Chapter 10 Going Out to Shop
Yesterday, Jiang Nuanzhi crushed the two potatoes in her hands, then added hot water and stirred them into a paste. She then cleaned Dahei's dirty dog bowl before putting the paste in it and giving it to Dahei.
Animals seem to be the most perceptive of kindness. It was no longer so resistant to Jiang Nuanzhi, and while eating its porridge, it couldn't help but keep looking up at her. It maintained a reserved demeanor, but its tail kept wagging.
Jiang Nuanzhi watched it finish eating with amusement. When she returned to the house, she found that Li Junping had already finished eating the steamed buns and washed all the bowls and chopsticks on the table.
She couldn't help but feel surprised; the villain was washing her dishes—this scene was truly thrilling.
She washed the dog bowl clean, filled it with some hot water for Dahei, and then called the children over.
"I'm going to buy some things. Here's a bag of pastries and some steamed buns for you to tide you over. I'll be back by donkey cart at noon, and when I get back I'll make you your favorite big meat buns."
"Also, there's still enough water in the water tank. Your hands have frostbite, so you won't be carrying water today. Just stay home and wait for me to come back. Xiao Er, don't strain your legs. It's best to sit on the bed and rest. If you need anything, ask your brother to get it for you."
"You three little ones stay home and wait for me. Don't go out if you don't have to. Oh, and if anyone comes to cause trouble, don't fight back. Wait until I get back before you settle things."
Jiang Nuanzhi originally wanted to pat Li Junping on the shoulder, but she met the deep eyes of her adopted eldest son. She awkwardly withdrew her hand, only patted Xiao Baozhu's head, waved to them with a smile, and went out the door with her basket on her back.
Jiang Nuanzhi had considered getting the horse back first, but she thought that since she was going out and wouldn't be home, it wouldn't be appropriate for them to cause trouble for the children while she was away.
He decided to go to town by himself first. He could deal with the accounting later. Making money was the priority.
Looking at Jiang Nuanzhi's retreating figure, Xiao Baozhu couldn't help but touch her head, which Jiang Nuanzhi had just patted. Her eyes were filled with uncontainable joy: "Brother, that naughty woman said she'd buy us steamed buns. She's so gentle, even gentler than the village chief's wife! She also said we don't have to work today, that's so great!"
Li Xiao'er couldn't help but laugh, a small dimple appearing on her cheek. But then the dimple disappeared, replaced by deep worry: "Brother, do you think she might be lying to us? What if she wants to abandon us and run away? Just like Uncle Zhang's wife, who abandoned the Zhang siblings?"
Li Junping rubbed the hand cream in his hand: "If she really leaves, it's a good thing. At least she won't be beaten anymore."
Hearing this, Li Xiao'er drooped his head. He naturally knew that what his brother said was true, but he just couldn't seem to be happy.
“Brother, I think what that bad woman said is true. We’ll be able to eat big steamed buns tonight,” Li Baozhu said seriously.
Li Junping sighed, patted his younger sister's head without saying a word, then turned and went to the table to collect the steamed buns and pastries left by Jiang Nuanzhi.
Just as they were putting things away, Chun Tao walked in, hands on her hips.
Upon seeing Li Junping, she grabbed his ear without saying a word: "You little rascal, how dare you cheat! What time is it? Where's the food? Where's the firewood?"
Chun Tao recalled being frightened by that stupid woman, Jiang Pangya, yesterday, and now felt very embarrassed.
The pressure on his hands increased: "Where is that fatso?"
Li Junping frowned as she pulled his ear, his eyes filled with a chilling indifference.
He glanced at Chun Tao's neck for a moment, then looked away with a cool gaze and said calmly, "She went out."
Chun Tao raised an eyebrow. This brat always looks like he wants to kill her when he sees her. She has to slap his brother twice before he will listen to her. Why is he so peaceful today?
Li Junping didn't confront her directly; instead, he silently hid the snacks Jiang Nuanzhi had given him before leaving the house into his pocket.
"You little rascal, what are you hiding?"
Chun Tao, with her sharp eyes, snatched the oil paper package from his arms.
"You bunch of bastards, you actually have some snacks? Tell me, where did you steal them from?"
When Chun Tao saw that it was an egg yolk pastry, her eyes lit up. She opened it and popped a piece into her mouth. The sweet taste pleased her greatly. Her eyes narrowed, and then she put another piece into her mouth.
There were only six pastries in the oil paper package, and in the blink of an eye, she had eaten four of them.
Li Xiaoer's eyes turned red as he watched.
“That was given to us by a bad woman, not stolen. You are not allowed to eat it.”
