Hearing Han Yiyi's words, Da Niu's movements noticeably quickened.
After leaving the two little ones at Aunt Zhang's house, Han Yiyi went to the village entrance. Usually, Old Man Wei would wait for people going to town at the village entrance. When Han Yiyi arrived, there were already two women on the oxcart, each carrying a basket carefully. It looked like the baskets contained eggs, which they were probably taking to town to sell.
"Old Wei, hurry up and go. It's already this late. I don't think he's going to town yet. If you stay any longer, I won't be able to sell any of my eggs."
As soon as Han Yiyi got on the oxcart, she heard one of the women urging Old Man Wei on. Hearing the woman's urging, Old Man Wei also looked anxiously towards the village and muttered to himself.
"We agreed to go to town today, but why is there still no sign of him at this hour..."
After waiting for the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, the woman from before was clearly getting impatient. Just as she was about to urge them again, she heard Old Man Wei speak up.
“They’ve arrived…”
As soon as Old Man Wei finished speaking, a man in a long robe was seen helping a woman with a round face walk over from not far away. Han Yi looked up and cursed his bad luck. Who else could it be but Fan Ting and his new wife Ye Cuihua from town?
When Ye Cuihua saw Han Yiyi on the oxcart, she was stunned for a moment, then looked away with disgust. When Fan Ting saw Han Yiyi in her new clothes, he frowned slightly and then also looked away with disgust.
Seeing the two of them, Han Yi thought to herself, "They really are a pair of scoundrels. Even their expressions are the same." If Han Yi didn't have important business to attend to today, she probably would have kicked them both off the oxcart right now.
To keep her distance from the two, Han Yiyi specially switched places with the woman who had boarded the oxcart first, and then spat out of the oxcart again, saying.
"What bad luck..."
“Brother Ting, look at her…”
Fan Ting naturally noticed Han Yiyi's actions, but he didn't expect that the person who used to treat him like a mouse before a cat would act like this now. Just as he was about to start cursing, he heard Old Man Wei ask.
"Scholar Fan, are we heading back to the academy?..."
Upon hearing the title "Scholar Fan," Fan Ting seemed to suddenly realize that his status was different now, and that speaking to someone like Han Yiyi would lower his own status. Therefore, he glanced at Han Yiyi with disdain, and then looked at Old Man Wei with the same disdain and spoke.
"Now that I am a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examination), I no longer need to go to the academy. Moreover, with my knowledge, I only need to wait to participate in the autumn examination to pass the provincial-level imperial examination and become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examination)..." He said this with eyes full of pride and arrogance, as if he was no longer a Xiucai but had become the Zhuangyuan (the top scholar in the county-level imperial examination).
Han Yiyi looked at Fan Ting with utter bewilderment. Wasn't it said that becoming a scholar in ancient times was extremely difficult? How could someone like Fan Ting pass the exam? He must have hit the jackpot.
Upon hearing Fan Ting's words, Old Man Wei quickly smiled and echoed his sentiments.
"Yes, if our village produces a top scholar in the future, people will look up to us. If Scholar Fan becomes successful, don't forget about us villagers..."
Fan Ting was so pleased with Old Man Wei's few words of praise that he had long forgotten the unpleasantness with Han Yiyi earlier. Seeing the two of them get out of the car, Old Man Wei called out to Han Yiyi and said something in a rather earnest tone.
"Han family girl, when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Now you're all alone with two children, and the Fan family boy has passed the imperial examination and become a scholar. You can't afford to offend him. You'd better be more patient when you meet him in the future..."
Han Yiyi knew that Old Man Wei was doing it for her own good, so she quickly smiled and agreed. However, as Han Yiyi turned to leave, she heard Old Man Wei muttering again.
"Sigh, this world is so unfair, it's always the good people who get bullied..."
Han Yiyi went to the pork stall where she had sold pork before. The stall owner, surnamed Li, was a middle-aged, chubby man who greeted Han Yiyi with a smile.
"Hey little sister, you're here again. How much pork do you want to buy today...?"
“I’m not buying pork today, I want these…” she said, pointing to several pig intestines placed to the side.
Upon hearing that Han Yiyi wanted large intestines instead of meat today, Butcher Li's smile widened.
The butcher charged Han Yiyi eight copper coins for several large intestines. Han Yiyi also made an agreement with Butcher Li that he would save all the large intestines for her in the future. Watching Han Yiyi's departing figure and looking at the large intestines that she had already taken from the table, Butcher Li's lips curled up and never fell. These large intestines were something that was usually given away as a free gift and no one wanted them. He never thought that they could be sold for money now.
Han Yiyi bought another wooden bucket and some star anise and bay leaves from the pharmacy. Actually, Han Yiyi still used the braising spice packet from the system when braising large intestines. The reason for buying these things was just to cover up the truth.
On the way back, Han Yi didn't see Fan Ting and his wife. As she got closer, she vaguely heard Old Man Wei talking to the people on the oxcart. It turned out that the two of them had gone to Ye Cuihua's house to discuss their marriage.
After Old Man Wei finished speaking, he turned around and saw Han Yiyi. A hint of worry flashed in his eyes, but seeing that her face was normal, he breathed a sigh of relief.
When I got home, I first went to Aunt Zhang's house to pick up the two little ones, and then went back to process the large intestines. Because I was worried that braising them at night would affect the taste the next day, I cleaned them first and then marinated them with salt.
The next morning, at the beginning of the Yin hour, Han Yi got up and worked for more than an hour before she finally got everything done.
To make it more flavorful, Han Yi added some more braising liquid to the wood. Just as she put the large intestine into the wooden bucket, she heard Da Niu's voice outside the kitchen.
"Sister Yi, my mother asked me to come and see if there's anything I can help you with..."
Seeing Da Niu carrying his wooden bucket and walking briskly towards the village entrance, Han Yiyi quickly picked up the necessary items and the bamboo skewers she had prepared beforehand and followed him.
Today, Old Man Wei's oxcart only has Han Yiyi and Da Niu, along with Han Yiyi's large intestine and Da Niu's more than ten bamboo pillows.
Because there were few people, the oxcart moved quickly and arrived in town in just one hour.
Han Yiyi had chosen the location for her stall the day before. It was right at the street corner, where people were coming and going. There was a stone table on the ground, but it was very dirty. Han Yiyi took out her patched clothes and wiped it clean before placing the wooden bucket on it and starting to call out her wares...
"Braised large intestine, delicious and flavorful braised large intestine, try it before you buy, if you don't like it, you don't have to pay..."
Da Niu was still tidying up his bamboo pillow when he was startled by Han Yiyi's hawking voice and looked at Han Yiyi with disbelief.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
