The System Wanted Me to Be a Landlady (GL) - Chapter 39: Visiting the Flower Market

Chapter 39: Visiting the Flower Market

Song Yuyan had crossed over last year in early March, when the Flower Festival had already passed. This year, she made it in time, so she wanted to experience this traditional holiday that had vanished in the industrial age.

She heard that the little Tang girl had not had much chance to visit the flower market either, so she thought having someone to go with would be nice, and she happily went to invite the little girl.

When Tang Zhi received the invitation, she was turning the soil in her family’s vegetable garden. Upon hearing it, she paused in her movements and refused, “I’m too busy. I still need to sow seeds in this field! The winter was too cold last year, and a lot of the vegetables did not grow well, so we did not earn much. This year, I have to hurry and plant more.”

Lately, she did not want to see Song Yuyan, because the moment she saw this person, she would think of her in wedding clothes, then marrying her own older brother and becoming her sister-in-law—the scene of her in wedding clothes might look a bit nice, but the idea of her becoming her sister-in-law and calling her little aunt made goosebumps rise all over her skin just thinking about it, and it left her heart feeling far from happy.

Song Yuyan blinked her eyes, not knowing what kind of sulk this little girl was throwing now. She saw another hoe standing nearby and simply picked it up to turn the soil with her.

Tang Zhi jumped in fright and asked her, “What are you doing?”

“Helping you turn the soil. Finish planting the vegetables sooner, and you’ll have time free.”

Tang Zhi had been thinking earlier that if she got married, no one would tend the fields at home, but now that Song Yuyan had come, did that not mean someone would tend them again? In that case, did it or did it not matter to the Tang family whether she was there?!

Feeling a sense of crisis, she told Song Yuyan to go stand in the shade and cool off. Song Yuyan felt deeply comforted: “Though I know Little Miss Tang is thoughtful toward people, I can still handle this bit of work.”

Tang Zhi rolled her eyes. Who was concerned about or thoughtful toward her? What a beautiful thought!

But with Song Yuyan misunderstanding it this way, she could not bring herself to say anything rejecting, so she just hummed, “Did Big Brother come looking for you the other day?”

“Clerk Tang has indeed been coming to find me quite often lately.” Worried she might misunderstand, Song Yuyan added, “But rest assured, he comes to find me not to drink wine. I have not touched any alcohol again.”

Tang Zhi grumbled inwardly again: Who cares if you drink or not!

But she still followed up on that to probe: “Then what does he come to find you for?”

Song Yuyan thought it over. The fact that Tang Haogen had sold out this little girl completely could not be let known to her personally—with the things a rebellious teenage girl might do, she would most likely react with defiance. Plus, this girl cared a lot about face, so if she learned her brother had said she had no friends, it would hurt her self-esteem.

“He does not do much, just chats casually about bamboo carvings or current affairs.”

She recalled that her older brother had rarely gone to the Song house before, but ever since he saw Song Yuyan’s bamboo carvings, the number of times he went to the Song house had actually increased.

Tang Zhi felt a bit unsure whether her older brother went to find Song Yuyan for the sake of the bamboo carvings or because he had learned of her identity and gone to approach her.

She turned the soil absentmindedly for a while, then raised her eyes and found Song Yuyan still there, silently wrestling with a clod of frozen soil, determined not to stop until she had smashed it to bits. She watched quietly for a bit and then saw beads of sweat forming on this person’s forehead.

It was early spring now, but still quite cold. The winter clothes from the Song clan were a benefit distributed by the clan, but they were not very thick after all. She had already sweated from the heat, which showed just how grueling the work of hoeing was for her.

“Enough. You’re not used to this kind of work, so I’ll do it myself!” Tang Zhi could not bear to watch and quickly shooed her off to the side.

“Then you promise me you’ll go to the flower market with me.” Song Yuyan clung to the hoe and would not let go.

In a daze, Tang Zhi almost thought she saw the old rogue Song Dalang from before, and a strange feeling flitted through her heart, making her head ache: “Fine, I promise you, all right? Look at you, so shameless, not even a bit embarrassed!”

Song Yuyan felt a bit awkward too. She had not expected that at the psychological age of twenty-four this year, she would still have times like this when she pestered like a rascal. Though the method was a bit simple and crude, it had the advantage of working.

Though she had achieved her goal, she did not leave right away—she had only turned the soil for that short while and was already worn out enough, let alone Little Miss Tang who had been at it for so long. So she pulled her to the tree beside the vegetable garden, poured a bowl of water for Little Miss Tang, and let her rest a bit.

“I’ve already promised you, so why don’t you hurry back? Don’t delay the work!”

Tang Zhi calculated in her heart that if Song Yuyan went to the flower market, she would have to take a whole day off from work without fail, which would mean less income for sure, so why waste time here on her right now?

Song Yuyan smiled: “All right, I’ll head back now. You should watch out too and not work too long, in case you tire yourself out.”

With that, she finally strolled away slowly.

A woman in the nearby field who had come to bring water to her husband saw the scene and said, “Song Dalang is quite caring toward you.”

