equality of life
Perhaps due to the loss of their mother and malnutrition, Tuanzi and Maomao were extremely weak, so thin that you could feel their bones, and their breathing was intermittent.
If it weren't for their two tiny bodies still rising and falling, one might think they were already dead.
Pei Qingwu was extremely anxious.
In this era, there were no pet hospitals, and veterinarians only treated livestock that could work for people, such as cows or horses. Poor people who got sick might not even have the money to hire a doctor, so they would just tough it out. If human life was like this, what did the life of a dog matter?
Without a veterinarian, Pei Qingwu could only carefully care for the two furry children by following some posts he had seen on the internet.
In addition to feeding her goat milk, Pei Qingwu also tried adding some fresh vegetables and tender minced meat to supplement her nutrition.
Nianci stayed by her side the whole time, watching quietly.
Only when Jinniang felt she really should go to sleep did she ask, "Sister Dongjia, Tuanzi and Maomao will be fine tomorrow, right?"
"My sister will definitely save them, just like she saved me."
Looking into the child's expectant eyes, Pei Qingwu nodded emphatically: "Of course, Tuanzi and Maomao will be alright!"
Seeing that Nianci had been taken to bed by Jinniang, Pei Qingwu slumped back down and rubbed his temples.
“Master, even people say that life and death are predestined, and wealth and honor are determined by fate, let alone two little dogs?” Yin Lan brought over a calming soup after the little girl had gone far away and urged Pei Qingwu to drink it: “If you are worried about Xiao Nianci, we can go to the dog market to buy two more tomorrow morning.”
"Anyway, all small dogs look the same."
The calming soup is made by stewing half a black-boned chicken with medicinal herbs such as jujube seeds, cypress seeds, and longan pulp. It is stewed for a full two hours until the chicken is tender and falls off the bone, while the soup remains clear and bright.
When you put it in your mouth, it's sweet and mellow, with a hint of the tartness of jujube kernels.
Pei Qingwu savored the taste and gently shook his head: "It's different. They are all lives. If they can live, they should live. If I can save them, I should save them."
Yin Lan still seemed a little confused, but in her eyes, the boss was almost omnipotent, so she didn't refute him. She just smiled and said, "The boss is kind-hearted. That's right. If it weren't for the boss, among all the people in this shop, only Brother Shi would have a good way to make a living."
“That’s called flattery to death.” Pei Qingwu laughed as well: “Alright, it’s late, you should go to sleep.”
Seeing Yin Lan leave, Pei Qingwu turned his gaze to Gu Heng, who had been silent all along: "Aheng, you should go to sleep too."
Gu Heng shook his head: "No, I'll stay with the boss. If the boss doesn't sleep, I won't sleep either."
"You..."
Knowing he was stubborn, Pei Qingwu didn't say anything more: "Alright, then come over here and help me out."
But she didn't know what to do, so she could only take a piece of velvet and wrap it around the two puppies to keep them as warm as possible.
Then I gently stroked them, with extremely tender movements, as if afraid that even a little too much pressure would make the fragile little lives uncomfortable.
Gu Heng was tending the stove to simmer goat milk when he stared at Pei Qingwu's hands, and he unconsciously became lost in thought.
Her hands were beautiful, white as jade, smooth as frost, and all ten fingers were slender and graceful. When they occasionally rested on the puppy's trembling back, they looked just like blooming peonies.
It was these beautiful hands that pulled him up when he was at his most disheveled and least human, and brought him into the sunlight.
Yin Lan was right; almost everyone in this shop survived thanks to Pei Qingwu's compassionate heart.
"Mother, they all say I'm a wild child without a grandfather. Where is my grandfather? Who is he?"
The beautiful courtesan, tears welling in her eyes, looked at her aggrieved son—his small face still bearing bruises from being hit by a stone—and squatted down, saying blankly—
"So many people have touched Mother, Mother doesn't remember who they are."
With a loud bang, the door was pushed open from the outside.
The madam leaned against the door frame and rudely interrupted the scene: "Guizhi, Master Cui has chosen you again. Hurry up and get dressed. Don't go down with your face full of tears. It'll bring bad luck."
"Yes, yes... I'll go right away..."
The mother left meekly, and the madam came forward. In the little boy's terrified eyes, she squatted down and pinched his face hard.
Despite his gasping for breath in pain, the madam only sneered, "Boy, I know what you're up to... You want your father, who's nowhere to be found, to come and take you and your mother away?"
