novelhk Chapter 58 Beating the Mandarin Ducks
Chapter 58 Beating the Mandarin Ducks
The old lord of the northern desert had worked hard for many years, hoping to find a wife to live with in his old age, and that his children would support his decision. But things didn't go as planned.
At the family gathering for the Beginning of Winter, the old lord, dressed in a magnificent suit, and Lady Wanxia, dressed in her finest attire, held hands and chatted and laughed as they arrived together.
At this moment, Ye Beichen walked over and asked him with a dark face,
"Father, why did you bring Madam Nangong here? This is a family dinner, not a gathering of friends."
The old lord of the northern desert replied bluntly, "I know, this is the former Madam Nangong. She and Master Nangong have ended their relationship. I hit it off with her at first sight, and I've decided to be with her. You should call her Mother, or Stepmother."
Ye Beichen coldly replied, "I can't call her that. I have a mother!"
"How dare you!" The old lord raised his hand to strike Ye Beichen in anger, but Wanxia stopped him, saying, "He's just a child, don't take it to heart."
Afterwards, the maids served up a variety of delicacies: lamb skewers, beef skewers, roasted chicken wings, roasted lamb trotters, roasted lamb chops, lamb soup, roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), yangrou paomo (lamb stew with bread), and all sorts of snacks and fruits. It was like a food festival.
The old lord thoughtfully cut the steak, then wrapped a napkin around Lady Nangong's neck, prepared a knife and fork, and finally gestured for her to begin. Only then did Wanxia begin to hold the knife and fork and slowly savor the freshly cooked steak.
"Xia'er, what do you think of the steak? Is there anything that needs to be improved?" the old lord asked with a smile.
“I’m not used to medium-rare steak. I’d prefer medium-well steak. Also, I don’t like tomato-flavored food. I like steak with dark sauce,” Wanxia replied elegantly, putting down her knife and fork.
"Someone, make me another black pepper steak! Medium-well!" the old lord urged.
"Yes, sir." The maid removed the steak from the table and quickly went into the kitchen to tell them to make a new steak.
At this moment, the young couple dancing not far away couldn't help but purse their lips, looking at the person who was about to become their stepmother with obvious disdain.
Afterwards, the maidservant respectfully brought the new steak to the table and gestured for Lady Nangong to taste it. However, she was quite pretentious and actually made the old lord blow on the steak to cool it down before she ate it, all in front of everyone. To win the beauty's favor, the old lord obediently complied.
This time, Ye Beichen was completely enraged. He strode over in three strides, knocked the plate to the ground, and pointed at Madam Nangong angrily, accusing her...
"Who do you think you are? Eat it or don't, if you don't want to eat, get out!"
At this moment, Lady Nangong threw herself into the old lord's arms and cried bitterly, "Waaah~ Look at him, he actually scolded me. He was so rude to me. You have to stand up for me!"
The old lord was furious and annoyed. "Shut up!"
Immediately afterward, Su Yuning ran over to plead for Ye Beichen, "Father, please calm down. Beichen only spoke rudely because he felt sorry for you being so humble. Please don't hold it against him."
"Alright then. Let's eat together." The old lord refrained from arguing with Ye Beichen out of consideration for his daughter-in-law.
At the dinner table, the old lord and Wanxia exchanged a smile, and then he announced with a serious expression, "Children, I am going to be with the former Lady Nangong, Wanxia. I hope you can support us and bless us."
Just as Ye Beichen was about to pick up his chopsticks to eat, he immediately responded upon hearing this, "I disagree!" and then put down his chopsticks and left.
The old lord and Wanxia both stared at Su Yuning, trying to gain her approval.
"Child, do you agree to us being together?"
Su Yuning shook her head and said,
"I don't agree either."
The old lord was on the verge of tears, "Daughter-in-law, she and I truly love each other. Besides, I'm old and have no one to take care of me. I really want a companion. Please have pity on me."
Su Yuning responded dismissively.
“We have maids, guards, and Bei Chen and I in our territory. Can’t we take care of our elderly parents?”
The old lord was speechless and could only lower his head and eat silently to hide his embarrassment.
Seeing that the old lord was no longer speaking up for her, Wanxia was so angry that tears welled up in her eyes.
"Since your family doesn't approve of us being together, and you don't even consider my feelings, then let's break up!"
