Chapter 285 Extra Chapter Jiang Yi

“Cui family daughter-in-law, it’s true that a girl who is born beautiful is lucky. Look at your Yulin, he never lets you do these kinds of chores.”

Jiang Wansu sat by her door to get some fresh air. Not long after she sat down, she saw her neighbor, Sister Song, come out with a wooden basin and sit down to wash the mountain of dirty clothes belonging to her family.

"That's right. That Cui family child is a caring person. It's just a pity that he became paralyzed at such a young age."

"If someone can walk and jump, they must be someone important."

"Oh dear, what a pity about that Cui family man. He has a handsome face, but he's useless."

A shout suddenly came from the courtyard next to the Cui family's house.

Then an older woman poked her head out and asked, "Daughter-in-law of the Cui family, you said your husband became paralyzed early on. Is he still able to perform in that area?"

"Our rooms are next to each other, right? But I didn't hear you two making any noise last night."

"Oh, old woman Wang, aren't you ashamed? Eavesdropping on young couples in the middle of the night."

Granny Wang scoffed, "You don't like listening? We're just killing time anyway, might as well chat."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wansu was filled with shame and indignation. She stood up and slammed the door shut.

She leaned against the door, panting heavily.

Looking up, one sees the courtyard rented by Cui Yulin and Cui Cheng. This courtyard isn't really multi-courtyard; it's just four walls and one room.

It is said that all four walls were raised, only the front and back walls were raised, while the left and right walls were shared with the neighbors, not owned by a single family.

Once they opened the door, the house across the street was only a step away; they could see into the house just by raising their eyes slightly.

The last time she went out for some fresh air at night, she looked up and saw the man across the hall staring straight at her from inside his house.

Jiang Wansu was so frightened that she hid back in her room and didn't dare to go out for several days.

Now, leaning against the wooden door behind her, listening to her neighbors' mockery, she suddenly felt a pang of unbearable pain in her heart.

The yard in front of us is only seven or eight steps long. After putting in a table and chairs for the family to eat and a water tank, there is no room for anything else.

Jiang Wansu never imagined that people could actually live in such a place.

She looked down at the only piece of clothing she was wearing, the one she had worn from the Xie family years ago, and couldn't help but feel an itch in her hands and feet.

She gently stroked the fine brocade, when suddenly a bitter taste rose in her throat.

Everything she brought from the Xie family was used to treat Cui Yulin's illness. All the retirement money in Cui Cheng's hands, as well as the gold, silver, and valuables she brought from the Xie family, were used to treat Cui Yulin's feet.

But... he spent all the money, yet there was no improvement.

Now, thanks to his position as the manager of the Xie family, Cui Cheng has found work at a dye shop in the city. But what big shops are there in such a small place? It's just a small dye shop.

The monthly allowance I receive is less than one tael!

The amount of silver was less than the rewards she used to give to Zitang and Xueqing.

But now, that one or two taels of silver has to support the whole family's food and clothing. Occasionally, when Cui Cheng has a minor ailment like a headache or fever, he also needs to get medicine to nourish his body…

She has been living in such dire financial straits for three years!

Three whole years!

She hadn't thought much of it on ordinary days, but for some reason, it was particularly unbearable today.

Jiang Wansu leaned against the wooden door, her eyes suddenly welling up with tears.

The woman had just humiliated her, but Cui Yulin wasn't there; he was in the house doing accounts.

Because of his leg problems, he took on bookkeeping jobs at several small shops, which reduced his income even further.

After deducting the cost of writing materials, even at the best time, one could only earn thirty or fifty coins.

This little bit of money isn't even enough for her to have a single snack every day!

Looking at the hem of her clothes, which was already frayed with fine hairs, Jiang Wansu felt extremely distressed.

Even though she was already the most well-dressed woman in the entire alley.

She wiped away her tears and strode into the room.

Cui Yulin was lost in thought in the room when he saw Jiang Wansu enter and quickly lowered his head to write down the accounts.

Jiang Wansu felt a pang of sadness as she looked at the increasingly thin man, and suppressed her resentment.

“Yulin…”

“Wan Su”.

Cui Yulin put down his pen and ink, a smile on his face: "What's wrong?"

"The osmanthus flowers outside are in bloom, and I can smell their fragrance."

"Yes, it's that time of year."

Cui Yulin said, "You like osmanthus the most, and I used to collect many osmanthus flowers for you."

"yes……"

Jiang Wansu's eyes were filled with nostalgia: "You used to give me osmanthus sachets, and you would buy osmanthus honey for me whenever you saw it. There was also Zhao's in Suzhou Prefecture, and I loved their osmanthus cake the most."

“Every time you come to see me, you hide osmanthus cake in your clothes.”

“You’ll laugh and ask me to guess what I brought today, and I never guess right.”

Jiang Wansu's gaze was unfocused, and she seemed to be looking somewhere else entirely.

After a pause, she said softly, "Actually, I know you brought me osmanthus cake, because you smell of osmanthus on you..."

"It has the unique sweet aroma of Zhao's Osmanthus Cake."

Cui Yulin kept his head down and remained silent.

Back then, he was by Xie Xuchuan's side. Let alone a mere osmanthus cake, even an osmanthus shop would have been bought by Xie Xuchuan for him to run if he had asked.

Those osmanthus honey and osmanthus sachets were all made by Xie's wife at his behest.

He only needs to ask, and someone will deliver the items to him the next day.

Cui Yulin never imagined that after leaving the Xie family, he wouldn't even be able to afford a piece of osmanthus cake...

Jiang Wansu was still reminiscing about the past, but Cui Yulin was getting annoyed listening to her.

But he couldn't show it, after all, he was now a cripple and had spent a lot of Jiang Wansu's money.

The things brought from the Xie family were gradually spent over the years.

Cui Yulin gritted his teeth and remained silent.

After speaking for a long time, Jiang Wansu suddenly paused.

"Yulin, the roof beams are moldy again."

A few days ago, it rained continuously, and the roof was covered with straw mixed with yellow mud. Now the straw is moldy, and the whole house has a strange smell.

Jiang Wansu stared blankly at the dark rooftop and suddenly remembered the time when she miscarried at Tiqi Courtyard and could always smell a chilling stench of blood.

Unable to sleep, she tormented Xie Xuchuan.

Xie Xuchuan would get up and change all the bedding, even the bed curtains and the bed he had slept in for more than ten years.

Her clothes were the same.

She said the smell was unpleasant, and the Xie family would send her many dresses the next day.

Those dresses were all beautiful and quite valuable.

Even when she was in the Jiang family, she couldn't wear such exquisite and luxurious brocade short jackets and pearl-embroidered shoes.

All those good things belonged to her elder sister.

But for some reason, Jiang Wansu didn't care about material possessions at all back then. If she didn't like the finest clothes, or if they smelled bad, Xie Xuchuan would have the maids burn them.

The next day, we changed her into something even better.

Her undergarments at that time were all made of silk, which kept her warm in winter and cool in summer, and were very moisturizing.

But now...

She was left with only an embroidered dress with patches all over the inside, while her undergarments had long been replaced with coarse cotton ones.

For some inexplicable reason, Jiang Wansu murmured, "If Xu Chuan were here, he would definitely burn this room down..."