Hua Cai was truly incapable of needlework. She spent a long time stitching the needle upside down before finally managing to cobble together something that could barely be called a sachet.
"Really ugly." The system gave a very fair and objective evaluation.
Hua Cai remained unmoved, calmly taking a piece of highly breathable light gauze, measuring it to the size of the sachet, wrapping the mugwort inside, and tying it into a ball with thin string.
After taking a gentle sniff, Hua Cai contentedly stuffed the mugwort ball into the sachet and quickly sealed it with a needle and thread.
The system was dumbfounded: "Host, this is way too rough."
Think about the sachets made by other young ladies. Even if you don't embroider any flowers, you should at least trim the loose threads a little.
"As long as it works well." Hua Cai patted the sachet, turned around and prepared to go inside, only to see Zhao Qiang already standing at the door, quietly watching her.
"Hello there." Hua Cai greeted Zhao Qiang with a smile, waving the sachet in her hand.
Zhao Qiang stared blankly at the woman in the courtyard. He had been awake for so many days, and it seemed that he had never really looked at her closely.
The woman who claimed to be his sister always wore coarse cloth clothes typical of peasant women, with a rather unattractive silk scarf around her neck. He recalled the woman who often came by, whose name he had forgotten, and the exquisite long dress she wore; this woman in front of him seemed to have never worn such a dress before.
She was skilled in medicine, could make delicious medicinal porridge, and would find various ways to get him to eat all sorts of nourishing herbs.
This woman seemed to have no worries at all. From the moment he woke up and saw her, she always had such a bright smile when she faced him, which made him feel happy as well.
The weather was lovely today. Sunlight shone on the woman's hair, reflecting a soft glow. Her fair face was almost translucent in the sunlight. Her delicate willow-leaf eyebrows and smiling, squinting eyes sparkled with tiny lights. Her pert little nose wrinkled slightly, carrying a touch of adorable pride. Her soft, cherry-red lips formed a beautiful curve with her joy, though their color was slightly pale. Clearly, her health was not as reassuring as she had always appeared.
Zhao Qiang glanced slightly to the side and saw a faint red mark on the woman's lips, which ran all the way to her ear. Against her porcelain-white face, it was exceptionally shocking.
He remembered the scar. When he first met her, the two scratches on her face were so obvious, yet they still didn't attract his attention.
Suddenly, I felt a pang of regret. I had only been thinking about being on guard, and I hadn't even asked her if she was in pain.
According to her, the two of them were injured and fell off a cliff in enemy territory. Not daring to reveal their identities, she carried him, who was unconscious, all the way here to settle him down. Once his injuries were completely healed and his memory was restored, she would try to find a way back.
When she said this, her expression was unusually relaxed, and he stubbornly tried to recall the person he cherished in her heart, without even considering how she, a frail woman, had managed to lead him all the way here under such circumstances.
He watched her bustling about, watching her deal with that ambitious woman, and sometimes, as she stayed up all night preparing medicine for him, he would think to himself, "How can this woman be so unkempt and so rude?"
They ignored the hardships she had overlooked in her words, and they ignored the fact that the person who supported this family was just a weak woman who couldn't even push a medicine grinder.
He has no memory of his past, but he never thought he would be such a cold and heartless person. So why did he just ignore it?
Zhao Qiang suddenly felt disgusted with his own ugliness. Looking at the woman in the courtyard with her bright smile, he suddenly turned around and stumbled back into the house as if fleeing.
Hua Cai's hand, holding the sachet, froze in mid-air as she stared dumbfounded at Zhao Qiang's fleeing figure: "System, has he seen a ghost?"
"Maybe it was the ugly sachet in your hand that bothered me," the system replied in a rather unserious manner.
She glared at him fiercely, and after hesitating for a long time, Hua Cai decided to go in and take a look.
After all, they are the target of the mission, and it concerns their favorability; nothing is more important than the sky falling.
Hua Cai cautiously entered the room and immediately turned her gaze to the corner of the room. Sure enough, she saw Zhao Qiang sitting upright on the bed with his back to her.
"Ahem, well, why don't you come out and sit for a while? That place has too narrow a view, it's so stuffy." Hua Cai awkwardly tried to find a topic to talk about as she walked towards Zhao Qiang, glancing down at the ugly sachet in her hand, feeling somewhat depressed.
It must be so ugly it's almost unbearable.
As soon as he reached Zhao Qiang's side, he immediately lowered his head and said awkwardly, "Let's go for a walk. I can go out and get familiar with the village now."
"Um—" Hua Cai hesitated for a moment, then stuffed the sachet in her hand into Zhao Qiang's hand: "Not today, I have something to take care of. This sachet has mugwort in it. If you are tired, you can rest well, or you can practice your sword in the yard. You need to get familiar with it as soon as possible. If you forget even the moves, how can you teach me?"
"You want to learn martial arts?" Zhao Qiang was surprised. Looking at Hua Cai's slender figure, she didn't seem like someone who could learn martial arts at all.
"Of course." Hua Cai proudly raised her head: "If my brother can learn martial arts for his beloved, I can also practice swordsmanship for my brother. When the time comes, I will protect my brother."
He practiced swordsmanship for me.
Zhao Qiang's ears burned, and he lowered his head without saying a word.
"I'll be going now. There's some hot medicinal porridge in the kitchen. If I don't come back at noon, Si'en will heat it up for you, so you don't have to wait for me." Hua Cai cheerfully greeted Zhao Qiang and walked towards the door.
"Wait!" Zhao Qiang hurriedly called out to Hua Cai, his gaze darting away, avoiding her eyes. "Are we—siblings?"
"certainly--"
Hua Cai was about to answer without thinking when the system interrupted her in time.
"Boss, Zhao Qiang's lie about regaining his memory has been exposed."
"Of course—no." The words that were about to come out of Hana's mouth changed as a layer of cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
I almost blurted it out, but I really won't be able to explain it later.
Hua Cai stood by the door watching Zhao Qiang. Seeing that he had his head down and showed no intention of speaking, she turned around and left with peace of mind.
She's going out this time to complete a big project—to rent another house.
Of the thousand taels of silver I got from Xinran, I spent some at Green Willow Manor, gave one hundred taels to Sien, and spent the last few days buying things and purchasing medicinal herbs. In the end, I only have less than seven hundred taels left.
Seven hundred taels seems like a lot, but they're not going to stay here forever; they'll eventually have to go to Dadu, a place with ridiculously high prices.
Once Zhao Qiang regains his memory and returns to Dadu to see his beloved, I, all alone, will surely end up destitute on the streets if I follow him.
She set aside five hundred taels of silver for a rainy day. Looking at the remaining one hundred taels of silver, Hua Cai felt the pressure of running out of money.
After preparing for so long, it's time to set up a clinic to support my family.
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