“Let me tell you, don’t be delusional. Your mother was sold here, but you were born here, and you are destined to stay in this muddy place for the rest of your life.”
"No one can get you out of here."
But Pei Qingwu saved him; she granted him a good family status, allowing his mother to be buried as a respectable person…
Besides him, Pei Qingwu also saved Yin Lan, Qian Tao, and Jin Niang and her two children...
Now, she values the lives of two little puppies so much...
Sometimes, he really gets lost in thought—
Is she a Bodhisattva? Or a goddess?
"Aheng, is the goat milk ready?"
Pei Qingwu's voice interrupted Gu Heng's chaotic thoughts, and he hurriedly said, "Okay, okay..."
"Then take it off the fire and let it cool."
"Um."
Gu Heng took the small pot off the stove, picked up a palm-leaf fan, and fanned the steaming goat milk.
After a while, feeling that it was about time, Pei Qingwu asked him to bring the milk over.
She scooped up a little with a small spoon and was about to pour it onto the back of her hand when Gu Heng quickly grabbed her and pressed her down.
"Um?"
“I know the employer wants to test the temperature, but I’m afraid I’ll still get burned. Let me do it. I’m a man, and I’m used to doing rough work. I’m tough and not afraid of getting burned.”
After saying that, he didn't care whether Pei Qingwu agreed or not, and poured the spoonful of milk directly onto the back of his hand.
"hiss……"
It wasn't dried properly; the back of his hand was burned red.
"Oh dear!" Pei Qingwu exclaimed in surprise, standing up and taking his hand to examine it closely. "Are you alright? Does it hurt from the burn?"
"It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt at all."
Compared to when the madam used to press a red-hot iron against his body, it didn't hurt much at all.
Pei Qingwu felt it was very serious, and anxiously said, "Wait a moment," before quickly running to the ice chest, taking two pieces of ice, and applying them to the burned area.
Are you feeling better?
"Hmm, much better. Actually... it didn't hurt that much to begin with."
"Silly boy, how could it not hurt?" Pei Qingwu scolded, "Why did you have to be so stubborn?"
Gu Heng chuckled and shook his head: "How is this showing off? It's better to be the one who gets burned than to burn the employer."
Pei Qingwu gently punched him: "Don't say that. We're all flesh and blood given to us by our parents. It's not good to burn either of us."
Gu Heng smiled, then lowered his head and said nothing more.
Yes, she cares about everyone, and she saved him because of her kindness. He shouldn't have any unrealistic expectations...
After a while, once he was sure the goat milk was really cooled, Pei Qingwu picked up Tuanzi and carefully fed it.
Her drooping hair obscured her profile, making her appear incredibly gentle in the night breeze.
"Don't just watch, you should do what I do and feed Mao Mao too."
Gu Heng hummed in agreement and, mimicking her actions, picked up the puppy.
For a moment, the only sound in the silence was the sound of the puppy drinking milk.
It wasn't until late at night that the two puppies came to life.
The little dumpling opened its eyes first, its big, watery eyes as big as grapes. It looked at the two of them with a dazed expression, then let out a soft "woof" and rubbed against Pei Qingwu's outstretched hand.
Mao Mao then opened its eyes and started whimpering as it tried to grab Gu Heng's clothes.
"That's great, everything's alright now." Pei Qingwu was overjoyed.
Seeing that she was happy, Gu Heng was also happy. Seeing that it was late, he said with concern, "Boss, it's getting late. You have to open the shop tomorrow. Go to sleep."
"Yes...it's time to sleep. Ah Heng, you should go to sleep early too..."
As Pei Qingwu tried to get up, perhaps because her nerves had been on edge for so long, she suddenly felt dizzy, stumbled, and almost fell.
Gu Heng rushed forward and helped Pei Qingwu up.
Her clothes, scented with the fragrance Li Yinzhu had given her, had a delicate jasmine scent that caught Gu Heng's eye.
"Master, be careful..."
Pei Qingwu only calmed down a little when she leaned against Gu Heng's chest, and then she noticed something was wrong—
Has he... grown this strong already?
According to modern age, she is already twenty-four or twenty-five years old, much older than Gu Heng, so she has always treated him like a younger brother, and sometimes feels that he is still a child.
Who would have thought that he had grown a head taller than her, his shoulders had become reliable and strong, and his masculinity, like sandalwood, had begun to emerge with the passage of time.
Suddenly her face turned red.
After an extremely awkward standoff, Gu Heng hurriedly released Pei Qingwu.
"Master, I just..."
