Chapter 76 He'd Rather Die Than Leave the Green Hills, He'd Be Madam Shen's Little Follower
Beneath the window, several strings of persimmon cakes, covered in snow and frost, hung on a rope, swaying slightly in the wind. They had dried in the sun and then frozen solid, and when they collided in the wind, it sounded like the sound of ice being struck.
Xie Qi's sudden courage took Shen Miao by surprise.
Even considering her age, though she was born in the body of the eldest sister, she was still three years older than the ninth brother. Not to mention their past lives.
In her past life, she was the only single person left among her friends. Her friends got married and had children, and their group chat was filled with dramas like "My Weird Mother-in-Law," "Haven't Slept Through the Night in Two Years After Giving Birth," and "My Husband Is No Different From Being Alive or Dead." As an observer, she completely shut her heart off love.
Having witnessed too much unhappiness, my own heart had developed a thick scab, which I thought no one could pry open. But to my surprise, Ninth Brother gently and patiently pried it open, little by little.
The elegant handwriting on the canal boat, the rain at the Xie family's house, the order menu on Xue Tao's stationery, the wind they shared at Chunzhuang, the ten copper coins only she and he understood... Ninth Brother said he felt lucky to have met her. Shen Miao also felt that every step she took seemed to be fortunate because of Ninth Brother's family.
With a determined look in her eyes, Shen Miao also raised her eyes.
"Ninth Brother".
She exhaled a little white breath, and the aroma of sweet porridge still lingered between them. Her hands, hidden in her sleeves, were sweating nervously, but her eyes remained fixed on Xie Qi, subconsciously trying to confirm something through his eyes.
Until she saw her own figure become small, reflected in his eyes, clear as two flames, she smiled too.
"Ninth Brother, thank you." Shen Miao then released her hand from her sleeve. Relaxing, she said to Xie Qi from the bottom of her heart, "In this world, when it comes to a man and woman's lifelong commitment, it must first be arranged by their parents and a matchmaker to be considered proper. Otherwise, it is considered disrespectful, shameless, and a secret affair. I naturally know this principle, but perhaps I am naturally unconventional, or perhaps I am a bit thick-skinned. If someone were to send a matchmaker to my door to convey their intentions and propose marriage, I'm afraid I wouldn't give them a good look."
If Ninth Brother were to send a matchmaker to confess his feelings today, Shen Miao would only feel offended and disgusted, and would not want to talk to him anymore. In fact, she had always been trying to integrate into this world, thinking of adapting to local customs and living a life of "going with the flow," in order to survive within the rules of this world.
But there are some things that, even if she were in this world, would remain her "chronic illness," something she is unwilling to cure.
She's been like this since she was little, a stubborn mule. No matter how big or small the matter, as long as it concerns her, you have to ask for her opinion before you'll do it; otherwise, she'll just ignore it like a breeze or a dog's bark.
No matter who it is, it cannot be forced.
In this life, as the eldest daughter of the Shen family, she lost her parents, but still had her uncle. According to the marriage laws of the time, her fate would be decided by her uncle and Madam Ding. If Ninth Brother were to strictly adhere to etiquette, the matchmaker wouldn't even need to come to Yangliu East Lane; they could simply go to Shen's rice shop in the outer city to decide her life.
Fortunately, Uncle Shen and Mrs. Ding weren't so bored as to use marriage to manipulate and disgust her, otherwise they would have no reason to continue being relatives.
Therefore, she was very grateful for Ninth Brother's "rudeness" today. She would rather it be like this today, drinking sweet porridge, admiring the winter snow, and listening to Ninth Brother's heartfelt words without any matchmaker or betrothal.
At this moment, she is at least a human being.
Xie Qi understood Shen Miao's meaning almost as soon as he finished speaking. In particular, as Madam Shen ate the sweet porridge, her eyes sparkled with curiosity. She seemed to wonder how someone like him, raised in a large clan and bound by patriarchal rules, could have developed such a temperament.
He smiled gently, his eyes crinkling into a smile, and said, "Let me tell Madam Shen about my affairs."
