Chapter 27 Are you his biological mother?

Chapter 27 Are you his biological mother?

In the afternoon, the waiter at the teahouse dozed off at the table, while the manager slept on a couch behind the counter.

Suddenly, from the birdcage hanging above the door, a myna bird hopped around and shouted in a high-pitched voice, "We have guests!"

With a few loud bangs, the waiter and the shopkeeper both stood up.

Meng Qing smiled sheepishly, tapped the birdcage, and said, "Take the birdcage away next time you have a midday break."

"How could I take it? I'm keeping it for surveillance." The shopkeeper rubbed his face, shook his head to clear his head, and asked, "Is today an even-numbered day? You're here to buy pastries again?"

"Yes, today is the eighth day of the sixth lunar month, an even-numbered day. Are there any pastries left unsold?" Meng Qing asked.

The shopkeeper beckoned the waiter to go to the kitchen to ask. A moment later, the waiter brought over a steamer basket filled with leftover food from lunch.

"There are three roasted goose rolls, half a basket of Ding Sheng cake, and half a basket of glutinous rice cake left," the waiter said.

"I'll take them all. Please wrap them up for me." Meng Qing emptied the copper coins from the basket and said, "How much? Count them yourself."

"Roasted goose is ten coins each, do you want some too?" the shopkeeper asked.

Meng Qing nodded.

"The Dingsheng cake and Zigao were leftovers from this morning, so I'll sell them to you cheaply. Two for one coin, that's five coins in total." The shopkeeper came over to count the money. "I'll take thirty-five coins, and you can take the remaining ten copper coins."

Meng Qing left the teahouse carrying a basket. When she arrived at the ferry, Zhu's boat was already waiting there. She ran a few steps and handed the basket to him.

“Uncle Zhu, the fare is in the basket,” she said.

“I see it.” The boatman took the five copper coins, sniffed them a few times, and said, “Is there meat today? I can smell it, it smells delicious.”

“There’s roasted goose roe. If my husband is still waiting at the ferry, tell him there are only three roe left and ask him to share them,” Meng Qing said apologetically.

"Your husband also asked me to pass on a message to you: they're coming to the city to sell grain in a couple of days, so you don't need to buy food to send back the day after tomorrow," the boatman said.

Meng Qing agreed.

After the boat left, Meng Qing left the ferry. When she went out, her parents and Meng Chun had already taken Wang Zhou to the paper horse shop, so she went directly there instead, without having to go home.

The row of houses behind the paper horse shop has been completed, set back one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) from the original foundation. Including the original courtyard, the total length from north to south is 23 zhang (approximately 6.3 meters). Now, there are four rows of houses on the left and right, and a small building has been built in the middle of the row of houses, near the back. The downstairs is the back hall, and the upstairs is the attic.

Meng Qing's workshop was located in the attic. Three of the four walls had windows, and the only wall without windows had a four-tiered shelf. The bottom shelf contained bottles and jars of paint and bone glue, while the top three shelves were now piled with various colored and shaped scraps of paper.

"Senior Sister, Master wants you to come later." Shen Yuexiu saw Meng Qing's figure and ran over to say.

"What happened?" Meng Qing frowned.

"The people from the yamen came to collect the money; they haven't left the paper horse shop yet."

Upon hearing this, Meng Qing understood that merchants had to pay household fees and commercial taxes. Household fees were collected in the middle of each year, and in addition to checking the account books, the population of the merchant's household also had to be verified.

“The young master is out. Can we go over now?” Shen Yuexiu saw Meng Chun come out of the paper horse shop.

"I'm afraid not, let's wait and see," Meng Qing advised.

A short while later, Meng Chun ran over and, before Meng Qing could ask, he explained with a bitter expression, "The household service officers want to classify us as large households, and the household tax has increased by two strings of cash. This year, we have to pay six strings of cash. The paper horse shop doesn't have that much money, so Father told me to go back and get it."

"How did we get classified as a major tenant? Is it because our shop has expanded?" Meng Qing asked.

“Yes, the household registration officer said that our shops are worth at least double compared to before, and we have six more apprentices. We are no longer considered middle-class households, and we will be charged household fees according to the standards for large households.” Meng Chun said indignantly.

Meng Qing waved her hand, "Go back and get the money."

The government categorized households into three classes based on their income, the value of their residences, shops, and livestock: low-income households, middle-income households, and high-income households. The Meng family's income was previously low, around 30-40 strings of cash a year. Their residence in Jiayufang was valued at 40 strings, and they owned only one donkey, placing them in the low-income category. However, their paper horse shop at the foot of Ruiguang Temple was valuable; the land alone was worth 80 strings. Now, not only had their land expanded, but they had also built two rows of large houses. The government valued their shops at 200 strings, placing them in the high-income category.

