Chapter 39 Wearing Out of Time
After lunch that day, the window repairman arrived.
He was an old man with a bulbous nose that Song Li found from the neighboring Peach Blossom Village.
He glanced at Qian Hutao, who was clearing away the dishes, as he entered the courtyard, and then gossiped, "Your family is eating quite well, there are five bowls!"
Song Li said, "We have a large family."
She, Song Xiaoxiao, and Qian Hutao need three rice bowls, plus two vegetable bowls. Is that too much?
But the old man said, "Look at this bowl of yours, there's not a single chip on it. You must be a rich person."
"Moreover, my family was so poor that we only had one chipped bowl. After one person in the family finished eating from the bowl, the next person could take over and eat in turn."
Song Li chuckled, not believing him at all.
If this person is really that poor, where did the smell of alcohol come from on his clothes?
Don't tell her it's because she's too poor that she borrowed the drunkard's clothes!
After the old man finished his rambling, he started working on repairing the window. He was very slow, and even after he finally finished, the window frame was still crooked and the nails weren't driven in securely.
Song Li argued with him, but the latter not only refused to listen, but also said that the window was originally like that.
When Song Li threatened to deduct money, the old man sneered and said, "I've been watching closely. All the women coming in and out of your house are women. If you don't pay me, I'll sell one of you to a brothel."
The beady eyes scanned the three of them, finally settling on Song Xiaoxiao.
Song Xiaoxiao's face has gotten a little fuller lately, her cheeks are rosy, and her hair is styled in cute double buns with two blue ribbons tied around it, adding to her pretty appearance.
"Let's sell the smaller ones first."
The man with the red nose was from another village and mistook Song Li for an ordinary, weak woman, so he tried to snatch Song Xiaoxiao right away.
Another annoying fly!
Song Li was in a bad mood and was about to take action when Zhao Youchang suddenly walked in through the side door as if nothing had happened.
Song Li was taken aback and stared at him for a while.
She and the Zhao family lived separately in the Song family's old house. She lived in the back yard and entered through the side gate, while the Zhao family lived in the front yard and entered through the main gate. The two families always kept their distance and did not interfere with each other.
Now this guy just stepped into her yard without even asking her!
Zhao Youchang walked in and asked the bulbous-nosed man in a low voice, "Is the window fixed?"
Upon seeing the tall and imposing man, the man with the bulbous nose quickly suppressed his earlier aggressive demeanor, lowered his head respectfully, and said, "It's fixed."
Zhao Youchang strode to the window to inspect the goods.
He frowned as soon as he saw the crooked and cracked window frame.
"Is this all your cooking?"
He was dissatisfied with the local dialect.
The man with the red nose said, "But this young lady seemed quite satisfied just now."
He pointed at Song Li, not blushing at all while lying.
Song Li clenched her fists: "You..."
Zhao Youchang glanced at her indifferently, but did not refute the person with the red nose. He simply said, "What she says doesn't count."
Seeing that the work that had already been completed had to be redone, the man with the red nose immediately became unhappy. He was too lazy to be respectful anymore and asked defiantly, "Who are you to this family?"
Zhao Youchang: "Men."
Those two simple words carried a compelling and intimidating force in the ears of the rural people who revered only strong men.
The person with rosacea interpreted it as the husband, the head of the household, returning home.
He immediately became afraid and couldn't be arrogant anymore.
Resigned to his fate, he repaired the window again.
While repairing, he muttered to himself, "You should have said so earlier. You didn't even show up to fix the house yourself, letting some clueless woman run around doing nothing, wasting my time."
Song Li held her breath and patiently waited for him to fix the window.
"Want your wages? No way!" she said to the person with the red nose.
The latter was neither afraid nor disdainful, and didn't take it seriously at all.
Because in the village, no family is ruled by a woman, unless the woman's family is particularly powerful.
But as soon as he looked at Song Li, he knew she wasn't spoiled. If she wasn't spoiled, it meant she hadn't been pampered by her family. If her family didn't pamper her, it meant she was of ordinary status and didn't have the ability to pamper her—that's how it was in the village anyway.
Therefore, in his eyes, Song Li was just like any other village woman, someone who could be easily bullied.
