Chapter 892 Marriage is a matter for me to decide.
The delicious food filled their hungry stomachs after a long day. They ate a full bowl of soup, leaving not a drop of broth.
After paying, Yu Niang and Wu Er Niang left the alley hand in hand.
"Shall I take Sister Wu to the carriage?"
It's on my way; just turn left at that intersection and walk three blocks, and you'll find the room Manager Li arranged for me.
Wu Erniang did not refuse Yu Niang's words. She could tell that Yu Niang just wanted someone to talk to.
Wu Erniang was a woman of few words, but an excellent listener.
“It’s still better to earn money yourself,” Yu Niang said with a smile to Wu Er Niang beside her, patting the purse at her waist.
“If I were at home, my mother would definitely scold me for spending that money to eat at a food stall outside. It’s like I’ve had too much of a good life and I deserve a beating.”
"It's fine to eat it occasionally, but we've been really tired lately."
However, Yu Niang, if you don't want to go home and marry as your parents arrange, then you should at least have a plan in mind. Money is the foundation of your livelihood. If you want to live a good life in Chang'an, you need to think it through carefully.
Wu Erniang's words, which carried a slightly didactic tone, did not anger Yu Niang. Instead, she hugged Wu Erniang's arm, sighed first, and then smiled and said to Wu Erniang, "Sister Wu, I understand."
Manager Li specifically told me this when I first arrived.
Director Chen even called me aside for a private talk, and what he said was similar to what Sister Wu had said.
Our hall provides accommodation. Although I share a room with four or five other women, they are all women, and I live in the same courtyard as Steward Li and the others. But it's a blessing to be able to stay here in Chang'an without spending any money. I am very content.
Not to mention, we can eat lunch in the dining hall, and we can have meat every three days, which is a good meal that I usually can't even get at home.
Sister Wu, I've finally made up my mind. I'm only fourteen now, and there are still four years until the sage said I should be eighteen.
"Just keep doing your job well in the hall. If I want to get married in four years, then ask Steward Li for help. If I still don't want to get married, then I'll probably have been promoted by then. So what if I pay the taxes?"
Seeing that Yu Niang understood, Wu Erniang said no more.
When they arrived at the place where the horse-drawn carriages stopped, Wu Erniang was lucky; a carriage stopped right there when she arrived.
"You should go back quickly, it's getting dark soon, don't wander around outside."
After watching Wu Erniang get into the carriage and drive away, Yu Niang obediently returned to the dormitory of the maternity ward.
Sitting in the carriage on the highway, Wu Erniang looked at the shops along the street that had already started to light up, but in her heart she was pondering what Yu Niang had just said.
Yu Niang was still young, while Wu Er Niang was already twenty years old because she was observing mourning.
Even though she is an orphan, she has already been paying the single tax for a year.
Wu Erniang was a female doctor in the maternity ward. Her monthly salary was enough to cover her living expenses and pay the taxes.
However, it wasn't that Wu Erniang didn't want to get married. In the past, she had been delayed because she was observing mourning for her family. Later, she wanted to establish herself in the maternity ward, so she didn't think about this kind of thing.
Now that she has met Yu Niang, the matter of marriage has stirred up new emotions in her heart.
About half an hour later, just before the gates of the neighborhood closed, Wu Erniang got off the carriage at the intersection closest to her home.
She had only walked a few steps when neighbors saw her and greeted her.
"Oh dear, Second Auntie just got back?"
"Hey, Grandma, you haven't packed up your stall yet?"
Grandma Sun, who runs a pancake stall, lives at the beginning of this street. She sets up a small stall in front of her house to earn a few odds of money.
Upon hearing Wu Erniang's words, Granny Sun beckoned her to come closer and, without saying a word, handed her two vegetarian steamed buns wrapped in oiled paper.
Wu Erniang naturally declined, but Granny Sun kept stuffing them into her arms: "Take them quickly, there are only a few left, I was just about to put them away."
"Grandma, I ate outside before coming back. Please take this home and eat it."
Grandma Sun wouldn't listen, and leaned closer to her, saying, "The medicine you gave me last time, I took it and it really didn't hurt as much anymore."
"You didn't even ask for money for the medicine, how can you not accept these two steamed buns?"
Because Wu Erniang worked as a female doctor in the maternity ward, the neighbors in her area liked to go to her for a checkup when they had minor ailments.
Women, especially, would often come to Wu Erniang to ask about things they were too embarrassed to talk about with others.
Firstly, it was to save money. After all, they were neighbors. If Aunt Wu pointed out a few things to her at the pharmacy, or gave her some acupuncture or massage, wouldn't that be taking advantage of her?
Secondly, some illnesses, though not serious, can be quite painful when they flare up, and women are often embarrassed to talk about them with male doctors.
Wu Erniang was a woman's mother, and they had watched her grow up since she was a child, so they considered her one of their own. Naturally, they could say such things easily.
Granny Sun was experiencing pain when urinating. After Wu Erniang found out, she quickly grabbed some medicine and took it to Granny Sun.
Actually, Granny Sun deliberately packed up her stall late and waited at the intersection for Wu Erniang to return.
Under her earnest invitation, Wu Erniang had no choice but to accept the oil paper package given to her by Granny Sun.
"Go back quickly, it's getting dark, watch your step."
Wu Erniang bowed, took two steps forward, and then stepped back.
Granny Sun noticed that Wu Erniang had something to say, so she went over and pulled her to sit down in a sheltered spot behind the stall.
"What's wrong? Have you encountered any difficulties?"
Wu Erniang hesitated for a moment, then finally raised her head and said to Granny Sun with a hint of shyness, "Granny, you mentioned last time that you wanted to be my matchmaker. I've been thinking about it these past few days, and I have some ideas of my own."
I'm not young anymore, and I have no parents or siblings, so I'll have to handle my own marriage arrangements from now on.
But I'm a female doctor, and I'm already busy with my daily shifts. If the old lady could help me with my fortune telling, then I would…
"I thought it was nothing!"
Why are you acting so distant with me, child?
Don't worry, Grandma will definitely find you a good one!
"Grandma, I won't let you help me for nothing. Whether it works out or not, the matchmaking fee will be the market price."
Granny Sun declined, but Wu Erniang insisted. Granny Sun clapped her hands and said, "Alright, Granny will definitely keep this in mind. You can rest assured!"
Granny Sun watched as Wu Erniang took the steamed buns wrapped in oil paper and headed home, then called her eldest son over to help her tidy up the stall.
“I must think carefully about what Second Aunt said. I need to find her a good husband!”
I vaguely remember that there was a family surnamed Zheng in Chang Le Fang, the hometown of Da Lang's wife..."
Sun Dalang carried the large steamer forward, saying, "Mother, make way, what are you muttering about?"
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