Is exchanging money to support villains also a way of salvation?
A woman outside the door was sobbing, her voice revealing the despair of a mother: "Madam Song, Madam Song, Zhao'er..."
Song Tiaotiao's almond-shaped eyes trembled, and she quickly opened the door: "Sister-in-law, don't worry. Zhao'er? How is Zhao'er?"
In the vast snow, the former noble lady from the capital was seen sitting sadly in front of a thatched cottage, her face covered with traces of tears.
The woman's cheeks were sunken, her hair was withered and yellow, and even the old coat she wore couldn't hide her thin figure. The separations and deaths she had endured during her exile had eroded this beautiful woman in her prime, leaving her unrecognizable.
Song Tiaotiao lifted Bo Shuang into her arms and said, "Sister-in-law, what happened to Zhao'er?"
Bo Shuang covered her face and sobbed softly, "The doctor said Zhao'er's illness was too serious. Although he has been saved now, if he is not properly taken care of, I am afraid he will pass away again."
Song Tiaotiao patted Bo Shuang on the back and said softly, "Sister-in-law, Zhao'er is a blessed man. Now that he's out of danger, he'll surely get better soon. Does the doctor have any advice on how to take care of him next?"
Bo Shuang closed her tearful eyes and calmed down a little: "The doctor said that Zhao'er needs to drink decoctions every day from now on, three doses a day. But now we have just arrived in Northern Xinjiang and have no savings. Now we have borrowed money from the doctor for treatment. How are we going to support Zhao'er in the future? Sister-in-law is really desperate now.
Hearing this, Song Tiaotiao lowered her eyes and led Bo Shuang into the house: "Sister-in-law, let's go in and talk. Zhao'er must be saved, let's think of a way."
Bo Shuang smelled the rich rice fragrance, her eyes trembling: "Madam Song, this rice fragrance, you pawned your..."
Song Tiaotiao's eyes darkened. Following Bo Shuang's words, he refined his prepared speech and said in a dejected tone, "Times are tough right now, so it's okay to use it to exchange for something to survive. As for the rice fragrance, I really wanted to nourish Cheng Jue. When I woke up today, I saw Cheng Jue fainted outside the door for some reason. His whole body was stiff, like a frozen man..."
Bo Shuang bit her pale lips upon hearing this: "Cheng Jue too? How is his health now?"
Song Tiaotiao knew that Bo Shuang couldn't go in to visit, so she said, "The fever has mostly subsided, and she's resting in the inner room now. She's fine now. Is Grandma still at the doctor's house?"
Bo Shuang nodded, looking sad. "Zhao'er needs someone to take care of her now. I came back this time because I wanted to sell the red sandalwood hairpin that Cheng Lang gave me to pay for her medicine."
Cheng Lang is Gu Chengjue’s elder brother who was lost and in danger during his exile and whose life or death is unknown.
Gu Chenglang in the book did not receive any news until Gu Chengjue experienced Zhao'er's death, Bo Shuang and Princess Ning's death due to illness, and he left the northern border alone.
They can be said to be a pair of star-crossed mandarin ducks.
Song Tiaotiao felt a little reluctant. Besides, a hand-carved wooden hairpin wouldn't fetch much in this remote village, where the timber business was the main business. She looked at the new rice in the rice jar and hesitated.
A mechanical voice suddenly rang out in my head: "The villain Gu Chengjue has entered the fever-reducing stage."
Song Tiaotiao was delighted and was about to go back to the house to see how well Gu Chengjue had recovered. Just as she closed the door to the main house, she heard a series of gurgling sounds.
The mechanical voice continued: "Reward: Free-range chicken."
Song Tiaotiao's eyes lit up, and she peeked out through the crack in the door. She saw a fat, lame chicken limping and sliding on the snow covered with flying straw, flapping its wings haphazardly.
Song Tiaotiao opened the door wider: "Sister-in-law, did you hear that?"
Bo Shuang's low voice couldn't conceal her excitement: "It sounds like a chicken is crowing!"
Song Tiaotiao and Bo Shuang looked at each other and quietly opened the door.
Song Tiaotiao picked up a few scattered straws from the crack in the door, folded them into a rope in her palm, and waited until the chicken was exhausted from flapping its wings before she and Bo Shuang slowly walked forward from behind the door.