After saying those angry words, Madam Wanxia ran out crying.
At this moment, the old lord slammed his fist on the table in anger, "Bang!"
Su Yu refused to indulge him, stood up, smashed her wine glass, and then gave him a stern reprimand.
"Is Father angry? If you have something to say, you can talk to Ye Beichen. Why are you throwing a tantrum in front of an outsider like me?!"
The old lord quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, daughter-in-law, I didn't mean to target you. I just feel sorry for Wanxia. She's all alone and helpless. How will she survive in the future?"
Su Yuning argued vehemently, "She can go back to the Nangong residence, or she can go back to her parents' home, but she can't stay here! Ye Beichen lost his mother when he was very young. Do you know how pitiful he is? Do you think it's appropriate to let a strange woman come and be his mother?"
The old lord quickly chimed in, "It's because I know he's pitiful that I found him a stepmother. From now on, this stepmother can take care of you, and we can take care of each other. Go and say some nice words to Beichen, and get him to agree."
Su Yuning crossed her arms and replied with a look of disgust, "Ye Beichen isn't a three-year-old child. He has his own thoughts. If you insist on being with that old woman, you'll make Ye Beichen and me lose face. Are we more important, or a woman you've only known for a few days? You should think about it carefully!"
This time, the old lord completely surrendered, "Alright, I choose you."
And so, the elderly couple, who had originally planned to stay together, were torn apart by the dissatisfaction of their son and daughter-in-law.
Madam Nangong originally planned to return to her parents' home, but upon closer inspection, she realized that she had been divorced, had little money, and her family still had a domineering and unreasonable sister-in-law and nephew. She would not be well taken back, so she might as well return to the Nangong family. After all, even a day as husband and wife is a hundred days of kindness, and Master Nangong was still a relatively reliable person.
When they arrived at the gate of the Nangong residence again, Madam Nangong did not go in, but knelt at the door and begged for forgiveness.
This attracted a crowd of onlookers. The servants at the gate of the Nangong residence hurriedly informed the master. Upon hearing that Madam Nangong had even humbled herself and knelt down to beg for mercy in order to return home, the master quickly sent someone to bring Madam Nangong into the residence.
Sitting in his wheelchair, Master Nangong looked at Madam Nangong, who appeared unwell, and asked her a question.
"what on earth do you want?"
Madam Nangong knelt down with a thud, crying and pleading, "My lord, I know I was wrong, please forgive me!"
Master Nangong frowned as he answered her, "Didn't I tell you? We've already separated. From now on, we should each live our own lives and not bother each other. Why do you insist on coming back?"
Madam Nangong responded with tears streaming down her face, "My lord, I've been with you for decades. We have sons and daughters. For the sake of the children, please give me a chance. I promise I will listen to you from now on and never dare to do anything so unethical again!"
Afterwards, Master Nangong called the second wife to his side and asked her in a gentle tone,
"You see, the First Madam wants to come back, but I don't want to reconcile with her. What's a good way to handle this?"
The second wife, Nangong Xue'er's mother, was kind and conscientious. She proposed two solutions.
“Either let the First Madam come back, and our family can continue to live happily together. As the First Madam herself said, after all, she gave birth to your children and spent most of her life with you. Or we can buy the First Madam a small house in the northern desert so that she has a place to live. When her children grow up, they can visit her often, so that she can spend her old age in peace and you can have some peace and quiet.”
“Then I’ll buy her a house,” Master Nangong replied succinctly. “You’re the only one in my heart. I don’t want you to be jealous of her, and I don’t want to see you suffer.”
"Yes, I'll do whatever you say," the second wife replied with a smile.
Then, Master Nangong questioned the First Madam with a serious expression, "Did you hear what I just said? Do you have any objections?"
"No objection, thank you, Master Nangong!" the First Madam replied humbly.
Afterwards, Master Nangong gave the new steward a look, and the new steward went to the treasury to get some silver, and then took the First Madam out to buy a house.
The matter was finally settled. Master Nangong smiled and suggested to his wife,
"I've heard that there are entertainment venues in the Song Dynasty where you can listen to operas, drink tea, and eat desserts. How about I take you there sometime?"
The lady nodded gently in agreement, "Okay."
At this moment, the First Madam's two children also ran over, and they both raised their hands to make the suggestion.
"We're going too!"
Master Nangong and his wife exchanged a smile, then readily nodded in agreement.
