The System Wanted Me to Be a Landlady (GL) - Chapter 34: Secret

Chapter 34: Secret

Song Yuyan gave Tang Zhi a reassuring smile, then went aside first to talk with Bai Can.

Right now July was almost over, white wax insects were gradually increasing, and the white wax raw materials they secreted were also increasing. Song Yuyan estimated that the raw materials on these few trees could make about ten white wax candles.

Only able to make about ten candles made Bai Can feel some regret. Of course, he also knew he was being greedy. After all, if white wax insects could produce a lot of white wax, white wax candles wouldn’t be so scarce and expensive. With about ten candles, he and Song Yuyan could split them and make a small profit!

But he still felt unwilling. He looked at those few white wax trees and suddenly remembered that Song Yuyan had mentioned now only some people in the Jianghuai region were raising white wax insects, while Mingzhou had none yet. His heart stirred, and he pulled Song Yuyan to mutter, “Song Dalang, what do you say, how about we catch these white wax insects and raise them back home?”

Song Yuyan thought to herself, he could think of raising white wax insects, so he had quite a business mind.

But she had long had this idea. However, just having the idea was still too naive, because although she knew how to make candles, she didn’t know how to raise white wax insects. For fields she had never tried, she never dared to be blindly confident.

“But do you know how to raise them?” Song Yuyan asked. “Let me say this first, although I know how to make candles, I don’t know how to raise them. And white wax insects like to live on white wax trees the most, but this isn’t a place where white wax trees grow in large patches. You must first plant many white wax trees. Only by meeting this most basic requirement can you raise white wax insects.”

Bai Can was stumped, then sighed again. “Looks like a person still can’t be too greedy. Song Dalang, you’re the rational one, able to hold back!”

Thinking that Song Yuyan was only fifteen now made him admire her even more. He was several years older than Song Yuyan!

“You can’t say it that way. Bai Wulang’s idea is very good. Nowadays, those who can afford candles are mostly wealthy households, because making wax often uses honey, and candles made from honey are soft, so they can only make such a short section…” Song Yuyan gestured. “Usually they can only burn two or three quarters of an hour. But white wax candles can burn half a shichen, and thicker ones can burn a whole shichen. Whether scholars, wealthy households, or even common people, most would choose white wax candles.”

She thought the only problem with white wax candles was probably that the smell after burning was a bit stimulating. But if it meant using brighter lighting than oil lamps at night, that small flaw could be overlooked.

Her words encouraged Bai Can again. He said, “You often say ways are more than difficulties, I think it makes sense, so I definitely will think of a way to raise white wax insects in large numbers!”

Song Yuyan saw he was so ambitious and didn’t discourage him. After talking with him about the precautions for peeling off the white wax insect secretions, she returned to Tang Zhi’s side. Facing this little girl’s curiosity she couldn’t hide, she took Tang Zhi away from the latrine before slowly telling her.

But she didn’t say the idea of making white wax candles was something she told Bai Can. She only said she and Bai Can had accidentally encountered white wax trees, so they thought of making candles to exchange for money.

Even so, Tang Zhi still guessed her role in it—if not for Song Yuyan pointing out the uses of these trees and insects, how could Bai Can, who had been logging here for so long, not monopolize these white wax insects but instead give half the benefits to Song Yuyan for free?

“Do you have confidence?” Tang Zhi asked.

“After all, I often go around the streets and alleys. What kind of craftsmen haven’t I seen?” Song Yuyan said.

What she said was true. Grandfather’s duties managed traditional handicrafts, so from childhood to now, she had contact mostly with traditional handicraft artisans.

Following people from the propaganda department, or following teachers who went deep into the mountains to seek inspiration, over time she had been to many remote places and heard many stories of handicraft artisans. Occasionally she could even follow them to learn skills.

She should thank her childhood self for having strong curiosity and wanting to learn everything. She should also thank the elders for tempering her character, so she didn’t learn things with only three minutes of enthusiasm, ending up with only half a bucket of water.

But in Tang Zhi’s eyes, Song Yuyan’s words meant she had often wandered the streets before, seen many people from all walks of life, so she had stolen learned these skills.

Compared to Song Yuyan using her deceased mother as an excuse, this reason, Tang Zhi believed nine out of ten parts.

“You’re just telling me so openly, aren’t you worried I’ll tell others?” Tang Zhi asked again.

“I believe in Miss Tang.”

Tang Zhi: “…”

So annoying. Seeing this person so unguarded and trusting her so much made her feel embarrassed even to get angry at her!

She huffed, then started settling old scores. “The matter of you saying I’m your little sister isn’t over yet!”

Song Yuyan thought, little girls were just prone to getting to the bottom of things.

She said, “Although I know most people here, I also distinguish between close and distant. Most people here are good, but not everyone is as reliable as Bai Wulang.”

Bai Can could actually make Song Yuyan say the word “reliable.” Could it be that Song Yuyan’s feelings toward him were special?

