Chapter 1: A Girl from Liyang with Embroidered Balls.

In the fifteenth year of the Daqing reign, in Songshan Town.

In the morning, the sunlight falls on me, a perfectly warm and gentle touch. In the second month of spring, when the grass grows and orioles sing, the willows along the dike are intoxicated by the spring mist.

At the temple on the corner of the long street, the smoke from the incense was dazzling, when suddenly a sweet voice rang out, "Achoo—"

"Master—Achoo—"

The willow catkins, like snowflakes, made people gasp in amazement.

The girl looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, with bright eyes and white teeth. A plain silver hairpin swayed with her head, creating arcs. She wore an orange-red vest, a bright yellow jacket and skirt, and a pair of pale yellow cotton shoes that touched the ground.

She rubbed her nose with her slender, pale fingers and asked in a sweet voice, "Master, please take a closer look, when will I finally become rich?"

The old Taoist stroked his beard and said solemnly, "Look at this virtuous woman; her complexion is rosy, and good fortune is about to arrive."

February 15th, a day for praying for blessings. Li Yang grinned and took out two copper coins from his waist and handed them to the old Taoist priest. "Then, I'll trust you one more time."

On the first and fifteenth of each lunar month, she would go to the Xiahai Temple to pray for blessings, and she would always ask this Taoist priest to tell her fortune. He would always give her the same explanation, word for word.

The old Taoist priest smiled kindly, took the copper coin and stuffed it into his waistband, then asked with concern, "Still no news of your parents?"

Li Yang shook his head helplessly.

A year ago, her father went hunting in the mountains as usual, but never returned home. The next day, her mother also disappeared. How could there be such unreliable parents in the world?

"Master, why is the incense burning so brightly today? Achoo—" The wind was bothering her, and she covered her mouth and nose, waving her hands and shaking her head repeatedly. She then turned and ran wildly out of the Xiahai Temple.

Once you exit the temple gate and turn left, you can avoid the weeping willow bank. Heading south along the main street, you'll find the town's largest restaurant, Yanlou.

Li Yang stopped at the entrance of the teahouse, looked up and saw a three-story banquet hall with a wide entrance and an impressive atmosphere. The manager was beaming with joy at the entrance.

She turned around and greeted the people inside the teahouse, "Auntie."

Aunt Fang smiled and said, "Zhaozhao is back, the water is already boiled."

Li Yang's wonton shop was located right in front of Fang's teahouse. After his parents disappeared, he made a living by setting up a few tables, chairs, and a pot.

She greeted customers with a smile, then immediately set up her stall in front of the pot to cook wontons!

Before long, the two small square tables were full of people, and the surroundings suddenly became noisy. Li Yang didn't care about watching the excitement and kept wrapping wontons with both hands, secretly pleased.

Although it was just a street stall, it had a prime location on the main street. She had calculated that if she sold a hundred bowls a day, she could earn a thousand coins. At the current market price, 1,500 coins could be exchanged for one tael of silver, so she could save quite a bit in a year.

Once she's saved up enough money, hehe... just imagining the good life with a family and money, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Lost in her daydreams, surrounded by a cacophony of voices, she glanced around and scoffed. "Wow! There are quite a few people here today."

"Auntie's here! Okay, a bowl of wontons will be ready soon."

Looking at the wonton filling prepared on the stall, Li Yang quickly made a plan in his mind: This afternoon I should talk to Butcher Zhang and ask her to save some more meat filling for her.

Or we could borrow Uncle Fang's cart; we're running low on flour, so we can buy it all together. The Taoist priest said she's about to become rich, so she should buy lots of flour and meat to prepare for the wonton stall's booming success.

She pinched the wontons into the shape of gold ingots, making them plump and round, and threw them into the pot one by one. After a while, they floated to the surface.

Li Yang added a spoonful of cold water to the pot and waited for it to boil.

But today is so incredibly popular! The crowds are enormous...

The Taoist priest was right! Good fortune is on its way!

She was overjoyed as she stirred the water in the pot with a spoon, her eyes fixed on the floating wontons.

Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty! Alright! Ready to serve!