Human joys and sorrows are hard to share. Some of the unfortunate things that Xie Qi can now laugh about and make others laugh were actually like sharp knives that cut open his heart and lungs, leaving indelible scars.
Language can indeed kill. Even when he was young and ignorant, he had already heard things like "bad fate", "probably will die young", "judging from his fate, his birth chart is full of misfortunes, with many evil stars, or he may kill his parents".
The younger the child, the more dangerous they can be when they hurt someone. Xie Qi was not close to his cousins in the Xie family because they disliked and shunned him when he was young, and even mocked him behind his back, saying, "You're a jinx, don't let Ninth Brother run into you, or you'll be unlucky for the rest of your life!"
The Xie family had a clan school, and Xie Qi and Xie Su studied there when they were young. However, after only two years, Xie Su became invincible in the clan school in order to protect him, which caused his second and third aunts and other elders from the collateral branches to bring their children to complain to their mother almost every day. It seems that many of the conflicts and grudges between the eldest son's family and the second and third sons' families also started because of him.
But no matter what others said, his mother remained steadfast in protecting him, like a towering mountain. Some clansmen, relying on their seniority, even advised his mother to drown him to avoid implicating the family: "You are still young and already have an eldest son. It would be better to give up this child whose life is full of hardship and who will not enjoy a long and happy old age."
He was already three years old when he began his formal education.
The uncle who said this was hit by a stick by his mother and was thrown out. Unfortunately, the uncle fell down the steps and broke his leg.
Later, things got out of hand, and the ancestral hall was opened to take Mother to be tried and punished. Father was usually weak, but he was extremely tough in this situation. He picked up the Xi family's long stick, and although it was too heavy, he had to lift it twice before he could lift it. But he still bravely stood in front of Mother, who did not even kneel when she entered the ancestral hall.
That must have been the most magnificent moment of his father's life. He said to all the elders of the clan who were glaring at him with angry expressions, "Think it over. If you insist on punishing Chun Jun with fabricated charges, then just remove the names of our entire branch from the genealogy. I don't want that! I... I will go back to Youzhou with Chun Jun, taking Third Brother and Ninth Brother with me. From now on, we will all take Chun Jun's surname, Xi. It's fine."
His father's words caused an uproar among the crowd. The uncles and aunts in the ancestral hall were so angry that they all fell backward, trembling and stammering for a long time, unable to speak. They almost went down to meet the Xie ancestors ahead of time.
Years later, Xie Qi couldn't help but smile as he mentioned it: "I don't remember any of this. It was my elder brother who told me. He said my great-grandmother was quite funny. She seriously asked my father, 'Achong, shall Mother go to Youzhou with you?' My father replied, 'Of course, I am the eldest son, and it is my duty to take care of Mother.' Then my great-grandmother turned to my mother and asked, 'Can Chun Jun's house accommodate him?' This made my mother burst out laughing even in that tense atmosphere, and she quickly replied, 'Yes, it can accommodate him.'"
Shen Miao almost burst out laughing. She never expected Xie Qi's father to have such a personality.
Xie Qi's grandfather was still alive at the time. He was trying to persuade and appease both sides, but the situation suddenly took a turn for the worse. He stood up abruptly, completely bewildered: What happened? His son, daughter-in-law, and grandson were all gone inexplicably? So he quickly stepped in to mediate the matter.
Xie Qi's father was the eldest son of the Xie family line. If he were expelled from the family register, his uncle would become a sinner against the family for all time. After that, the matter was dropped. To avoid trouble, Xie Qi stopped going to school in the clan. His father taught him academics himself, while his mother taught him martial arts.
As he grew older, he began to go out with his uncles from the Xi family to gain experience. His mother said that it was better to fight fire with fire than to sit and wait for death. The more unlucky one was when going out, the more one should go out.
Upon hearing this, Shen Miao suddenly understood.
Why is Ninth Brother different from everyone else in this world? He is as pure and bright as a star in the night sky, clean and beautiful. It turns out that it's because he has parents who don't conform to worldly customs, and he grew up nurtured little by little in their deep love.