In the mountain village, the village chief's nephew started helping the chubby girl lose weight, beginning with refusing to sleep in!
The chubby girl was sleeping soundly when the village chief's nephew pulled her out of bed. The chubby girl replied aggrievedly, "I'm so sleepy, why did you wake me up?"
The village chief's nephew chuckled and replied, "Fatty, have you forgotten? Didn't we agree yesterday to go on a diet?"
The chubby girl retorted, dissatisfied, "Isn't losing weight just about running, exercising, and eating healthy food? What does it have to do with whether or not you sleep in?"
The village chief's nephew replied earnestly, "Of course it's related! Early to bed and early to rise makes you healthy; oversleeping isn't a good habit! Come on, let's go for a run!"
"Okay, I know," the chubby girl replied, then sleepily followed him from home to the mountain, and then from the mountain back down.
When she got home, Fatty was about to sit down at the table to eat when the village chief's nephew stopped her.
"You still have tasks to complete, eat later."
"Dad, look at him! He made me get up early this morning to go for a run. I'm already exhausted, and he still won't let me eat. Aren't you going to criticize him?" The chubby girl complained to her father, feeling wronged.
The doctor and Sakura at the table both laughed. Then, Fatty's dad answered.
"I'm making you exercise for your own good. Besides, I've already discussed it with Tianqi. During your weight loss period, you'll follow his arrangements in everything, so there's nothing I can do to help you. Good luck, my chubby daughter."
"Fatty, start jumping rope. I'll time you. You jump rope," the village chief's nephew commanded earnestly.
The chubby girl had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Then, the village chief's nephew lit an incense stick, and the chubby girl picked up a jump rope and started jumping.
Everyone thought that Fatty could jump many times, but Fatty disappointed everyone because her arms and thighs were too fat, so she couldn't jump at all. She could only jump once every one or two minutes. Then, urged by the village chief's nephew, she continued to jump. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Fatty had jumped twelve times.
“Fatty, we used to be classmates. Back then, weren’t you the jump rope champion? You could jump hundreds of times in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. What happened to you?” Tianqi asked with a smile.
After all, the chubby girl was a young lady, and she cared about her image. Knowing that she couldn't jump because she was too fat, she simply threw the jump rope away, ran to her room, locked the door, and then had a good cry in her room.
At this moment, the village chief's nephew hurriedly ran to knock on the door and apologize. "I'm sorry, Fatty, I didn't mean to make fun of you, please don't be angry!"
However, the people in the room wouldn't listen to his explanation and continued to sob loudly, their heads buried in their arms on the table. Helpless, Tianqi could only apologize to Fatty's father.
"Dear doctor, I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean it. I just wanted to encourage her by talking about what happened in the past, hoping that she could keep exercising and have a healthy body, but she cried and I couldn't comfort her no matter what I did."
Fatty's dad waved his hand with a smile, "It's okay, it's okay, don't take it to heart. She has some good points; she can cry it out after something sad happens and she won't hold a grudge."
"Oh, that's good!" Tianqi was finally relieved.
"She's too fat. Skipping a meal or two won't hurt her, but you're different. You're tall and thin. Hurry up and eat some breakfast!" Fat Girl's dad kindly reminded her.
"Okay, Uncle!" Only then did Tianqi dare to sit down and eat.
Just as her father had predicted, the chubby girl finished crying and acted as if nothing had happened, swaggering out to finish her meal.
"Oh dear, little girl, you've stopped crying? Hahaha, hurry up and eat!" the doctor joked.
Afterwards, the chubby girl channeled her grief and anger into her appetite, and ate two whole bowls of rice.
The village chief's nephew asked curiously, "Fatty, do you still want to lose weight after eating so much?"
The chubby girl replied, "Of course! How can I have the energy to lose weight if I don't eat my fill?"
Then, the others burst into laughter again.
After breakfast, the village chief's nephew and Fatty Girl started working. Fatty Girl cleared the dishes and washed the utensils. As usual, the village chief's nephew carried his bamboo basket up the mountain, because he also had to help the doctor collect medicinal herbs.
Although he couldn't focus on making money after arriving here, the village chief's nephew was still quite happy because he became good friends with the chubby girl and learned about many medicinal herbs, such as yam, red dates, hawthorn, dried tangerine peel, and goji berries.