As he spoke, he tried to step forward and snatch it away.
However, he was short and had a limp, so Chun Tao pushed him away and he fell to the ground.
Little Baozhu ran over and hugged her second brother, then burst into tears in fright.
"What are you wailing about? It's so annoying! Isn't Jiang Pangya our Second Young Master's? Don't even mention her snacks, even her life belongs to our Second Young Master. You are her children, which means you are our Second Young Master's servants, understand?"
After saying that, she licked her fingers, wrapped up the remaining two pastries and the steamed bun she had snatched from Li Junping's arms, stuffed them into her sleeve, and then pulled Li Junping out.
He kept cursing as he walked.
"You little brat, hurry up and cook some warm water! And the firewood! You didn't even bring any firewood yesterday, are you trying to freeze us to death?"
"If you don't get all this sorted out by morning and it delays our second young master's studies, I'll skin you alive!"
"I don't know what that stupid Jiang Pangya is up to. I'm going to go and have a word with the Second Young Master about it later."
Jiang Nuanzhi, who was heading to town, knew nothing about what was happening at home. She spent three coins to board a donkey cart to town. There were about four or five women riding on the cart, but they all seemed to look down on her, and some even rolled their eyes at her behind her back.
By this point, Jiang Nuanzhi had a deeper understanding of her situation in the village.
However, she clearly didn't want to fit in with the older women, so she simply closed her eyes to rest.
However, the voices of the older women inevitably reached her ears.
"If you ask me, anyone who abuses other people's children deserves to die."
"That's right. Someone in the Li family has become a high-ranking official. When they come back to visit their family in a couple of days, they will definitely punish that wicked stepmother."
"Who says otherwise? Look at yourself, how dare you even think about the second young master of the Xie family."
"I must say, there's really no one in the surrounding villages who's better looking than the young master of the Xie family."
"Actually, Li Jia Dalang was not bad off, but he died young, leaving behind several children to be tormented by a bad woman."
"Alas, life is unpredictable."
Jiang Nuanzhi gradually drifted off to sleep amidst the buzzing sound, her dreams filled with thoughts of making money. When she opened her eyes again, she was already in town.
"You little rascal, why are you sleeping so soundly? We're here, hurry up and get down."
Uncle Niu glanced at the chubby girl, thinking to himself, "How can she be so carefree?" If he were being pointed at and talked about like that by a group of people, he'd probably want to find a block of tofu and kill himself. But she, on the other hand, was sleeping soundly, as if she hadn't heard a single word.
"Oh! We're here. Thank you, Uncle." Jiang Nuanzhi was groggily woken up, immediately got up, slung her basket over her shoulder, and set off.
Uncle Niu looked at the chubby little girl, who was as round as a ball, and shook his head repeatedly. She was too carefree. He had charged her twice as much as everyone else today, and seeing her so heartless, he felt quite uneasy.
Thinking this, he added, "Be back before noon."
The carefree girl waved her hand and replied from afar, "Okay!"
Jiang Nuan got out of the car and went to the clinic first.
The most famous medical clinic in Liujiang County is Tongji Medical Clinic.
I've heard that the physician Lü, who sits in the clinic, was once a royal physician, but was demoted to this ancient city of Kui for offending the emperor.
When a plague swept through the entire city of Gu Kui, it was the Lü clan who concocted an antidote and threw it into a well, saving all the people in the city.
Moreover, the Lü family did not take credit for their work, and now the Tongji Medical Clinic is very reasonably priced, making it quite popular among the people.
When Jiang Nuanzhi arrived at the Tongji Medical Clinic, she saw a long line of people in the distance. At the front of the line was a doctor who was already over sixty years old, taking the pulses of people one by one.
The shop assistants were running around preparing medicine, their feet barely touching the ground, extremely busy.
Jiang Nuanzhi looked at the highly respected Physician Lü and couldn't help but show a hint of envy.
It's infuriating to compare yourself to others! Why do her patients always sneer at her?
She sighed and didn't go into Tongji Medical Clinic, but went directly to his family's pharmacy.
"What did you say? This small bottle of wound medicine costs a tael of silver! Why don't you just rob it!"
Jiang Nuanzhi stared at the tiny white porcelain bottle in the handsome young man's hand, secretly marveling.
The young man behind the pharmacy counter was quite handsome, but the bruise on his lip marred his good looks. He was casually propping his head up with his hand, poking at the plump worms in the wooden box with his finger, not even lifting his eyelids. He said listlessly, "Is this your first time at the clinic? This is the price of wound medicine. Take it or leave it."
(End of this chapter)
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