Chapter 9 The house collapsed

After buying everything I needed, the sun was high in the sky, the hottest time of the day.

With some time to spare before the agreed-upon time with Aunt Zhang and the others, Jiang Ru found a shady spot to rest a bit longer before heading to meet them.

There was a small stall in front of her that offered letter-writing services; she could earn a few coins for each letter she wrote.

Indeed, cultured people can thrive anywhere, especially in ancient times. There were too many illiterate people in ancient times, and those who could afford to study were mostly from wealthy families. Pei Wu's success was partly due to his parents' willingness to spend money and partly due to his own diligence and hard work; otherwise, he would not have been able to succeed.

As Jiang Ru watched, she slowly walked forward and stared at the person's back.

The man was dressed in coarse linen clothes and had not yet reached adulthood. His hair was simply tied up with a strip of cloth. When Jiang Ru walked over, she saw him writing a line of extremely beautiful characters on a piece of paper.

With swift and powerful strokes, Jiang Ru watched intently.

Pei Wu's calligraphy must also be very beautiful. Jiang Ru had never seen it before, but she felt in her mind that it should be comparable to the calligraphy in front of her.

She stared for a while, and the boy had already written a letter and handed it to the person in front of him. After receiving the copper coins, he weighed them in his hand and put them into the money pouch at his waist.

Jiang Ru leaned closer and continued to stare curiously at the boy's table.

The boy, who was counting money, paused, clutched his money bag tightly, and glared fiercely at Jiang Ru.

A piercing gaze fell on Jiang Ru's face, and Jiang Ru finally sensed that the visitor was hostile. She looked back blankly.

Judging from his face, this person should be just an adult, around seventeen or eighteen years old. He has a sharp and aggressive appearance, with deep-set features and distinct angles. His eyes are like cold, sharp blades, staring intently at Jiang Ru.

His gaze softened slightly when he saw that it was a young girl in front of him.

The girl in front of him was wearing a pinkish-yellow ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress). She had round almond-shaped eyes, eyebrows like emerald feathers, and lips like cinnabar. She looked at him innocently, as if startled, with her lips slightly parted. Her eyes were like pools of clear water, and anyone who saw her would feel soft-hearted.

Realizing he had frightened someone, the young man immediately withdrew his murderous gaze, his expression shifting effortlessly, and asked in a low voice, "Young lady, why are you looking at me like that?"

His voice had changed; it was now deep and affected, making it sound particularly malicious.

This time, it was Jiang Ru's turn to take a step back.

She glanced suspiciously at the boy sitting at the table, then, without bothering to read his handwriting, picked up her basket and ran away.

The boy was taken aback and stammered a few times, but Jiang Ru didn't dare to turn her head at all.

Jiang Ru ran quite a distance before stopping, panting heavily. Pei Wu was right; she shouldn't talk to strangers.

Jiang Ru lifted the cloth covering the basket. Fortunately, the eggs she bought hadn't broken from the jostling. If they had, she would have suffered a great loss.

At first, she just thought that if writing letters could help supplement the family income, Pei Wu could also earn some money in the future.

So she wanted to get closer to see how the boy operated it so she could learn from him later. Little did she know that this observation would almost lead her into trouble.

Jiang Ru patted her chest; she was still panting from running so fast.

We agreed to meet Aunt Zhang near the tea stall. Before long, Aunt Zhang and her group arrived, their baskets full of goods and their donkey tied to its mouth. Together, they carried the goods over.

They led the donkey back the way they came. Halfway there, Aunt Zhang glanced at the darkening sky and said worriedly, "We have to hurry. It looks like it's going to rain."

When I went out this morning, the sky was clear and sunny, but in just a short while, the sky turned dark and gloomy, and it looks like a heavy rain is coming.

Everyone quickened their pace; it didn't matter if they got wet themselves, but it would be a bad thing if their newly bought items also got wet.

