Chapter 9.9 She looked at Pei Duo beside her husband from her arms.
In her line of sight, a pair of cloud-patterned soft boots were a foot away from her. If she took another step forward, they would touch toes. Jiang Ninghui's breath hitched. Before she could react, she heard Pei Duo call her name.
"sister in law."
Jiang Ninghui subconsciously looked up, somewhat bewildered: "Huh?"
She doesn't quite understand.
Why did Young Master Pei suddenly approach her, getting less than three feet away?
The young man was tall and imposing, standing before her like an immovable mountain. The alley was narrow, with drafts coming in from both ends, and the rustling cold wind made the hem of his robe flutter slightly.
The hem of her sapphire blue cloud-patterned dress brushed against the back of Jiang Ninghui's hand, causing a ticklish sensation.
She heard Pei Duo ask, "Is there anything I can help you with, sister-in-law?"
Jiang Ninghui was surprised by Pei Duo's question.
She gently shook her head: "No."
The young man's deep pupils gazed at Jiang Ninghui, whose almond-shaped eyes were filled with confusion.
After a moment, he took a step back, maintaining the appropriate distance between them: "In that case, let's go back."
Jiang Ninghui still didn't understand Pei Duo's meaning.
She felt that scholars always spoke in roundabout ways.
Back in the courtyard, Pei Duo handed the fishing line and net to Jiang Ninghui: "Sister-in-law, please add some more coal to my room. The hotter it is, the better."
Jiang Ninghui reached out and took it, then looked up and asked, "Young Master Pei, aren't you going in?"
Pei Duo withdrew his hand: "I should go back to school."
Jiang Ninghui was even more confused.
Since Pei Duo is going back to the school, why bother going through all this trouble to go with him?
After Pei Duo left, Jiang Ninghui first took the fish and shrimp into the kitchen, put them in the water, went out to check on Sister Mu's courtyard. The gate was locked, and she hadn't returned yet. Then she went to Pei Duo's room.
After being outside in the cold wind for more than half an hour, her body was numb from head to toe. As soon as she entered the warm room, Jiang Ninghui sighed comfortably.
She warmed herself in front of the charcoal brazier for a while until the heat completely dispelled the chill from her body before adding new coals to the fire.
"Young lady, young lady, are you home? Young lady?"
Mu Hua's urgent voice came from outside the wall.
Jiang Ninghui lifted the curtain and went out, opening the courtyard gate, where she saw Sister Mu holding the child's hand.
Mu Hua breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Jiang Ninghui return unharmed: "I was so scared! I searched for you at the ferry for ages and couldn't find you. I was so afraid something had happened to you. Luckily you're alright, otherwise I would have been in big trouble."
Jiang Ninghui smiled and said, "I also looked for my sister-in-law for a while but couldn't find her. I just came back and saw that the door was locked. I thought you would come to my yard when you came back. I'm glad that Sister-in-law Mu is alright."
Mu Hua: "I've lived here for over ten years, what could possibly happen to me?"
She then asked, "Have you bought any fish or shrimp? If not, I'll share some with you."
Jiang Ninghui invited the person in and told them to sit down in the kitchen: "I've bought it."
Mu Hua glanced at the fish and shrimp in the basin. There weren't many, but it was enough for two or three meals to satisfy her cravings.
Sister-in-law Mu sat for a while and then left. Jiang Ninghui began to clean the fish and shrimp.
She boiled some hot water and used it to wash her hands so they wouldn't get cold. When it was getting dark, she lit a charcoal brazier in her and her husband's room, and also put a few pieces of charcoal in the brazier in Pei Duo's room.
The two rooms, separated by a wall, had vastly different temperatures.
As usual, Pei Duo came back first tonight.
Jiang Ninghui waited outside the courtyard with a kerosene lamp, watching Pei Duo stroll towards her from the depths of the alley. Not seeing her beloved, she knew he would be back in a quarter of an hour later.
The young man walked to the front of the courtyard, staring at Jiang Ninghui's slightly red nose and red fingertips.
Since she arrived, every night when he returned home, he would see her standing outside the courtyard with a kerosene lamp, craning her neck and waiting for her husband to return.
Unfortunately, her husband couldn't see it.
He saw it all.
Jiang Ninghui stepped aside to let Pei Duo in: "Young Master Pei, come in and check how warm it is. I added coal four times today, so it should be quite warm inside."
Pei Duo nodded: "Thank you for your trouble, sister-in-law."
Jiang Ninghui shook her head: "No trouble at all."
Pei Duo lifted the curtain and entered the room. A wave of heat hit his face. He glanced at the fire in the charcoal brazier, which was burning brightly.
This temperature would be quite warm to others, but to Pei Duo, it was like the scorching heat of a summer sun.
