Chapter 218: Chapter 217 Almost Crushed My Foot

The young master housekeeper of the Tang Family didn’t come on horseback this time to deliver the musical instruments; he came by horse-drawn carriage. His carriage arrived at the Ye family’s place, drawing a crowd of onlookers from the Ye family, except for Hongji who had gone to the factory and was not home.

All the others were there, including the workers who also came to watch, thinking they might help move things.

The young master housekeeper had delivered the instruments so quickly; it had only been two days, and this speed was unmatched by anyone.

When Housekeeper Tang had the instruments unloaded from the carriage, all of them were well-packed, some in large packages.

Everyone was curious about how much money these items had cost.

Of course, Mrs. Lai and Ye Shuzhen were the most concerned as they watched and touched the packaging.

“Young Master Tang, what are these, and why are some of them so big? Are they gifts from the Tang family, or did our family pay for them?”

Hearing her mother ask, Shuzhen knew this issue mattered greatly to her aunt who was soon to be married. Was her dowry included among these items?

She was even more worried that her elder brother might spend all the money on his daughter and be reluctant to provide a dowry for her.

“Young Master Tang, what are these? Did my elder brother ask you to buy them for me?”

The mother and daughter duo asked as they cast a glance at Mrs. Li and her six children.

Mrs. Li knew that the housekeeper was delivering musical instruments, yet she didn’t expect there would be so many. She thought having one was already good; how much money must have been spent?

How much money had her husband given? She was aware of the amount and thought perhaps they’d spent too much and would need to cover the excess. “So be it,” she thought, “If it meant the children could acquire higher skills.” But if it turned out that the Tang family had paid for the gifts, then they would owe a favor.

Ever since the family started earning more money and acquired more property, he believed that anything that could be bought with money should never be accepted as a gift. He would rather suffer a loss and give gifts to others than owe someone a favor.

She was accustomed to the looks from her sister-in-law and mother-in-law, treating such glares as if they were nothing. These were looks that meant nothing to her and her children, blaming her and her children for anything and everything. She had learned to dismiss these glares as if they were air.

She and her children had developed a habit of disregarding those demeaning stares towards her and her children as if they were air to avoid getting angry or feeling exhausted.

Why get upset over a look or facial expression when life was becoming more and more joyful?

It wasn’t that she had an incredibly good temper; she had endured difficult times, all for her husband and children.

The five Ye sisters certainly noticed the glares from their grandmother and aunt, but like their mother, they didn’t care in the slightest.

Only the oblivious two or three-month-old baby was unaware of the adults’ expressions, yet his gaze was drawn to the large packages.

Aside from Ye Shiqi, the elder sister’s of the Ye family didn’t really know what these items were. Their aunt and grandmother asked, and they too were curious but remained well-behaved without asking. They knew they would find out soon enough.

Ye Shiqi certainly knew about it but had no idea the Tang family would be so generous. The amount of money her father received seemed a bit excessive, yet a quality musical instrument, be it a pipa or a guqin, wasn’t cheap. She thought that if they could buy one guqin and one pipa, it would be pretty good.

It seemed there were more than one guqin; looking at the large packages, there appeared to be six, and similarly, there should be six pipas, along with another box whose contents were unknown.

If every item had six pieces, perhaps they included the teacher’s share, and it was also possible that these instruments had a portion for the elder cousin as well.

These were just her speculations, and she silently waited for Young Master Tang, the housekeeper, to clarify their confusion.

“Oh, there are three types of instruments here, and the teacher the Tang Family will hire is to come here to teach you instruments every few days. There are six pieces for each type of instrument, all of which are sold at half price, produced by our own Tang Family workshop–very cheap indeed.”

“What? Half price? With so many items, that must cost quite a bit, right? Oh my, such prodigality!”

Mrs. Lai clutched her chest with distress and glared at Mrs. Li and her five granddaughters. Ever since her son had been able to earn money and keep it himself, she had been unable to stop her son from buying things for these women.

Logically, if they were for her grandson, she might be able to live with it, but such prodigal gadgets were for girls–who, after all, would marry into other families. Why learn instruments? They were country girls; how many knew how to play instruments?

Ye Shuzhen, upon hearing her mother’s words, nodded and, with resentment, glanced at Mrs. Li, then spoke to Housekeeper Tang, “Is there also a share for me in there?”

“Hehe, these are for the teacher and the students. Considering that you, Lady, are to be married, if you wish to acquire such items after your marriage, you may inform the small boss and me. Even though the place to buy instruments is far away, we would still go if needed.”

Young Master Tang, the housekeeper, felt quite helpless. Strictly speaking, one pipa for the student and one for the teacher would suffice, but with five girls, it wouldn’t be right to provide for one and not the others. When learning or practicing together, it’s best if each person has an instrument.

That would be somewhat fairer and allow every girl to have one; thus, they would not fight over them or cause any quarrels.

Young Master Tang, the housekeeper, made this decision largely for the sake of the young master, even at the risk of offending other members of the manor.

But, suppose a farmer girl who had never learned anything before was now around fifteen or sixteen, soon to be married. Taking an instrument with her would be pointless, especially when not marrying into a wealthy young master’s family but rather a steward of the Tang Family. Although her life would be slightly better, she would not have the leisure to start learning these things.

He himself had the ability to arrange these benefits but had not sought them for his own wife, and this was one of the reasons.

Perhaps in the future, when his wife had children and they grew a little older, he could use this benefit to add a little to his own and purchase instruments at a cheaper rate.

“What–none for me? Big brother is way too biased. I don’t care. There’s a share in here for me, right? It was mentioned that the teacher would teach instruments, and I want to learn too.”

Ye Shuzhen ignored everything else, stomping her foot in annoyance. She wasn’t concerned about infuriating her brother, offending her sister-in-law, or her nieces.

A woman about to get married would try to secure benefits for herself; would she have such opportunities once she was married?

Ye Shuzhen promptly tried to snatch one of the large items that had just been delivered, intending to carry it to her room.

However…, that did not go as she wished. She attempted to lift one of the heavier items, the pipa case, made of precious wood, which was quite heavy. With her arms never accustomed to labor, how could she possibly lift it?

Although she was a girl and a farmer girl at that, she lived like a lady of wealth. Previously lazy and avoiding work, even though she had begun exercising clandestinely, with the instrument weighing about forty pounds and additional wood planks used for packaging, totaling about sixty pounds, she couldn’t lift it at all and nearly crushed her toes.

“Ouch, it’s so heavy…”

Unable to lift it, she almost hurt her foot and startled everyone present, fearful that she would damage the items.