Song Tiaotiao gestured for Bo Shuang to block the front of the chicken while she circled behind it. The flexible straw bent from front to back around the chicken's neck, quickly and accurately wrapping around the fat chicken's wings. Then, with a single lift, she had it in her hand.
Seeing her so skillful, Bo Shuang couldn't help but sigh, "Madam Song is indeed worthy of being from the Duke's Mansion. She really shouldn't be underestimated."
Song Tiaotiao smiled indifferently and quickly carried the chicken back into the house.
Song Tiaotiao's eyes flickered between the fat chicken and the rice jar, and she thought, "Sister-in-law, our fortunes have turned, and we can exchange this chicken for some money and food. But we're new here, and if we take a fat chicken to the market in this state, it might arouse suspicion about its origin. Why don't I wait until I've processed it and then take it to solve our urgent problem."
Upon hearing this, Bo Shuang's red eyes nearly burst into tears again, unable to conceal her gratitude. "Okay, I'll listen to Madam Song. Tomorrow, when Zhao'er feels better, I'll go to the village and find a job sewing. I won't let your kindness go to waste."
As a noblewoman, Bo Shuang was naturally an expert at sewing. Seeing Bo Shuang's decision, Song Tiao Tiao felt relieved and said, "The porridge is almost ready. If you're hungry, you can eat first. I'll go back inside to check on Cheng Jue."
Song Tiaotiao gently pushed the door open. Now about a quarter of an hour had passed, and it was time for her to wipe Gu Chengjue's body again.
On the earthen kang, Gu Chengjue was still motionless, but his expression was much calmer than at the beginning.
The swelling on his swollen face had mostly subsided, and he had regained some of his handsome appearance with thick eyebrows and deep eyes.
Song Tiaotiao breathed a sigh of relief, moved the compress from Gu Chengjue's forehead, and then reached out to Gu Chengjue's forehead to compare the temperature with her own.
The temperature had indeed dropped. As expected of the protagonist of the original novel, his recovery abilities were truly extraordinary.
Song Tiaotiao calmed down, helped Gu Chengjue adjust his stiff sleeping position, and walked back to the kitchen.
Bo Shuang was placing the third bowl of rice porridge on the wooden table. Seeing Song Tiao Tiao leave, she asked, "Madam Song, how is Cheng Jue now?"
Song Tiaotiao greeted him with a smile: "His fever is almost gone."
Bo Shuang placed her chopsticks on a bowl of steaming rice porridge and led Song Tiao Tiao to sit in the seat in front of her. A gentle smile appeared on her pale lips. "That's good. Madam Song has been working hard for a long time. Let's eat first."
Song Tiaotiao glanced at the bottom of the bowl and felt something was wrong.
She had planted her own rice today, and the amount of rice in this bowl of porridge was clearly more than average. In an instant, Song Tiaotiao understood that Bo Shuang had given up her own share, adding more rice grains to her and Gu Chengjue.
Song Tiaotiao smiled at Bo Shuang and invited her, "Sister-in-law, please have dinner with me. You have to go down the mountain to do some work later, so you can't miss the time."
Bo Shuang hesitated for a moment, then sat down, holding the edge of the bowl.
Song Tiaotiao understood and scooped out the extra rice grains with a wooden spoon. When Bo Shuang wasn't paying attention, she gently dropped them into Bo Shuang's bowl: "Sister-in-law, please eat more. You still need to carry that fat chicken down the mountain later."
The thin frost will return.
Song Tiaotiao covered the mouth of the bowl and drank the rice soup: "We have been through hardships together along the way. It is not easy to share the happiness with my sister-in-law today. Please don't refuse."
Bo Shuang also understood what Song Tiaotiao meant. She sipped the white porridge, feeling a mixture of emotions in her heart.
After the meal, Song Tiaotiao served Gu Chengjue some rice soup, and then began to prepare the fat chicken.
Although she had secretly learned some martial arts to maintain her health at the Zhenguogong Mansion, and had acquired some tricks that allowed her to barely catch a lame chicken, she had never learned the bloody martial arts required to kill a live chicken, whether in modern times or in the Southern Dynasty.
Although I have eaten chicken before and have seen chickens running in many food videos, I only learned it with my eyes. When I actually picked up a kitchen knife, I still had no idea where to start.
Song Tiaotiao wanted to find a quick death for this grateful chicken. After much thought, she tentatively asked in her mind, "System, are you there? Requesting support."