In less than half an incense stick's time, a thin layer of sweat had formed on the young man's forehead.
Zhao Zhixue braved the cold wind to enter the house. He went inside to warm himself by the fire for a while before going into the kitchen. He saw that the dinner table was full of food, including fish and shrimp, three dishes and a soup, all of which looked, smelled and tasted delicious.
Zhao Zhixue placed a piece of fish on Jiang Ninghui's plate and asked with a smile, "Did you go to the shop to buy fish today, my wife?"
Jiang Ninghui felt a warmth in her heart. As she ate the fish that her husband had put on her plate, she smiled and said, "We didn't go to the shop. Sister-in-law Mu and I bought the fish and shrimp at the ferry. It's cheaper there."
Zhao Zhixue: "The ferry crossing is far and cold, so don't go there next time. The fish and shrimp at the shop are a bit expensive, but you don't have to go that far. It's okay if you lose money; you can just ask your mother for more."
Jiang Ninghui pursed her lips: "Okay."
Her husband said that, but she didn't dare to actually do it.
Her mother-in-law gives her a fixed amount of food rations each month, and she has to be careful with how she spends it. If she spends more than that, not only will her mother-in-law scold her, but her father-in-law will also reprimand her. He will probably bring up the five taels of silver again, which will only make her feel more miserable and tormented.
Pei Duo put down his chopsticks and glanced at Jiang Ninghui, who was keeping her head down and no longer speaking, as he stood up.
Zhao Zhixue handed Jiang Ninghui a peeled shrimp, and seeing Pei Duo stand up, asked, "Brother Pei, aren't you going to eat?"
Pei Duo: "Yes, I'm done eating."
As soon as Pei Duo left, Zhao Zhixue put some more fish on Jiang Ninghui's plate: "Wife, this part of the fish is the most tender. Eat more, you're so thin."
Jiang Ninghui's eyes were filled with deep happiness: "My husband treats me so well."
Zhao Zhixue smiled and said, "My wife is virtuous and kind-hearted. She is considerate and knows my needs. How could I not cherish her dearly? When I pass the imperial examination, I will make sure she lives a good life. I will make sure she never has to lift a finger and will treat her like a precious treasure."
Zhao Zhixue's sweet words made Jiang Ninghui's heart flutter.
She didn't ask that her husband would take her to a life of ease where she wouldn't have to lift a finger; she only asked that he would pass the imperial examinations and allow her to safely get through this ordeal.
It's getting colder and colder, but it hasn't snowed yet this year.
Finally, at the end of November, the first sleet of the year arrived.
In no time, the road surface had become slippery.
The sleet not only makes the roads difficult to walk on, but if your clothes get wet, you might catch a cold.
As noon approached, Jiang Ninghui took an oil-paper umbrella and went to Pei Duo's room to find the oil-paper umbrella that he had placed next to the wardrobe before heading to the school. There were few people on the road today, making the spacious streets seem somewhat quiet and desolate.
At noon, the red-lacquered gate of the school opened.
The students filed out.
Liang Wentao patted the rain and snow off his body, raised his hand to shield his eyebrows, trying to block the icy shards hitting his face. When he looked up and saw the young woman outside the red-lacquered gate, a very noticeable look of amazement flashed across his face.
She was the young woman he had met two months ago next to Sister-in-law Hu.
She wore coarse linen clothes, loose and thick, yet they couldn't conceal her graceful figure. Her fingers, gripping the umbrella handle, were fair and white. Beneath the umbrella's edge, her beautiful face was as white and bright as snow, and her pair of bright, watery eyes gazed in this direction. Beneath her cross-collared dress was a slender, fair neck.
Looking at this painting of a beauty in the snow, Liang Wentao felt a tingling, itchy sensation in his heart.
For the past two months, he has been preoccupied with some troublesome matters, especially dealing with Pei Duo, which has cost him a lot of money and manpower.
He secretly spent money to send five groups of people, but none of them could deal with Pei Duo. Instead, he was beaten half to death by Pei Duo each time, and then dragged his half-crippled body to ask him for the remaining money.
They hadn't accomplished anything, and he didn't want to give it to them, but those five groups of people were going to cause trouble at their restaurant.
If Dad finds out about this, he'll skin him alive.
Therefore, he stole a lot of money from home to get rid of those people. During this time, he was so busy dealing with Pei Duo that he even forgot about finding a young lady.
With the person right in front of him, Liang Wentao patted the ice crystals off his shoulders and sleeves and walked towards Jiang Ninghui.
He was determined to get her to talk today and find out whose daughter she was.
