chinese snack shop. It's not only sell baozhi, Chinese steamed bun, but other kinds of Chinese snacks like mantou, rice cake etc.
Mama Fang asked with a wry smile, "Miss, when did business become an easy thing to do?"
But Yuxi just replied, "Mama, your baozi and dumplings are so delicious. They will make money. I have confidence in you." After a pause, Yuxi added, "Mama, with you making money outside, I will also have an alternate income in the future. So, I don't have to worry anymore about rewarding the servants."
Mama Fang was moved by what Yuxi said but anxiously asked, "But what if I lost money?". For her, leaving the residence was an inevitable outcome, but if she followed her Miss' plan and got a good result, it would be like hitting two birds with one stone. Her future would be guaranteed, while Miss would have a more stable status in the courtyard. But she still worried. What if it turned bad?
Yuxi answered with a smile, "We would only have a small shop, Mama. It won't cost us much and I believe in your cooking skill. Mama, you also need to have a bit of confidence in yourself."
Mama Fang had confidence in her skill, but she had zero confidence in doing business. After all, she didn't know a thing about it. But she also knew the plan Yuxi had thought for her was the best solution.
After Yuxi and Mama Fang left, the Old Lady asked Mama Luo, "Mama Luo, what is going on?" Just now, she could see that even Yuxi didn't believe what Mama Luo just said. How could she even dare to deceive her?
Mama Luo answered in a low voice, "The actual trial result is, the dirty thing was given by old woman Xiao, the personal servant of Concubine Rong. As for why Concubine Rong wanted to hurt Fourth Miss, that maid said she doesn't know."
The Old Lady turned the Buddha beads in her hand without pausing. Although there was no evidence to prove it, she knew Concubine Rong was the puppet master behind the scenes. "How did that maid fall into Concubine Rong's hands?" If only for the sake of money, that maid would not have agreed to do Concubine Rong’s bidding. The reason must have been simple. Once the real culprit had been found out, not only oneself but one's family members would also have to die without burial places.
Mama Luo whispered, "The truth is, Moyun and Housekeeper Xue's younger son are having an affair." Once the maidservants were bought by their masters, they became the owners' private properties and were not allowed to give or receive private gifts. What made Moyun’s case more serious was that her being a personal maidservant of the Fourth Miss. If Fourth Miss's reputation was damaged because of her, even killing Moyun won’t be enough to bring back the good name of the residence Young Miss.
The Old Lady stopped turning the Buddha beads and gave out an order, "Sell her to the mine." It was the cheapest and indirect way to kill her.
Mama Luo agreed without changing her face. When she saw the Old Lady went silent for a while, she carefully asked, "What about the younger son of Xue Ming's family?"
The Old Lady slightly answered, "Send him and his family to a hamlet." Housekeeper Xue's mother was the Old Lady's wet nurse. It was because of this reason the Old Lady had treated the Xue family so kindly. Because of that, they never had any shortage of money. But when they dared to break the rules of the residence, even by being favoured by her won’t stop the Old Lady from giving them a heavy punishment.
Qiu Shi knew that the Old Lady had severely punished Housekeeper Xue’s family. She was so surprised that she had to ask her Mama Li, "What happened to them?" The Xue family was the Old Lady's confidant. If they didn't commit a big mistake, the Old Lady wouldn't have sent the family to a village.
Mama Li shook her head but said, “Early this morning, I saw Fourth Miss brought a tied up Moyun to the Old Lady. I think it was related to the Xue family."
Qiu Shi still didn't understand, so she uttered, "Even if Moyun committed a crime, it would not implicate the Xue family too."
While she was wondering, Liu Yin came in with a smile on her face and delivered the news, "My Lady, Concubine Rong has been confined in her courtyard."
Qiu Shi increasingly felt that the situation was somehow getting strange. Obviously, it was related to that child. "What the hell is going on?" she thought.