"Sirs, there is no tea. Please have a few sips of mung bean water to cool off in the heat." Meng's mother brought two bowls of mung bean water to the two servants.

The servant took the bowl, and the shorter one drank a few sips of water, then put it down and chatted idly: "It's cooler near the mountain; it's too hot in the city, even the river water is hot."

Another household servant, who hadn't drunk any water, walked around the backyard and asked, "Do you have children here? Is your son already married?"

Meng's mother and father exchanged a glance, and she smiled and said, "He's only sixteen years old, and he hasn't even been engaged yet. Where would he get a child? The child is my daughter's. There are a lot of mosquitoes in the countryside, and the child couldn't stand being bitten, so she brought the child back to live with her."

The household servant nodded and asked no further questions.

Mencius's parents exchanged another glance. Could it be that they were overthinking things?

"The money is here." Meng Chun ran over, drenched in sweat. He put down the heavy bundle and said, "Sir, please count it. It's six strings of cash in total."

After the two servants counted the money, they took away six strings of cash and stamped the Meng family's account book with a stamp.

"We won't interfere with your business, we're leaving now." The servant picked up the basket of money and left.

Meng Qing watched them walk away from a distance before she went to the paper horse shop with Shen Yuexiu.

"Yuexiu, go ahead and get busy," Meng's mother instructed.

After Shen Yuexiu left, Meng Qing asked, "Is everything alright?"

"It's alright. These two servants just happened to arrive at the right time. Your father and I suspected that someone disliked us and wanted to cause us trouble, and we were worried that it would affect you, so we sent Yuexiu to stop you. It seems it was just a coincidence." Meng's mother glanced at the row of houses and said in a low voice, "There are too many people and eyes in the Paper Horse Shop. You should be careful what you say in the future. How about this, from now on you will work in the attic and not come down to greet the customers."

Meng Qing nodded, "Then I'll go upstairs and get busy."

“Go ahead, the child is sleeping up there too. Call me when he wakes up, and I’ll take care of him for the next few days,” said Meng’s mother.

Meng Qing had already folded all the odds and ends needed to make the paper house, and the framework of the paper house was also in place. The next step was to paste the paper and build the pavilions and towers.

Meng Chun was already in the attic. He sat next to a paper house that was half a person tall, cutting ink paper according to the dimensions on the paper.

The paper house is three feet high, five feet long, and two and a half feet wide. The walls and roof are made of bamboo strips. The ground is a thick cardboard made of ten sheets of mulberry bark glued together. Meng Qing's task today is to draw and paint on the cardboard to outline the pattern of brick and stone paving.

"You're here." Meng Chun greeted him without looking up when he heard the voice.

Meng Qing hummed in agreement. She walked to the wooden shelf and took out a jar containing fine ash that she had sifted five times. She planned to mix the fine ash with glutinous rice flour and water to fill the gaps between the bricks and stones.

The siblings were busy with their own things until Wangzhou woke up, at which point they stopped what they were doing and took a short break.

"I'm going downstairs to get some water, do you want some?" Meng Chun asked.

"Please add a couple more spoonfuls of mung bean water, I'm a little hungry," Meng Qing said.

"Okay." Meng Chun went out and closed the door again, then quickly went downstairs.

Meng Qing undressed to breastfeed her child, her eyes fixed on the scattered items on the floor. She thought she needed to find some time to visit Du Min and ask him how much she should ask for the paper house. She had poured her heart and soul into making this paper house. To make it look realistic, she even folded paper tiles, each tile about the size of a fingernail. After folding a thousand, her fingertips were worn thin. She didn't want to ask for a low price to do him a favor.

"Qingniang, I'm coming in." Meng's mother brought up some mung bean water.

Meng Qing snapped out of her daze and responded.

"Has Wangzhou eaten his fill?" Meng's mother asked.

When Wang Zhou heard his name called, he turned to look.

"Eat quickly." Meng Qing pressed his head down.

Wang Zhou took two breaths, then turned to look for Meng Mu.

"Not eating? If you're not eating, go downstairs and play with your grandma." Meng Qing pulled down her clothes.

"My little darling." Mother Meng took Wangzhou from her. "Come on, come downstairs with Grandma to play. We won't keep your mother from doing her work."

"Let him pee; he needs to pee," Meng Qing reminded him.

"good."

Meng's mother went downstairs, Meng Chun went upstairs, and Meng Qing finished drinking a bowl of mung bean water. The siblings then continued working.

As dusk approached, the fiery red sunset cast its glow on the attic. Meng Qing, who was practically sprawled on the floor, threw down her brush with a thud on the wooden floor and said with her eyes closed, "Finally finished. I'm exhausted. My eyes are about to go blind from staring at it."

Meng Chun stretched and said, "I've finished pasting the paper on the walls and the door too."

