Union

Chapter 68 Banquet

Pearl diving has an extremely high mortality rate, but because pearls are not only used as jewelry, they also have health and skincare benefits, making them very popular among wealthy women.

Therefore, pearl diving is very profitable, and people are willing to try it to make a living or support their families.

Pearl harvesting was originally a last resort, but if pearl farming could be carried out, it would not only reduce the number of deaths but also increase profits, making it a highly profitable business.

But is there a method for cultivating pearls now?

Second Master said, "Let's not even talk about whether there's a recipe for nurturing pearls. Just look at how you're always eating one meal a day and then skipping two. Do you want to get stomach problems at such a young age?"

Yunying was taken aback. She had only been not eating properly for the past few days, so how did it suddenly become a stomach problem?

Besides, although she hadn't eaten dinner, she asked, "Second Master, have you eaten dinner yet?"

Second Master: "..."

Second Master was clearly also hungry.

The two stared at each other, neither willing to say anything.

Originally, the Second Master suggested having some chicken noodle soup, but Yunying thought that she would have to get up and prepare for tomorrow in two hours.

Tomorrow's tasks are even more important, and mistakes are unacceptable. Therefore, rather than having a bowl of chicken noodle soup before resting, Yunying would rather save that little bit of time, eat a couple of snacks to fill her stomach, and get a good night's sleep to recharge.

That's what Yunying thought, and that's what she said.

Second Master was speechless for a moment, but seeing Yunying yawning frequently in her sleepiness, her watery almond-shaped eyes glistening with tears, he had no choice but to give in and let Yunying go back and have some snacks to fill her stomach.

Just as Yunying closed her eyes, she heard Sui'er's voice calling out, "Miss, it's time to get up. There's commotion in both the front and back yards."

Yunying suddenly opened her eyes, propped herself up with her sore arms and sat up. Then, by the light of the candle lit by Sui'er, she glanced at the hourglass behind the door.

It's early morning; time to get up.

The busy day officially begins the moment you get up.

Despite having made thorough preparations beforehand, numerous unexpected situations still arose on the actual day.

First, there was Qi Sou, who, fearing the magistrate's authority, suffered from frequent diarrhea from the morning until he was convulsing and unable to move; then there were other elderly people who, after eating the breakfast sent by the kitchen, began to experience abdominal pain and vomiting.

After these two incidents, Yunying thought there was a problem with the ingredients, or that someone had poisoned them again.

Fortunately, Dr. Qu examined them and said that one person was too nervous, while the other was simply overeating, especially oily food, which their body couldn't handle.

These two incidents were just the beginning. Later, some elders got their clothes wet and had no spare clothes to wear; others bumped into a door frame on their way out and got a big bump on their forehead; still others had their straw sandals break halfway and had to walk barefoot; some local gentry even choked on fruit and almost died; and some gentry were unhappy that the elders were walking in front of them and made them kneel down to make way for them...

This was Yunying's first time organizing a banquet, especially such a large one. Despite her best efforts and thorough preparation of every possible aspect, she was still overwhelmed by all the unexpected events, her heart pounding and her head throbbing.

Not only her, but also Qiu Ning and Mu Jin, who had been conscripted by her to help with the work, were flustered and trembling, and kept drinking tea in their haste.

Fortunately, despite the chaos, nothing major went wrong.

Finally, when the banquet began, all the invited guests were present, which was the greatest success.

But it wasn't over yet; the dishes hadn't been served yet, and they would have to wait until everyone finished their meal and went home before they could finally relax.

Qiu Ning and Mu Jin were instructed by Yun Ying to stay in the back kitchen, while she remained in the front flower hall to deal with any possible emergencies.

She was on tenterhooks the whole time and had no time to pay attention to anything else. It wasn't until a maid ran over and said, "The Second Master's bodyguard, Suiyun, wants some more wine to be sent to the front."

Yunying quickly agreed and made the arrangements. Then she pulled the little maid who had been serving at the front and asked what was going on.

The little maid was clever; otherwise, Yunying wouldn't have assigned her to serve at the front.

At this moment, the little maid immediately guessed what Yunying wanted to hear, and promptly told her everything she had seen and heard.

Yunying had previously guessed that the Second Master was probably holding a "Feast for a Thousand Elders" to promote moral education.

After all, Emperor Kangxi, who first held the Thousand Elders Banquet, hosted this large-scale imperial banquet four times during his lifetime. The purpose was to practice filial piety and promote friendly family and neighborhood relations.

The banquet hosted by the Second Master was naturally not worthy of being called an imperial banquet, nor could it be compared with Emperor Kangxi in terms of scale and banquet standards.

However, the purpose of both should be the same: to "respect the elderly".

When it comes to "respecting the elderly," Yunying is not surprised.

At that moment, she thought of the "brick tombs" near Qiantang Village.

The so-called brick-built tomb refers to the practice where elderly people who have reached the age of sixty are sent to a tomb in the wild to await death.

The tombs were mostly built with adobe bricks. After the elderly person entered the tomb at the age of sixty, the family would add an adobe brick to the door of the tomb every time they brought a meal. After sixty consecutive days of this, the descendants would completely seal the entrance of the tomb, leaving the elderly person to slowly wait for death inside.