After walking a while longer, a white figure appeared in the vast mountains, carrying several umbrellas and heading in their direction.

As she got closer and saw who it was, Jiang Ru was surprised for a moment.

It was Pei Wu; Pei Wu had actually come to pick her up with an umbrella.

Shocked, Jiang Ru looked Pei Wu up and down, momentarily speechless: "Why are you here?"

Pei Wu picked her up, then turned around and walked with them, replying to Jiang Ru's words, "It looked like it was going to rain, so I came to pick you up."

As he spoke, he raised the umbrella in his hand: "Because it was too rushed, I could only borrow two umbrellas."

Pei Wu probably only borrowed from two neighbors before rushing over. If it had really rained, it wouldn't have been enough, but he wouldn't have gotten soaked.

His umbrella became a source of reassurance at that moment, and Aunt Zhang praised, "You're so thoughtful. If it had really rained, we wouldn't know what to do."

Pei Wu politely replied with a couple of sentences and reached out to take the basket from Jiang Ru's hand.

The basket was quite heavy, and Jiang Ru carried it for a long time until both her wrists ached. But she didn't refuse and helped Pei Wu hold the umbrella.

After rushing as fast as I could, I finally arrived at the village entrance. The stream at the village entrance was flowing faster, which meant that it was probably raining in other places.

Even after arriving here, they dared not slack off and continued to hurry home.

Jiang Ru and Pei Wu lived closest to each other, so they arrived home first. Afraid of rain, Aunt Zhang didn't stand on ceremony with them, unloaded their things, waved, and left.

Seeing that it hadn't started raining yet, Pei Wu looked at the umbrella in his hand and told Jiang Ru, "I'll go return the umbrella first."

With that, he walked out the door.

Jiang Ru originally wanted to tell him not to be in such a hurry, since there was no rush to return the umbrella, but Pei Wu had already gone out, so she had no choice but to put the things down and wait for Pei Wu to come back.

Fortunately, Pei Wu returned in time.

Not long after Pei Wu entered the house, a torrential downpour began; any later and Pei Wu would have been soaked.

Dark clouds loomed overhead, making the courtyard extremely dark. Rainwater quickly washed away the mud, and the courtyard became muddy. Jiang Ru stood under the eaves as the rain poured down, forming columns of water as it dripped from the eaves. It was a torrential downpour.

Pei Wu also stared at the dark sky, looking rather downcast. Jiang Ru suddenly remembered the piece of roof that had collapsed on his roof, paused for a moment, and then asked him, "Is your bedroom alright?"

Pei Wu's expression froze. Jiang Ru had guessed right; he was worried about his room.

Jiang Ru observed two seconds of silence for him, then walked over and opened his room door.

It was clear that Pei Wu was already quite skilled. He placed a bucket inside the house to catch the dripping rainwater, but it wasn't entirely effective; at least some rainwater had already splashed out of the bucket.

Pei Wu's room didn't have many things: a desk, books, and a bed. Summers are rainy, but the rain usually doesn't last long. However, it was so dark that Jiang Ru suspected that the rain might be heavy.

She suggested, "Why don't we make room for your books? It would be such a waste if they got flooded."

Pei Wu paused for a moment, nodded, and went inside to move some things.

He first moved the books out, and then moved the desk, clothes and other odds and ends over as well. Fortunately, there weren't many things, and with Jiang Ru's help, they finished moving everything in just a few trips.

Rain makes people feel bad. Jiang Ru sat at the doorway, watching the rain getting heavier and heavier, and her heart became irritable.

She irritably stretched out her foot and bumped into her basket.

Jiang Ru suddenly remembered something, lifted the cloth covering the basket, and found the sugar cakes she had bought among the layers of wrapping.

The sweet cake had gone cold. Jiang Ru took out a sweet cake and handed it to Pei Wu: "I bought this especially for you. Eat it first."

The sugar cake was wrapped in paper and was quite large. Pei Wu hesitated for a moment before taking the sugar cake.