Tang Zhi asked, “I see he’s already of age, is he married?”

Song Yuyan paused, thinking this little girl wasn’t usually gossipy. Could she have fallen in love with Bai Can at first sight?!

This thought horrified her. Thinking more carefully, the little girl was at that junior high age, just when spring feelings were budding, the time most likely to develop vague affections for the opposite s3x!

But she hadn’t expected the little girl to like rugged men: Bai Can was a good person, but his skin was dark, he had a broad back and strong build, his arms were as thick as her thighs. The two standing together had an extreme contrast.

And even if the little girl wasn’t someone who cared about looks, their ages differed by eight years. In Song Yuyan’s eyes, that counted as an old cow chewing tender grass.

“He’s not married yet. It’s said his older brother ahead of him isn’t married, so it hasn’t come to him yet,” Song Yuyan said.

“Oh.” Tang Zhi responded.

Song Yuyan couldn’t tell if she was happy or not, so she could only say, “Miss Tang, you’re still young now. Talking about marriage is too early.”

Tang Zhi: “?”

How did it suddenly turn to her?

But Song Yuyan’s words hit right on what she wanted. She said, “Aren’t you the same? Just reaching—”

She choked on “reaching hairpin ceremony”: almost forgot this person should use reaching cap ceremony. Although already fifteen, there were still several years until reaching cap!

Her tongue tied, she changed her words. “—just a few years old. Wanting to talk about marriage is too early!”

“But I haven’t thought about marriage!” Song Yuyan said with a smile. Clearly the girl had brought it up first, but in the end it seemed like she was the one wanting to get married.

She had no intention of considering these lifelong matters here anyway. She only needed to live the days well, fulfill the original host’s wish, and her journey might end.

Tang Zhi pinched her palm, feeling a bit embarrassed. Had she thought too much?

Although this person’s current identity was a young man, she was after all still a girl who would feel moved by men, which was normal… But it could also be that this person hadn’t awakened to it yet.

Speaking of which, she actually still hid a secret in her heart—she knew Song Dalang’s true identity.

She discovered this secret by accident, two years ago, not long after Song Dalang’s aunt Wu Shi had abandoned her children and remarried. The first time she sold vegetables almost failed, and Song Dalang brought some of his scoundrel friends to help her, so although she disliked Song Dalang, she had always pondered how to repay this favor.

After hesitating a long time, she went to the Song house. Outside the door, she heard Song Dalang boasting with those scoundrel friends and only then learned that Song Dalang had helped her to make her keep growing vegetables, so it would be convenient for him to steal them.

She got angry and went home. But back home, after thinking left and right, she felt one debt for one debt. She couldn’t deny his help just because Song Dalang’s purpose wasn’t pure, so she returned to the Song house.

This time when she went, Song Dalang’s scoundrel friends had just left, and Song Dalang was seeing them off outside the door. At this time, she saw that Song Dalang’s pants seemed a bit red.

Before she could see clearly, Song Dalang ran home like smoke, without even closing the door.

She thought about it and still walked over, standing outside the door and looking for a moment. Then she saw Song Dalang pacing in the courtyard, sometimes drilling into the room and coming out with a piece of cloth, sometimes running into the kitchen and digging out a pile of plant ash…

Although she hadn’t come of age yet, she had seen her mother do these things many times, so Tang Zhi’s heart skipped a beat, and she immediately felt dazed.

After Wu Shi left, the only girl in the Song house was Song Yuzhuan, but that was just a five-year-old kid. How could she possibly need moon affairs belts? So what was Song Dalang doing this for? The purpose was self-evident!

This matter shocked her badly, scaring her into hurrying home, wanting to find someone to share the fright she had received. But there was no suitable person at home to listen to her pour out this secret—her brother was a man, and lately worried about livelihood, so she didn’t want to disturb him; her little sister was too small and didn’t understand at all.

So in the end, she could only digest this secret by herself.

She couldn’t figure out why Song Dalang, clearly a girl, everyone thought she was a boy—even Wu Shi and Tang Mother thought so.

Tang Zhi, who already had some ability to discern worldly affairs, soon thought of Song Dalang’s mother Zhou Shi. Her impression of Zhou Shi wasn’t deep, only when her brother went to Song family’s private school to study, she had followed Tang Mother through Jinchuan Village’s Qiuxian Ward and met Zhou Shi and Song Dalang there.

At that time, Song Dalang was just a little monkey, fighting with village kids, got picked up by Zhou Shi like a chick and taken back, and even got a scolding. Song Dalang saw the passing Tang Zhi and made a funny face at her, which made her roll her eyes in anger.

Later from her brother’s mouth she learned about Zhou Shi and her son being destitute and dependent on each other. Plus after Zhou Shi died, the family property that should have belonged to Song Dalang became her uncle’s possession. Tang Zhi vaguely understood what was going on.

