Chapter 429 Consolation
Bai Cha returned to the carriage in a huff and gave the box to Lin Yuesha.
"What's wrong with you? Your mouth is so greasy you could hang an oil bottle on it."
Lin Yuesha opened the box and found four small compartments inside. Each compartment contained a type of candy, which looked bright and exquisite.
She picked one up and put it in her mouth, exclaiming with delight, "This is pine nut candy!"
The candies were small, but they tasted delicious. After tasting them one by one, Lin Yuesha asked Bai Cha, "Where did these come from?"
"It was given to me by Houfen, the maidservant of Ziyuan. She said that her own name is Houfen, which is obviously a reference to the maidservant. She is such a strange person."
Bai Cha couldn't help but complain. She had given someone a nickname behind their back, and being called out to their face was quite embarrassing. But it wasn't entirely her fault; after all, that person always gave her the cold shoulder.
"I had forgotten."
When Qingxing saw some candies, she remembered that the group was currently in a small town under Yingcheng's jurisdiction, and the town's candies were very famous, especially these pine nut candies.
"There's also a branch in Beijing, which kids really like."
Because they were in a hurry, Qingxing and Qi'er forgot about it. Unexpectedly, Miss Ziyuan was thoughtful and asked her maid to go to a nearby town to buy it.
"Yes, I should thank Sister Ziyuan."
Lin Yuesha kept a few, and gave the rest to her father, Xiao Chenggui. Dried fruits and candied fruits lose their flavor after swallowing, unlike pine nut candy which is sweeter. Ziyuan was even more thoughtful than her.
"Miss……"
Bai Cha paused, swallowing her words. The young lady was in high spirits, so she decided not to say anything irrelevant.
Because the oven was too heavy, Lin Yuesha left it at the inn in Yingcheng, and the cargo cart was loaded with a lot of seafood.
"How about this, I'll stir-fry some clams and send them over to Sister Ziyuan."
It was lunchtime, so Lin Yuesha had some free time to make a spicy stir-fried clam dish, which would go perfectly with sake, and Ziyuan could also have a small drink.
In social interactions, it's best to have give and take.
“Miss, we’re going to have to camp out again tonight. I see there are mountains around us, and there are pheasant footprints by the roadside.”
A group of more than ten people needed a lot of food; a bag of rice and flour would be gone in a few days.
Traveling on the official road meant there weren't many places to resupply, so Qingxing had to worry about feeding everyone.
"Yes, Miss, Qingxing and I will go hunt a few pheasants and have Longjing pick some wild vegetables."
Qi'er noticed dried wild mushrooms on the carriage. Her young mistress had mentioned that she wanted to stew chicken for the master to nourish his body.
"That's great, you go first, and come back quickly."
Lin Yuesha suddenly thought that hunting was a good idea. If there were big fish in the river, she could catch two and make boiled fish.
We still have plenty of oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, but our chili peppers are running low.
Dried salted fish, after being rinsed, is stir-fried with chili peppers, resulting in a spicy and fresh dish. Adding a little Shaoxing wine perfectly masks the original fishy smell.
"good."
After Qingxing Qi'er and Longjing left, Baicha suddenly realized something: she was going to have to deliver vegetables to Ziyuan later.
Bai Cha regretted it deeply. She should have replaced Long Jing and followed Qing Xing and Qi'er first.
"Is it really that difficult for you?"
Lin Yuesha explained that not everyone can get along with white tea. Some people dislike each other at first sight, while others seem harmonious. If you don't know them well, you can probably maintain a superficial relationship.
"That's how it is with Bai Youran. After getting to know each other, we found that we didn't get along and couldn't be good friends. You see, she's not going to pretend anymore."
Lin Yuesha didn't take Bai Youran's accusations to heart at all.
She once saw a cartoon where a couple was riding a donkey together, and passersby were pointing and whispering, saying that the two of them were bullying the donkey and making it too tired.
So the two of them led the donkey away, and then a passerby said, "They have a donkey but they don't ride it, are they stupid?"
The couple realized they couldn't let the donkey get too tired, so the wife rode the donkey while the man led it. This drew criticism from passersby.
"Passersby said that women should regard their husbands as their heaven, yet she rode a donkey by herself, showing no concern for her man at all."
There was nothing he could do. His wife got off the donkey and then made her husband ride it. Of course, he was still criticized for not being considerate of his wife at all.
So no matter how well you do, there will always be people who criticize you. If you care about what others think, how can you live?
"Miss, what you say makes a lot of sense."
Sipping the white tea, she realized it was true. She and the heavily powdered maid were not on the same path at all, nor did they share the same master. There was no need for her to avoid others' disdain. In short, they were just going the same way. They would part ways when they reached the capital, and they might never see each other again in this lifetime.
Thinking of this, Bai Cha felt instantly relieved.
After Lin Yuesha finished preparing the clams, she volunteered to deliver them to Ziyuan.
"Sister Houfen, I'm Baicha. Our young lady sent me to deliver something."
Bai Cha started shouting as soon as she got off the carriage. The maid with thick makeup wasn't afraid of losing face, so she didn't care. Anyway, her young mistress said that she didn't need to care about other people's opinions.
Ziyuan was drinking water when she heard Baicha shout. She immediately spat out a mouthful of water and asked her subordinate, "Qilu, when did you change your name?"
"You didn't give me a maid's name, so I can't make one up."
As soon as Qi Lu spoke, his powder puffs started falling off in a flurry. As a proper, pure man, he could never quite grasp the essence of cross-dressing, and could only apply the powder thickly.
Once, in the middle of the night, he looked in the mirror and was startled by his deathly pale face.
"Then let's call it Thick Powder, it suits your temperament perfectly."
Ziyuan covered her chest with her hand. Since traveling with Lin Yuesha, the journey had suddenly become much more enjoyable.
Thinking of how dizzy he was last night because of the three thousand taels of silver, he couldn't help but laugh, which aggravated his wound.
"Master, you are injured, so perhaps you should avoid spicy food?"
Qi Lu held the basin; the spicy stir-fried clams smelled so good, he thought, "Why don't I just give them to him?"
Ziyuan closed his eyes; he didn't want anyone else to take advantage of this, not even his subordinates.
"Master, if you eat spicy or stimulating food, your wound may not heal properly and may leave scars..."
Qi Lu directly seized his master's lifeline, while Zi Yuan waved her hand, telling him to find a secluded place to eat secretly.
The midday sun was blazing. Bai Cha sat by the river washing clothes with a basin in her hand. There were no villages around. The river water was clean and cool. She wiped her face, took off her socks, and soaked her feet in the river water.
After eating the spicy stir-fried clams, Qi Lu disposed of the body and covered up the evidence. On his way back, he saw Bai Cha soaking his feet and stood behind him watching the commotion.
A figure appeared on the water's surface, startling Bai Cha. She turned around and angrily said to the heavily powdered maid, "Don't you know that scaring someone can be deadly?"
"have no idea."
Qi Lu pointed disdainfully at the white pig's trotters in the white tea dish and said, "As a woman, she has no manners at all, exposing her feet in broad daylight..."
"We are both women, what is there to be afraid of?"
Bai Cha was puzzled. There were only three men in the group. Uncle Liu was old and taking a nap. Her master stayed in the carriage and only came out for fresh air at night. As for Physician Liao, he was exchanging medical knowledge with Doctor Yan.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