He broke the sugar cake in half and gave one half to Jiang Ru.

This made Jiang Ru feel a little guilty, after all, she had eaten a lot today, and now she was bringing Pei Wu a piece of sweet cake, and Pei Wu would still have to think of her.

Jiang Ru smiled and said, "You can eat, I've already eaten."

Pei Wu did not withdraw his hand, but said, "Then eat some more."

The boy's eyes were as black as ink, which calmed Jiang Ru's anxious emotions a little. She took the sugar cake and took a bite.

The sugar cake had been covered up and then cooled down, so it didn't taste as good as it did during the day, but Jiang Ru still ate it with relish.

After finishing the sugar cake, the rain showed no signs of stopping. Jiang Ru composed herself and began searching for the things she had bought.

First, set the seeds aside, then add the sugar, eggs, and meat.

Eggs are fragile and must be kept in a safe place; meat will spoil and needs to be marinated.

Jiang Ru cut off a small piece to eat tonight, and marinated the rest with salt. While she was doing this, Pei Wu stood behind her, occasionally helping to hand her things.

Marinating meat doesn't take much effort, and Jiang Ru finished it quickly.

Everything was tidied up, and it was time for dinner.

Pei Wu was cooking porridge. Because of the rain, it was very slow to start a fire today, and it took him a long time to get it going.

Pei Wu was cooking porridge, while Jiang Ru was chopping meat beside him. After the porridge was put into the pot, Pei Wu told Jiang Ru, "I'll serve my portion first, then you can add the meat..."

As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Ru shoved the meat in.

Pei Wu stared at the pot with the meat in it and fell silent, while Jiang Ru stirred the pot with a spoon.

Now, the porridge and meat were inseparable, and Pei Wu was determined to finish it all.

Pei Wu clenched his fists tightly.

Jiang Ru exclaimed, "Oh dear! I accidentally put it in there. Cousin, you should eat some too, otherwise I can't finish it all by myself, and that would be such a waste."

Pei Wu was helpless against Jiang Ru, so he silently lowered his gaze and resignedly continued cooking porridge.

After the porridge was cooked, Jiang Ru quickly ladled out two bowls, carried her own bowl back to the main hall, and then carried Pei Wu's bowl in, waving to Pei Wu to come over as soon as possible.

Because of the rain, they moved their meal indoors. The sky was overcast and the room was dark. An oil lamp was lit by the table, and Jiang Ru just stared longingly at Pei Wu.

Pei Wu paused, but still walked over.

He looked at his bowl, moved his hand slightly, and took a sip under Jiang Ru's eager gaze.

Thankfully, she wasn't so stubborn as to refuse to listen to reason. Jiang Ru breathed a sigh of relief and gulped down the porridge.

Shredded pork congee is such a rare treat. Jiang Ru quickly finished a bowl. She had just eaten a sweet cake, and now that she had finished a bowl, she was at her limit and her stomach was full.

The rain showed no signs of stopping, and it was a bad time to do anything, not even recognize characters. Pei Wu taught Jiang Ru for a while, but she gave up because the light was too dim and hurt her eyes.

In this kind of weather, sleeping is the best thing to do.

Jiang Ru looked at the room next door. The wooden tubs could no longer hold up, and the house was likely to be flooded.

Jiang Ru suggested, "Move your bed over there too, otherwise you won't be able to sleep well at night."

Pei Wu didn't seem too keen on moving, but the rain was still too heavy, so he agreed.

After the two of them worked together to move the bed over, Jiang Ru returned to her own room and went to sleep.

Late at night, Jiang Ru was fast asleep when she suddenly heard a loud noise. She woke up with a start and got up to go outside to see what was going on.

The rain that night ravaged Pei Wu's room, and the roof of the house collapsed.

In an instant, Jiang Ru had only one thought: thank goodness Pei Wu moved it, otherwise her cousin might have been crushed to death.

A note from the author:

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