"Your parents are so kind." Shen Miao admired and liked the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xie family even more. Suddenly, she turned her head and winked at him. "Then what you said earlier is wrong. All the good fortune in your life should have been used to choose your parents in heaven. Otherwise, you would have been dead before you met me!"
Xie Qi blushed, at a loss for words and trying to explain, but Shen Miao chuckled again: "I know, I know, I was just joking."
Then I felt a little annoyed: she really is a mood killer.
Shen Miao knew, of course, that Xie Qi's earlier assessment of whether he was lucky or not was not meant to please her. He had only lived for a little over a decade, yet he had endured far more suffering than the average person.
If it weren't for such wonderful parents, he might not have been able to survive the harsh and outdated patriarchal system. But even the best parents can only be his support; ultimately, he has to walk his own path in life.
The pain and resentment of "Why me?" and "Why am I always the unlucky one?" are deeply ingrained in his heart, and no one, no matter how close, can take his place. He experienced it all firsthand, which is why he said that he once felt the world was so boring.
The pain was real, the love was real, and he was real too.
Shen Miao suddenly straightened her expression and looked at him solemnly again: "Ninth Brother, I am older than you. My parents are dead, and I have been married before. Although I have a little property, I also have younger siblings to take care of. Compared to you, I have no advantage in any way..."
“None of this has anything to do with Madam Shen.” Xie Qi shook his head to interrupt her, but as he spoke, his face and ears turned red, only his expression remained firm and unquestionable. “As long as Madam Shen is here, I am happy. I don’t care what others think of me. I just think that Madam Shen is good in every way.”
A straight shot that goes in is really frustrating.
Having lived two lives, Shen Miao felt her face burning from his earnest gaze and tone.
Because Xie Qi's expression held the stubbornness and sincerity unique to a young man.
When Xie Qi was betrothed to the Cui family, he didn't understand what love between men and women was. He was just grateful that his aunt didn't mind his shallow fate and was willing to marry the elder sister of the Cui family to him. He thought he should cherish it.
Later, when Cui's elder sister met with misfortune, he did not blame her. No one is born to marry someone else. The words that Cui's elder sister shouted in the pool of blood have always stayed in his heart: "Why has no one ever asked about her feelings, given the orders of her parents and the words of the matchmaker?"
According to current laws and customs, it is only proper to cherish a woman you admire if you first seek the consent of her parents and have a matchmaker act as an intermediary. Xie Qi had never thought this was wrong before.
He didn't marry the woman's parents, nor did he favor the matchmaker. So why did almost no one carefully inquire about the woman's own feelings when discussing affection, love, and marriage? In fact, most people only truly meet each other for the first time after marriage, on their wedding night.
How can one know if a man is a good man if they have never met him before marriage? It is unfair to marry a woman without knowing her appearance, and then take a concubine later under the pretext of incompatibility. The person who should know most about the marriage is kept in the dark, and then they have to live a hasty and haphazard life together.
Don't you find such secular legal principles strange?
Therefore, he did not reveal his feelings on impulse today, but rather these words had been lingering in his heart for a long time.
He adored Lady Shen, so much so that he loved her no matter what she did or didn't do. He didn't know how others felt, but he always felt reluctant to part with Lady Shen. Even though there was still so much time to live, he was always heartbroken after each ordinary farewell.
He easily felt peaceful and happy whenever he saw Lady Shen.
Smelling the fruit and food aromas lingering from Madam Chen's sleeves, he felt a sense of satisfaction and warmth.
He often thought that perhaps his limbs, bones, and lungs had already instinctively fallen in love with Lady Shen before he did.
His physical body was more honest than his heart.
Shen Miao subconsciously rubbed her burning cheeks with the back of her hand, then quickly lowered it, trying to cover it up. Her mind was a complete mess, tangled and unresolved. Just as she was about to flee under those watchful eyes, Xie Qi suddenly spoke again:
“Madam Shen, there’s no need to worry. I know you have a desire not to be confined to the inner quarters.”
He lowered his head shyly, "What my father once said to my mother... actually... I don't think it was bad..."
Shen Miao was stunned for a moment.
What did he say again? She thought hard and her eyes widened – could it be that Xie Qi's father said he could change his surname to Xi?