Seeing that the system didn't respond, she continued, "Is exchanging money to support the villains also a way to save them?"
After a long silence, the system began to explain everything it knew about the chicken-killing process. It was a nanny-level instruction, so meticulous that even the chicken feathers were peeled without a single drop of blood staining them, and it could even be used to make a feather duster.
While Bo Shuang was cleaning up the dishes, she saw a fat chicken being skillfully disassembled by Song Tiaotiao, and cleverly transformed into a skeleton, chicken meat, internal organs, and neat chicken feathers.
It's really neat and tidy, with no waste.
Bo Shuang stared in amazement for a long while, but having seen so many extraordinary people and things in the capital, she only felt admiration in her heart. She smiled and handed the warm water over, "Madam Song, you have a good technique."
Song Tiaotiao washed her hands and said with an embarrassed smile, "My master taught me the best."
Although Bo Shuang didn't know who Song Tiaotiao's master was, she had no doubts: "A good teacher truly produces a good student."
After Bo Shuang left with the chicken, Song Tiao Tiao planned to take this opportunity to go out and explore.
When she returned to the house to get her jacket, beads of sweat had already begun to form on Gu Chengjue's forehead. She thought Gu Chengjue might wake up at any moment, so she decided to just wander around.
To the north of Songbai Village is the endless snowfield of Beichao.
But the pines and cypresses stretched out in endless rows, their blinding deep green stretching endlessly. Even when Song Tiaotiao stood on a large rock, she could only vaguely see the white sunlight.
Song Tiaotiao turned around and looked to the south.
In the lower south, houses of varying heights were scattered like popcorn. But a little further away, about a quarter of an hour away, a well-maintained dirt road split Songbai Village in two. The layout there was clearly much better than the area on the outskirts of the village.
Song Tiaotiao still remembers when she first entered Songbai Village, there were various shops on both sides of the main road, and many merchants dressed in Northern Dynasties costumes came to trade.
The trade is diverse, with mountain products being a major category. One such product, winter mushrooms, are relatively expensive compared to other mountain products, but trade in them is quite high.
At that time, Song Tiaotiao was still wondering how mushrooms could grow in winter.
Until now, after staring intently for a long time, she finally saw a cluster of fan-shaped protrusions on the branches of a pine tree in the northwest.
That’s winter mushrooms!
Song Tiaotiao slid down the rock and trotted towards that place.
Standing under the pines and cypresses, Song Tiaotiao estimated the distance between the mushrooms and herself, which was between standing on tiptoe and raising her hand.
But before he could reach it, Song Tiaotiao hesitantly called out to the system: "System? Do you see this bunch of mushrooms?"
The system snorted and laughed: "Why? You want me to determine if it's edible? Do you think I'm an encyclopedia?"
Song Tiaotiao's eyes were filled with guilt, and he coughed lightly: "I treat you as a master and come here to learn from you. You don't want Gu Chengjue and I to run out of ammunition and food and end up on the streets..."
The system let out a light click and interrupted him. "You can eat it. The one on the trunk of the tree six meters to the north is good for boosting immunity. The one under the tree ten meters to the northwest..."
Snowflakes fell and melted in the swirls of Song Tiaotiao's hair, making her whole body numb from the cold.
Only then did Song Tiaotiao recover from the joy of picking mushrooms.
She went back to the house to get a clean bag, and now her arms were piled high with winter mushrooms.
Song Tiaotiao returned with a full load. When she returned to the kitchen and was putting down the mushrooms with satisfaction, she heard a light cough coming from the firewood shed.
Hearing the sound, Song Tiaotiao quickly walked into the house and saw Gu Chengjue frowning anxiously, muffled words coming from his lips: "Water..."
Song Tiaotiao scooped a bowl of warm water from the water tank. She held Gu Chengjue's thin neck and tried several angles before she successfully imprinted the water between Gu Chengjue's pale lips.
After drinking the water, Gu Chengjue's brows relaxed naturally, his eyelashes struggled to flutter for a moment, and then silently returned to his previous calmness.
Song Tiaotiao had originally hoped for Gu Chengjue to wake up, but now that her hope was dashed, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed: "Well, you haven't had a good night's sleep for a long time anyway, so I'll let you have a good rest now. But you must remember to wake up."
After she finished speaking, she sighed softly, turned around and was about to go to the kitchen to process the mushrooms.
"Ding—the villain Gu Chengjue has awakened."
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