Chapter 11011: The mistress rewarded me for coming back.
Li Yue'er was eager to return home, but was suddenly pulled back by Teng Huang. Looking down, she saw the purse, paused in confusion, hesitated, sat down, and reached out to take it.
Seeing that Teng Huang tacitly allowed her to open it, Li Yue'er carefully untied the straps on both sides of the purse and poured out the contents.
There were six gleaming one-tael silver ingots.
One piece after another was poured into the palm of my hand, feeling heavier than if it were in my purse.
Li Yue'er looked up at the rattan in surprise, then looked down and silently counted several times in her palm. No matter how she counted, it was always six taels.
She was sold to the Qu family to be a slave and concubine for her entire life, and she was only sold for five taels of silver.
Today, however, the mistress had Gambo give her six taels.
Six taels of silver, in this world, can not only buy her, but also support a poor mother and daughter with no source of income for two years.
Li Yue'er: "Yes, is that what the mistress means?"
Tung-fu didn't know how much money was in the purse. "The mistress gave it to me along with the purse before taking a nap after lunch. It was truly the mistress's intention."
Seeing Li Yue'er with her head down, her neck slender and white, beautiful yet fragile, Rattan Huang gently interrupted her thoughts, diverting her attention:
“Miss Moon, we don’t have much time to stay. I’ll wait for you in the carriage and won’t get off to disturb your reunion. You two can have a good talk.”
Li Yue'er thanked him softly, then lowered her eyes and put the silver back into her plain blue purse.
She stepped off the train, holding onto the carriage with one hand and using a footstool. Looking up, she could see the two closed and dilapidated wooden doors of her home.
They originally lived next to the academy in a small courtyard with about two sections, until the land deed was stolen and sold by that wicked person, and the three of them, mother and daughters, were driven out and had no choice but to live here.
The narrow courtyard had a main room divided into two sleeping areas. Meals were eaten in the kitchen, and the toilet was a simple outhouse built behind the house.
When she was at home, she could do laundry for others or take on some embroidery work to make a living, and the three of them, mother and daughters, could at least have enough to eat. After she left, her already frail mother and young sister were left wondering how they would survive.
When she was sold into the Qu family, Li Yue'er was even grateful, thinking that at least she could stay in the mansion of a wealthy local family, so that when she received the monthly allowance of one tael of silver from the concubine, she could ask Aunt Qiu to take it home, enough for her mother and younger sister to live on.
However, just a few days later, my younger sister developed a high fever and became seriously ill.
Lin Mu walked ahead and, seeing that Li Yue'er was distracted, raised his hand to knock on the door for her and called out loudly, "Aunt Ming."
Li Yue'er put the purse into her sleeve, clenched her hands tightly in front of her, and stared unblinkingly at the door panel in front of her.
Upon hearing Lin Mu's voice, the person inside opened the latch from the inside without hesitation.
The wooden door creaked open, revealing Ming's haggard and weak face. "Brother Mu."
"Aunt Ming, look who's back." Lin Mu smiled and stepped aside.
Li Yue'er's eyes welled up with tears and her nose stung. She took two steps forward and called out in a hoarse voice, "Mother."
Ming was stunned. When she came to her senses, she had already reached out and hugged her daughter. She wiped away her tears, looked Li Yue'er up and down, and tentatively touched her arm and cheek. "You, why did you come back during the day?"
Madam Ming was both happy and worried. "Did Master Qu find out that you secretly came home that day and kick you out? Or did you come back quietly on your own?"
Li Yue'er held back her tears, took her mother's hand and walked into the courtyard, her tone deliberately light, "No, it's because I behaved well, and the mistress rewarded me for coming back."
Madam Ming was still in a daze. "Mistress?"
The courtyard was filled with the smell of boiling medicinal soup.
Ming frowned in annoyance, clearly only then remembering, "The medicine is ready."
He then hurried to the kitchen.
Li Yue'er went inside to see her younger sister.
Compared to the last time I came back, there was also the smell of medicinal soup in the house. Although it was unpleasant and bitter, it made me feel at ease.
Li Yue'er walked to the bedside and sat down, looking down at her sleeping younger sister.