Because she knew Song Dalang’s true identity, her tolerance for Song Dalang was a bit higher than before. So every time she saw her playing with a group of ruffians, on one hand she worried Song Dalang would suffer a loss, on the other she got annoyed that this person didn’t distinguish in her associations with people. What if someone discovered her true identity, how would others view her?

At first she also hoped Song Dalang could act more like a girl, doing fewer crude things. Later she found this was all wishful thinking, and she and Song Dalang weren’t relatives, so she had no standing to demand the other live according to her ideas. So besides rotting this secret of her true identity in her belly, she seemed to have no other way.

Now Song Dalang had become Song Yuyan, her facial features were developing more and more, even her chest was starting to swell. But Tang Zhi found this person still seemed to have no awareness of “distinction between men and women.”

And although she didn’t know why others hadn’t discovered Song Yuyan’s identity, for her, this should count as a good thing, right? Once she completely shed the bad impressions others had of her in the past, after she restored her female identity, perhaps she could find a good marriage…

____

Tang Zhi found herself thinking more and more, and more and more chaotically. She dispelled these messy thoughts and used the bamboo matter to change the topic.

Song Yuyan saw she had no more mind to mention this and let the matter pass.

The two chopped bamboo and went back. To thank Tang Zhi for putting aside her own matters today to help her go so far to transport bamboo, Song Yuyan gave her the brush holder she had been carving that day.

Although she had previously given Du Yan an armrest, in terms of the work she had carved with the most care, it was still this brush holder.

The previous armrest was just a plum blossom, but this brush holder included several faintly visible mountain peaks, pavilions in the mountains, hills, streams, and so on, a whole landscape pattern. The carving difficulty was higher than the plum blossom, and it took more time.

The pattern on this brush holder was the famous Northern Song artist Li Cheng’s “Sunny Peaks and Quiet Temple Map.” This famous painter was skilled in landscapes, and the master who taught Song Yuyan carving liked carving poetic landscape maps.

For this “Sunny Peaks and Quiet Temple Map,” Song Yuyan had carved it no less than thirty times. Even so, each time she picked up the carving knife, she still focused fully and carved carefully, afraid of making a mistake in one place.

From taking more than three months to finish at the beginning, to later only twenty-some days to complete. Now if not for the carving time being squeezed out, she wouldn’t have taken so long to finish.

Even so, she wasn’t entirely satisfied with this work. Besides reasons of bamboo material and tools, she also found fault with herself, thinking it was because she hadn’t carved for too long, so her skills were a bit rusty.

Of course, she wasn’t giving it to Tang Zhi because she was dissatisfied with her own work. This was currently the most presentable work she had. When she could produce better works, she would still do this—as long as Tang Zhi didn’t mind.

Tang Zhi received this brush holder and disliked her brother’s brush holder even more. These two brush holders together, one worth ten thousand cash, one only worth a few dozen cash…

“Isn’t this the one you carved for a long time? You’re just giving it to me like this, don’t you feel sorry?” Tang Zhi said on her mouth, but her hand kept holding the brush holder and turning it in front of her eyes.

She couldn’t say what flavor this was. She really liked this brush holder, but after all it was something Song Yuyan had put a lot of thought into carving. She felt embarrassed to take it. Her hesitation wasn’t like her usual self.

“Giving it to someone who doesn’t appreciate it would be wasting it, and that would be a pity. But giving it to someone who will appreciate it is like meeting a Bole. Where’s the pity?”

Tang Zhi still didn’t dare take it casually. Song Yuyan had to say, “This is just a practice piece of mine, not worth much money. Miss Tang can take it back for Clerk Tang to use. Leaving it with me, who doesn’t even have a writing brush, is a waste.”

With her saying this, Tang Zhi accepted it more at ease.

Tang Zhi held the brush holder home and was seen by the sharp-eyed Tang Haogen. He thought his sister had driven the family’s ox cart earlier to help Song Yuyan, so this item was probably from Song Yuyan.

Thinking of this, the usually upright Clerk Tang couldn’t help walking over and, taking advantage of his sister not being on guard, snatched the brush holder from her hand.

“Big Brother, what are you doing?” Tang Zhi jumped in fright.

“This is what I should ask you. Why are you holding a bamboo tube like it’s some treasure!”

“Where! It’s just something someone gave, and she carved it herself. I can’t just trample her heartfelt intention casually!”

Clerk Tang pursed his lips: it wasn’t that he looked down on Song Dalang. Although Song Dalang knew grass weaving and bamboo weaving, that was different from carving on bamboo. And these two people’s matter wasn’t even a done deal yet, but his sister had said so many good words!

Clerk Tang felt his sister’s outgoing nature really gave him a headache. If it continued long-term, his sister’s elbow would turn outward.

He picked up the brush holder and examined it. He had thought Song Yuyan just casually carved some love poems or something on it to seduce his sister. Who knew what entered his eyes was an elegant landscape he had never seen…

Clerk Tang: “!!!”

Could it be he was holding the brush holder wrong?!