Talk of the devil, and he would be sure to appear. Just as she talked about Yuxi with Mama Li, she heard her maid reported the arrival of Fourth Miss.
Yuxi understood that Mama Fang didn't know anything about business. She thought Qiu Shi would be more familiar with these common affairs, so she decided to come and learn from her.
As soon as Qiu Shi saw Yuxi, she immediately asked, "Yuxi, why did you bundle up Moyun and send her to the Old Lady’s courtyard this morning?"
Yuxi asked Qiu Shi to disperse the maids around her first. Once Qiu Shi was done, she told her the real cause of the incident, “Eldest Aunt knows my temper well. If Moyun doesn't do well, of course, I'll scold her. But for her to harm me just because of that, is too hard for me to believe! There must be a mastermind behind her."
Qiu Shi finally knew why the Old Lady had placed Concubine Rong under house arrest as she cursed, "That poisonous woman!" She even dared to hurt a four-year-old girl.
Yuxi agreed with her Eldest Aunt’s sentiment on Concubine Rong. If she wanted to get rid of that vile woman, she would not be able to do so for the time being because of the punishment.
Qiu Shi guessed that Concubine Rong would retaliate against Yuxi because of this. She didn't dare to tell her that, so she asked Yuxi softly, "What matter that had brought you here for?"
Yuxi told her aunt that she planned to have Mama Fang opened a shop when she left the residence.
Qiu Shi went silent for a moment and said, "Yuxi, setting up a shop is not an easy thing to do."
Yuxi said quickly, "Eldest Aunt, I know it will not be easy and I don't expect to make money by opening one. I just want to find something for Mama Fang to do. Aunt, there are no more people in Ning's family for me to send her back to and Mama Fang has no relatives outside. To let her leave the house just like that. Where can she go? Those are still minor matters. What I fear the most is that when she goes outside and starts to entertain some foolish ideas, she would surely break her health along the way." She paused for a while and then continued, "Aunt, opening the shop is mainly for Mama Fang to do something, so she won't be caught up in some foolish schemes."
Qiu Shi asked, "Is this your idea or Mama Fang?" If the answer was Yuxi then this child was being too overly concerned.
Yuxi answered, “It was my idea. Mama Fang only agreed after I persuaded her. Aunt, Mama Fang and I don't know anything about opening a shop. So, I have come to ask Aunt for some guidance. "
Qiu Shi was amused by this and then said with a smile, "There are many things to consider when opening a shop, such as where the shop is going to be? The size of the shop depends on whether there are shops nearby that do the same business as you ... "
After hearing this, Yuxi seriously thought about it for a while and said, "Eldest Aunt, we won’t set up a big shop. We were thinking of doing a baozi shop. Also, it won't be at the west and east of the town as the rents are too high there."
Qiu Shi smiled, "I didn't think that you would know so much. You're right. The east and west streets are very expensive. The rent is at least thousands of taels a year. The baozi shop certainly can't be opened there." If it was opened there, they won’t be able to pay rent just with the sale from the shop.
Yuxi asked, "Where would Aunt think being an ideal location for the shop?"
Qiu Shi thought for a moment and said, "The south is a civilian area. Although the people there are not as rich as the people in the east and west, they still have more than two taels in their hands. As long as your steamed buns are delicious, you can sell them without worry. I think you can open a baozi shop in the south. The shop would be small, so the rent won’t be high too. Even if it was not managed well, we would not lose too much. If it did well, its reputation will accumulate and it won’t be too late for us to expand the business."
Noob Translator's Musing
All this time, I thought zhuangzi was a name of a place, but I was wrong. In the current raw chapter I've read, Yuxi bought a lot of zhuangzi. That was when I wondered why the hell would she want to buy a lot of zhuangzi. Were there more than 1 place being named Zhuangzi? No way! So, when I thoroughly check, zhuangzi also means a hamlet, other than being a name for a famous ancient Chinese philosopher, Zhuang Zhou.
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