Meng Qing rolled over and lay flat on her back. She closed her eyes and rested for a while before saying, "That's enough work for today. Give me a hand, let's get down."

Meng Chun pulled her up, he tidied up the things scattered on the floor, and the two siblings locked the attic door and went downstairs.

"Senior Sister, Young Master, are you done with your work?" Shen Yuexiu was collecting dyed paper in the courtyard when she saw the two of them come down and greeted them warmly.

"I'm done with today's work, I'll continue tomorrow. Where's my mother?" Meng Qing asked.

“Wangzhou wet his pants, so his master’s wife took him back to change his pants.”

Upon hearing this, Meng Qing said, "Then I'll go back too."

"You go back first, I'll go back with Dad." Meng Chun rushed into the row house.

Meng Qing went back and told her mother that the Du family would be coming to the city to sell grain in a couple of days. "Mother, you stay home and keep watch over things these few days. If they want to eat at our house when they come to the city, Du Li will probably come to inform them first. You can go buy the vegetables then."

“Okay.” Mother Meng had no objection. “If they arrive late and I don’t have time to cook, I’ll go to Niu’s restaurant and order a table of food.”

"A meal at Niu Ji's costs at least one string of cash, that's too expensive." Meng Qing felt that the Du family didn't deserve to eat such an expensive meal.

"It's nice to spend a little more for appearances, but I can't treat guests like your in-laws. They're petty and uncouth. I just can't stand them. When they walk into my house, I'll treat them like proper guests." Meng's mother couldn't forget what she ate at the Du family's house on the day of Wangzhou's third-day celebration. Just thinking about it made her feel disgusted. She wouldn't do something like that.

"Isn't this just putting on a good face while suffering financially?" Meng Qing disagreed with her approach.

Mencius' mother gave her a disdainful look and reminded her, "Don't be like your wife. Don't do petty things."

Meng Qing gave a disgusted "Eh," and then fell silent.

But Meng's mother waited at home for three days without seeing the Du family. She wondered if the Du family had sold the grain and gone home, so she took her child to the ferry to inquire.

"Supervisor Wang, have any grain-carrying boats from the countryside come by in the last couple of days?"

“You’ve come to the wrong place. Grain-selling boats don’t go through Wumen, they go through Lümen,” said Supervisor Wang.

"Oh dear! I was so forgetful, I forgot about that." Mother Meng laughed and patted her head. She had no choice but to go back and wait.

The people she was waiting for had already arrived at the rice shop by the river. Du's mother was wearing a brand new set of clothes. She got off the boat at the ferry and said to Du Laoding, "You wait here. I'm going to the academy to find Amin."

"Do you know the way?" Old Ding asked, still worried.

“I have a mouth, I can ask questions.” Mother Du walked away quickly without turning her head.

Mr. Du counted the seven boats he had hired and called to the boatmen, "Come a little over here, don't get separated."

Seeing the river crowded with boats selling grain, Du Ming said regretfully, "Second brother, if you had married the second daughter of Yu's Rice Shop the year before last, would we still be queuing up here in the scorching sun to sell grain? We wouldn't even need to hire a boat; Yu's Rice Shop's big boat could have transported the grain in one trip."

Du Li ignored him.

*

Meanwhile, Du's mother inquired her way to Chongwen Academy and said in a loud voice, "Could you please call Du Min for me? You mean Du Min, the one who always gets the top score in your academy? I'm his mother."

The doorman stared at her strangely. "Are you his mother? His biological mother?"

"Is she his biological mother or his stepmother? He only has one mother. Don't ask anymore, just help me call him out."

"Really his biological mother? Du Xuezi dropped out of Chongwen Academy more than half a month ago, didn't you know?" The gatekeeper found it amusing and asked again, "Are you really Du Xuezi's biological mother?"

Mrs. Du's face turned pale instantly, and she shouted in a shrill voice, "He dropped out of school? Where did he go after dropping out?"

"What happened?" Master Xie asked as he passed by.

"Master Xie, she came looking for Scholar Du, claiming to be his biological mother. But she doesn't know that Scholar Du dropped out of school more than half a month ago. Isn't that hilarious?" The gatekeeper laughed heartily.

"Master Xie? I know you. I've heard Du Min mention you. You're his teacher, aren't you?" Du's mother grasped at a straw. "Master Xie, where did Du Min go? Did he really drop out of school? But he didn't go back either. Did something happen to him?"

Du's mother was so frightened that she cried.

"He went to study in the prefectural capital. Didn't he tell you?" Master Xie wondered.

Du's mother's crying stopped abruptly. (Prefectural school?)

"He withdrew from Chongwen Academy more than half a month ago and went to the prefectural school. Didn't you hear about it?" Master Xie asked again.

"He probably told his second sister-in-law, but she didn't tell us." Du's mother thought bitterly, "Meng Qing must have kept the news from us."