Chapter 64: Prosperity Returns to the Old Estate

In the evening, Second Brother Wen returned from the weaving and dyeing workshop.

Everyone in the old family estate was sitting in the courtyard, waiting in tense anticipation. The moment he stepped through the gates, they immediately crowded around him. "How did it go?"

Second Brother Wen broke into a wide, beaming smile. "It's done!"

Madam Fang patted her chest in relief. "Thank goodness!"

Old Mother Wen pressed her palms together and bowed toward the direction of the great mountains. "Bless our ancestors! Bless our ancestors!"

Wen Liyue, standing nearby, curled her lips in disdain. "What heavens and ancestors? It was clearly my merit, humph!"

"You little wretch, looking for a beating!" Madam Fang glared at her with a smile, giving her little head a light tap.

"Ouch!" Wen Liyue pouted, letting out a cry of feigned pain as she shot her a sideways glance.

The whole family burst into laughter.

"Don't go getting physical with her. If you break her, I won't stand for it." Second Brother Wen affectionately patted Wen Liyue's head. "Yue'er truly is her father's good girl. You must serve diligently by Young Master Liu's side from now on."

Wen Liyue thrust out her lower lip, putting on an aggrieved look.

After a moment of thought, she walked back to her room, retrieved two sets of old clothes, and shoved them into Wen Mei's hands. "Sister, I'm leaving tomorrow, and I won't have any use for these two outfits anymore. I'll give them to you!"

Wen Mei felt deeply nauseated, her stomach churning in turmoil.

In the past, she had never been as favored as Wen Liyue. With great difficulty, Wen Liyue—this little town peacock—had fallen back into the remote mountain nest of the village to become a mountain hen alongside her.

Yet she hadn't even had time to balance her feelings for long before Wen Liyue was about to fly away again!

This time, she wasn't just a peacock anymore; she showed faint signs of turning into a phoenix!

Bitterness surged within Wen Mei, and she wanted to fling the clothes right into Wen Liyue's face, but she couldn't bear to part with them. In the end, she took them anyway.

Nearby, Eldest Brother Wen and Madam Luo turned green with envy.

Madam Luo tugged at the hem of Eldest Brother Wen's tunic.

Eldest Brother Wen hurriedly rubbed his hands together and approached with a ingratiating, flattering smile. "Second Brother, now that you're a steward, and Yue'er is going to serve in the Liu residence... Look here... How about letting Mei'er go along as well? Have Young Master Liu buy her too? We aren't greedy; thirty or forty silver liang will do..."

Wen Liyue's face immediately darkened, and she stared at Wen Mei in disbelief. To think she would stoop so low as to rush forward and sell herself as a maidservant! How could anyone be so devoid of self-respect?

Stung by her stare, Wen Mei burned with shame and annoyance, yet she only clutched the old clothes in her arms and refused to look at her.

Second Brother Wen and his wife were also taken aback. Madam Fang scoffed derisively, "What kind of household is the Liu family? Is it a place just anyone can enter?"

Old Mother Wen was equally disapproving. "Shoo, shoo, shoo! Don't you even know your own weight? With Mei'er's wretched, unsightly appearance, how could you have the nerve to stain Young Master Liu's eyes!"

Wen Liyue felt secretly triumphant and cast a sideways look at Wen Mei.

"Grandma... how can you say that about me..." Wen Mei's delicate face turned ashen, and she ran off crying in utter frustration.

Dreaded old hag, how could she be so biased! Madam Luo was so angry she wanted to curse, but she was held back by Eldest Brother Wen.

Before either of them could speak, Old Mother Wen suddenly changed her tune. "However, Second Brother, now that you're a steward, you'll need to find a way to get your eldest brother into the workshop eventually. That's what a real man does."

Second Brother Wen was quite willing. "That goes without saying. But since I've just gotten in, it wouldn't look good to pull strings right away. In a year or half, once I know my way around better, forget about Eldest Brother—even Sister-in-law and my own wife, what harm would it do to bring them all in together?"