Clang!

A lump of silk was smashed into her wonton pot, splashing soup everywhere! ?! ?! ?

Li Yang was taken aback.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the woman pull her grandson into her arms, still shaken, next to the pot.

Ignoring her scalded hand, she grabbed the silk and yelled, "Who is this! Whose junk is this!"

One pot of wontons makes four bowls, and that costs eighty coins! Eighty coins!

who? !

Which jinx chose this day to ruin her fortune?

Looking around.

Suddenly, a large crowd of people, many women, gathered in front of the banquet hall. They were dressed in red, yellow, green, and purple, each color twisting their waists and tilting their heads, lined up in rows, their mouths open but no sound coming out, all their eyes fixed on this direction.

They were like fireworks; she could hear the firewood crackling in the stove.

Looking up from their raised arms, on the third floor of the banquet hall, stood a person.

The man, dressed in white, was elegant and graceful, like a celestial being descended to earth.

Ahh... Godly brother!

Unfortunately, the immortal brother had his brows furrowed and his lips pressed tightly together at that moment.

Why do you look so gloomy and downcast, like a copper coin?

Hehe, you're such a lucky charm!

Chen Junbo stood atop the banquet hall, his gaze sweeping over the crowd with a cold disdain. The young woman's posture, hands on her hips, as she cursed, hardly qualifies her as a beauty. He turned his head, said something, and then walked away.

Li Yang swallowed hard, then looked around again, but couldn't find the thing that had ruined her fortune. She could only sigh and accept her fate, cursing as she threw the silk cloth aside. She used an iron spoon to pick up the end of the cloth and dragged it out of the pot, feeling dejected!

"girl."

A man stood straight in front of the stall.

Without looking up, Li Yang said, "You have to queue to eat wontons. It's twenty coins a bowl, ten wontons."

After saying that, she wiped her hands on her apron, looked miserable, scooped the wontons out of the pot, and threw them to the two yellow dogs beside her.

The yellow dog, oblivious to the scalding heat, ate with great relish.

The man's voice rang out again, "I'm here to congratulate you, young lady."

Congratulations?

Li Yang raised his eyes and looked at the other person quietly.

The man was dressed in a dark blue silk robe, with a smiling face, and looked every bit the part of a wealthy young man.

She tilted her head, grinned, and slowly raised her hand. "Are you crazy?!" A spoonful of food was already chopped out.

Congratulations my foot!

A whole pot of wontons has to be fed to the dog!

Two yellow dogs at my feet were gobbling down wontons, one after another—forty wontons! Forty wontons! The yellow dogs are having a New Year's celebration!

The man in blue stared blankly, "Miss..."

"Are you asking for a beating?!"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Yang swung his arm and swung the ladle, "Why do you have to bring up something you don't want to talk about?"

The man couldn't dodge in time and was splashed with soup from the iron spoon, leaving ink stains on his body. "Hey, hey, hey, young lady! Young lady, let's talk this out... I came to congratulate you on catching my young master's ball, hey, hey, don't hit me! You caught my young master's embroidered ball."

"Show off your head! Embroidery, embroidered ball?" The iron spoon was swung in mid-air, and she was about to grab the person with one hand, but she stopped abruptly.

She straightened her posture, cleared her throat, and asked, "Explain yourself clearly, what embroidered ball?"

Seeing this, the man in blue picked up the red silk that the yellow dog had stepped on from the ground, looking somewhat disgusted.

The soup dripped down the silk and landed on the yellow dog's New Year's feast.

"The lady you just saw upstairs, my young master is choosing a wife today by throwing a bridal bouquet."

"Divine coins?"

The man looked puzzled and tilted his head in confusion.

"I mean, was that young master in white upstairs just now?" Li Yang finally came to his senses.

The man in blue released his grip, and the embroidered ball fell back to the ground. He said with pride, "Yes!"

"Eighty coins!" A pair of small hands were spread out in front of him, any closer and they would poke his eyes out.

"..."

Li Yang raised his voice, "Eighty coins! Loss money! Eighty coins for a pot of wontons!"

