"Grandma, everything's packed! Let's go!"
Shen Yuan threw the last bundle into the carriage and called out to Granny Liu, who was standing at the courtyard gate.
Standing outside the fenced courtyard, looking at the place where she had lived for fifteen years, Granny Liu felt a pang of reluctance.
She sold the chickens and ducks in the yard, as well as the mud house and fields, for money she could take with her on her journey. The rest she couldn't take were things she could let go of.
After calming down, Granny Liu was helped into the carriage by Shen Yuan.
Just as the two got into the carriage, the Zhu couple suddenly arrived with the villagers, each carrying various things, trying to stuff them into Chen Yuan's carriage.
Shen Yuan quickly stopped her, "Auntie, the carriage I rented is too small to carry all this stuff. Grandma and I appreciate your kindness, but please take all this stuff home!"
"You two have done so many good things for the village over the years. Now that you're leaving, we absolutely must give you some things to take with you. How can you refuse the kindness of your elders? Please accept them!"
Seeing the villagers say this, Shen Yuan could no longer refuse and had no choice but to accept them all.
"Yuanyuan, this is a new dress your aunt made for you. Remember to wear something warm in this cold weather!" Standing at the back of the crowd, Tian stretched out her arm and laboriously stuffed the clothes she had sewn herself into Shen Yuan's hands.
Zhao Dayong has been imprisoned. Shen Yuan has done her a great favor, and this is all she can do now.
Shen Yuan opened the package and found a set of blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress). The cut was neat and the stitching was dense. Although it was made of ordinary coarse cotton fabric, the blue dye was rare and much more expensive than ordinary fabric.
Shen Yuan could sense Tian's gratitude. She smiled at Tian and said, "This outfit is really beautiful. I like it very much. Aunt Tian, now that it's autumn, we need to clear the weeds in the yard so they don't sprout next year."
Ms. Tian said "okay".
Shen Yuan waved goodbye to the villagers again, then climbed into the carriage and lowered the curtain, shutting out all the sadness and reluctance of parting.
When the carriage reached the village entrance, the driver suddenly let out a long sigh and pulled the horse to a stop.
Shen Yuan was jolted by the sudden stop of the carriage. She quickly grabbed the window to steady herself, then turned around and, with Liu Mama's help, called out to the outside, "What happened?"
Before the coachman could answer, the carriage curtain was suddenly lifted from the outside.
Chu Yuning stood beside the carriage, her deep eyes fixed on Shen Yuan.
He heard that Shen Yuan was leaving, so he waited under the old locust tree at the village entrance early in the morning. He didn't know why he wanted to come here, but he still came, and even stopped Shen Yuan's carriage.
But when the carriage was stopped, Chu Yuning didn't know what to say. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke: "Before you leave, don't you have anything you want to say to me?"
He would forgive Shen Yuan for the harm she had caused him and his family during this time, as long as she said sorry.
Shen Yuan's face instantly turned cold. "A good dog doesn't block the way, get out of the way!"
Upon hearing this, Chu Yuning's hand gripping the carriage curtain bulged with veins. He held on tightly, seemingly trying his best to suppress his anger.
But Shen Yuan raised her hand and pulled down the curtain from his hand, and ordered the coachman, "Mount the horse!"
The coachman cracked his whip and lashed the horse, which immediately bolted, knocking Chu Yuning, who was standing beside the carriage, to the ground.
Granny Liu leaned out of the car window and spat at Chu Yuning, who was left behind in the back of the car.
"Scholar Chu, don't be like those lovesick men and women, pestering our Yuanyuan endlessly. Our Yuanyuan said she doesn't want you anymore, and that means it. Don't shamelessly come near us again, or next time I'll slap your fair face until it's red and greasy!"
Chu Yuning's face turned extremely ugly after being mocked by Granny Liu.
The horse's hooves kicked up clouds of dust, which splashed all over Chu Yuning's face, and even his freshly washed hair was covered in dust.
Granny Liu chuckled as she closed the window. "That boy's face is covered in mud, it's hilarious!"
Shen Yuan smiled upon hearing this, looked down at the storybook in her hand, and began writing on it stroke by stroke with a charcoal pencil.
Chu Yuning asked her what she wanted to say to him, and she said that everything she wanted to say was written in this storybook.
Once they entered the city, he knew what she wanted to say.
The carriage moved quickly, and Shen Yuan and Granny Liu entered the city around noon. The coachman stopped the carriage in front of a shop and helped unload the things from the carriage.
Shen Yuan had already found a shop in the city and paid the rent several days ago.
The shop she chose was located on a corner of the city's busiest street. Although the location wasn't the best, it had the advantage of being spacious. The shop had two doors and two floors, with a small courtyard at the back. It was fully equipped with a kitchen, outhouse, and well, so that the family could not only run a business there but also live there.
So when she heard that the landlord wanted twenty taels of silver a year, Shen Yuan didn't haggle and paid a year's rent directly to secure the lease.
Having money is the greatest source of confidence for a person to survive in this world!
Granny Liu was also very satisfied with the shop. She put all the pots, pans, and utensils she brought from Chu Family Village into the kitchen and busied herself with them. "This kitchen is so big! There are two stoves, so I can cook and stew soup at the same time! I love it!"
Seeing that Granny Liu adapted to the new environment quickly, Shen Yuan was also very happy.
After tidying up the room, Shen Yuan took the household registration documents to the government office. The Great Yan Dynasty had laws that prohibited ordinary people from changing their household registration at will, and that they needed travel documents to cross cities and borders.
However, people from the same province could change their household registration as long as they settled down in the city. She paid the yamen runners some money for wine and meat and quickly completed the household registration process.
After carefully putting away the household registration documents, Shen Yuan took another stroll around the city before it got dark.
Now that they're settling in the city, they need to buy a lot of things.
In addition, she also wanted to open a pharmacy, so the cabinets and tables needed to be custom-made in advance. Shen Yuan found a carpenter's shop, drew up the blueprints of what she wanted, and gave them to the carpenter. The two arranged a time for him to come and measure the house. Shen Yuan paid the deposit and walked out of the shop.
She was carrying bags of things she had bought on the street when she suddenly stopped in front of a teahouse.
"Young lady, would you like to come in and have some tea and listen to a story?" the waiter greeted Shen Yuan warmly.
"I'd like a tea table!" Shen Yuan stepped into the teahouse.
The teahouse was packed with guests, and the storyteller sat on a high platform, vividly recounting the love story of a wealthy young lady and a poor scholar.
The story was a bit cliché, and the tea drinkers below the stage were clearly not very interested, each busy eating melon seeds and playing chess.
After listening to the whole story, Shen Yuan called over the waiter: "This gentleman's storytelling was truly wonderful. I wonder if you could introduce me to him?"
The waiter saw the money Shen Yuan had placed on the tea table, smiled, and bent down to put it away. "Miss, please come in!"
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