*Smack!* Brother Sang glared at her and lightly slapped her head: "Nonsense."
He was just worried about the money, worried about how hard she worked to earn it. Fifty taels was a lot, but their poor, disabled family lacked everything. If they really spent the money to buy things, no matter how much money they had, it would all be gone one day.
But after a whole year of hard work, who wouldn't be happy to get a new outfit?
Brother Sang turned around, also admiring the clothes, and went to his room to try them on.
After they had all left, Zheng Quchi took out the fox fur coat and draped it over Liu Fengmian's shoulders.
"Liu Fengmian, I bought one for you too."
When this fox-green fur coat was draped over Liu Fengmian's body, it immediately gave off a different feeling. The coat was like a snow-covered garment, woven with the image of mountains and rivers. He seemed to be a completely different person from his family, from this river village, and even from the entire Fu County.
The harsh sunlight and the cold years, but he, like a phoenix trapped in a mountain village, will eventually perch on a parasol tree, rise from the ashes, play chess in fine clothes, drink wine against the wind, and have a bright future ahead, embracing the world alone.
She was lost in thought for a moment.
Unexpectedly, Liu Fengmian asked, "What about yours?"
Zheng Quchi came to his senses and said, "I bought one too, one for each of us. They said this winter will be especially cold, so I won't let you get cold."
Yuwen Sheng didn't know what kind of coat she had bought for him, but this one... for him in the past, it would probably have been considered too crude to even stand on.
But he knew that for Zheng Quchi, it was a very expensive coat.
It's common for people to make promises lightly and break them easily in this world. He's seen so many of them that he's become accustomed to it, and even thinks that the saying "every man for himself" is the right thing to do.
But Zheng Quchi, a small peasant woman, possessed many qualities that even strong men lacked.
She did indeed keep her word: he married her, and she was responsible for earning money to support the family and him.
She did everything she could to give him the best.
How long do you plan to stay this time?
After a few days of bickering, they faced each other again and brought up the same topic that had caused their initial disagreement.
Zheng Quchi wasn't sure if he had calmed down, so she gave a slightly conservative timeframe: "Ten days to half a month, I'll go home whenever I have time during the break, and I'll buy you candy."
Yuwen Sheng's smile remained unchanged, as if it were a mannequin: "You can't tell me where you're going?"
"I don't know right now, but it's not far from Fuxian County." This is the truth.
Yuwen Sheng lowered his eyes, his pupils, hidden behind a soft veil, were deep and mysterious, like a labyrinth, yet his tone was as gentle as a spring breeze: "Zheng Quchi, when you come back this time, I have something important to tell you."
For some reason, Zheng Quchi's heart started pounding: "Oh, what is it?"
This line sounds so familiar; I think she said the same thing to Yuwen Sheng before.
Then, on their wedding night, the "important thing" she was about to say almost led to a tragic murder of her husband.
He smiled slightly and looked at her tenderly: "Of course it's my business."
His business?
What's wrong with him?
Is it a private matter or a public matter? Is it a serious matter or an improper matter? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
His words piqued her curiosity, and now she was beginning to suffer.
"Can't you say it now?"
"No, this is for you." He held something in his palm and offered it to her.
Zheng Quchi opened his palm and accepted it.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a piece of broken silver.
She had seen too little silver, so she guessed it was probably less than five taels.
But—this is silver, not the copper coins that are the common currency in the countryside!
"What is this?" she asked, bewildered.
Yuwen Sheng casually said, "This is my salary for this month."
"For...for me?"
"But it's not enough?" Yuwen Sheng could give her a gold ingot as pocket money, but in this small Fu County, would she dare to use it?
"Of course not."
She just never expected that Liu Fengmian would one day hand over his salary and acknowledge her as the head of the family (?).
At that moment, she saw his exquisitely beautiful face bathed in the glow of the setting sun, seemingly radiating the light of a saint.
She was lost in thought.
It turns out that marrying a man from feudal society wasn't so bad after all. Her husband was not only handsome but also gentle and virtuous. He even voluntarily handed over his salary, making him even better than the ideal men of today.
She gripped the silver coins tightly, thinking that since Liu Fengmian had gone to such lengths, she could only reciprocate by jumping up and leaning forward to kiss his chin.
"Liu Fengmian, I won't waste this money. I'll save it for your eye treatment later."
She was overjoyed, as if she had found silver for free, and immediately ran to her room to hide it.
Yuwen Sheng was stunned for a moment by her unexpected action.
He reached down and touched his chin, where it was burning hot and red.
His uncontrollable heartbeat was like a string of beads that had been ripped off, clattering and crashing wildly, both noisy and unsettling.
——
The ten-day deadline had arrived. Zheng Quchi prepared everything, ran to a secluded place, disguised himself as Sang Xuanqing, and then went to the stonemasons' meeting point in the county town.
She had thought that the recruitment of stonemasons would be limited by the strict conditions, and that not many people would be recruited. But when she came over and saw the job, she was really shocked.
Good heavens, why are there so many people?
There must be at least a hundred stonemasons here, each one as tall as a mountain, dressed in thin clothes and with taut muscles. The combined smell of their sweat glands, full of male hormones, almost suffocated Zheng Quchi, who was standing among them.
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