Chapter 201 A Perfect Couple

An oxcart travels along the streets of Hekou Town.

When they reached a fork in the road, Cao Yingying said, "I'll go that way first."

Zhao Ergou knew she had come to Hekou County to investigate the Cao family's affairs, but as a boy who grew up in a village, he didn't know how to help.

But he was a little worried about leaving her alone.

Cao Yingying explained, "I'm going to find the maid who used to serve me; her parents live over there."

This maid had grown up with her since childhood. She first made contact with the maid, and then asked the maid to help her investigate some clues in the Cao family mansion...

She started walking into the alley.

Zhao Ergou noticed that she was walking with a limp.

The journey from Dahe Village to Hekou Town takes an hour. As a young lady from a wealthy family, she had probably never walked such a distance before. Her feet must have been blistered, but she managed to endure it without uttering a sound.

He said, "I have a lot of stock this time, so I might need someone to help me. How about this, you help me out, and after I sell these, I'll help you check the information, okay?"

Cao Yingying shook her head.

She had stayed at the Zhao family's house for so many days and had bothered them for too long. The Cao family's affairs were too complicated, and she didn't want the Zhao family to get involved.

This morning, Aunt Zhao asked her if she needed any help, but she refused outright.

There are some things she has to face alone.

"You can't even walk properly, how could you find out any information? Come up here in an oxcart!"

Without saying a word, Zhao Ergou grabbed Cao Yingying and forced her onto the oxcart.

His hand landed on Cao Yingying's shoulder, and the girl's cheeks flushed red as she glared at him angrily.

Zhao Ergou let go of her hand: "Sit still, let's go to Baiyun Town first!"

Baiyun Town is not far from Hekou Town, about half an hour away. When we arrived at Baiyun Town, it was already past 9 AM.

The oxcart didn't go into the city, but instead went to the villages near the city. The goods it brought in were mostly coarse linen and a small amount of fine linen, and its target customers were farmers.

He visited a nearby village the day before yesterday. The coarse cloth cost three coins a foot, and the villagers spread the word, so many people knew about it.

As soon as the oxcart stopped at the village entrance today, the villagers spread the word, and soon a lot of women and old women came to buy cloth.

Zhao Da was in charge of unloading the goods, Zhao Ergou was in charge of selling the cut fabric, and Cao Yingying was in charge of collecting and counting the money.

"Oh my, this young wife is so pretty, and she counts money so well." An old woman in the village looked at Cao Yingying with great affection. "Why isn't my eldest grandson so lucky to have such a beautiful wife?"

"This young man is also handsome. The two of them standing together look like a golden couple from heaven."

Several women around them teased her, and Cao Yingying's face turned bright red, as did Zhao Ergou's ears.

"Sisters, you're joking. These two children are cousins."

Zhao Da chuckled and explained that he was a quiet and honest person who didn't dare to talk to city people, but he dared to talk to these women who were also from the village.

The women chimed in, "Cousins, they make a perfect match! Wouldn't that strengthen family ties?"

Zhao Ergou blushed deeply and quickly handed over the cloth, saying, "Here is sixteen feet of cloth. Please take it, auntie."

Cao Yingying also changed the subject: "Auntie, this color makes your skin look fairer, would you like to buy a few feet?"

The three worked together very well, and in less than half an hour, the oxcart was half empty.

Several hundred bolts of cloth were not enough for one village, so Zhao Da drove the oxcart to two nearby villages and sold them all.

Zhao Ergou had a sum of eighty or ninety taels of silver in hand, of which more than thirty taels were net profit.

By this time, it was past noon.

The group returned to Hekou Town by oxcart.

Zhao Ergou originally wanted to treat the two to a delicious meal at Zuixianlou, but Zhao Da refused no matter what. Cao Yingying knew that the Zhao family was not wealthy, so she also did not want to go to Zuixianlou. In the end, the three of them sat at a wonton stall by the roadside and each ordered two bowls of wontons... Zhao Da and Zhao Ergou had large appetites, and it took them two bowls of wontons to feel 80% full, while Cao Yingying, a woman, could not eat two large bowls at all.

She pushed the wontons in front of Zhao Ergou: "You can have this bowl."

Her pale fingers rested on the rim of the bowl, like freshly pulled scallions from the ground, and Zhao Ergou's face involuntarily turned red.

Zhao Da looked at him in surprise: "Er Gou, what's wrong with you? Your face is so red, do you have a fever?"

"N-nothing."

Zhao Ergou lowered his head and ate the third bowl of wontons, then quickly got up to buy a few sesame seed cakes and stuffed them into Zhao Da's stomach.

He told Zhao Da to wait at the city gate, while he and Cao Yingying went to the house of Cao's maid.

It was midday, and there were few people on the street. Many vendors were drowsy, and when you went into the alley, you couldn't see a single person.

Zhao Ergou and Cao Yingying walked side by side. At first, nothing seemed amiss, but as they walked, everyone disappeared, and the atmosphere suddenly became a little strange.

"you……"

"I……"

The two spoke at the same time, and then both stopped talking, making the atmosphere even more awkward.

"Ahem!" Zhao Ergou scratched his chin. "It seems like this alley has come to an end."

Cao Yingying said somewhat awkwardly, "I've only been here once, and I don't remember it very clearly. Maybe...maybe it's in an alley over there."

The two retreated from the alley and walked into another alley. Just as they entered, a carriage walked in from the alley entrance.

Cao Yingying suddenly grabbed Zhao Ergou's arm and whispered, "This is the Cao family's carriage!"

On the side of the Cao family's carriage wheels, there is a small "Cao" character engraved, which is their mark.

Zhao Ergou pulled Cao Yingying to hide behind the side wall: "Let's see what's going on first."

The carriage slowly drove in and stopped at the gate of a courtyard. The curtain was lifted, and a beautiful woman stepped out.

"It's Hongyu!" Cao Yingying exclaimed with delight. "Hongyu and I grew up together. When I escaped from the Cao family, it was all thanks to her help..."

Zhao Ergou grabbed her and calmly said, "Since she was your personal maid and secretly helped you escape the marriage, why was she completely unharmed after you disappeared? Why was she able to ride in the Cao family's carriage and return home so openly?"

His words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Cao Yingying's head.

Her lips suddenly turned pale: "When Hongyu served me, my stepmother hadn't even entered the house yet, so she couldn't possibly be my stepmother's person..."

“People die for money, birds die for food. As long as your stepmother can afford it, there are plenty of people willing to risk their lives.” Zhao Ergou pressed her shoulder. “You stay here and hide. Don’t come out. I’m going to find out what’s going on.”

Cao Yingying nodded slowly and said softly, "Be careful."

Zhao Ergou walked out from the side wall and approached the carriage step by step. Before long, he started talking to the driver.

Cao Yingying was hiding quite far away and couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see the smile on Zhao Ergou's face, and her uneasy heart suddenly calmed down.

She suddenly felt a sense of relief, relieved that she wasn't alone.

If she came to find Hongyu alone, she would probably become a lamb delivered to the door, at the mercy of her stepmother.

She finally understood why Hongyu had kept urging her to escape.

Now she finally understood why she was able to successfully escape from the heavily guarded Cao family on the eve of her wedding.

She finally understood why she was sold to a brothel as soon as she escaped from the Cao family.

Forcing her into marriage was a scheme, making her run away was also a scheme, and selling her to a brothel was the final step in this scheme.

The stepmother hadn't anticipated that she would be rescued by Zhao Ergou and Shen Zheng.

As Cao Yingying pondered, Zhao Ergou returned.