The anger of Eldest Brother Wen and his wife finally dissipated somewhat. Their hearts blossomed with joy, and flattery poured endlessly from their lips:

"It has to be Second Brother! You've been the most promising one in the family since childhood, and now even more so!"

"Unlike Third Brother, who made a little money a few days ago and got so stuck-up he forgot his own surname. He hoards everything away and has no idea how to help his brothers. Every day he nitpicks over trivial matters and doesn't show an ounce of family affection."

Old Mother Wen agreed wholeheartedly; Third Brother was simply an ungrateful wolf with white eyes.

Eldest Brother Wen's sycophancy greatly pleased Second Brother Wen. With a light flick of his sleeve, the once high-spirited Second Brother Wen was back.

However, speaking of Third Brother...

A flash of mockery crossed Second Brother Wen's eyes.

Third Brother's household had been making over a silver tael a day not long ago, acting all high and mighty!

Although their profit margins had been diluted recently, they were still making several dozen copper coins a day. At that rate, they would pull in a little over a silver tael a month—even more than what he used to earn as an errand boy in the draper's shop.

That fellow Wen Duoshi, did he even deserve it?

With that thought, a scheme formed in his mind.

...

When Madam Lin and Wen Yuan returned in the evening and heard that Second Brother Wen's household had actually turned their fortunes around, they felt deeply disgusted.

Only Third Brother Wen was in a good mood.

As they lay in bed that night, Madam Lin couldn't help muttering, "They're merely serving as maidservants, yet look at them acting as though they're wrapped in glory."

Third Brother Wen frowned and sighed. "Can't you wish them well for once?"

Madam Lin grew slightly annoyed. "Did you forget how they tried to sell their own daughter? Have you forgotten how they tried to steal our recipe?"

Third Brother Wen looked distressed. "I was thinking... since Second Brother and the others have a proper job and a steady income, they'll naturally settle down and live peaceably. If things go badly for them, won't they just look for trouble with us every single day?"

Madam Lin paused slightly, looking at him with a playful glint in her eye. "Oh, so you actually knew they love making trouble for us?"

Third Brother Wen lowered his head in silence. After a long while, he spoke again, "I only hope everyone can live in peace. If they do well, we'll do well too."

Madam Lin remained silent; what he said made sense.

If the old family estate finally quieted down and each household minded its own business, that wouldn't be a bad outcome after all.

...

The next day, the entire household of the old estate set out in high spirits.

The rented donkey cart wasn't spacious enough, so they even rented an ox cart from the neighboring village.

This was to send Second Brother Wen off to work and to escort Wen Liyue into the Liu household.

When the villagers saw such a grand procession, they were green with envy. Some even stepped forward to butter up Second Brother Wen, hoping he might recommend them for a job at the weaving and dyeing workshop.

Who would have thought that Wen Duoliang's family would rise to prominence and prosperity once again?

The third branch ignored all of this and simply minded their own business.

Madam Lin took Wen Yuan to continue setting up their stall, figuring that every extra copper coin earned was worthwhile.

After two or three days, however, they returned dejected and dispirited.

Wen Ye asked, "Back so early today?"

Wen Yuan frowned and said, "Business is getting worse and worse. We can't sell anything anymore."

Madam Lin furrowed her brow in worry. "It's not just us; Sister Guanhua's family is suffering the same fate—everyone's operating at a loss. I heard from a regular customer that he just got ahold of a recipe yesterday and wants to make it himself at home, refusing to spend money on us unjustifiably."

"When I asked him where he got the recipe, he said he heard it from a relative. It wasn't our place to keep prying about his relative... Sigh!"

Wen Ye narrowed her eyes. It was Second Brother Wen!

Now that he had become the head steward of the weaving and dyeing workshop with a handsome income of five silver liang a month, he no longer needed to rely on selling street food to make a living, so he had leaked the recipe just to smash their rice bowls.