So, Ninth Brother... Ninth Brother...
"Mmm," he responded softly.
Before today, he had thought about it countless times. He was willing to put Madam Shen first in everything, do whatever Madam Shen wanted to do, be wherever Madam Shen was, and do whatever Madam Shen said.
He didn't seek high office or wealth, nor did he desire to restore his family's honor. He didn't have many ideals or ambitions to realize. He only wanted to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi, preferably with an official position, but it wouldn't matter if he didn't. Then he would be content to be an ordinary citizen, selling calligraphy and paintings or running a bookstore in places where there was a woman named Shen Niangzi.
Through every meal, through every season, amidst the everyday hustle and bustle of life, he would always be the ever-present little tail following behind Madam Shen. That would be enough.
Xie Qi lowered his eyes, his face flushed red to the roots of his neck, so ashamed that his outstretched fingertips trembled, yet he still slowly grabbed Chen Miao's sleeve. Holding her hem, he suppressed the surging heartbeat in his chest and resolutely uttered his vow of a lifetime:
"Undeterred by the green hills, we will stay together."
There was no response from above, and all he could hear, besides his own heartbeat, was the sound of snowflakes being swept away by the wind.
Xie Qi lowered his head, mustered his last bit of courage, and gently shook Chen Niangzi's sleeve from side to side.
She paused, then said softly and with a hint of grievance, "...Okay?"
***
With few customers due to the snow, Ah Tao finished cleaning up the last customer's dishes and piled up a stack of bowls before heading back to the kitchen. By then, Madam Chen had already come in to prepare dinner. She had mentioned early that morning that she would be making "chicken hot pot," and Ah Tao, who had never eaten chicken hot pot before, was quite looking forward to it.
After all, none of Madam Shen's new dishes are ever bad.
But perhaps it was because of the heat in the kitchen, Madam Chen's face was flushed and even her earlobes were pink.
Atao put the bowl into the sink and glanced instinctively into the yard.
At this moment, the courtyard was quiet, except for the dog's head peeking out from under the kotatsu, yawning with its mouth wide open.
"Did Xie's Ninth Brother go back so early?" Atao picked up a loofah bag, poured in some soap powder, and scrubbed the dishes and chopsticks.
"Hmm." A somewhat unnatural response came from behind her as the cleaver clattered against the cutting board while she was chopping vegetables.
After washing a bowl, Atao put it aside and asked curiously, "Why so early today? Usually, Xie Ninth Brother doesn't go home until after dark."
"Ahem." Madam Chen coughed lightly behind him, and her knife chopped the vegetables even faster, as if she was in a panic.
After Atao finished washing the dishes, Fuxing came in carrying firewood. He put down the firewood, patted the snow off his clothes, and said, "It's so cold."
"It's cold, isn't it? It's been snowing non-stop this year." Atao quickly dried her hands. Madam Chen was a very kind hostess, allowing them to use hot water to wash dishes, and even bought her and Fuxing Tang Er lard ointment, otherwise their hands would have been covered in chilblains long ago.
Atao often went out to run errands for Shenmiao, buying rice and vegetables. There was a shop assistant at Taifeng Rice Shop whose mouth was so cold that his hands were frostbitten and bleeding, yet he was still carrying grain back and forth in the heavy snow. It was so pitiful. Atao often saw him shivering from the cold and even lent him some lard ointment to rub on his hands twice.
"Madam Chen! That's candy!"
Fuxing's panicked voice suddenly pulled Atao back to reality, and she quickly turned around to look.
Madam Shen was lost in thought, having poured the sugar into the meat, when Fuxing's shout snapped her back to reality. She quickly tried to salvage the situation.
Fortunately, it's cold today, so the sugar melts slowly, and I managed to pick it out with a spoon.
Atao and Fuxing never expected that Madam Shen would make such a mistake. Since they came to the Shen family, they had never seen Madam Shen make a mistake in cooking, let alone the mistake of not being able to distinguish between salt and sugar!
Fuxing was alright; he only asked, "What's wrong with your wife?"