"Hehe, young lady, let me introduce you. My young master is Chen..." The man in blue was not interested in such formalities and only wanted to finish his task as soon as possible.

"Pay up, eighty coins." The little hand jabbed forward again, almost blinding the man. He leaned back and stumbled.

After a brief standoff, Li Yang not only did not withdraw his hand, but also glared at the other party.

No young master, no embroidered ball, no one can cheat her out of her copper coins.

Seeing this, the man pursed his lips, took out his purse, rummaged through it, found the smallest piece of silver, which looked to be about two taels, and handed it over.

Li Yang snatched the silver from his hand, weighed it in his hand, and quickly stuffed it into his apron pocket. He'd made a profit!

In the blink of an eye, she looked at the other person with a smile, her eyebrows curved, revealing a row of white teeth, and two dimples at the corners of her lips blooming like little flowers.

"Hehe," the man also noticed that the stall owner had no intention of giving change, and took a deep breath, "Miss, you just caught the embroidered ball from our Chen family. My young master instructed that the end of the month is an auspicious day for us to come and fetch you."

The man's tone was no longer as warm as before; he was now respectful and impeccable.

The image of the white-clad man on the high-rise building flashed through Li Yang's mind; he had an air of refined elegance.

After a moment's thought, he glanced at the person in front of him and blurted out, "Which young master of the Chen family are you?"

“Zhendong, Chen Family Salt Shop, Chen Junbai,” the man in blue answered loudly.

"Chen Junbo?"

This time, it wasn't just Li Yang who shouted out; the surrounding crowd of onlookers erupted in excitement.

In Songshan Town, who doesn't know Chen Junbai? The only son of the salt merchant Chen family, he became the head of the Lianghuai salt industry at a young age...

"Well, young lady, are you going to marry me or not? If you're not, why don't you give me this embroidered ball? My daughter is of marriageable age..."

It's unclear which older woman started it, but soon everyone around was raising their hands to sign up.

A group of middle-aged women, dressed in gray and yellow, joined the registration line, while the group of brightly colored people from before also squeezed into the crowd, scrambling to get in, completely surrounding her stall...

Li Yang remained silent, lost in thought.

The richest man's wedding is so rushed? What if that red ribbon hits the little yellow dog...?

She couldn't help but glance down at Huang Jia and Huang Yi, who were happily eating at her feet.

Is this young master of the Chen family out of his mind? Although the man in white is quite handsome and seems to have a lot of money, what if he's an idiot...? But since he can manage the salt affairs of Lianghuai, his mind is not only not out of shape, but also very sharp.

"You don't understand, there are always so many rules in wealthy families. If a couple isn't well-matched, you never know whether it's a blessing or a curse..."

"That's true, we don't want any dirty secrets going on in this secluded mansion..."

Li Yang narrowed her eyes. Getting married was inevitable. Chen Junbo seemed to be rich, handsome, and intelligent, making him a good candidate. However, according to the rules of wealthy families, would she still be able to go and find her parents after marrying into the Chen family?

She put her hands on her hips and asked, "Young man, let me ask you, how many people are in the Chen family? Are there any concubines in the household? Are the rules strict? Are they allowed to go out?"

"Cough cough cough," the man in blue, unable to withstand the crowd, braced himself on the stall, "Miss, the Chen family only has the young master and the old lady. Since the old master, they have never taken a concubine. I have never heard of any rule that prevents people from leaving the house... Miss, this marriage..."

The man lowered his head and pursed his lips... In any case, not a single word he said was a lie, but... sigh, for the task assigned by the young master, he had no choice...

His words were like water poured into cooking oil; his lips opened and closed, and Li Yang could only hear them in a daze.

Bubbling and bubbling, the hot water in the pot boiled, and the wontons rolled around one by one, their wrappers bursting open.

The embroidered ball she received just now clearly hit her in the head, but now it feels like she's been slapped on the head. It's unbelievable that such a wonderful thing could happen to her.

Buzzing... Waaaaa...

"Stop arguing!" She stretched out both hands, her loud voice instantly breaking the surrounding uproar, "The Chen family of salt merchants, right? I'll marry them."

A note from the author:

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