The reason for the appearance of brick tombs is certainly related to the fact that the sixty-year-old villagers have lost their ability to work and their families cannot afford to support them, but isn't this also a kind of lack of humanity? Yunying noticed this situation on both of her visits to Qiantang Village.

The first time, she was busy saving lives; the second time, she was sulking. Or perhaps, deep down, she didn't feel she could do anything about it. So even though she noticed this situation, she just kept it to herself.

But the Second Master saw it and wanted to make improvements. Thus, the Thousand Elders Banquet came about.

Now let's talk about the second master's second objective.

The maid said, "I heard the Second Master asking those gentry and elders about the problems in the village and town, and whether there were any corresponding solutions. The Second Master also inquired about some obscure people and things, which I didn't quite understand, and I didn't have time to listen to them all the time. Anyway, that's about it."

Seeing that the little maid could not say anything else, Yunying let her go to the front yard to do her work.

She remained seated in the flower hall, carefully pondering the few words the little maid had said.

Second Master asked Qi Sou and the local gentry about the problems in the village and town, and the corresponding solutions.

Are those lawless villains a problem? Are the people's lack of medical care and their poverty a problem? Are the coldness of humanity and the prevalence of female lewdness a problem?
Another solution, does it refer to exploiting the weaknesses of those evildoers? A way to get rich? Or a way to quickly cultivate kindness, filial piety, humility, courtesy, honesty, gratitude, integrity, and generosity in everyone?

Yunying pondered silently, savoring the moment.

She sat in the flower hall for a long time, so long that the banquet in front had ended and the Second Master, along with Qi Sou and the local gentry, had moved to a flower hall on the side of the banquet hall before Yunying came to her senses.

At this moment, Qiu Ning and Mu Jin also arrived.

Seeing Yunying's leisurely appearance, Qiu Ning complained, "You're so carefree. We were almost worked to death in the kitchen."

Upon hearing this, Yunying smiled and handed over a cup of tea, and also handed a cup of tea to Mujin.

She said, "Didn't we ask you to supervise the construction? Why is it acting like the two of you are cooking the food yourself?"

Qiu Ning felt a little guilty after Yun Ying exposed her. But she quickly regained her arrogance. "So we're constantly keeping an eye on the maids, telling them to be careful and not to make any mistakes. Aren't we tired? Let me tell you, it's only because the weather is nice today, with no wind at all, otherwise I would have switched jobs with you and let you stand outside and keep watch."

Yunying didn't argue with her about these things, and only said, "Thanks to the two of you, you've been a great help to me."

Qiu Ning is a pushover; Yun Ying praised her a lot, and she was happy, so the matter was over.

Having finally found some free time, Yunying asked her maid to quickly bring over some food.

Whether it's noodles, wontons, or leftover dishes from the kitchen, you can bring them anything you have.

The maids left in a hurry and returned in a hurry.

They carried food boxes filled with various dishes. Although there wasn't much of each dish, there were seven or eight kinds in total, which was enough for Yunying and the other two to eat.

After the meal, Qiu Ning was about to go back to bed, but Mu Jin stayed behind, hoping to take the opportunity to accumulate merit so that she would have something to say when she showed her face in front of the Second Master later.

She wanted to stay, and Yunying didn't stop her.

Neither of them were talkative, and they didn't have much of a relationship. They just sat there drinking tea, and the flower hall was very quiet.

A little while later, another maid came running to say that some local gentry and old man Qi were preparing to leave.

Yunying then got up and walked outside.

As the year drew to a close, Second Master didn't want these gentry and elders to make a wasted trip, so he specially prepared some New Year's gifts for them—sometimes, no matter how much you talk, nothing is more appealing than these practical gifts.

If there were elderly parents in the family, they would be given an extra set of fabric for making clothes. The other gentry all received several books and a bag each of fine rice and flour.

The elderly didn't receive any books, but they got more substantial things. In addition to refined rice and flour, they also received some chicken, duck, pork, sugar, and oil.

Those elders and gentry never imagined that, with one foot in the grave, they would one day be treated with courtesy by the county magistrate and receive gifts from him.

For a time, those who originally intended to stay at the county government office for another day all changed their minds and decided to go back to their hometowns now so they could show off to their neighbors.

Fortunately, Yunying had prepared in advance, dividing the items into piles. Otherwise, with so many people leaving suddenly, they probably wouldn't have had time to give them their things.

A portion of the crowd left, leaving only those who lived far away, who would have to wait until tomorrow to set off again.

Those elderly people had never had a full meal in their lives, let alone seen such white rice and noodles.

For a moment, they were eager to go home and didn't want to stay any longer to get on the magistrate's good side, to tell him about their difficulties, so that he would help their village more.

It was Suiyun who said that it was too late and traveling at night was not safe, which calmed their restless thoughts.

With so many good things hanging around, these old men are definitely not going to be able to sleep tonight.

This is today's bonus chapter! I updated over 9000 words today, but I'm really exhausted. I'll fix any bugs tomorrow. Please add this to your favorites, give it a monthly pass, and recommend it! Thank you all so much!

(End of this chapter)