“I know, it’s alright, um…” Pei Qingwu said softly, “Goodnight, Aheng.”
Gu Heng's heart immediately settled down: "Good night, boss."
He didn't understand the meaning of the word.
The shop opened as usual the next day.
While I was busy packing dragon beard candies for the customers, Shi Dayong arrived and said that he had invited a gentleman.
"He is an old scholar from the east of the city. He is quite learned and is willing to teach girls."
"How old is he? Is he reliable?"
"I am fifty-two years old this year and have already taught many students."
It was peak season for the shop, so Pei Qingwu didn't have time to think about anything else and had Shi Dayong take Nianci there to give her a trial lesson.
"Boss, two packs of Yuxu cake, plain flavor, please!"
"Okay, I'm coming."
When he finally had some free time, Pei Qingwu instructed Wu Niang and Qian Tao to watch over the shop, then wiped his hands and walked to the backyard.
On the cushion in the corner, two little puppies snuggled together and slept soundly, their faint breathing becoming much more steady.
"The 'Admonitions for Women' states: 'A woman's first virtue is humility and weakness. In ancient times, three days after a girl was born, she was placed under the bed, and given tiles and bricks to play with, and a prayer was offered to her. Placing her under the bed signifies her humility and weakness, and that she is a servant to the master...'"
An aged voice came, with its intonation, speaking of how women are born lowly and should regard obedience as a virtue and serving their husbands' families as their sacred duty.
Pei Qingwu's expectant smile instantly froze on his face.
She originally thought that even if they couldn't learn the Four Books and Five Classics immediately, they should start with enlightenment texts like the Thousand Character Classic and the Hundred Family Surnames to teach their children to recognize characters and manners and broaden their horizons.
To everyone's surprise, the old scholar's opening remarks were a set of "Admonitions for Women" that blatantly bound women to the shackles of "weakness" and "obedience."
"...A husband has the right to remarry, but a wife has no right to marry twice..." The old scholar continued to ramble on.
Standing under the eaves, she felt a surge of anger rising to her head.
"Enough!" Pei Qingwu couldn't hold back any longer. He walked a few steps to the stone table, his face full of cold anger.
The old scholar was abruptly interrupted and looked up with displeasure, saying, "Master Pei, what do you mean by this? I was just imparting knowledge and teaching..."
"Preaching and teaching?" Pei Qingwu sneered, pointing to the scroll of "Admonitions for Women" in front of Zhou Xiucai. "What the teacher taught was to tell a girl who had witnessed her mother being beaten that she was born inferior to others, and that her only value in this life was to marry and have children, and then obey her husband and endure his heartlessness and ingratitude?"
“I invited the teacher here to teach Nianci to read and understand principles, to make her realize how vast the world is, and to be familiar with human relationships, so that she can stand on her own two feet in the future, instead of teaching her to nail herself to the word ‘weak’ from a young age and become a puppet!”
The old scholar was so angry that his beard trembled: "Absurd! A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent! If you don't teach her virtues and needlework, do you expect her to become a top scholar? This is an age-old truth!"
“It has always been true since ancient times, but there is no such reason here!” Pei Qingwu raised his voice: “Brother Shi, send this gentleman out immediately and settle his bill for half a day.”
As she spoke, she took out a few copper coins from her purse and handed them to Shi Dayong, who was still in a daze.
"You, you woman! You're heretical! You're unreasonable! I'm not teaching you anymore!"
The old scholar grabbed the books on the table, not even bothering to tidy up his writing implements, and, with Shi Dayong awkwardly pushing and pulling him along, stormed off in a huff.
The courtyard was completely silent.
Nianci hid behind Jinniang in fear.
Jinniang held her daughter, looking at Pei Qingwu with a complicated expression. Her lips moved, but she finally whispered, "Master, isn't this a bit inappropriate? After all, that gentleman is a scholar."
Yinlan also leaned over and whispered, "Master, a daughter will get married sooner or later, it's good for her to learn some manners..."
Pei Qingwu did not argue, but walked up to Nianci and squatted down: "Nianci, don't be afraid, I'm not angry... I'm angry because someone wants to put shackles on you at such a young age and tell you that girls are born to be inferior to others."
"You must remember that in this world, life is equally precious, regardless of gender. Reading and learning to read are to help you understand the world and to give you the ability to choose the life you want in the future, not to confine yourself to a box set by others."
"Women can also stand tall and live a wonderful life. I will definitely find you a teacher who can teach you useful knowledge."
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