Suddenly, Hu Mingmei developed a great interest in Bai Nuo.
"It's getting late, Nuonuo, stop looking at it and hurry up and take Mingmei back!" The old woman also noticed that Bai Nuo was acting strangely. Ever since Hu Mingmei took out that picture book, Nuonuo had been staring at it. The old woman was afraid that Bai Nuo had become possessed again, so she quickly woke Bai Nuo up.
"Oh!" Bai Nuo suddenly raised her head and looked at Hu Mingmei, saying, "Wait a moment, I'll take you back right away. I'll go call Aunt Liu!" Then she took the picture album and walked out with unsteady steps.
Before I knew it, I was back in my room.
Bai Nuo took a deep breath, calmed herself down, pushed open the door, put away the modern jewelry catalog, then turned and went out. She called over the anxious Aunt Liu and told her that she had misunderstood her and that she could stay. Then, she asked Aunt Liu to help her take Hu Mingmei back to town.
It was dark and the road was long, so Bai Nuo didn't dare to go out alone.
Aunt Liu was overjoyed to know she could stay. She wiped her hands, took off her apron, and then volunteered to pull the carriage.
"Are you alright?" After arriving in town, Hu Mingmei told Bai Nuo where she was staying. Bai Nuo then drove the carriage to the inn. As they were about to enter, Hu Mingmei looked at Bai Nuo with some concern. "You're acting very strange today. What happened? Is there something wrong with my sketchbook?"
Bai Nuo shook her head, "No, the gift you gave me is very nice, I like it very much!"
Hu Mingmei nodded and pointed to the door behind her. "I'll be staying here for a while. If you need any help, just come and find me."
Hu Mingmei suddenly felt that staying here wasn't so bad. Although the town wasn't big, it seemed like everyone had a lot of stories, which was much better than the capital.
Especially Bai Nuo, because of her, he didn't want to go back.
"Okay!" Bai Nuo nodded, looking at the gate behind Hu Mingmei, hidden in the dim light. "Go back quickly, Lu Ying is waiting for you!"
"Be careful on your way!" Hu Mingmei didn't refuse and left decisively.
Bai Nuo, after returning home, spent the entire night studying modern jewelry catalogs, and only fell into a deep sleep around dawn.
**
Several more days passed, and Bai Nuo finally read through the modern jewelry catalog several times. Apart from finding a few lines about the empress missing her homeland, she found nothing else, and there was no mention of any way to return to the modern world.
After a few days of adjustment, Bai Nuo finally accepted the reality and resumed her normal life, going to work during the day and reading at night.
Early that morning, Bai Nuo and Aunt Liu took out the pickled bok choy—nowadays it should be called salted vegetables—and hung them out to dry on the wall. After several days of pickling, the bok choy had already turned completely yellow, and now it was just right to dry them. Once dried, they would become preserved mustard greens.
After what happened a few days ago, Aunt Liu has completely changed. She is very proactive in everything she does and doesn't need Bai Nuo to call her anymore. It was Aunt Liu who reminded Bai Nuo that it was time to take the dried plums out to dry.
Chili peppers, mushrooms, and perilla leaves, which had long since transformed from vibrant young girls into withered old women, exuded a rich fragrance. There was an unusually large amount of work to be done today, so both of them got up exceptionally early.
I had just taken the bok choy out to dry, and only a few heads had been left to dry, when two or three women came in.
The one in the lead greeted her warmly as soon as he came in, "Oh, young lady, busy at work? Drying vegetables?"
Bai Nuo turned around and saw that Aunt Zhu, the only matchmaker in the sugarcane field, was leading an old woman and a young boy into the field. She couldn't help but laugh and said, "Yes, the weather is nice now, so we're drying some to eat."
"Sure!" Aunt Zhu said with a smile. When she smiled, the large mole on the corner of her mouth seemed to come alive, as if it were smiling too.
"In the end, you have to work hard to make a living!"
Bai Nuo smiled and looked at her, "What did you go to do, Auntie?" Looking at Aunt Zhu, dressed in red and green, and holding a big fan in her hand, she must have just returned from matchmaking. But what is she doing at their house?
"It's hot, why don't you come in and have some tea? Aunt Liu, go and prepare the tea."
Matchmaker Aunt Zhu said with a smile, "I just finished arranging the betrothal for Chen Zhi, so I came to take a look!"
Bai Nuo looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"These two are your future sister-in-law and her mother!" Aunt Zhu pushed out the old woman and the young woman behind her. The older one was probably around the same age as Chen Qiuling. Her hair was parted in a 3/7 ratio and tied into a bun at the back of her head. She had a round face with wrinkles that showed the marks of time. She was a bit plump and had a belly with a protruding "spare tire". She was dressed in an apricot-colored dress, dressed simply, and there was no jewelry on her.
Bai Nuo couldn't judge the woman's age, but felt she was about the same age as Chen Qiuling. However, her appearance was nothing like Chen Qiuling's youthful charm; she looked much older than Chen Qiuling.
Beside the woman stood a young woman, about sixteen or seventeen years old, a head taller than her. She had healthy wheat-colored skin, and her hair was combed back into a long braid that hung down in front of her chest, making her look neat, efficient, and very energetic. She wore a white diagonally-buttoned inner garment as a base layer, over which she wore a pink lotus-patterned jacket, and a silver-white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress). Her chest was full, and her eyes were bright and intelligent, with a hint of shrewdness.
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