farmhouse
Jingwan only looked and didn't buy. Just looking was enough to make her happy. She squatted in front of a small stall, put on a string of beryl beads, and admired it carefully by the light.
The stone was transparent, with a few blue crystals mixed in, each one different in shape and size, as if they had grown naturally without any carving.
Her wrists were fair and slender; only when she wore that bracelet did one truly understand what "delicate jade hands" meant.
Lu Chang was also drawn to her. Looking at her small hands, he suddenly remembered the pair of jade bracelets he had once worn on those hands, and the person who had given her those bracelets.
A feeling of unease suddenly welled up inside me, and the earlier joy was gone.
Seeing that she liked it quite a bit, the stall owner repeatedly praised how beautiful the bracelet was and how well it suited her.
"Since I see that you like it, I'll... give you this amount!" He held out a hand, indicating the amount of silver to Jingwan.
"Five taels of silver?" Jingwan couldn't believe it. So cheap?
The stall owner wasn't angry and still smiled, saying, "Miss, please don't joke around. This item of mine was transported from beyond the borders. It's a genuine product, and it will cost five hundred taels of silver to buy."
Five hundred taels of silver had just been offered when Jingwan paused for a moment before trying to take off the bracelet. But Lu Chang grabbed her hand and said to the shopkeeper, "Fifteen taels of silver, will you sell it or not?"
The stall owner seemed dissatisfied, and said with difficulty, "Young master, this... this bargaining is too outrageous!"
"Then twenty taels, that's the price!"
The stall owner sighed, still somewhat disapproving, but agreed to the sale, waving his hand: "Alright, alright!"
Lu Chang handed over the silver, and the stall owner's expression changed again. He happily flipped through the silver in his palm, making Jingwan feel that she had lost money even though she had paid twenty taels.
She looked up and asked Lu Chang, "Cousin, how much is your monthly salary?"
Lu Chang couldn't help but gently pinch her nose and said, "It'll be enough for you." He didn't want to talk to her about it anymore. He wanted to hold her hand and walk with her, but he held back and led the way alone.
Wuxia returned earlier than them. After putting all the things she had bought into the carriage, she saw the two of them come back empty-handed and wondered why they hadn't bought anything. But then she saw Jingwan raise her hand and couldn't help but show off her newly bought bracelet in front of her.
Wuxia examined it carefully, then glanced at Lu Chang, who was standing behind her, and said with certainty, "It is indeed a beryl transported from Da Luo. Judging from this, it must be worth a hundred taels of silver."
Jingwan exclaimed, "Is it really worth that much silver?" She beamed with joy, "We only spent twenty taels of silver to buy it, so we made eighty taels of silver."
Having earned an extra eighty taels of silver, she returned to the inn and began to slowly admire the gemstones by candlelight. No one noticed that she was completely absorbed in the gemstone necklace and seemed to relax slightly. It seemed that she had slowly recovered from that trauma.
But in the middle of the night, Wuxia heard Jingwan crying again. She sat up and saw Jingwan curled up in a ball, sobbing with her eyes closed.
Even in her dreams, she was still crying.
Wuxia lay down and kept her eyes open until dawn.
The next day, Jingwan woke up and touched her pillowcase, which was damp again.
They had to continue their journey this morning. As they boarded the carriage, Lu Chang glanced at Jing Wan's hand. Her fair, jade-like wrist was bare. He didn't say anything, his eyes dimmed for a moment, but he quickly concealed his emotions and helped Jing Wan sit down.
After leaving Mati Town, we didn't encounter any more villages or towns for a long time. We spent two days camping in the mountains and forests. After walking for a while, we finally saw wisps of smoke rising from chimneys, and next to thatched houses were rows of fertile fields arranged in a grid pattern. The sound of roosters crowing rang out.
Following Lu Chang's instructions, Wuxia drove the carriage into the unknown village. As soon as the carriage entered the narrow path, two or three village dogs surrounded it, barking and pecking. Some children ran over and chased the dogs away with "ho ho ho".
They were all ordinary people, living in thatched huts common in the countryside. Lu Chang found a farmer's family and rented their house temporarily.
Wu Xia took out some silver to give to the man of the house, but the villager waved his hands and refused, saying, "It's just for one night. The house is empty anyway, no need to pay."
The villagers' kindness made them, as outsiders, feel even more embarrassed. Lu Chang placed the silver in their hands and said, "Although it's only for one night, I'll trouble you to take care of my food and drink. And the children, it's almost New Year's, so it would be good to buy them some food and clothes to help supplement the family income."
Since he had said all that, the villagers, though still hesitant, accepted the money, invited them into the empty house, and had their three children bring them bedding.
The people were poor, and even if they cleaned up, all they had was a simple little bed with a wooden basin in the middle to catch the leaking rainwater.
The children wore clothes made of burlap, patched with one large patch after another, but their faces showed no signs of poverty or distress. They smiled as they went in and out, buying things for the children.
The men in the family took the money and went to another house to exchange it for a chicken. They plucked the feathers in the yard and prepared to stew the chicken. The youngest girl squatted on the ground, propping her cheeks up, watching her father kill the chicken, her mouth watering.
