"Brother, it's not the middle of summer, why are you getting a nosebleed? Is it serious?"
When Meng Jing returned from playing house, she found that her third brother had inexplicably washed the bed sheets at this time of year. After asking him, she learned that he had accidentally dripped blood from his nose onto the bed.
"It's alright, I splashed some cold water on the back of my neck. Oh, go and call Ah Mian back for dinner."
After A-Mian returned, she didn't dare to look at Meng Chijian, but she glanced at the table:
The dishes included cucumber salad, stir-fried pumpkin, and cabbage and egg soup... There was no meat at all, and each dish was extremely bland and tasteless.
Ah Mian thought to herself, "We're not rabbits, why are they feeding us this grass?"
However, he still wisely ate a bowl, and when he was half full, he put down the bowl and ran away.
Once her monthly leave ended and she got busy again, Ah Mian put all these things out of her mind.
She needed to prepare for another monthly exam, which would determine whether she could go from primary school to university. University taught much more, so it made no sense to spend the same amount of money and not learn more.
“But we can’t take exams, so what’s the use of knowing so much? I’m already pretty good at recognizing characters,” Wangwang looked around and patted Amian’s arm. “Do you know that the academy is going to organize a spring outing on the third day of the third month? We might go to Zhoucheng to visit famous historical sites.”
"Go that far?"
For A-Mian, Zhoucheng was already a place as far away as the "world's edge." She thought for a moment and shook her head, "Even if it existed, we definitely couldn't go there."
It goes without saying that scholars have to wear scholar's caps and robes when they go out. Even if the women changed into simple and easy-going clothes and just followed behind, they still couldn't spend the night with these scholars.
The next day, the head monk waved his hand and spoke with a firm and powerful voice, indicating that these problems were very easy to solve.
This spring outing will last about seven days. The academy and the girls' academy will go on the outing together, staying in inns along the way. However, they are not allowed to use their family's sedan chairs and can only bring one page.
The travel expenses for each person are one tael of silver.
"Why doesn't the head of the monastery just rob someone? Wouldn't that be faster?" A-Mian exclaimed, speechless.
“The library is almost finished, but the books that were burned can’t be restored. We’re in a hurry to buy more books,” Wangwang said. “We never have enough money.”
“This… I need to go back and discuss it with my husband.”
It would cost one tael of silver in seven days. Although A-Mian could afford it, she was still undecided.
Wangwang gritted her teeth, "I have to go. My family is pressuring me, so I'll keep a close eye out along the way to see if there's anyone reliable, maybe..." She didn't finish her sentence. How could a scholar possibly fall for a lame young woman? Wangwang was heartbroken. She had always been very popular (one of Song Dongjia's criteria for choosing employees was good looks), and she had never worried about her marriage at all.
After recovering from the illness, this is what happened to him.
Ah Mian held her hand, thought for a moment, and said, "If you meet someone who is willing to marry you in the future, he will definitely love you, not like those people before who only wanted you because you had a job that paid them a monthly wage and that you could work hard. If you don't meet anyone like that, when I open my shop, you can come and work for me. At that time, people who want money from you will still come."
Wangwang burst into laughter through her tears, "What if I'm already an old maid by the time you open your shop?"
"How could that be? I've been saving money all along."
Moreover, Ah Mian doesn't have as many family burdens as Wang Wang, so she's relatively well-off.
After returning home, A-Mian discussed going on a spring outing with Meng Chijian.
Upon hearing that they were going to Zhoucheng and that it would take seven days, Meng Chijian said, "If it were a neighboring county, that would be fine, but Zhoucheng is too far. If you are going, I will definitely go with you." He had been to Zhoucheng several times before, once when he was preparing for military service.
"What about the shop? And Xiao Jing..." A-Mian knew that Meng Jing had always had a falling out with her second brother's family, and if they went on a spring outing, they would definitely invite her second brother's family along.
Meng Jing was sullen and sighed, "What else can I do? Go to Zhoucheng and bring back more candy and bright dresses, and I'll forgive you."
"The shop will be closed for now."
"I don't necessarily have to go. I can study at the academy. Or I can go out and sell food. That way, I won't have to spend any money and I can even earn some!"
There was still no proper meat for dinner tonight, but there was rice mixed with lard. Meng Chijian put a piece of mustard green and egg pancake (the wild vegetables were picked by Xiao Jing) into A Mian's bowl. "Go if you want to. It's rare to have such an opportunity. Besides, everyone else has gone to the academy. What's the point of you going there alone to study all by yourself?"
Ah Mian looked at the food at home with mixed feelings. Before she came, the Meng family was said to have meat at every meal. How come they have fallen into such a state now? Meng Chijian didn't seem to care and kept spending money recklessly.
However, Meng Chijian felt that this little brat had lived to such an old age and had never been to Zhoucheng. Taking her to see the world would be beneficial to her enlightenment. As for the money, he would work an extra hour or two when they returned, and travel to more distant and larger villages when he went out to visit, and then find a way to earn it back.
Back in her room, A-Mian, with a stern face, started calculating the bill. "If I go alone, it will only cost one tael of silver. If the two of us go, it will cost two taels of silver, and the shop won't have any money to bring in. We'll also have to bring gifts for Xiao-Jing and Mother (Meng's mother). Besides, the expenses in Zhoucheng are probably much higher than here."
“I’ll go myself. I’ll make sure I take good care of myself, and my family won’t have to pay for it.”
Meng Chijian said, "My family has plenty of money, so don't worry. If you forbid me from going, you'll only make me spend more money. I'll have to secretly follow you and avoid you, which will be even more wasteful."
"I don't need your big head!" A-Mian pounced on him angrily. "You should use money sparingly. How can you live beyond your means like this... Hey, I have an idea! What do you think about us selling some kitchen knives or something along the way? As long as we can earn back the travel expenses, that would be fine."
“Those that can’t be sold in the county or town all have their own blacksmith shops. There are probably three or four blacksmith shops in the town. If we go through the villages, we’re unfamiliar faces, so it’ll probably be difficult to sell them.”
Ah Mian already had an idea in mind. "It's okay, I have a plan. These next few days, make some small items, like twenty iron needles, five kitchen knives, five sickles, or other things that every household needs. Don't make them too big, because we can't take Ah Dou with us, so they have to be easy to carry."
And she still has unused funds—
She was going to take five taels of it to buy goods in the city and then resell them to the villages along the way!
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