Chapter 29 Willow

Mrs. Wang glanced at Rong Zhuo who was sitting in a wheelchair and said, "It's good to come here. Although we are in the countryside, we don't have the troubles that you rich people have."

"What does your husband do?"

Chu Sishui, "He runs a pharmacy and was also a juren. Later, his family fell into poverty and he never took the imperial examination again."

When Mrs. Wang heard about the two juren, she was delighted. "Juren are great. We have only had one juren in this area for so many years. But Vice Wang is not up to the task and didn't even get an official position. Now he is even worse than a farmer."

After that, she said embarrassedly, "I'm not talking about you. Looking at your husband's condition, if nothing happened, he would have been a top scholar. I forgot to ask, what's your surname?"

Chu Sishui said, "My last name is Chu, and my husband's last name is Rong. Just call me Xiao Chu."

The two of them talked as they walked, which attracted many people's inquiring gazes. Yesterday, no one was too embarrassed to look at them, but today, looking at Rong Zhuo sitting in a wheelchair, everyone stared at him like a giant panda in the zoo.

Chu Sishui saw Rong Zhuo frowning, "They should have no ill intentions."

Mrs. Wang also explained, "Mr. Rong, please don't be upset. They probably have never seen such a beautiful face. Farmers stay in the countryside all year round and it's rare for them to see a stranger."

Sure enough, when the people around heard that Rong Zhuo was a juren, their eyes became more curious and enthusiastic, but there was no malice in them.

Chu Sishui whispered in her ear, "Husband, don't worry, they probably don't care about your legs."

Rong Zhuo's clenched hands loosened again.

Looking around carefully, he saw that the men and women here glanced at him briefly without any disgust, and then went about their own business.

Chu Sishui saw that Wang Pozi was struggling to walk, "Grandma, why don't you take a rest? We can just go for a walk by ourselves."

Mrs. Wang nodded. "I'm old, and my legs and feet are not very useful. I'll take you for a walk next time. If you have a chance, come to my house and sit down. Country people don't have so many rules."

Chu Sishui smiled and said goodbye, "Okay."

I pushed the wheelchair and continued forward. Along the way, I heard the hawking of various chickens, ducks, and fish. The roadside vendors also sold some wild vegetables and seasonal fruits, which were probably all grown by themselves.

Chu Sishui walked towards a stall selling particularly juicy peaches.

Wang He had heard that a wealthy family had moved in early in the morning, and when he saw the two of them like this, his eyes almost popped out. He also heard the lady ask for some peaches, so he quickly picked out a few of the biggest and reddest ones and said, "Madam, take them and try them. They are all grown by ourselves, and they are not worth much."

Chu Sishui thanked him for his kindness and estimated the price and gave him a few copper coins.

She naturally put the wrapped peaches on Rong Zhuo, and bought a lot of country specialties one after another, such as bean cakes, almond cakes, and plums.

Rong Zhuo's legs were slowly filled up.

Chu Sishui saw that he was looking around now, without any restraint as before, "Husband, is there anything you want to buy?"

Rong Zhuo retracted his gaze, "No."

Chu Sishui smiled and quickly bought the straw bird he had been eyeing for a long time. "Husband, look at this craftsmanship."

Rong Zhuo held the things on his body with one hand and took it with the other hand, "It took some thought."

"We've already looked at this street, let's go to the one on the right."

Rong Zhuo had no objection. The two of them walked and stopped in front of a stall selling day lilies. "Husband, do you eat day lilies?"

Rong Zhuo looked at the woman selling vegetables and said, "If you want to eat, just buy it."

Chu Sishui didn't bother to be polite with him and bought two kilograms of day lilies. Just as she was about to put them on his legs, she ran into trouble because he was already full of them.

Aunt Wang, who was selling vegetables, smiled and said, "If you two don't mind, just leave them here with me and I'll bring them to you later."

Chu Sishui thought about it and thought it was okay, but she was afraid that the lady lived far away and she would have to hurry on her way. "My home is in front of Mr. Xu's yard. Is your home far away? Don't delay your return."

Aunt Wang waved her hand and smiled, pointing to the big willow tree in front. Under the willow tree, a remote house stood there all alone. "That's my home. It's very close."

The big willow tree was the reason why the two of them came here. This time it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He gave Rong Zhuo a few copper coins for travel expenses and pushed him under the willow tree.

"Husband, look at this willow tree. It's so big that four or five people may not be able to hug it." After saying that, she went to hug it. She was thin and at this moment, she was not even one-third the size of the willow tree.

Rong Zhuo felt the touch of the wind and looked down from this high place. He saw the street they had walked on before. On the right side of the street were farmlands. Some people were harvesting late rice. The gray-yellow rice grains were hanging low. The people in the fields were busy and would straighten up from time to time to say a few words to people in the distance.

Some children were playing and rolling on the dried straw. Their laughter came with the wind. Rong Zhuo felt the leisure and peace that he had not experienced for a long time.

Chu Sishui was still observing the big willow tree next to her. With her sharp eyes, she saw a bird's nest on the dense branches and climbed up the trunk curiously.

Rong Zhuo turned around and saw her sitting on the tree trunk. He was anxious, "Come down quickly, what if you fall?"

Chu Sishui pretended not to hear and climbed up a few steps fearlessly. She pushed aside the willow branches and looked at the eggs in the bird's nest. "Husband, there are eggs here."

"Come down quickly. There's a canal below."

Seeing that he was urging her to leave, Chu Sishui looked at the bird's nest reluctantly, crawled down a few steps, and then jumped down.

Rong Zhuo's heart tightened immediately. He didn't care about the things on his body. He supported himself with his hands and said angrily, "What are you doing?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Sishui jumped hard and landed steadily. "It's just this high, how could you fall on me?"

She looked up and saw that he really looked frightened, so she stood up and walked closer, "Husband. I'm fine."

Rong Zhuo sat down again and picked up the things on the ground silently. Chu Sishui helped him pick up the things while stealing glances at him. She saw that he was really mad at her.

I hurriedly explained, "It's not that I don't listen to you, it's just that I often climb trees at home, and this height is not a problem for me."

Rong Zhuo didn't blame her at all, he blamed himself for being powerless. If he was a normal person, he could catch her when she jumped down like a normal person, but this useless leg made him lose so many things he could do.

Seeing his sad eyes, Chu Sishui wanted to slap herself. Why was she climbing a tree when she was fine? She moved closer and held his hand. "Little Moon, don't be like this. You have done a lot for me. You even accompanied me shopping today. You don't know how happy I am. I was afraid that you would refuse and didn't want to go out. Now you have done very well. Those men with healthy legs may not have accompanied their wives shopping or bought expensive things for their wives. You see, I have gained a lot, right? All of these are given by you."

Rong Zhuo looked at the sincerity in her eyes and said seriously for the first time, "Don't do anything dangerous next time. What if something goes wrong?"

Chu Sishui saw that he finally turned the page and nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

Wang Jian saw the couple at the beginning. He was afraid of disturbing them, so he didn't say anything. However, the two of them had a deep relationship and the woman never backed down even though the man had a disabled leg.

This rare true love brought some warmth to his heart, even though he failed in the autumn imperial examination and his marriage was postponed by Wang Qingqing's father.

Then he walked out unconsciously.

When Chu Sishui saw someone coming, she pushed her wheelchair and was about to leave, but the person stopped her.

"Madam, please stay."