The man with the rosacea looked expectantly at Zhao Youchang.
Zhao Youchang curled his lips and said indifferently, "Didn't you hear me? No wages."
The man with the red nose froze, then realized something was terribly wrong.
"My lord, I also earn my living by my own strength. I've worked hard all day to repair this window. You can't bully me!"
"I see that all your bowls are new and without any chips, and you even have vegetables with your meal. You're so wealthy, you can't make things difficult for me!"
"I may have been a little disrespectful to your wife, but I didn't look down on you. You can't be unreasonable and get angry at me, can you?"
His words were incoherent and increasingly nonsensical.
Zhao Youchang raised an eyebrow at Song Li and asked with amusement, "Where did you find this idiot?"
Song Li was speechless.
Rosacea clearly misunderstood her relationship with Zhao Youchang.
No matter how patriarchal the social climate is, a normal person wouldn't just sit idly by and watch their wife be looked down upon and humiliated, right?
But the man with the red nose was adamant, saying, "I offended your wife, not you, so why should I be angry?"
"Alright, alright, take the money and get out of here!"
Song Li found it troublesome and paid him the money.
The woman with the red nose quickly accepted the gift, repeatedly expressing her gratitude: "Thank you, madam! Thank you, madam!"
He then realized that there was a powerful side to being unpretentious.
...
After dealing with her rosacea, Song Li thought about it carefully and still felt something was off.
Unable to reach a consensus with Zhao Youchang, she went to find Shen.
Song Li told Shen about her rosacea.
"Sister Chen, don't you think he's being too sexist?"
She was the employer, she paid him, but the man with the red nose refused to work properly. As soon as Zhao Youchang arrived, all he had to do was stand there and show that he was a man, and the man with the red nose would immediately become obedient.
Madam Shen shook her head, secretly amused that the girl had misunderstood the point.
They're not being sexist! They're just taking advantage of the fact that she doesn't have a husband to back her up!
But upon closer reflection, it wasn't wrong to say that men were favored over women, so he said, "Actually, it wasn't like this before. Although this dynasty advocates male superiority and female inferiority, it was far less serious than it is now."
Song Li frowned.
So it's because she wore the wrong clothes at the wrong time?
Why is this happening?
Madam Shen smiled wryly and remained silent for a moment before changing the subject, "You're not getting any younger, hasn't the matchmaker come to urge you to get married again?"
"Mmm."
Song Li also mentioned that she had recently recognized the matchmaker as her godmother and promised to give her 100 coins every month to prevent her from being pressured to marry.
She was just bored; she'd been in the Great Yu Dynasty for half a month and had no friends.
Song Xiaoxiao was too young, Qian Hutao was not familiar with her, and Zhao Youchang... She had many things on her mind that she couldn't tell them, and it felt strange to keep them bottled up.
Madam Shen asked her, "So you plan to keep giving Hua the matchmaker one hundred coins every month from now on?"
“Ah.” Song Li nodded. “Is that not okay? I feel more secure relying on myself than on a man.”
Ms. Shen sighed helplessly.
"Mother! Mother!"
Suddenly, Shen's son, nine-year-old Mei Shujiu, ran in.
"Oh no! The imperial court is going to build another imperial mausoleum! Every household must provide one laborer, and those without able-bodied men must pay five dou of rice!"
Shen's heart skipped a beat. Her hand, which was sewing the sole of the shoe, trembled, and the sole slid into the brazier beside her feet with a "thud." With a "boom," flames shot up and almost burned the hem of her clothes.
The annual tax is due at the end of this month, and the tax grain is already a considerable expense, but now we have to pay five bushels of rice first!
"Where did you hear this news from?" Madam Shen asked in a panic, somewhat unwilling to believe it.
Mei Shujiu opened his mouth, about to tell his mother that the news was absolutely accurate, when the noisy sound of village guards banging gongs rang out outside the door.
Duang! Duang! Duang!
"Listen up, everyone! The imperial court has decreed that an imperial mausoleum must be built in Yuzhou. Each household must provide one able-bodied man. Those who cannot provide a man must pay five dou of rice! Violators will be treated as criminals! Men will be sent to the army! Women will be forced into prostitution! Children will be made government slaves!"
Duang! Duang! Duang! ...
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