“So attentive like this—maybe there’s some scheme behind it!” Tang Zhi looked at her retreating back and huffed.

The woman thought to herself, when a man is attentive toward a woman, what “scheme” could be more obvious than that?

But the woman thought that Tang Zhi had no elders who could enlighten her on such knowledge, so she decided to help the child out a bit.

Since the fields of the two families were close, and plus the woman’s family did not grow vegetables, there was no competition with the Tang family. On ordinary days when they ran into each other, they would greet one another, so their relationship was fairly harmonious. She had watched with her own eyes as Tang Zhi grew from a pitiful child who knew nothing into this capable young woman who could stand on her own, so she felt quite sorry for her too.

“We won’t speak of the things Song Dalang did before. Nowadays, he is still quite reliable. I hear his mats can be woven in all sorts of patterns—the Lou family workshop has taken several grass mats from her, specially to sell in Bianjing, not to mention the bamboo weaving!”

Tang Zhi thought that she naturally knew about these things. To say nothing else, the mats they slept on at home now, the vegetable baskets used in the garden, were all from Song Yuyan’s hand. They could clearly be sold for a good price, but she insisted on selling them to her cheaply…

The more she thought about it, the more she felt this person was overly attentive, and wild thoughts started swirling in Tang Zhi’s head again. What was Song Yuyan after with all this attentiveness?

“Though the Song family is not some great wealthy household, when we live our days, do we not seek a bit of steady peace? So this Song Dalang is actually a pretty good choice. But you know, men and women are different. The two of you are not married yet, so even if you go out together, you have to mind the proprieties, especially as a girl—you need to hold yourself with some reserve and absolutely must not let yourself be taken advantage of…”

Tang Zhi felt more and more that something was off the more she listened, until the woman spoke of matters between men and women, and then she understood at last. Her face flushed red at once, and she said in annoyance, “Auntie, why are you saying these things? We are not that kind of relationship at all.”

The woman thought, do you think my eyes are blind? The way you two get along on ordinary days—is it not obvious enough?!

But she just took it as Tang Zhi being young still and a bit thin-skinned on such matters, so she dropped it.

Tang Zhi, however, kept thinking that, come to think of it, she seemed to have forgotten that in everyone’s eyes, Song Yuyan was a young man, and she had never treated that person as the opposite s3x, so she had never paid attention to issues of relations between men and women.

She herself did not feel there was any problem in coming and going with Song Yuyan, but she could not stop others from having misunderstandings!

At that thought, she felt a bit tangled again: then should she still go to the flower market as invited?

_____

Tang Zhi agonized for two days, and then the Flower Festival arrived.

The rooster had not crowed yet in the morning when she was woken by the noises from the kitchen. She came out of her room and saw it was her older brother sneaking around in the kitchen like a mouse stealing rice.

Lately, Tang Haogen had grown busy because the new prefect of Mingzhou had taken office, and all the county magistrates were on high alert, so he often left before dawn and only returned after dark.

Seeing that his two little sisters had been quite worn out lately, he did not want to wake them and could only rummage around in the kitchen himself for some leftover cold rice to eat.

“Big Brother, let me do it!” she said.

Tang Haogen said, “How did you wake up? Did I wake you? No need, go sleep a bit more! Otherwise, you won’t have the energy to go visit the flower market.”

Tang Zhi had still been quite sleepy, but upon hearing that, she perked up at once: “Big Brother, how do you know I am going to the flower market?”

She had still been hesitating whether to stand Song Yuyan up, so she had not mentioned it to anyone. How had her brother learned of it?

Tang Haogen inwardly cried out that it was bad! He had originally gone to find Song Yuyan behind his little sister’s back, and if she learned that Song Dalang had only invited her because he had urged her to, would she not get angry at him for meddling in their affairs?

“Did Song Yuyan tell you?” That was the only possibility Tang Zhi could think of—that Song Yuyan had let it slip.

“…Hmm.” Tang Haogen said vaguely, “He invited you out to the flower market, so of course he had to say something to me!”

Tang Zhi cursed inwardly: Song Yuyan, you big blabbermouth!

Since Song Yuyan had already said it out loud, if she backed out at the last minute, who knew if these people would start thinking all sorts of nonsense, so it seemed she only had the choice to “go.”

Thus, after she and Tang Ye finished selling the vegetables and came back, she first went to clean the mud off herself, then returned to her room to change clothes… By the time she finished all that, she saw Song Yuyan with a cloth bag slung across her body, followed left and right by two little radish heads dressed the same way, appearing at the door.

Tang Zhi: “…”

Why did it feel like Song Yuyan planned to bring the whole family along?

She had just finished grumbling inwardly when she saw her little sister come out in changed clothes too. Bing’er saw her and immediately ran over from Song Yuyan’s side to take her hand: “Sister Ye, are you ready?”

“Yes.”

Tang Zhi looked at her little sister: “Little Ye, where are you preparing to go?”

“To the flower market! Is not Big Sister coming too?”

