Yunniang spoke with heartfelt sincerity; this was her closest confidante, someone she had known since childhood.
She couldn't bear to see her suffer, and she was truly willing to help her if she could.
Moreover, she knew Qiaohui well; she was an honest and upright person who would rather suffer a loss herself than let others suffer a loss.
She would feel at ease if she came from her own home to help.
Qiaohui's eyes welled up with tears as she listened to their words; she truly hadn't expected them to be so willing to help her.
Qiaohui thought back to when her family had a misfortune a year ago. Her husband, Shenjing, was falsely accused and imprisoned. Although he escaped the death penalty, he was sentenced to exile.
Because Shen Jing had once saved His Highness the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince promised him that he would only send him and his eldest son Shen Yu to be exiled to Lingnan, a thousand miles away, without implicating their family.
Women can request a divorce and return to their parents' home. Children under ten years old can also stay in Kyoto without being implicated.
However, Qiaohui was unwilling to be separated from Shen Jing and their child, so she tore up the divorce agreement written by her husband and resolutely followed them to be exiled thousands of miles to Lingnan.
When Shen Jing first got into trouble, Qiao Hui thought that when her husband was a high-ranking official in the court, he had helped her brothers and sisters in her own family a lot. But when Shen Jing got into trouble, she wanted to ask her brothers in her own family who were officials in the court for help, but they avoided her like the plague.
Even on the day they left Kyoto to be exiled to Lingnan six months later, not a single person came to see them off.
She felt heartbroken at the time, but she never expected to meet Yunniang, who was also sentenced to exile, on the road. Now Yunniang was willing to help her like this.
A tear rolled down Qiaohui's cheek; she simply couldn't hide her emotions any longer.
I kept saying thank you...
......
Qiaohui finally agreed to help, but she was unwilling to accept thirty coins as payment, and was only willing to accept fifteen coins.
She said she wasn't familiar with the place yet and didn't dare take too much; fifteen coins would be enough, and she would raise her wages later once she became more familiar with them.
Pei Yao and the others didn't dare to say anything more, because Qiao Hui had also said that she wouldn't come if they didn't agree.
The manpower issue has finally been resolved. As for the snail harvesting, since they didn't know anyone else in the village, they only asked the Liu family for help.
One pound of snails costs one coin, and one pound of sea urchins costs two coins.
Snails are almost everywhere on the beach, so the Liu family readily agreed, after all, who doesn't want to make money?
Fortunately, business is not very big yet, and the daily supply should be enough.
After resolving all of this, Pei Yao finally had time to take a shower and wash her hair.
After a long day, Pei Yao fell asleep shortly after lying down in bed.
........
The next morning, Pei Yao got up early. When she opened the door, everyone was up except for Pei Xuan.
Today, Yunniang is making spicy snails with Chen Fang. Yao'er taught her how to make the sauce yesterday, and it's not difficult.
Later, when they weren't home, she secretly tried making it herself using the remaining ingredients several times, and the taste was no different from what Pei Yao made.
Even Pei Yichen, still half asleep, stood in the courtyard with a basket on his back.
Seeing Pei Yao get up, he rubbed his eyes and called out to her, "Cousin, when are we leaving?"
Pei Yao stretched and then opened her sleepy eyes to look at him in confusion. Forgive her for still being a little sleepy.
The person is awake, but the mind is not.
As she walked towards the well, she asked, "Where are you going?"
Pei Yichen resisted the urge to roll his eyes: "You forgot? You told me before you went to bed yesterday that you'd go beachcombing with me after the morning court session today..."
Pei Yichen remembered that he had just fallen asleep yesterday and was having a sweet dream.
A moment later, Pei Yao suddenly ran over and shook him awake, then told him to go to the beach with her early the next morning to catch the early tide, which made him grit his teeth.
"Oh, right, I remember now."
As Pei Yao drew a basin of well water, the icy water instantly cleared her mind.
Yes, we're going to the beach! This is the most important thing today!
Pei Yichen glanced helplessly at his cousin, then stood at the doorway with his basket on his back, waiting for her.
After brushing her teeth deftly with a willow twig, Pei Yao picked up a small basket and walked towards Pei Yichen, who was waiting for her at the courtyard gate.
"Let's go!" The girl's face lit up with a bright smile. Her cheeks, still damp with water droplets, were flushed from just waking up, making her look charming and adorable.
As soon as the two siblings stepped out of the courtyard gate, Yunniang chased after them from inside: "Here, take this with you to tide you over."
Yunniang stuffed a fist-sized rice ball made of coarse rice into each of their hands.
"Thank you, Mother."
"Thank you, Second Aunt."
After receiving the brown rice dumplings, the two ate them as they walked towards the beach.
Pei Yao's main task at the beach today is to collect scallops and sea urchins.
She found a clever use for this today.
They weren't early. By the time they arrived at the beach, the Liu family and Qiaohui were already carrying baskets and collecting snails and sea urchins.
Even Niu Qingshan was among the group. Because the tide was going out early today, he wanted to come to the beach to collect some snails before Pei Yao and the others went to town and send them over.
Unexpectedly, Pei Yao also came to the beach today.
Niu Qingshan, carrying a basket on his back, walked towards them and asked, "Why did you two come today?"
Pei Yao looked up at her and said, "I haven't had time to go beachcombing these past two days. I miss that feeling."
The three talked for a while, then decided not to waste any more time talking.
I quickly joined the main group.
Pei Yao and Pei Yichen had a clear division of labor: Pei Yichen was responsible for picking up scallops, while Pei Yao was responsible for picking up sea urchins from the reefs.
Before going, Pei Yichen was still a little worried: "Don't go to that dark-looking sea."
Pei Yao nodded nonchalantly: "I know, you're so long-winded at such a young age. Let's see how you'll marry a wife in the future."
"......."
Pei Yichen's face darkened as he listened to his cousin's complaints about him.
However, thinking back to when my cousin and I came to the seaside to make salt and discovered that black bay still makes me a little uneasy.
They only watched from afar for a while; the dark bay was bottomless, like a man-eating demon.
It sends chills down your spine at first glance.
So even when Pei Yichen was picking up scallops far away from Pei Yao, he would still straighten up and look in his cousin's direction from time to time.
They were afraid she would disobey and run off there, especially since Pei Yao had expressed a strong desire to see it last time.
But he forcefully stopped me at the time.
The sea area near Liangshui Well Village has not been extensively exploited like it has in modern times, so it is rich in resources. Pei Yao soon filled a basket with sea urchins.
Pei Yao was overjoyed to have found some plump shrimp and baby octopuses today.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com