The peasant woman was cooking a staple food in the kitchen. She didn't have time to lift the lid of the pot and saw that it was just a thin porridge so thick that you could see your reflection in it, with wheat bran and rice husks all mixed together.
The peasant woman wiped her hands somewhat embarrassedly and said, "This year's grain has all been handed over to the government, but some millet was sifted out. If we save it up, we can still make a living."
Wuxia didn't say anything, but went to the carriage, took a bag, and handed it to the peasant woman. Inside was a piece of fresh pork.
"Please cook it for me!" I was thinking I'd be sleeping out again tonight, so I was planning to grill it and eat it. Now it's all good; I can cook it and have some broth.
The village was poor, and people could only afford to eat meat once a year. Now, a large piece of meat was placed in front of her, and the peasant woman was so happy that she didn't know what to do with it.
Lu Chang helped Jingwan lie down on the bed. The farmhouse didn't have cotton quilts, and the quilt they gave her wasn't warm enough; it was just stuffed with straw for warmth. Fortunately, he had bought a quilt for Jingwan on the way north and left it in the carriage. Lu Chang took it and covered her with it, patting her face and saying, "Take a nap first, and I'll call you when it's time to eat."
After sleeping outdoors for two days, Lu Chang knew that she hadn't slept well and was yawning constantly. Jing Wan hummed in response and then closed her eyes and fell asleep almost immediately.
When she woke up again, her hand, which was sticking out of the blanket, was itchy, as if something was jumping around on it. Still groggy, she barely managed to turn over and look. In an instant, as if injected with chicken blood, she let out a sharp scream that pierced the sky above a small village.
Startled by the sound, Lu Chang rushed into the room, also frightened by the way she was jumping around on the bed. As he strode over, the person who was still jumping jumped off the bed and onto him, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist, pointing at the bed and saying, "There's...there's a mouse!"
She looked at Lu Chang, tears welling up in her eyes: "It's huge, and it's gnawing on my finger." As she spoke, she held out the finger for Lu Chang to see.
The big rat failed in its attempt and was discovered as soon as it started licking her finger. Lu Chang held her with one hand and examined her slender, white finger with the other, comforting her: "It's okay, it's okay, it didn't get to bite it."
The second son in the family was also frightened and went into the house. When he heard that there was a rat, he was overjoyed. He pulled back the still wriggling quilt, and with quick hands and eyes, he caught the wicked rat in a few moments. He then happily went out by the tail.
Jingwan finally breathed a sigh of relief. With the rats gone and the onlookers gone, only the two of them remained in the room. Looking at herself, embarrassment and shame welled up inside her, and her cheeks flushed like a rosy cloud. Lu Chang put her on the bed, and she became somewhat restless, gripping the edge of the bed tightly with both hands. She said with a hint of grievance, "I'm not that timid. I'm not even afraid of snakes, but I'm afraid of these rats."
Lu Chang smiled gently and replied, "I know you've eaten snake meat before."
Jingwan was stunned: "How did you know?"
He stopped talking, tidied the bed, and asked her, "Want to go for a walk?"
There had just been a large rat in the house, so she dared not stay any longer. She nodded, and Lu Chang brought her shoes and put them on. Jing Wan quickly waved her hand and said, "Cousin, I can do it."
It was cold outside in the yard, but the children didn't want to go back inside. They were running and laughing outside. As soon as she went out, she saw a small bamboo cage at the foot of the house. Inside was the wicked rat. The little boy who caught it said, "We won't eat it today since we have meat. Let's keep it for two days and eat it after we finish the meat."
They actually want to eat rats?
She dared not think about it anymore and stayed far away from the bamboo cage.
When they ate dinner that evening, their hosts brought them a small table with chicken, pork, and a pot of porridge on it. They sat on one side of the table, with only the porridge on it.
Compared to usual, there was a layer of oil floating on the porridge today, which made the children very happy. They couldn't remember the last time they had any meat.
Lu Chang picked out a chicken leg and put it in Jing Wan's bowl, but unexpectedly she put it back into the pot and whispered, "I'm not a child anymore."
Only children would fight over chicken legs.
"How about some chicken? Hmm?" He scooped a spoonful of chicken into her bowl, and scooped some for himself as well. Wuxia, who was standing nearby, sensibly took the remaining pot of chicken to the table where the farmers were eating, along with the pot of pork.
The couple waved their hands apologetically, refusing repeatedly. Wu Xia didn't say a word and divided the chicken among the three children. Seeing this, the couple looked at each other and had no choice but to give up.
A very hospitable family.
There wasn't much to do in the countryside, and it was cold. After dinner, everyone went to rest. Jingwan sat on the bed, still a little restless. Her little head turned left and right, and she would widen her eyes in fright at the slightest sound, as if afraid that a big rat would suddenly appear somewhere.
She was acting strangely, and there was a loud knocking on the door. Lu Chang asked, "Are you asleep?"
Jingwan dragged her shoes to open the door and saw Lu Chang holding a tabby kitten. He placed the kitten in Jingwan's arms and said, "Look, if you sleep with it, no mice will dare to come. It can also warm your bed."
"Ah!" She happily took the kitten, stroking its soft fur. The kitten was very well-behaved, nestled in her arms, and licked her hand with its tongue.
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