The customer looked to be in his 30s, with a few servants accompanying him. The moment he saw me, he rushed forward for a hug, looking extremely surprised. I was not fond of these kind of perverts, so I mercilessly kicked him out of the teahouse and told him to scram.
"Meimei[1], you... do you not recognize gege[2] anymore?" A servant who was standing next to the man was scared half to death and hurriedly stepped forth to help him up, but the man paid no heed to his pain and quickly got up himself, clutching to me as he asked worriedly, "Gege only left home for 4 or 5 years, yet you've already grown this much. Why are you here selling tea?"
[1] "妹妹" means "little sister," whereas [2] "哥哥" means "older brother." I'm sure most of you are familiar with these terms by now, but seeing that these terms can be used outside of family relations too, I felt the need to use the direct pinyin instead of "little sister" or "big brother" in English.
Seeing that he clung to me and refused to let go, I delivered another kick. This time, his servants were angered and, from their waists, they drew gleaming knives. They yelled at me, "Impudent woman, how dare you show such disrespect towards the newly appointed magistrate!"
I didn't bother acknowledging them and instead laid my head back down on the table to resume sleeping.
The man censured, "drop it, drop it," and approached me. "Miss would you happen to be surnamed Ye?"
I scrutinized him for a moment and decided that he held no ill intentions, so I refrained from kicking him out again and only answered in a confused tone, "My surname is Hua."
"That makes sense... after all, how could such a vulgar girl possibly be the Eldest Miss[3]? Eldest Miss should still be with Old Master." The servants all breathed a sigh of relief and gave a suggestion. "Master, since we are in a rush, let's have a cup of tea and leave quickly."
[3] "大小姐" is not to be taken for the commonly used "miss" we use everyday. "Miss" in this context indicates the daughter of a family that is well-off.
"How peculiar... why do they look so similar?" The man gave me a few more doubtful looks and finally stopped pursuing the matter. Then, he said to me, "I'll take ten baozis and a pot of tea."
I was drowsy and didn't want to deal with anyone, so I didn't even raise my head. "Don't have them."
"You.. you're running a teahouse, aren't you?" That servant got even more angry.
I couldn't tolerate the disruption anymore and suddenly grew furious. After hurling a pair of chopsticks through that fellow's hair bun, frightening him to the point where he no longer dared to make a sound, I said impatiently, "The tea is in the barrel. If you want some, pour it yourself. Once you're done, drop the money in the money box. If you try to cheat and pay less than the full amount, there'll be dem-I mean, people coming for you."
"Indeed, she isn't the Eldest Miss..." The man let out a sigh and left without making any more trouble.
~ ~ ~
However, he came back a few days later, this time accompanied by an elderly man and woman, two well-dressed men, and a horde of servants carrying what looked like gifts. Their entry possessed a hefty amount of presence and vigour and packed the teahouse to its full capability.
With so many customers, I didn't know what to do except for standing up and greeting the old man. Supported by her crane, the old lady approached me and gave me a careful look-over before she heaved a sigh. Tears fell to the floor as she began to weep.
I was completely at a loss, so I curiously asked them, "What exactly are you guys here for?"
"Let's forget it. Yue Niang[4], don't take it so hard and just pretend you never gave birth to that unfilial daughter." The old man shook his head. He held the old lady as he commanded the servants to lift up the gifts again and proceed on their venture into the village.
[4] The old lady's name.
After they left, I poked my head out and noticed that they seemed to be heading in the direction of Xiang Qing's household. Seeing that there were so many people, I was afraid they were going to go pick bones with mother-in-law and sister-in-law and hurt them. I hurriedly called on the two dog demons to guard the teahouse before running after the group, stopping midway to dart into the forest so I could alert Xiang Qing and recruit his help.
When we arrived, we saw that the entry gate of the Xiang family household was wide open, and mother-in-law was holding onto the old lady's hand affectionately. Mother-in-law consoled her: "At this point, there is nothing we can do. My family's Qiang Xiang is a good-for-nothing son, so nonetheless, breaking off the engagement was already unavoidable."
