Chapter 384: When Eldest Aunt Met Madam Chen

“My second brother’s house is truly magnificent…”

When he arrived at the entrance of Zhu Ping’an’s home, First Uncle Zhu Shouren couldn’t help letting out a sigh of admiration. His gaze swept across the wide-spreading courtyard walls—red brick shimmering warmly under the sun and green-tiled eaves gleaming like polished jade. It had been some days since he last visited. In that time, the Zhu family had renovated the entire residence once again; it now looked even grander than the manor owned by the village’s wealthiest landlord. The sudden sight of it struck him so strongly that awe spilled out of him before he could stop it.

“Second Brother, Father and Mother are here to see you!”

He didn’t even bother knocking. Calling out loudly from outside, Zhu Shouren pushed the gate open and strode in as if he owned the place. Behind him, the old patriarch and matriarch of the Zhu clan followed with slow but steady steps. Then came the elder aunt and the others from the old house, all filing in one by one like a small procession. Last to enter was Third Uncle’s entire family.

At that moment, Madam Chen was in the courtyard with her daughter-in-law, Juan’er, working at the long wooden table set beneath the shade of an old tree. The two women were carefully cutting through bolts of silk, their movements precise and practiced. They were taking advantage of this quiet farming season to hurriedly sew two new sets of clothing for Zhu Ping’an. All this silk had been left behind by the many visitors who had come calling in recent days. Madam Chen had sifted through the bundles, selecting a few pieces that felt especially smooth and comfortable to make clothes for her son.

Not far away, Zhu Father was crouched beside the courtyard well, sharpening a hoe against a whetstone. With more land came more work, and the farm tools had to be kept in good order—a slow, time-consuming task that he nevertheless enjoyed.

As for the eldest son, Zhu Pingchuan, he had taken over his father’s usual job for the day and was on the road between the town and the village, driving the ox cart back and forth, so he wasn’t home.

Hearing First Uncle Zhu Shouren’s booming voice, the three busy people in the courtyard lifted their heads, startled. They hadn’t expected the entire Zhu family from the old household to appear all at once.

“Father, Mother, Big Brother—you’re here.” Zhu Father put down the hoe and hurried over to greet them.

“Father, Mother.” Madam Chen paused mid-cut and called out as well.

“Grandfather, Grandmother, please sit. I’ll go pour tea for you.” Juan’er, the wife of Zhu Pingjun, quickly set aside her things, scurried into the house to fetch stools and chairs, then returned with tea and water, serving the elders with practiced warmth.

“Mm… cough, cough.” First Uncle cleared his throat, nodding with the lofty demeanor of a senior who felt the weight of his authority.

“Ah! Second Sister-in-law, this is fine silk, isn’t it? Oh my, just look at this color—it’s so beautiful!” Fourth Aunt, her eyes widening so much they almost glowed green, practically shrieked when she saw the shimmering silk spread across the courtyard table. With a single dramatic step, she bounded toward Madam Chen. Before she even finished speaking, her hands were already caressing the smooth material.

“Oh my, look how bright the color is—so vivid! And why is it so light and thin? The touch is so soft—ah, what a delight. Our family has raised silkworms for years, but I’ve never once touched actual silk fabric like this. Second Sister-in-law, you really are blessed.”

She kept stroking the silk as though it were a rare treasure, unable to pry her fingers away.

Zhu Pingjun’s wife narrowed one eye, her expression filled with open disdain as she watched Fourth Aunt make a spectacle of herself. Her lips curled in a barely concealed sneer.

“This fabric is too plain. It’s for Zhi’er,” Madam Chen explained gently. “I still have half a bolt in the house. If you like the color, take it. And of course, Father, Mother, Eldest Sister-in-law, and Second Sister-in-law should each take some too.”

Hearing the compliments about her good fortune had put a soft smile on Madam Chen’s face. She already planned to gift some cloth to the old household, and this created the perfect opening to show generosity.

But the elder aunt had always been competitive, especially with Madam Chen. Seeing Madam Chen receiving praise and attention, she simply couldn’t stand being overshadowed.

Straightening her posture, projecting as much dignity as she could muster, she swept over to Madam Chen. She pretended to examine the fabric, but her movements were intentional—the way she lifted the strands of hair near her ear revealed the gold earrings hanging there. She even tilted her head slightly, ensuring the sunlight would catch the ornaments and make them sway conspicuously.

“Ah, the weather’s getting hot. My head feels stuffy—my ears feel so uncomfortable,” she said meaningfully, continuing to flick her hair and jingle her gold earrings directly under Madam Chen’s gaze.

Madam Chen glanced at the earrings, her expression briefly odd.

