Chapter 2 Recognition
The young man glanced at the pancakes in the basket and understood what she meant. "Just fry two and pack up the rest."
Du Huaizhi nodded, busy with his hands while calculating the bill: "A total of twenty-eight cents."
Upon hearing this, the young man poured out the copper coins from his purse and counted them. His eyes unconsciously fell on Du Ruozhi's hands holding the shovel. Her fingers were white and slender, not delicate at all.
It was a bit inappropriate to stare at a girl's hands in broad daylight, so he focused his attention on the thin callus on her palm.
These calluses didn't look like they were from cooking, but rather from years of sharpening a knife, the kind used to kill people. He used a knife himself, so there was no way he was mistaken.
The fire in the iron pot was low, so Du Huaizhi squatted down to stir up the charcoal fire underneath. When he put the fire stick back, he accidentally touched the hatchet inside.
The iron kitchen knife slipped and fell to the ground, making quite a noise that naturally did not escape the young man's eyes.
Du Huaizhi picked up the hatchet and put it away. When he stood up, he heard the young man ask, "Young lady, don't you live in town?"
Du Huaizhi was startled and looked at him with a little vigilance in his eyes, but he still replied: "Yes, I live in a village outside the city."
The young man seemed to be thinking about something and replied, "Yeah."
Du Huaizhi: “…”
After selling all the cakes, Du Huaizhi didn't stay any longer. She extinguished the charcoal fire and packed up her stall. Her stall was foldable and only three or four feet high. It had a few small rollers underneath, so it could be pulled or carried.
Looking at the two long swords placed upright in the inner corner, Du Huaizhi's eyes became visibly darker.
He pulled his stall, bought some things from the shops on the street, and then went home.
Her residence is in a village five miles away from the town. The cakes are selling fast today, so she can go back early and have lunch.
When we arrived at the gate, we saw that there were more officers and soldiers here than usual. They were carefully checking passers-by and requiring them to show their receipts before passing.
This town is not far from the border and there are many foreign merchants coming and going. There are such regulations on weekdays, but they are not as strict as today.
Since Du Huaizhi came in from here this morning, he passed the gate easily with the help of the rules.
The closer they got to the village, the more difficult the road became. The wheels couldn't move, so Du Huaizhi had no choice but to carry the stall on his back.
No matter how compact the stall was, it still had a certain size. Du Huaizhi was thin, and from a distance behind her, she looked like a wooden box with long legs walking on the road.
The sun slowly moved to the center of the sky, the long-legged wooden box, no, Du Huaizhi returned to the village.
The village was a bit deserted. As Du Huaizhi walked along, he saw several collapsed houses with grass growing on the ruins and no one taking care of them. A few scattered mud brick and tile houses were still standing, and the faint sound of roosters crowing proved that people were still living there.
Du Huaizhi walked to a small wooden house near the forest at the end of the village. Before entering the courtyard, he saw two unfamiliar people standing in the yard. They were two young girls, and judging by their attire, they looked like the master and servant of a wealthy family.
Such a rich girl shouldn't be here. Du Huaizhi was alert, "Who are you?"
The two people who were looking around in the courtyard turned their heads when they heard the voice. The girl, who was dressed more delicately and looked cute, looked at Du Huaizhi with a pair of clear and beautiful eyes and asked uncertainly, "Are you my sister?"
Du Huaizhi was stunned by the question and fell into deep thought, with a dark look in his eyes.
Seeing her reaction, the girl frowned slightly. This place was desolate, but it was the right place. She had waited for a long time before this woman of similar age appeared. She was wearing the hairpin left by her aunt on her head. She should not be mistaken. "I am Zhizhi. Sister, do you remember me?"
After a while, Du Huaizhi replied, "I remember."
The girl in front of me is named Du Ruozhi, and she is Du Huaizhi's younger sister.
Although they are sisters, they are divided into legitimate and illegitimate children. Du Huaizhi accidentally learned in her early years that her biological mother was an ordinary peasant girl and her parents were both farmers. In this world, farmers are just lowly ants in front of rich nobles.
Because Du Huaizhi's mother was pregnant and quite pretty, she was taken back home to be a concubine. She died shortly after giving birth to Du Huaizhi.
Du Huaizhi was expelled from the Du family four years ago and went to his maternal grandparents' home thousands of miles away with only a little money.
Du Ruozhi came back to her senses. After receiving Du Huaizhi's affirmative answer, a happy smile appeared on her face. Seeing that Du Huaizhi was carrying a heavy object on his back, she stretched out her delicate hand and wanted to step forward to help.
Du Huaizhi dodged sideways, put the things under the eaves, ignored Du Ruozhi, took out the key and opened the lock of the door.
Du Ruozhi raised her head slightly and looked at Du Huaizhi, who was a head taller than her. She put down her hand awkwardly and observed Du Huaizhi's movements. "Sister, let me help you." She stepped forward again and wanted to help carry the things in, but the seemingly small wooden box was extremely heavy. No matter how hard Du Ruozhi tried, she couldn't move it at all.
Du Huaizhi looked at her pretty face which turned red due to exertion, with mockery in his eyes. After all, she was a noble lady who had never touched water with her hands.
He opened the door, and under Du Ruozhi's shocked gaze, he picked up the stall with one hand and walked into the house, put it casually against the wall, then walked to the table, poured a bowl of overnight tea and drank it all.
He asked Du Ruozhi, who was trying to enter, "What are you doing here?"
Du Ruozhi was still in shock, but upon hearing that, she lifted her skirt and stepped over the threshold, "Of course I'm going to take my sister home."
The excitement in Du Ruozhi's eyes didn't seem fake, but this kind of noble lady was the most scheming. She looked harmless, but in fact, her heart was so black that even she felt ashamed of herself. It was not difficult for her to pretend to be sincere.
"Have you forgotten that I was expelled from the Du Mansion four years ago?" Suddenly bringing back an expelled concubine's daughter would probably not be a good thing.
Du Ruozhi expected Du Huaizhi to say this and explained, "I know something about that incident. Mother was angry at the time and didn't mean what she said. Mother is a person who values reputation the most, so she couldn't bring herself to ask my sister to go back. Father came back a while ago and gave the order, so we finally had a suitable excuse to take my sister back."
For the sake of saving face, a teenage girl was left to fend for herself. The mother Du Ruozhi described is not as simple as she said.
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