He believed Madam Shen's stammering explanation, "The fire in the stove was too strong, and it made me dizzy."
Hmm? Atao narrowed her eyes. Although she was young, she had grown up in brothels and had seen many men and women troubled by love. She quickly became suspicious—she hadn't looked closely before, but now that she did, Madam Chen's expression was clearly strange! Very strange!
"Fuxing, you prepare the dishes. I'm going out to check on the kids. Why haven't they come back yet? Be careful they don't catch a cold." Shen Miao shoved the kitchen knife into Fuxing's arms and hurried out.
"Go ahead, my lady," Fuxing replied憨憨地. "The ducks are all roasted today, I'll prepare them."
Atao gazed thoughtfully at Madam Shen's somewhat disheveled back, and stroked her chin.
Madam Shen is really a bit strange.
How embarrassing. Shen Miao quickly walked out of the alley, patting her face as she tried to snap herself out of it.
She was extremely annoyed.
She hasn't confused salt and sugar since she was three years old, but she's really regressing as she gets older—it's all Ninth Brother's fault.
Ninth Brother is acting strangely today! Why did he suddenly say so many things that left everyone bewildered?
Now it's all good. Whenever I think of him, I can't help but recall Ninth Brother's gentle eyes and his hand holding her clothes.
His knuckles were red from the cold, which only made the skin on the back of his hands appear even whiter. Perhaps because of his martial arts training, he did not grow long nails on his thumbs and little fingers like other scholars. He cut each finger short close to the flesh, as clean and neat as he was.
Shen Miao stared at his hand for a long time.
Until I heard him say, "I will not hesitate to stay by your side, even if it means leaving the mountains and rivers behind."
——Is that okay?
At that time, Shen Miao could no longer hear any other sounds. It was as if her eardrums covered the whole world, and all the sounds became distant and blurry. Only her own heartbeat remained, beating like a drumbeat, making her chest ache.
She thought, "I'm finished."
Her sleeve was tugged and swayed back and forth, but her shoulder and arm remained motionless, almost stiff.
Finally, she seemed to give a barely audible "okay," then rushed into the kitchen without looking back.
She didn't even know when Ninth Brother went back, or whether he had heard her.
After escaping into the kitchen, Shen Miao busied herself with trivial tasks.
The chicken for the chicken stew was chopped and washed clean of blood before Tang Er left. After Shen Miao went in, she grabbed some scallions, ginger, and garlic and sliced them. Then she chopped some side dishes. After busying herself around, she saw the drained chicken and inexplicably took it out and marinated it with sauce.
She should have started by frying the ingredients in oil, but before she knew it, she had mistakenly poured in the sugar as well.
Poor rooster, it was Ah Tao who went out to pick it out. It was very strong, and the spurs on its legs were quite long.
Shen Miao was disgusted with herself the whole way, but a carriage, blown by the wind and snow into an ice sculpture, arrived outside the city gate.
Cui Wanniang wore a thick wolf-skin vest and was dressed in Hu-style men's clothing. Even her hair was braided into a round topknot, topped with a mink-fur Hu hat. Her originally sickly and delicate face had grown fuller and more fleshy, and had become rough and dry from the wind and sand of the border, and had become quite tanned.
Even close friends and family members would probably find it difficult to recognize her at first glance.
But she didn't care about her appearance at all; on the contrary, she liked how she looked.
She entered the city smoothly using the official credentials of "Tang Wan," and the carriage slowly made its way through Bianjing, the capital city, shrouded in heavy snow. Holding a bronze pumpkin-shaped hand warmer, she lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, gazing at the snow and at the city itself.
For her, it felt like a lifetime ago.
She braved the wind and snow to come back this time, naturally for the soup dumpling workshop, and secondly, she probably wanted to secretly see her mother.
Because "Cui Yuanniang" had already passed away in that distant nunnery, the Cui family no longer had Cui Yuanniang. Father no longer needed to fear that she would disgrace the family, sisters no longer needed to fear being implicated by her, and she no longer needed to be redeemed for her foolish past.
She now bears the surname Tang and comes from an ordinary merchant family in Bozhou. She only visited Bianjing once during the summer. Her background has no connection with the Xie, Cui, or Xi families.
