Chapter 79: The New Year

Chapter 79: The New Year

"Mother, please don't hit me, it's me!" Team Leader Qian saw his mother and hurriedly said.

"I'm hitting you precisely because it's you!" Team Leader Qian's mother, Wang, was also from the Marquis's household. She had been a maid who accompanied the late matriarch, and she married the household's chief steward, Qian. After the late matriarch passed away, Lady Qin dismissed many of her people, including Wang.

Wang, now a free woman, lived with her husband, the chief steward of the Marquis's household, and her son, who managed a merchant team. Their life was comfortable, and she often walked around the streets. Because her family served the Ningyang Marquis's household, their status was higher than that of the commoners around them.

Her only concern was her son's marriage.

"You're already in your late twenties, and you'll be thirty soon. Why aren't you getting married? Are you trying to drive me to my grave?" Wang scolded him fiercely.

"Mother, I'm always on the road; where do I have the time?"

"You need to hurry up! Or ask for the Lord Marquis and Lady's favor and get a year off!"

"How could I do that? No one else can do my job."

"If no one else can do it, do you want our old Qian family to die out?" Wang raised her broom and started hitting and yelling at Team Leader Qian.

Just as he was dodging her blows, there was a knock on the door.

"Mother, stop hitting me, someone's here!" Team Leader Qian rushed to open the door. As soon as he opened it, he saw a young, fresh-faced girl holding several yards of fabric standing outside.

He recognized her; she was the maid who had given him a reward today.

"Are you by Lady's side?"

"Yes, Team Leader Qian, I am Lady's maid Shuang Hong." Shuang Hong stood at the door, peeking inside and seeing Wang with the broom, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all, not at all, you're my savior!" Team Leader Qian smiled at her, "Please come in, my little savior."

Shuang Hong blushed, "No need, I just came to deliver a message."

Shuang Hong handed the fabric to Team Leader Qian, "Our Lady said that when you go to Jiangnan next year, try to find these types of fabrics for resale. They will be popular next year."

"Sure thing!"

Team Leader Qian agreed immediately. After taking the fabric, he saw Shuang Hong about to leave, but his mother was still glaring at him from inside. He quickly called her back.

"Wait a moment."

Shuang Hong looked at him, "Is there anything else?"

"If you're not busy, why don't I treat you to some tea? You can tell me about what's happening in the household this year."

Shuang Hong: "..."

"Come on, let's go." People who travel for business tend to be more outgoing. Unlike others in the household, Team Leader Qian didn't follow many rules. Seeing his mother ready to continue scolding him, he threw the fabric at Wang, "Mother, I'm going out for a bit."

With that, he pulled Shuang Hong out.

Shuang Hong: "..."

Shuang Hong returned to Lu Lingyun with a flushed face.

"Why are you back so late?"

Lu Lingyun asked, noticing that Shuang Hong wasn't acting like her usual self.

Hearing this, Shuang Hong's face turned even redder, and she lowered her head, speaking in a muffled voice, "Team Leader Qian treated me to tea."

"Hmm?"

Treating her to tea wasn't unusual, but why was Shuang Hong acting this way?

"Did he hit you after treating you to tea?"

"No way!"

"Then why is your face so red?" Lu Lingyun asked with a smile.

"Lady, I'm not!" Shuang Hong's face turned even redder.

Lu Lingyun pulled her closer, "How old are you this year?"

"After the New Year, I'll be fourteen."

"At fourteen, you're of age. It's time to think about a marriage."

"No, I want to stay by Lady's side!" Shuang Hong's blush faded, and she spoke with determination.

Shuang Hong wasn't born into the Lu family; she was sold to them.

Her parents were poor, her father was a gambler, and her mother was ill. They also had an older brother. In a year of famine, she was sold, small and thin, and many places wouldn't take her. Fortunately, she ended up in the Marquis's household and was chosen by Lu Lingyun to be a servant maid. Otherwise, her fate would have been much worse.

Her contract, like Zhiran's, was held by Lu Lingyun.

"Even if you marry, you can still stay by my side," Lu Lingyun said with a smile. "I'll find a good match for you within our household."

Hearing Lu Lingyun's words, Shuang Hong's determined face turned red again, "Lady, how can you say such things!"

"Does that mean you agree?"

"I do not agree, I don't want to."

Lu Lingyun looked at the anxious Shuang Hong and decided not to tease her anymore. "Alright, I won't joke with you anymore. Look how red your face is; I thought you already had someone in mind."

"Madam, you... you're so mean." Shuang Hong covered her face, stomped her foot, and ran away.

Watching Shuang Hong, Lu Lingyun smiled without saying anything.

In the blink of an eye, two days passed.

Lu Lingyun's workload also slowed down because it was time to celebrate the New Year.

Zhiran returned to the marquisate with Dong Sheng for the New Year.

On New Year's Day, the entire marquisate was festively decorated, bustling with activity.

Lu Lingyun had given her servants an early New Year bonus, and everyone gathered together, full of joy and excitement.

Lu Lingyun went to Qin's courtyard to have the reunion dinner with everyone.

During the New Year's Eve dinner, she received big red envelopes from Lady Qin and the old Lord Marquis, and Cheng Yunshuo also received one of the same size.

Qiu Ling and Xing Dairong each received smaller red envelopes.

Everyone wore happy expressions.

Lu Lingyun had been married into the marquisate for almost a year, and no matter what this family was like before, it was much more comfortable than her previous life.

Under her management, their lives would only get better.

While she was living well, things were not going well for Lu Hanyi.

On New Year's Eve, Lu Hanyi, heavily pregnant, went to her in-laws' courtyard with Li Wenxun for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Her sister-in-law Wei, along with her children and husband, sat beside Li's parents, who lavished praise on them and gave them generous red envelopes and rewards.

Their second branch of the family was ignored and treated coldly.

Lu Hanyi only received a small red envelope, which paled in comparison to Wei's.

She directly confronted them, "Mother, you're too biased! Why do we, the second branch, get so little? Why does my sister-in-law's family get so much?"

Lady Li smiled falsely and said, "Your sister-in-law received the same amount as you. The rest is for Little Huan. When you give birth to a son, Mother will give you the same amount. You can't be competing with a child, can you?"

Hearing this, Lu Hanyi felt a surge of resentment. Compete with a child?! Using the child as an excuse was just a way to brush her off, but she lacked the skill to argue back and was dismissed.

Wei also chimed in with a smile, saying that when she first married in, she received the same amount as her sister-in-law, implying that Lu Hanyi was being greedy and unreasonable. Everyone joined in, making fun of her.

Unable to refute these insincere words, Lu Hanyi turned angrily to her husband.

Li Wenxun simply kept eating, acting as if it had nothing to do with him.

Feeling even more aggrieved, Lu Hanyi became even angrier.