Tang Zhi felt a bit disappointed, but she did not understand where this disappointment came from.

“Hmm, together.” Tang Zhi nodded, then shot Song Yuyan a glare.

Though Song Yuyan received her glare attack, their brain waves were not on the same frequency, so she could not know where she had annoyed this little girl again. By rights, little children all feared loneliness, so would not more people make it more lively, and should she not like that better?

Though she felt a bit puzzled, the five of them still set out in high spirits.

Mingzhou city had the largest flower market in Mingzhou, where merchants gathered the most, but though Cixi County was not big, its flower market was plenty big enough for them to browse. Besides, Bing’er had grown this big with only a handful of times going out to the streets, so this outing excited her the most of all. She had to ask about everything she saw, “What is that? What do those words up there say?”

Tang Ye held her hand and patiently explained: “That is an herbal shop, a place that sells herbal medicines.”

The little radish head recalled the few miserable times she had drunk medicine and stopped her random curiosity at once, quickly shrinking her body between Tang Ye and Ye’er.

Ye’er finally felt again the trust of being treated as a solid backing by her little sister, so she took her little sister’s hand and said, “Don’t be afraid. This time, we are not buying medicine or drinking medicine!”

Song Yuyan saw the three children all holding hands with no running about and relaxed, withdrawing her gaze. She glanced at the little girl beside her and unexpectedly found that this girl’s skin seemed a bit fairer— to grow fairer amid daily labor could only be said to show her genes were very strong.

Tang Zhi noticed her gaze and looked up: “What are you looking at me for?”

“Not looking at the flowers?” Song Yuyan asked with a smile.

Tang Zhi followed her words and cast her gaze a bit on the bright and vivid flowers along both sides, but soon withdrew it again. “I looked all around and still think the cauliflower in my family’s garden is prettier.”

Song Yuyan: “…”

Cauliflower… well, it was indeed a flower. But for a little girl to give that answer, she was truly adorable!

She really could not hold it in and let out a laugh.

Tang Zhi felt she was mocking her and grew a bit embarrassed and annoyed, stamping her foot: “What are you laughing at? What is wrong with me thinking my family’s cauliflower is pretty!”

Song Yuyan held herself back a bit and, thinking of how she ate their vegetables every day, said, “I did not mean to mock Little Miss Tang. Because I think that among flowers and flowers, there is no difference of beauty or ugliness—it is just that different people have different likes, so it is normal for Little Miss Tang to think cauliflower is pretty.”

Little Miss Tang hummed: “That is more like it.”

After this little interlude, Little Miss Tang’s unhappy thoughts from the morning were gone. She noticed that all three Song siblings carried a cloth bag and had not asked before, but now she finally found the chance to ask.

“You all are planning to go out sketching, so you brought water in there?”

“There is indeed water inside, but it is not prepared for sketching.” Song Yuyan reached into the cloth bag and pulled out a roll of paper and a writing brush. “Such a fine day—if we do not do some sketching, it would be a waste.”

“You have the paper and brush, but what about the ink stick and inkstone? Do not tell me you forgot them and have to make an extra trip for nothing.”

“They are with me.” Ye’er clutched the cloth bag and said.

Tang Zhi: “…”

Song Yuyan, that black-hearted one, was exploiting the two little radish heads again!

Song Yuyan did not feel there was anything wrong with having the comparatively heavy inkstone carried by Ye’er. She said, “It is not just me doing the sketching, so I carry the water, he carries the inkstone, Bing’er carries her own brush and paper—this is very fair.”

Little Miss Tang fell silent. In the over half a year she had known Song Yuyan, this person’s way of educating her younger brother and sister was indeed a bit different from others:

In other families, the older children definitely had to yield to the younger ones, and beyond that, like in the Tang family, the oldest brother acted as father and the oldest sister as mother, so there was more to worry about. So behavior like the Song three siblings, where they tried to be fair in everything, was still quite rare.

Song Yuyan added, “I can carry it for him for a while, but I cannot carry it for him his whole life. He has to take responsibility himself sooner or later.”

Ye’er did not like being looked down on by her and said, “I asked to carry it myself. I do not want to rely on you for everything!”

For this, Tang Zhi fully approved of his words and actions. “Ye’er did the right thing!”

The little radish head Bing’er also hurriedly lifted her cloth bag that held the writing brush and paper to claim credit: “I am carrying mine myself too!”

“Bing’er did well too.” Tang Zhi could not help but pinch her little cheek again.

Tang Ye hesitated and glanced at her older sister, then said, “I… I brought some food too.”

Her thirteen-year-old little sister came seeking praise just like the little radish heads, and Tang Zhi did not find her little sister’s action shameful at all—instead, it touched her heart. Her little sister, no matter how old, was still that obedient and cute little sister of hers!

“Little Ye has always been this sensible.”

Song Yuyan: “…”

Having witnessed Little Miss Tang’s massive double-standard scene, she suddenly realized, had she perhaps annoyed this little girl somewhere, so that she was being treated differently?