Chapter 15: If You Run, I Won’t Run
“With the little time we have, I simply don’t have the chance to hunt for a pastry shop. I’m not even familiar with this city. And those leather boots—each pair costs over a dozen taels of silver—I simply can’t bear to buy them.
Yingying, don’t blame me. Now that we’re heading into exile, even if we have silver, we must economize. I heard that in the wild lands, even white rice can’t be bought with silver. Rather than spending silver on such useless things, it’s better to save it so that no one in our family goes hungry.
Spending over ten taels on a pair of leather boots? I’d rather use that money to buy extra medicine for colds. Over there, if there’s no medicine, even a common cold could cost us our lives.”
Facing everyone’s grievances, Lan patiently explained, enduring it all. But who was Yu Yingying? Once the proud, legitimate daughter of the Marquis’s household, how could she possibly give Lan—the concubine—a moment’s respect?
“Shut up! You’re just deliberately targeting me! In this bitter winter, you make me wear these embroidered shoes—are you trying to freeze me to death? And don’t think I don’t know—you’ve got plenty of silver on you. What’s wrong with buying each of us a pair of leather boots?”
“Lan, have you forgotten your own status? Have you lost sight of who you are?”
Yu Yingying snapped, “And do you have any semblance of being a junior member?”
Hearing Yu Yingying’s words, Yu Zhengqing could no longer hold back. After a round of scolding, the room suddenly grew much quieter: “Lan, no matter what, she is your elder. Her plan isn’t entirely wrong,” Yu Zhengqing said. At those words, the aggrieved Lan finally felt a bit relieved.
But barely had she been somewhat consoled when Yu Zhengqing slowly continued, “However, Yingying has a point. Lan, you have silver—why don’t you put it out so that everyone can buy a pair of leather boots?”
“I bought cotton shoes…”
“What good are cotton shoes? The further north you go, the heavier the snow; walking in the snow, cotton shoes will get wet and your feet will freeze.”
“But a pair of leather boots costs over a dozen taels. With so many people, that’d add up to several hundred taels.”
Lan looked at Yu Zhengqing. All she wanted to say was: Why must I be the one to pay for everyone’s boots when you won’t even pull out the money for them? Yet she forced the words back down, not daring to ruin her face.
At that moment, as the Yu family members were all displeased with Lan’s handling, Wu Dahai came to the door, holding a whip and coldly scanning everyone in the room. “What’s all this racket? Everyone outside can hear you. Do you even know your status?”
Yu Zhengqing swallowed his words of discontent with Lan.
Just as the house was quiet again, the usually troublemaking Yu Yingying’s voice rang out from the crowd—acidic and biting, full of provocation! “Shut up, that’s your own grandmother! You’d better show her proper respect. Why don’t you go and massage her shoulders, rub her legs? Our little Luo’s grandmother is someone else entirely—a person you could never hope to match with your own ancestor!”
“Ye, you…”
Old matriarch Chen, who always maintained a lofty air, couldn’t stand such behavior. Just as she was about to erupt, Yu Zhengqing shouted back, and the room fell silent. “Enough, stop fooling around! We’re all family—what’s there to quarrel about!”
Yu Luo glanced over at Old Yu, who was sitting by the wall with a blanket draped over him, quietly eating sesame cakes. Suddenly, she thought that today he seemed a bit off.
Yu Haojie silently picked up the backpack that Yu Luo had brought back and went toward their designated bed. “Don’t mind those lunatics. Xiao Luo, you’ve worked so hard. Look at you—so sweaty, even in this cold weather, your forehead is wet. You must have run back here, right?”
Meanwhile, Ye Jiamai tugged Yu Luo’s hand to lead her inside, utterly disregarding all the petty clowns of the Yu family. There was no need to pay any attention to these trivial troublemakers.
“Father, Mother, I bought meat buns—they’re still warm, so have one to fill your stomach. I also bought you new cotton shoes and leather boots. Keep the leather boots for when you’re in the snow; they won’t get as wet, and they’re lined with thick fur, keeping you warm.”
Yu Luo had no idea that before returning to the relay station, the main branch of the Yu family had berated Lan mercilessly about the leather boots. Cheerfully, she pulled out three pairs of boots to show Ye Jiamai.