Jiang Ninghui stood on tiptoe and peered out, trying to find her husband and Pei Gongzi among the students. But a strange figure appeared in her blank gaze. The man approached her step by step. When he got closer, Jiang Ninghui recognized him as the playboy who had flirted with her at the school gate two months ago.
—Liang Wentao.
Jiang Ninghui tensed up, her fingers gripping the umbrella handle tightly, watching the approaching person warily.
She took a few steps toward the crowd.
She refused to believe that this person would dare to lay a hand on her in front of so many people.
"Young lady, who are you waiting for here?"
Liang Wentao approached, forcing Jiang Ninghui to take three steps back. He sized up Jiang Ninghui's figure, his extremely disgusting gaze landing on her neck, as if he wanted to tear off her clothes, making Jiang Ninghui's hair stand on end.
"Don't come any closer! If you do, I'll call for help!"
Jiang Ninghui took another step back, but there was a wall behind her, leaving her nowhere to retreat.
Liang Wentao stared at Jiang Ninghui's neck. With each breath, her porcelain-white skin pressed against her neck bones, revealing an extremely alluring hollow, making Liang Wentao's mouth dry.
"What are you afraid of, young lady? I just want to make friends with you. Why are you standing here?"
Liang Wentao suddenly realized something and a thought popped into his head: "Could it be that your husband is a student at the academy?"
Jiang Ninghui said coldly, "It has nothing to do with you."
Liang Wentao laughed: "How can it not be related? If he is a student at the academy, then he and I are classmates. In that case, I should call you sister-in-law." Before he could finish saying "sister-in-law," a cold, hard wolf-hair brush suddenly pierced through the snow and rain and stuck in Liang Wentao's hair ornament.
The pen brushed against his scalp, and a sharp pain instantly exploded from his scalp.
Liang Wentao's expression changed, and he yanked the wolf-hair brush off his hair ornament, recognizing it as Pei Duo's!
It's him again!
Why does this person always seem to be picking on him?
Liang Wentao gripped the wolf-hair brush tightly, turned around and glared angrily at Pei Duo inside the red-lacquered gate.
The young man stood tall and straight, his once cool and indifferent eyes now clouded with a somber expression.
When Liang Wentao's intense anger and resentment met Pei Duo's almost sinister and cold eyes, it felt as if a venomous snake had climbed up his spine, chilling and terrifying.
"My lord!"
Taking advantage of the opening, Jiang Ninghui slipped out from the side and waved her umbrella at Zhao Zhixue, who was running towards her at high speed.
"Sui Sui!"
Zhao Zhixue rushed out anxiously, grabbed Jiang Ninghui's shoulder, and looked her over from head to toe: "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Jiang Ninghui shook her head: "I'm fine."
The paleness from the shock still lingered on her face. Her almond-shaped eyes, wet with rain and snow, brushed past Zhao Zhixue's shoulder and looked at Pei Duo a few steps away, where they met the young man's deep, dark eyes.
Pei Duo lowered his long eyelashes, glancing at the hands that were holding Jiang Ninghui's shoulders.
It was her husband's hand.
A note from the author:
----------------------
I'd like to recommend my friend's book to you guys; it's already finished!
"A Woman from the Streets" by Wang Lai Xi Xi
Yu Jiangwan fell and died, becoming the youngest daughter of an ancient couple fleeing famine.
Fortunately, the famine was over, but unfortunately, she was married off to a soldier guarding the city.
The man was tall and had a very intimidating face. He was unhappy because he was forced to marry her, and he never looked at her directly or said a word to her. He spent his days practicing weapons in the courtyard. If she looked at him for too long, he would give her a cold look.
The colder his expression, the more she wanted to see. Not only did she see, she even started to touch him, only to unexpectedly discover that the man was not only skilled with weapons, but also in other areas...
Yu Jiangwan was very satisfied with this, but she did not expect the man to have such amazing energy, day and night. She was so frightened that she turned around and ran into the city to set up a food stall, making the man run around and exhausting his vigorous energy. The man did not say much, but at night, he worked even harder than before. Yu Jiangwan had no way to express her suffering.
Days passed by, busy and fulfilling, but the good times didn't last long. The Xiongnu invaded, and the man left behind a letter of divorce and went to the battlefield with the army.
Day after day, Yu Jiangwan's belly grew bigger, but she still didn't see the man. She reached out and wiped away her tears.
If he dares to abandon her and leave her all alone, then she won't want him either.
#######
Zhou Zizheng was following the army in pursuit of the Xiongnu. He thought back to the night before they set off, when the woman in his arms cried and begged him to come back alive. He had escaped death several times.
After his army defeated the Xiongnu, he rushed back day and night and saw the person he had been longing for at the gate of the courtyard.
She was holding her child in her arms, looking up at the man beside her with a gentle smile.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com