The next morning, Yu Dong took a bath to freshen up before heading out of the inn. Madam Kong and Guo Zian were already waiting for her along with the rest of the Yu family.
“I am really sorry,” said Yu Dong with a soft and apologetic smile. “I slept a bit late and ended up losing track of the time.” Last night she was missing her husbands, it was really weird to live alone without Shen Li not whispering softly in her ears about how they needed to do this and to do that or Ye Liu complaining about the women of the village and the chickens.
Chen Mi’s fussing and Fang Chi’s murmuring and whimpers on how he made a mistake again. She even missed Sun Jie and his childish antics.
Because she was missing home, Yu Dong did not get a good night’s sleep.
“There is no need to apologise, Sister Dong,” said Madam Kong with a jaunty voice. “We also came a few minutes ago, you are not too late.”
“Indeed,” Guo Zian nodded and agreed with his wife.
On their side was Yu Jiao Yu who said to Yu Dong, “There is no need for you to buy them clothes, Dong Dong. Though these clothes are patched and frayed they are really good too. They don’t need new clothes.”
He was worried that he would burden his niece for no reason. He had six mer sons and even their own mother felt that they were too much of a trouble and that raising them was a waste of money and effort.
Yu Jiao Yu was worried that his niece would also start feeling the same as if it was not easy to care for six mers.
Yu Jiao Yu’s sons were obviously very excited when they heard their uncle say that they were going to buy clothes for them, but they did not refute their daddy’s words. After all, they have seen and heard their mother say that it was really hard for her to feed them.
They did not want to be sent back to their mother’s place where they would be sent away to the west.
“You don’t need to think too much about this, it is a small matter, Second Uncle,” said Yu Dong with a smile. “The clothes that my cousins are wearing are a bit too patched and worn off. Though they are indeed in good condition, it is not good for Little One to wear clothes that are too small for him.”
She pointed out while looking at the robes that Li Ah Lam was wearing. They were dangling an inch above from his snowy ankles.
Yu Jiao Yu wanted to refuse but seeing that Yu Dong was insisting too hard, he did not refuse anymore.
Their small group made their way out of the inn, where they ran into one of the shop owners.
“Ah Madam Kong, are they your relatives?” The woman asked while smiling at Yu Dong and the rest. Her eyes flickered twice at Yu Dong as she had a mer son for whom she was looking for a good match.
And Yu Dong who was tall and good-looking with clothes that looked rather expensive, seemed a really good match in her eyes.
“Yes, yes..they are my relatives,” answered Madam Kong with a smile on her face. She did not want to go too deep in the matter. Even though Master Xiao was a rather troublesome mer, he was her husband and she had no desire to hang the dirty laundry of her family outside for others to see. “I am taking them out to take a trip to the city.”
“Trip? Were you able to save enough money for that? I don’t mean anything else by this but just last month, your husband Master Xiao made a loss of fifty taels by handing them over to his family,” remarked the woman. And even though she seemed to be concerned, Yu Dong could see that the woman was clearly gloating.
“Was the loss of fifty taels recovered?” She asked innocently.
Madam Kong’s smile stiffened and she swelled like a bullfrog, her nostrils flared and for a second Yu Dong that she was going to spew curses like breathing fire when Guo Zian patted her on the back.
Only then did Madam Kong calm down. She breathed twice before exhaling softly, she said, “This is our family matter and there was no such thing as loss. My husband was just taking care of his maternal family because there was a problem. Anyway, he is not a bad mer just a bit generous on the side.”
After speaking she walked away, Yu Dong followed her without saying anything as this was not her family matter, more importantly, she did not like the way Madam Kong was letting Master Xiao step on her bottom line again and again.
So, she did not speak.
There was no way she was going to speak up for a mer who caused her brother to disappear.
Their group didn’t even walk away for more than three steps before the woman behind them sneered and said, “Generous? That mer? Hah! Before saying such a thing you should take a look at your daughters.”
“But then again, he is quite generous with his family. Ahahaha.”
Madam Kong flushed even harder upon hearing the words of the woman but she did not turn back to fight with her. What was the point of fighting when she knew that she would not be able to fight back?
The hole was in her own ship! When the fault lay with her own family—what was she supposed to say and do?
Yu Jiao Yu and Yu Le looked at one another before shaking their heads. They did not make any snide remarks, after all, every family had their own problem.
Their family for one had problems as well.
Madam Kong looked at Yu Dong and apologetically said, “I am really sorry for this. I made you see a joke.”
“It’s quite alright,” Yu Dong said in response with a smile.
Neither of them knew that they were going to see another joke in a while.
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