Mistaking the look for envy, Elder Aunt only raised her chin higher, swaying the earrings more boldly, practically vibrating with pride.

“Yes, yes, the heat is really getting intense,” Madam Chen replied mildly. “I’ve only been working for a short while, and my hands are already warm.”

As she spoke, she casually rolled up her sleeve.

A brilliantly gleaming gold bracelet flashed into view—so bright that Elder Aunt nearly had her eyes blinded on the spot.

“Oh, this? Ah—this was insistence on Shouyi’s part. I couldn’t argue him out of it…” Madam Chen let out a little surprised cry, as if only just noticing that Elder Aunt had seen it, and quickly pulled her sleeve down again.

Zhu Father, hearing his own name dragged in, lifted his head sharply. Madam Chen shot him a murderous glare, and he immediately lowered his gaze again.

What do you mean I insisted on buying it? You’re the one who wanted it! If this were the modern day, Zhu Father would probably be wearing the expression of a meme character silently crying, “My heart suffers, but I cannot speak.”

He had only taken Madam Chen to town to look at properties. But the moment she spotted that bracelet, she couldn’t tear her eyes away. It was actually silver coated with a thin layer of gold, and cost more than three taels of silver—too much, in his opinion—but under the fierce pressure of a wife’s enthusiastic “persuasion,” he had no choice but to buy it.

With Elder Aunt momentarily defeated, Zhu Pingjun’s wife seized the chance to boast. She began talking loudly about how her maiden family owned so much silk that insects practically chewed through what they couldn’t use, and how their family’s shop dealt in silk goods as well.

Hearing this, Elder Aunt revived immediately. Her pride swelled again as she held up two fingers and proclaimed, brightly:

“That’s right! You don’t know—her family’s shop makes this much profit in a year!”

She meant two hundred taels. With that declaration, she once again felt she had regained the upper hand.

But then, another group entered the courtyard. They heard the rumble of a carriage outside, and then a dignified-looking gentleman stepped in, followed by a steward and several servants.

After exchanging formal greetings, the man explained his purpose—he was a local gentry official from a neighboring town, here specifically to pay respects to Zhu Ping’an. He knew Ping’an wasn’t home but had come anyway. After a bit of polite conversation, he handed over a gift list, then instructed the servants to begin unloading the gifts from the carriage.

Even without considering the boxes and crates being carried in, the very first item on the gift list—one hundred taels of silver—left First Uncle Zhu Shouren completely stunned as he read it aloud.

One hundred taels? And this was just a single visit?

Upon hearing it, Elder Aunt’s eyes instantly reddened like those of a rabbit. Her envy burned so hot it nearly steamed off her face.

Just this one visit came with a hundred taels—yet in the past weeks, carriages had been arriving every single day, sometimes twenty in one afternoon. How much money had passed through here? No wonder people said to study books. No wonder Father always said books held golden mansions within their pages. So it was true—literally true.

The more she thought about it, the redder her eyes grew. Compared to this, the annual profit of two hundred taels she had boasted about moments ago felt like nothing—less than a drop of water in a vast ocean.

Realizing how much she had shown off just earlier, Elder Aunt felt her face heat up with embarrassment. Her eyes were now even redder than her cheeks.

As for Fourth Aunt—if Fourth Uncle hadn’t grabbed her in time, she would have launched herself toward the pile of gifts like a wild animal, shrieking as she transformed into a one-woman airport security scanner.

While Elder Aunt was consumed with jealousy, Madam Chen’s heart was suffering even more.

“No. No—we cannot accept these gifts. Not the silver, not anything valuable. We can’t take any of it. Not for any amount of money.”

Her expression twisted as if someone were carving flesh off her body. She deliberately turned her head away, refusing to even look at the luxurious items being carried down from the carriage. One hand waved firmly at the visitors in rejection; the other was clamped with merciless strength onto Zhu Father’s arm, pinching it like a vice.

Heaven knew how painful this was for her. Rejecting the gifts felt harder than enduring physical injury.

And Zhu Father definitely knew—because his arm was almost bruised purple from her grip.

But Madam Chen’s reasoning was simple: her son had said that accepting gifts would harm his future, and so—no matter how painful her heart felt—she absolutely would not accept them.

“What?” First Uncle Zhu Shouren nearly tore the gift list in disbelief. Elder Aunt and Fourth Aunt looked even more shocked—like they had seen a ghost appear in broad daylight.

In the end, under the firm insistence of Madam Chen and Zhu Father, all of the expensive gifts listed were returned. Only some food items and a single bolt of cloth were kept—and even that was because the visitor had pleaded to leave at least something behind.

Had Madam Chen not been pressured, she would have kept nothing but a single box of pastries, just for courtesy.