"Our Ye family is unworthy our ancestors!" The old man was very indignant. "Although your son made mistakes in the past, young men are bound at make mistakes while they're juvenescent. As long as he is able to admit and rectify his wrongs, then he can be forgiven. However, my daughter.. For what reason she vanished, I do not know... it's my wife and I who didn't raise her properly."
The three of them began to self-criticize, saying that their own children were not worth a single stiver.
Sister-in-law was standing beside them. She asked curiously, "Qingjia[5], how did your daughter disappear?"
[5] "亲家" is a form of address used between in-laws.
"Ah, it's a long story..." The old lady wiped away a tear and slowly began to recall the unfortunate incident that had occurred.
It turned out that half a year ago, their daughter fell into the water and was subjected to severe injuries. When she regained consciousness, it was as if she'd gone delirious and insane. Her grasp of common sense was lost, let alone her recognition of her own parents and family. The Ye family had called for the help of several renowned doctors, yet the outcomes were futile. Knowing that if this kind of thing were to spread, the Ye family's reputation would be greatly damaged. Hence, no words were spoken, and the miss was taken to the capital for treatment. Who would've thought that halfway through the journey, the miss would suddenly vanish? Whether or not she fell into the hands of human traffickers was unknown. Thus, the elderly couple pretended to be away the estate in order to avoid the embarrassment of facing their relatives
"Now that things have come to this, we can't stall any longer. Let's cancel the engagement. We have inconvenienced you greatly." The old man waved at the servants to hoist up the gifts they brought with them, which turned out to be dowry. "I'll just take that daughter for dead.
The old lady was sad for a long time and glanced at me several times, shaking her head. "This young woman bears an uncanny resemblance to my daughter; we almost mistook her identity."
She held an uncanny resemblance to me? The girl who ran away from home? Xiang Qing and I both knew what was going on.
But.. If we let Xiao Cha come out now, the engagement that we painstakingly managed to rid of might become validated again. If we don't let her come out, the elderly couple might not be able to bear the sorrow of losing their daughter. Xiang Qing and I both fell into a dilemma.
Finally, Xiang Qing pulled on me and said, "Miao Miao, a righteous person would not conduct himself with a guilty conscience."
I pondered on it and nodded to express my agreement. Hence, we told the elderly Ye couple to wait while Xiang Qing told someone to go get Xiao Cha. Before long, she capered in. When she saw the place full of people, her face immediately paled and she turned to flee, but I blocked her escape.
"I... I..." She was caught between cowering at my side and covering her face. "I don't want to go back."
Old Master Ye looked at her, dumbfounded, before he pulled her from my side and gave her a harsh slap across the face. "You disobedient girl! You made our family lose all of our face!"
"Why are you hitting the daughter we went through so much to find again?" Old Madam Ye rushed up and embraced Xiao Cha. "My precious daughter.. While away from home, did you suffer from hardships?"
"What is the point of having this kind of daughter? Just let her die!" Old Master Ye was unforgiving and refused to let her off easy while Old Madam Ye simultaneously comforted Xiao Cha.
I was bewildered by what they said and asked Xiang Qing in a whisper, "Just now, he was miserable. Why is he being so temperamental after seeing Xiao Cha? Not only that, Xiao Cha cried every day saying that she wanted to go home, and that she couldn't find her own family. How did she suddenly become Ye family's daughter?"
"That is the bay of being parents[6]." He told me. "Don't speak carelessly of matters you're not knowledged about."
[6] "可怜天下父母心" is a saying I was stuck on and finally decided to just use a result from a translation engine for. It talks about how pitiful parents' devotion and care are, because their children would not appreciate their sentiments properly/be ungrateful.
As she was being held in Old Madam Ye's arms, Xiao Cha looked uneasy. She seemed a bit guilty and at the same time, panicky. Her mouth opened and closed again and again in attempts to explain herself, but the words never came out.
Old Master Ye turned to my mother-in-law and said, "We've found our daughter, and she was found on your grounds, which is even better. If you don't mind, why don't we go ahead with the marriage? After all, breaking off the engagement would be bad for both of their reputations."