The next morning, while Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan were in the cellar, Song Ning and Zhou Ling'an quickly drove the mule cart to Jiangning County.
Zhou Ling'an parked the car in a quiet spot as usual, and Song Ning got out and headed into an empty alley.
Zhou Ling'an was worried: "What are you going to do? Why don't I go with you?"
Song Ning shook her head and ran off on her own.
Upon arriving at the agreed-upon location, Song Ning took out the items she had prepared in advance.
She packed all night last night; otherwise, this thousand pounds of cotton piled up outside would have blocked the alley.
Luckily, she arrived early. She had just taken out the cotton when she heard the sound of horses' hooves outside the alley.
Zheng Gaoyi and Xie Linzhou led the way, followed by more than a dozen carriages.
As soon as the person arrived, Song Ning pointed to the pile of things behind him. Zhang Ping stepped forward to inspect them and nodded to Xie Linzhou.
The people following behind her started moving things, and Song Ning reached out her hand.
Xie Linzhou was puzzled, and Zheng Gaoyi stepped forward and handed over one hundred taels of silver.
Song Ning took the money, took out a piece of paper, and wrote: Next time you need anything, go to the proprietress of Yunxiu Workshop.
Before the two could speak, Song Ning quickly turned and left.
Xie Linzhou has begun to suspect her; she cannot stay any longer.
After leaving the alley, I went straight to Yunxiufang.
The proprietress quickly led the person upstairs, where Song Ning took out the paper and charcoal she had prepared in advance.
From now on, she will only send her cotton to Yunxiu Workshop. Xie Linzhou will definitely come to see her again, and then she will have the people from Yunxiu Workshop deliver it.
Song Ning couldn't let them give it away for free, so he gave half a tael of silver for every five catties.
The proprietress understood what she meant and immediately agreed.
Zheng Gaoyi's men followed them all the way to Yunxiufang, waiting until it was almost dark, but no one came out.
In a corner of Yunxiu Workshop, Song Ning took off his black robe.
She was quite conspicuous strolling down the street in a black cloak.
After taking off his cloak and throwing it into his spatial storage, Song Ning swaggered out of Yunxiu Workshop.
On the way back, Song Ning carried several bags of pastries, one for Zhou Ling'an and one for Tang Xinghuai.
Tang Xinghuai couldn't help but laugh when he saw her like this.
"I heard about it when I came back yesterday. How could someone's jaw have dislocated like that?"
With a resentful look, Song Ning began to write on the paper: Don't even mention it, I met a jinx.
Tang Xinghuai's eyes flickered slightly, and he asked casually, "I heard that when you came yesterday, you were accompanied by two people. Who were they?"
Song Ning held up the paper: It was for General Xie and the county magistrate.
Tang Xinghuai nodded: "Oh." Then he changed the subject: "By the way, could you give me some more of your medicine? I've finished the last one."
Song Ning was puzzled. So fast? Last time she took a whole twenty bottles, and they're all gone so quickly?
However, quite a few people do come to the clinic every day for treatment.
Song Ning told him that it would be delivered in two days.
After leaving the clinic, Song Ning carried some snacks to find Zhou Ling'an, but before she got there, she saw someone next to Zhou Ling'an.
Then, Song Ning's face darkened.
It's like a persistent ghost, truly persistent.
When Zheng Gaoyi saw Song Ning return, he quickly went up to greet her: "Er Ya, you're still injured. What are you doing in Jiangning County in this cold weather?"
Song Ning glanced at Zhou Ling'an, who immediately understood and said, "Oh, we've come to check out the prices of vegetables here. Er Ya will also go see Doctor Tang while we're at it."
Song Ning nodded to Zheng Gaoyi as a greeting, then ignored Xie Linzhou beside her and got into the car.
Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Zhou Ling'an quickly said, "Thank you, General Xie, Lord Zheng. We have other matters to attend to, so we'll head back first."
After the two had walked away, Zheng Gaoyi finally spoke: "It's over. Er Ya has become cold towards me. It must be because of you."
Xie Linzhou glared at him from the side, his words anything but polite: "Isn't it because you're too annoying that people ignore you?"
Zheng Gaoyi frowned and pretended to be angry: "At least Er Ya nodded and greeted me, but she didn't even glance in your direction."
Xie Linzhou said irritably, "Alright, I have important business to attend to now, so I'll leave things here to you."
......
When Song Ning returned home, he was scolded by Liu Yuelan, but he didn't dare to talk back. He nodded repeatedly and promised to be obedient from now on.
Then, Song Ning took a complete break.
She wasn't needed for any work in the cellar, and Liu Yuelan and Song Dahai wouldn't let her do any housework either, so she could only sit on the kang (a heated brick bed) and contemplate life.
Occasionally, Zhou Ling'an and Li Xingwang would come over to talk to her.
Then, a few days later, Zheng Gaoyi arrived.
We came to discuss the matter of building a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).
He had heard about what happened in Jiangning County, and the county magistrate had even approached him, but to no avail.
This group of people all agreed that they did not want to go to Jiangning County again.
If we don't want to go to Jiangning County, aren't there other places?
After the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) became popular in Jiangning County, Xie Linzhou wanted to popularize it. Sure enough, he received a letter today, and Zheng Gaoyi came to visit.
Song Ning's chin has recovered well, and she now dares to open her mouth slightly to speak: "For this matter, you can go to Uncle Zhou, sir."
She stopped caring about the kang (heated brick bed) a long time ago; Zhou Cheng is in charge of that now.
Zheng Gaoyi said many nice things to her, implying that all the bad things were done by Xie Linzhou and had nothing to do with him, an innocent bystander.
Song Ning gave an awkward but polite smile.
After returning, she realized that Xie Linzhou was not the kind of person who would bully the weak. His reaction that day must have meant that he had sensed something.
She was just an ordinary citizen, and she wouldn't have dared to have any opinions in the first place, and now she dares even less.
She immediately and very generously said, "Don't worry, she won't take it to heart."
After dinner, Song Xiu'e and her family arrived.
Tonight, there are two major events.
That is taking a bath.
Along the way, they were covered in swarms of lice.
It's cold now, so I don't shower as often. The last time I showered was a month ago.
Song Ning took out her shampoo, shower gel, and soap, and no one asked where they came from; they just thought they smelled nice.
The woman was in Song Ning's room, while Song Dahai and Zhu Shun were in another room.
When Song Xiu'e came, she brought all the basins from her home.
Song Ning didn't dare take out the whole bottle, so she took a few small bottles that she had bought before to store spring water and put the shower gel and shampoo in them.
Song Ning doesn't take showers; she's in charge of boiling water. The two large vats of water in the kitchen are enough for them to shower at night.
The fire in the stove was burning brightly, and a large wooden basin was placed on the kang (a heated brick bed). I would put my head down in it and wash my hair first.
It was truly a hardship. As soon as Song Ning entered the room, she saw Song Xiu'e and Liu Yuelan washing the hair of the two children.
Song Ning sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), while Xiao Mei and Zhao Di's clothes were thrown on the ground, with lice scurrying around inside.
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