As for her soup dumpling workshop, it was only by chance that she bought the recipe from Shen Ji Soup Dumpling Shop and was able to start it up.
Cui Wanniang was very willing to be Tang Wan.
Now that the workshop has established itself in Youzhou City, its profits are snowballing daily. This has made Cui Wanniang somewhat dissatisfied with the status quo; she wants to open a second soup noodle workshop. She also wants to discuss with her aunt and Shen Niangzi about launching two more flavors of instant soup noodles, and like Fanlou, give the workshop a name.
They keep calling it "tangbing workshop," which is really confusing.
It was cold in Youzhou, so last month she gave the servants in the workshop a holiday, allowing them to stay in the workshop to celebrate the New Year. She also gave them double wages, made them new clothes and shoes, and distributed quilts and rice. After that, she quickly took a few people and set off for Bianjing.
Fortunately, the canal was not frozen when she set off. She traveled by car and boat, rushing as fast as she could, and finally arrived before the Lunar New Year.
But she hadn't expected to encounter such a setback upon returning to Bianjing—the Xie family had actually moved back to Chenzhou! Travel by carriage and letters was too slow; she was completely unaware of the dramatic changes and significant events that had transpired in Bianjing. The Guo family, formerly a powerful clan, had fallen into complete ruin, and the Xue family was gone too. Fortunately, the Feng and Xie families had largely survived…
Cui Wanniang sat solemnly in the carriage, listening to her attendant, who was carrying a large sword, bend down beside the carriage and tell her the information he had gathered. For a moment, she felt a little lost. Her aunt and mother were both in Chenzhou. If she wanted to go there, she could make it in time, but... too many people in Chenzhou knew her.
Never mind, let's go to Chenji Soup Dumpling Shop first.
Cui Wanniang made up her mind to first exchange information with Madam Shen, and tell her about the account books for the past six months and how much interest she had earned.
Although she had only met Lady Shen once, and only caught a glimpse of her during a banquet at the Xie family, Cui Wanniang felt grateful to Lady Shen every day she spent at the border.
Because of her soup dumplings, she had a new life.
The carriage carrying Cui Wanniang rolled forward, crunching over the snow on the ground, leaving two deep ruts behind it.
The snow fell silently. Inside the Fu Ning Palace, Xi Feijing watched the Emperor and Yue Teng play chess. The palace was filled with the warmth of burning ambergris, and the heated floor made it feel like springtime. He was starting to feel drowsy—he had ridden a donkey from Chenzhou to Bianjing to deliver it to his nephew.
He's freezing to death!
While playing chess, Zhao Boyun brought up the matter of the soup noodle workshop, asking, "Whose recipe is that? I intend to open workshops in other prefectures as well, to supply military needs."
Xi Feijing regained his senses and said, "Your Majesty doesn't know? I heard it was from Madam Shen's family." He paused, then turned to Yue Teng, "Oh dear, my memory isn't good. General Yue, you must have also eaten the instant soup noodles at Shen's, right?"
“That’s right.” Yue Teng nodded and placed a piece.
"Madam Shen?" Zhao Boyun picked up a chess piece and asked Liang Qian in surprise, "Isn't Madam Shen a duck shop owner? Why did she switch to making soup dumplings?"
Liang Qian smiled patiently and said, "This servant forgot to tell Your Majesty that Shenji has always been a soup noodle shop, and only started selling roasted duck in the autumn."
"And there's this connection too." Zhao Boyun felt even more at ease. He placed a piece on the board and laughed, "Although I've never met Lady Shen before, we're old acquaintances! Liang Da Dang, you should go out of the palace later and discuss this with Lady Shen. I've already sold my land to her at a discount. Since she can sell her soup dumpling recipe to others, why not sell a copy to me at a discount as well? That way, I can send people to set up workshops in Yanzhou, Mozhou, and other places. Wouldn't that be a win-win situation?"
Liang Qian bowed and said, "Yes, this servant will go right away."
Xi Feijing remained uninvolved, smiling as he continued watching the Emperor and Yue Teng play chess.
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