Chapter 44 Caring
Lin Anyuan was startled.
Ye Wan stood not far away watching him. She thought she was seeing things, but it really was Lin Anyuan.
Lin Anyuan always wore a long gown when he went out, and this outfit was even more tattered than the ones he wore at home, with a large hole in the knee.
The group following Lin Anyuan walked away nonchalantly, their ears perked up. Lingniang turned to look at Lin Anyuan, but Qin the Big Guy pulled her away.
"What are you doing here?" Lin Anyuan looked down and frowned uncomfortably when he saw his straw sandals with his toes sticking out.
Dressed in such rags, yet carrying a bundle of fine fabric, it's obvious he's up to no good.
He just committed theft. If she finds out, she'll look down on him, right?
After all, every penny she earned was earned honestly and uprightly.
Pshaw, why should he care about her opinion? In all these years, when has he ever cared about what others think?
The sunlight above Lin Anyuan's head was blocked by his straw hat.
Ye Wan looked at him and said, "I'm planning to rent a house in town so I won't have to travel back and forth anymore. I can sell noodles for a while longer. Do you have any connections?"
It's not even that hot right now, so why is he all sweaty?
"You want to rent the courtyard?" Lin Anyuan suddenly looked up.
Ye Wan was taken aback. "What's wrong?" He disagreed?
"Let's wait a bit longer, the courtyard is quite expensive." Lin Anyuan casually looked away.
Then he saw those people who had originally walked away peeking around at the alley entrance, which made Lin Anyuan frown. What were they looking at? Were they all bored?
Ye Wan looked at his unpleasant expression, pondered for a moment, and said, "Alright, will you come back with me?"
We'll talk about it slowly when we get back, including the scar from today. She'll get Lin Anyuan to agree to renting the courtyard.
"I have something to do, I'm not going back." Lin Anyuan felt the bundle on his back was prickly and his back was a little itchy.
Ye Wan sensed something was off about him, but still nodded, "Okay, I'll go home and wait for you."
"Brother, is that your sister-in-law? She's really pretty, but I can't see her face."
"You call her beautiful without even seeing her face? You're just flattering her. Your wife is nice, she's just a little dark-skinned."
After Ye Wan left, the people who had scattered and hidden away gathered together again.
“I didn’t go home yesterday, and she came to ask me if I was coming home for dinner. Women are such a hassle.” Lin Anyuan tossed the bundle in his hand to the skinny man, looking extremely impatient.
Qin Gan looked on with envy, "Your wife feels sorry for you. Brother Lin finally has someone who cares about you. When will we brothers be so lucky?"
He just wanted to marry a wife, children, and a warm bed.
"bother."
Looking at the tattered straw sandals, Lin Anyuan felt a surge of inexplicable irritation and kicked away a pebble.
Those who had been joking earlier didn't dare to speak when they saw his unpleasant expression.
Lingniang glanced at Lin Anyuan and silently followed behind Qin the Big Guy.
These people are dressed so poorly and they're stealing things. Could they be bandits from the mountains disguised as beggars?
The woman from earlier was dressed quite neatly.
Ye Wan didn't look back when she left. Since Lin Anyuan didn't want to tell her what he wanted to say, she wasn't that curious either.
Back at Aunt Cai's place, the old man had managed to find out about a courtyard in a good location.
"Ahem, I went in and took a look at that courtyard. It's a good size, and the three rooms inside are quite nice, but the rent is two taels of silver a month."
The old man felt that he was coughing less today, and speaking seemed less strenuous.
The rent of two taels of silver a month was indeed too expensive, so Ye Wan had to give up on the idea for the time being and take her three maids home.
Ye Wan occasionally responded to San Ya along the way, but didn't say anything else.
Daya tugged at Erya's sleeve, signaling her to apologize to Ye Wan.
Er Ya stubbornly refused.
Why should she apologize? Ye Wan was bought by her father; shouldn't she be trying to please her? Why did she insult her and call her father cow dung?
Da Ya was exasperated. Hadn't they already agreed on this? Why did they go back on their word?
Back home, Aunt Wang arrived not long after.
"I guessed you'd be back around this time."
"Auntie, come in and sit down. Is there something you need?" Ye Wan asked Daya to start a fire and boil water while she spoke with Aunt Wang.
"Is your brother named Ye Yaozu? He's getting married in three days. I heard the bride's family received a dowry of twenty taels of silver." Aunt Wang asked with a gossipy look on her face.
“I have a niece who just married into your village. I only found out yesterday when she came back. Twenty taels for a wife, your family is really generous.”
"They really are quite willing to spend that much," Ye Wan said sarcastically.
Old Mrs. Qian sold three of her daughters in succession, all to help Ye Yaozu find a wife.
The wedding is in three days. Is Ye Yaozu going to become a father by accident?
"Are you going to the wedding banquet for your brother?"
Ye Wan shook her head, "No, I'm too busy at home, and besides, they didn't invite me."
"It's fine if you don't go." Aunt Wang thought of Lin Anyuan's reputation and realized she had said too much. She then brought up the important matter, "I heard from my husband that you're planning to buy all the sweet potatoes in the village?"
Aunt Wang was a little worried. She had bought too many. Would she be able to sell them all? Would they even abandon her family's stock?
In previous years, she couldn't sell her sweet potatoes, and after paying taxes, she ate the rest herself. This year, she finally had some extra income, and she was thinking of saving money for her youngest son's wedding.
"That's the plan, but we don't have enough money on hand."
Ye Wan chatted with Aunt Wang for a while, and after she left, Daya came over and asked, "Mom, how much vermicelli do we need to soak?"
"Don't go tomorrow, let's wait until your father comes back."
Those people said they'd come looking for trouble every day, so we wouldn't be able to do business there. Let's wait and see, and ask Lin Anyuan first.
Ye Wan guessed that it was most likely the wild boar demon who was behind it.
As a result, Lin Anyuan did not come home again that night. Ye Wan tossed and turned and could not sleep. Just then, she heard Da Ya talking to Er Ya in the next room.
“You really went too far today. You shouldn’t have spoken to your mother like that.” Daya’s voice was very low.
"Your Majesty, Eldest Sister, she's not our mother. How can you face your own mother?"
"What does it matter if she's your biological mother or your stepmother? She's good to us, so you shouldn't hurt her feelings." Daya looked at the hair tie around her hair. Even some biological mothers wouldn't protect their daughters.
"I was just telling the truth, she should be good to me..."
Ye Wan listened for a few minutes, found it uninteresting, and went to sleep with her head covered.
I don't know when, but the weather changed and it started to rain.
...
...
"Master, the courtyard has been robbed! And everyone is gone!"
Zhang Fuhu woke up from a nap and saw that the weather was clear. He was about to go to the courtyard to try the "new dishes" when he heard this news.
"I suspect it was the bandits from Snake Mountain who did it. Everything inside was looted. Should we report it to the authorities?" The lackey looked cautiously at Zhang Fuhu.
"Why are those bandits from Snake Mountain coming to our town instead of the county? And why are they going to that small courtyard instead of our main compound?" Zhang Fuhu was furious, wondering if some scoundrel had stolen it.
"Well, I don't know either. It was those old women who were knocked unconscious who told me. Should we report it to the authorities?"
"I'm furious! You idiot, why did you report this to the authorities!"
Zhang Fu kicked the lackey in the buttocks. He said that all the women inside were stolen by him, so who would be arrested if he reported it to the authorities?
"Where's Lin Anyuan? Bring him here!"
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