The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 605 - 603 New Year

Chapter 605: Chapter 603 New Year

Before the words had even settled, Old Granny Zhang snatched up the silver note and scrutinized it for a long while. The more she looked, the more uneasy she felt, and she stuffed the silver note into Wang Yongzhu’s hand: "Daughter, take a look, it couldn’t be fake, right? That little beast, he brought home fake land deeds in the beginning, this silver note—"

She said, eagerly awaiting Wang Yongzhu’s judgement.

Wang Yongzhu, holding the silver note, felt the pressure mount as everyone’s gaze fixated on both the silver note and herself.

After carefully examining the silver note and comparing it with another five-tael note, there were some differences, but no apparent flaws could be found.

After a moment of thought, she finally said, "This, we can’t tell. Why don’t we go to town tomorrow to have someone take a look?"

However, based on what she knew about Wang Yongan’s character, she guessed there was a good chance it was fake.

This reminded her that she should really learn how to discern the authenticity of such silver notes. Considering she might have to deal with silver notes for a long time to come, she should not remain ignorant, right?

There were few fools present. Remembering Wang Yongan’s history, they all felt the silver note was more likely than not to be fake.

Old Granny Zhang’s expression darkened. Seeing her change in demeanor, the others tactfully dispersed.

As soon as they had left, Old Granny Zhang slammed her fist on the table, fuming, "Why didn’t I think of this earlier? I should have dragged that beast, my second son, to have it checked immediately and confronted him on the spot!"

"Now look, I’ve let him get away scot-free! This beast, he doesn’t think twice about the years of support from home, he’s made his fortune and still wants to deceive us with counterfeit silver notes!"

Wang Yongzhu and Song Chongjin hurriedly stepped forward to console her, and after a long while, Old Granny Zhang calmed down.

With a cold laugh, she said, "Even if this silver note is fake, I’m not the one who’s lost anything! At most, I’ve just lost the cost of three bowls of chicken soup noodles. It’s that foolish father of yours who still treats that beast as a good son, even scampering off after him. Luckily, he wasn’t completely out of his wits and left the principal silver behind. Otherwise, I’m afraid it would’ve all been swindled by that second son of mine too!"

She finished, glaring at Wang Yongzhu and Song Chongjin: "You’re not allowed to go and fetch that old fool. Let him get nice and chummy with his most treasured good son, get all the sweetness he wants, until it’s enough!"

Wang Yongzhu suppressed her laughter and nodded, "Mother, don’t worry! We won’t fetch him! Let father go to the city and enjoy himself for a few days!"

Despite being full of anger initially, Old Granny Zhang couldn’t help but feel less furious imagining Old Wang Laozhu’s reaction when he discovered the true nature of his son.

The next day, Song Chongjin took Wang Yongzhu, Wang Yonggui, as well as Wang Yongfu and Wang Yongping to town to have the silver note appraised.

And indeed, just as expected, the silver note was worthless.

It was an expired and invalidated silver note. After the issuance of these two hundred tael notes, counterfeit versions appeared shortly thereafter, leading to the withdrawal of this version from circulation.

Wang Yongan had somehow acquired one of these invalidated notes that looked flawless, yet was completely worthless.

Wang Yonggui cursed in anger on the spot.

Wang Yongzhu and Song Chongjin, however, remained composed as they watched the expert stamp the note with an invalidation seal.

They earnestly sought advice from the expert on how to identify genuine and counterfeit silver notes.

As they left and boarded the carriage, the atmosphere was decidedly somber.

Wang Yongzhu laughed, "What’s there to fuss about? We lived our lives just fine without his two hundred taels of silver. Besides, this is a lesson for us. In the future, in doing business, we will certainly have to deal with silver notes. Now that we’ve learned how to identify them, next time we encounter this, we’ll know how to tell real from fake and won’t be deceived. That in itself is a good thing!"

Wang Yonggui and the others’ expressions brightened at this. After all, whether the silver was real or not, it wouldn’t have ended up in their hands. Since Wang Yongzhu, the one who stood to lose the most, wasn’t concerned, it made the brothers seem rather immature.

It was Wang Yongfu who brought up, "Since the silver note is fake, father going to the city with the second brother, you don’t think that’ll be a problem, do you?"

Wang Yonggui snorted, "Let father see the second brother’s true colors for once. Otherwise, no matter what we say, he won’t believe us."

As for Wang Yonggui’s view, all the brothers tacitly agreed.

These days, Wang Laozhu’s unreasonable partiality toward Wang Yongan had left his sons feeling somewhat unhappy. At this moment, they all shared a peculiar sense of satisfaction, as if letting their father witness the true nature of his most favored son.

※※※

With Wang Laozhu gone, the Wang Family quieted down.

Wang Yongzhen no longer dared to come to the door, and the old house remained closed every day.

The Wang siblings all breathed a sigh of relief.

Next, they were busy with preparing for the New Year.

They had to clean, prepare delicious food for the New Year, and also to worship the gods.

Men and women were bustling about non-stop.

On the morning of New Year’s Eve, as the Eldest Brother, Wang Yongfu, along with his younger brothers, sons, and nephews, went to the ancestral hall early to worship their ancestors and offer sacrifices, praying for the ancestors to bless their family with peace and prosperity.

Then returning home, the New Year’s meal was already prepared.

It was laid out in the main room, with two long tables pushed together, Old Granny Zhang sat at the head of the table, and then men on one side and women on the other were seated separately.

Strictly speaking, Song Chongjin should have spent New Year’s alone, but Old Granny Zhang, feeling sorry for him being all by himself, simply invited him over as well.

The family sat together, smiles on everyone’s face.

The table was full of rich dishes, with creatures from the sky, from the water, from the land, and delicacies from the mountains—twelve courses in total.

The portions were generous, and the tables were packed full.

In front of the men, there was also a small jar of fine wine.

This year, with Wang Laozhu absent, Wang Yongfu assumed that role, offering a few words of blessing, expressing hopes for the coming year, and then leading with three toasts to heaven, earth, and the ancestors before signaling the start of the meal.

Jinguan and the other children could hardly wait; since last night, the smell of meat had been wafting through the Wang Family Courtyard—steamed meat, fried meatballs, twisted doughnuts, dried sweet potato slices, and wheat cakes coated with malt sugar.

A firewood clay stove was also set up in the courtyard, into which clean, dried sand was placed for roasting rice, chestnuts, peanuts, and other dried nuts.

These were the children’s favorites and were also snacks for entertaining guests during the New Year festivities.

The women had been busy the whole of yesterday and half of the night, and then again for half of the morning, to prepare this table of food.

The children loved the meatballs and the big pork hocks the most.

The men favored the red braised pork, the tenderly marinated pig’s head meat, the crispy pig’s ears, paired with the crispy peanuts—it was the perfect accompaniment for drinking.

This was the Wang Family’s most lavish New Year’s meal in years; the children ate until their bellies were round, their little mouths greasy.

The men drank until their faces turned red, all looking forward to the coming year with the utmost confidence.

The women, after finishing their meal, gathered aside, chatting about this and that.