Ah Mian felt she couldn't keep practicing like this.
So she began to question the recipe—did it really have to be cut 108 times? Anyway, once it's cooked in hot soup, it's impossible to count.
It could also be because the knife was too dull.
Amian found a whetstone, wrapped two strips of cloth around her hands to protect them, and then slid the kitchen knife across the whetstone. She had seen others do this before, and it could sharpen the knife.
After grinding for a while, A-Mian felt it was about time. She decided to start practicing with harder foods, so she found potatoes and cucumbers and practiced cutting them into shreds.
With other dishes on the table, everyone readily accepted Ah Mian's persistent wish to "embroider on tofu".
Amian now wakes up naturally in the morning, and Meng Chijian leaves her a portion of breakfast on the stove. After eating, Amian feeds the chickens, sweeps the floor with a broom, and folds up the dried clothes.
Then she continued practicing her knife skills in the kitchen, chopping vegetables. About half an hour later, Xiao Jing, who had finished washing clothes, would come back and prepare lunch.
This meal was eaten rather late, and after eating, Ah Mian was going to take a nap. When she woke up this time, it was leisure time, and she didn't have to do any work.
She would either go to the foot of the back mountain to let the donkeys roam freely, or read leisurely books and write stories in the courtyard.
However, one day when Ah Mian woke up from her afternoon nap, she found that everything was quiet, which seemed strange.
She walked to the front yard and saw Meng Chijian, who should have been in the shop. He was sitting at a wooden table, opposite a man she didn't recognize, with a servant beside him.
Mencius' mother sat to one side, silent.
"Brother Meng, this must be your wife. She is indeed dignified and beautiful, with elegant manners. And judging by her figure, she is also..."
Meng Chijian poured tea. "It's been almost eight months. As you can see, I'm not making excuses; the family really can't do without me right now."
The man said, "I never expected you to actually get married. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Brother Meng. If you miss it, you will regret it for the rest of your life."
Meng Chijian had already refused two or three times before, but now that he had brought this man back and seen his pregnant wife, he was still pressuring him so hard. So he shouldn't blame him for disregarding their past camaraderie.
"This time it's different from the previous conscription; this is a chance for advancement. Your wife will probably be very happy about your bright future—my lady, you must persuade her to stay; this time it's for selecting imperial guards!"
At the academy, A-Mian had heard the scholars talk about the Imperial Guards in the capital.
The Imperial Guards of this dynasty were divided into three ranks: upper, middle, and lower. The upper rank consisted of sons of nobles and descendants of military households, who were responsible for the core area of the capital. The middle rank consisted of sons of respectable families (not merchants, doctors, craftsmen, or of low social status), who usually patrolled the Imperial City.
The lowest-ranking Imperial Guards, with relaxed requirements, could accept registered laborers and be responsible for the outer perimeter security of the capital.
"Although they are the outer guards, it's not dangerous at all; they almost never encounter anything. The monthly salary is twenty taels of silver and fifteen dan of rice. What's there to hesitate about!"
The man handed her a piece of paper, which A-Mian took and read.
"...Anyone with loyalty, courage, and agility may apply. Applicants must be of good appearance and at least five feet eight inches tall...Those who meet the requirements must travel to Zhoucheng for a preliminary examination, the content of which is..."
"Brother Li, please go back."
Brother Li was once a comrade-in-arms of Meng Chijian, and is now a centurion.
Seeing that he had no ambition and was indulging in the gentle embrace of women, he said coldly, "Do you think I wanted to take this arduous task?! It was the general who mentioned your name... You are a rare person who meets both the requirements and is capable of being a military craftsman! The Infantry Commander personally ordered that you must go to the preliminary examination. You should weigh the pros and cons yourself, do you want wealth and honor, or ruin and death?"
As Brother Li spoke, he glanced at Ah Mian.
Logically, at this point, a sensible woman should have stepped in to offer kind words of advice or smooth things over.
It's a good thing overall, and it's also good for my husband's future. If he really gets selected, Meng Chijian will send money home every month. Wouldn't that make life easy?
Brother Li himself is still in the army, and he can't see his family even once a year.
A real man shouldn't be confined to his family and home. Besides, for most women in the household, as long as money is sent on time, it doesn't really matter whether the man comes back or not.
Ah Mian looked at the paper several times before going into the house without saying a word.
Brother Li said awkwardly, "Well... if it really doesn't work, we can bring our family to the capital after we settle down. It'll only be a year or two, and then the whole family can be reunited..."
Meng Chijian wearily pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let's discuss it for a couple of days. There's no rush."
Brother Li said, "It's very urgent! After passing the initial examination, it will take more than a month to get to the capital. You must pack your bags as soon as possible the day after tomorrow."
Meng Chijian didn't have time to deal with him at the moment, so he bluntly left the words "Do as you please" and followed him into the house.
Inside the room, A-Mian placed the precious pillow that Meng Chijian had previously told her not to touch, in the middle of the bed, and then beat it hard with a feather duster.
“I didn’t say I was going. When I got to Zhoucheng, I deliberately didn’t pass the exam, and there’s no way I would go to the capital.”
Ah Mian said, "Why do you have to be five feet eight inches tall to be eligible to run for office? It's not fair to short people. I'm only a little shorter than you."
Meng Chijian turned her around, took the feather duster, and wiped her eyelids with his fingertips. "Oh, so Qingqing is sad because she can't become a member of the Imperial Guard. Lu A-Mian wouldn't cry like this just because I'm leaving for a few days to go to Zhoucheng, right?"
Ah Mian was held in his arms, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Even if you’re not sad, I’ll still be worried. I’ll be back in seven days at most,” Meng Chijian said. “I know you’re scared, and I can’t leave you alone.”
He knew that Ah Mian was just talking nonsense. Whenever something she was afraid of came up, she would deliberately change the subject.
Just like an ostrich, as long as it buries its head in the sand, it can't see or hear anything.
“I don’t want to go to the capital. The capital is so far away. I can’t take the baby there.” A-Mian looked up at him with her little face upturned. The stubbornness in her expression was still that of the fifteen-year-old girl who went to the city alone to sell tofu. “It’s not just the baby. My stone mill, my donkey, my business… they’re all here. This is my home. Whether you come back or not, I won’t go looking for you.”
It wasn't that A-Mian didn't trust Meng Chijian, but the journey was long and arduous, and no one could predict how many twists and turns the road would take.
Moreover, to the farmers, becoming a member of the Imperial Guard was considered a stroke of good fortune, akin to their ancestors' graves emitting auspicious smoke. For commoners like A-Mian, even a county magistrate was an incredibly high-ranking official!
Meng Chijian felt as if a dull knife was cutting into his heart. Unintentionally, he gripped A Mian's wrist tightly. A Mian struggled to break free in pain, yelling, "Let go!"
"I will definitely come back, and I will never go back to be that damn guard."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
