BXBX NOVEL Chapter 132: Wen Family Sisters 1
Chapter 132: Wen Family Sisters 1
A soft and delicate voice could be heard.
Yingbao turned to look and saw a very pretty young girl in pink walking over.
“This is my little apprentice sister, Yingbao,” Wen Shu introduced as she managed her patience. “Yingbao, this is my cousin, Wen Jiao.”
Yingbao nodded at the girl, “Sister Wen Jiao.”
Wen Jiao walked into the pavilion with a sweet smile, grasping Yingbao’s hand in an ostensible display of endearment, “So you’re Yingbao, you’re really cute.” “You’re also cute…” Unable to hide her discomfort, Yingbao withdrew her hand.
Wen Jiao sat down next to Yingbao, but found nothing to say.
At that moment, another young girl in red rushed over, asking, “What are you guys doing over here? Mother wants you to have a chat inside.”
Looking at this girl who bore a resemblance to Wen Jiao, Yingbao had already guessed who she was.
Wen Tian had a bright red dot on her forehead, making others wonder whether it was natural or artificially added.
At this time, people loved to add unique marks to their faces. For example, women generally liked to draw patterns on their foreheads and add dimples to their cheeks. Some even purposely painted their eyebrows to look like sorrowful ones, considering it fashionable.
Wen Shu pulled Yingbao up and whispered, “Let’s go meet the third wife. She will also be your master in the future.”
The Wen family has always been devoted to medical practice and often married into families with the same background, so a daughter-in-law with no knowledge of traditional medicine techniques was considered illiterate.
Yingbao followed Wen Shu into a room, where a middle-aged woman in her forties was sitting in a chair drinking tea.
“This is my third wife, Mrs. Lin.” Wen Shu whispered an introduction.
Yingbao stepped forward to pay her respects, “Apprentice Jiang Yingbao greets Mrs. Lin.”
Mrs. Lin lifted her eyes from the tea cup, merely grunted and asked softly, “So you’re Yingbao, a rather clever girl.”
Yingbao’s mouth twitched, but she kept silent.
Mrs. Lin took a sip of tea, sizing up Yingbao before casually asking, “I heard your family grows golden auriculas, is that true?”
Yingbao replied respectfully, “Yes, every family in our village grows them. Some even have white wood ear. Are you interested in purchasing some, Mrs. Lin?”
Mrs. Lin’s face darkened, “I was asking if your family grows them.” “Of course, we do.” Replied Yingbao.
Mrs. Lin put down her tea cup, “Can you bring some for me to see?” “I’m really sorry, the golden auriculas we planted recently haven’t matured yet.”
Mrs. Lin, ever dark and menacing, replied, “Such a disrespectful child. I only wanted to see the golden auriculas and here you are spouting excuses?”
Yingbao blinked, “But I only told the truth. The golden auriculas haven’t sprouted yet.”
Mrs. Lin was about to say something when Xiu Zhenniang walked in, “Yingbao, I’ve been looking for you-
“Mrs. Wen!” Yingbao was delighted to see Xiu Zhenniang and quickly ran over to hold her sleeve, “I have something to tell you, too.”
Xiu Zhenniang fondly patted her head and led her outside, “Come with me, I have something to give you.”
Yingbao followed her into another room. Xiu Zhenniang took out numerous books from a wicker box.
“I bought these books for you in Yuzhou. They contain a lot of ancient prescriptions. You should take them home and study them.”
Then, Xiu Zhenniang gave a big bag of seeds to Yingbao. “These are seeds of various vegetables and melons from Yuzhou, and there are some flower seeds too. I specially requested them from a florist. You can try to plant them.”
There was nothing more valuable to a farming family than new varieties of vegetable and melon seeds, especially varieties not found locally.
Yingbao was incredibly excited. She hugged Mrs. Wen, “Thank you, Master, you are so kind.”
Xiu Zhenniang stroked her hair and sighed inwardly.
This girl is so simple-hearted. If she knew the Wen family had always been scheming against her, what would she think? The only thing she could do was try not to cause her too much harm.
In the afternoon, Wen Shu took Yingbao in a carriage back to the South Slope. Along the way, they dropped off the books and Yuzhou specialties at Jiang’s house.
That night, Wen Shu didn’t return home. Instead, she stayed over and chatted with Yingbao in bed.
“No matter what Auntie Third says, if you feel something’s off, just ignore it.”
Not only was Auntie Third a stickler for details, she was also petty. Wen Shu worried that Yingbao would suffer at her hands in the future.
Yingbao, puzzled, asked, “Why did Auntie Third come to a small place like ours?”
Today she had seen for herself that Mrs. Lin was not only pretentious, but also looked down on others. How could such a person be willing to live in the countryside?
Without any benefits, would she have brought her two beautiful daughters to live a life of poverty?
Wen Shu pondered for a while, then quietly said, “Yingbao, I’ll tell you the truth. The Wen family set up the school here because of your family’s secret prescription.”
Yingbao nodded, “I’ve also guessed something.”
Wen Shu embraced Yingbao, her voice low, “I’m sorry Yingbao, we shouldn’t have kept you in the dark.”
Yingbao: “I’ve known it all along, there’s no cheating.”
She was also aware that a nobleman had died after taking medicine from the Wen family, but she couldn’t mention it.
“So, if Auntie Third tries to get something out of you, just ignore her,” Wen Shu finished, feeling a little relieved.
“Okay.” Yingbao tugged at Wen Shu, “Tell me about Yuzhou, and why your family wants to buy our golden auriculas?”
Wen Shu gritted her teeth then began to tell Yingbao about everything.
“My uncle offended a nobleman and was banished back to Yuzhou. That nobleman’s child was very sick and our family almost got implicated. It was thanks to your family’s golden auriculas that the nobleman’s child was saved, allowing our family to avoid disaster.”
Yingbao nodded, “So that’s why.”
It seems that in her previous life, the Wen family met their downfall due to the death of that nobleman’s child.
Wen Shu whispered, “Yingbao, no matter what, we are the best of friends, and we will remain so forever.’
“Mhm.” Yingbao nestled into Wen Shu’s arms, just like in her previous life. “We will always be best friends, forever.”
The next morning, Yingbao and Wen Shu got up, washed, and had breakfast made by Yingbao’s second aunt. They then went to the orchard to pick a basket of ripe grapes, a basket of yellow daffodil pears, and a few peaches.
“Take these and give them to Mrs. Wen to taste.” Yingbao placed the baskets on the Wen family’s carriage.
Wen Shu didn’t want to return home this early, but everyone at the Jiang house was busy picking cotton. She couldn’t help much by staying here, and felt as if she was in the way.
“Once your family finishes this period of work, hurry back to school.” Wen Shu advised. “My mother still wants to test what you’ve learned these past few months.”
“I understand.”
After sending Wen Shu off, Yingbao finally had time to explore the books given by Mrs. Wen.
“Treatise on the Origins and Symptoms of Diseases”, “Tang Materia Medica” ,
“Emergency Prescription Worth a Thousand Gold”, “Supplementary Methods Worth A Thousand Gold”, “Four-part Medical Canon”, and other medical tomes that couldn’t be bought locally..