Li Xing'er's eyes were closed and her brows were relaxed; she was clearly fast asleep. The sickly flush on her face from the high fever had completely disappeared, leaving only her dry, cracked, and pale lips, proving that although her fever had subsided, she was still ill.
Li Yue'er picked up the bowl of water, dipped the spoon in water, and gently pressed it to her sister's lips.
Children lose weight very quickly when they get sick. When Li Yue'er left home, her younger sister still had some baby fat on her face. When she came back this time, her younger sister was lying in bed, and all the soft flesh on her cheeks had disappeared.
Li Yue'er turned her face away, lowered her head and wiped the tears from her face with the clothes on her shoulder. When she heard footsteps behind her, she took a deep breath, cheered herself up, and looked back with a smile on her lips.
Ming placed the medicine bowl on the low stool beside the bed. Seeing Li Yue'er's eyes glistening with silver light, she said softly, "Yue'er, don't be afraid. Xing'er's fever has subsided. The doctor said that as long as the fever goes down, there's not much of a problem."
"Thanks to your Aunt Qiu for helping to find a doctor, we should thank her properly later," said Madam Ming.
She assumed that Aunt Qiu had asked Brother Mu to invite the doctor, because when the doctor came to the house, he only said that someone had asked him to come and examine the child.
Li Yue'er wasn't afraid, nor did she offer any explanation.
She reached out to take her mother's hand, not daring to look up, and said with her head down, "Why have you lost so much weight?"
Ming was already slender, but now she looked even more haggard and weak. Although it had only been two days, Li Yue'er felt as if two years had passed; otherwise, how could someone age and become so much more haggard in such a short time…
Madam Ming smiled and gently stroked Li Yue'er's head, "Being thinner makes you look more energetic."
Li Yue'er pulled her mother down to sit, and took out the purse given to her by the mistress from her sleeve. "I make a living under the mistress's care. She is a kind and good-hearted person. She not only allowed me to come back, but also gave our family a sum of money."
The mistress didn't mention the matter of giving money at all last night.
Li Yue'er thought that if her mistress had said last night that she would give her six taels of silver to go home and visit her family, she would have been willing to serve her mistress even if she hadn't slept all night.
But the other person kept a blank face and lowered eyes, and didn't say a word except that they thought she was "too much trouble".
As Ming saw Li Yue'er pour out six taels of silver, her gaze slowly moved from Li Yue'er's palm to her face, and she asked with concern, "Is the mistress really so easy to get along with?"
Li Yue'er nodded without hesitation.
She slipped the silver into her mother's hand, saying, "Take it quietly and don't tell anyone. You can rest assured that I have enough to eat and drink in the Qu family now. Look, they've even made new clothes for us concubines in the mansion."
Her dress was new and made of excellent material.
Only then did Madam Ming feel relieved, but she still only took one tael of silver, and put the rest back into Li Yue'er's plain blue purse.
Ming's gaze was gentle. "Keep one or two taels for emergencies, and keep the rest for yourself."
Seeing that Li Yue'er did not agree, Madam Ming changed her approach, saying, "It's not safe for the money to be in my hands."
That villain might come back and ransack the place at any time. If he finds out about the six taels of silver, not only will she and Xing'er have no peace at home, but Yue'er might also be implicated and unable to have a peaceful life in the Qu family.
Li Yue'er pursed her lips and gripped the purse in her palm tightly.
As she entered, she saw two large basins of clothes in the yard, clearly indicating that her mother had taken on the laundry work. When she took her mother's hand, it hadn't snowed yet, but her mother's fingers were already cracked and dry.
But her mother was also a pampered little girl who grew up in a scholarly family.
If it weren't for her and her sister, her mother, with no other concerns, wouldn't have tolerated it until now.
The hatred that had been buried in Li Yue'er's heart resurfaced.
She not only wanted her mother and sister to live well.
She wanted her mother to live a good life without any worries.
As she left home, it was getting dark. Li Yue'er sat in the slowly moving carriage, looking down at the plain blue purse in her hand in the dim light, her thumb gently stroking the dark patterns on it.
Six taels, exactly one tael more than five taels.
Did the mistress want to tell her:
“I will pay you one tael more than the Qu family.”
"From now on, you will belong to me alone."
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