Since they got together, Ye Lingyu probably hasn't had a proper chance to explore Yuanning County again. She's already decided to return to Mengjia Village in a few days, and she wants to spend those days with Ye Lingyu revisiting all the places Ye Lingyu had visited alone before, making up for her belated regret.
She fell into a coma before the matter in Yuanning County was completely resolved. Ye Lingyu took care of her the whole time, and they didn't have a chance to go out together to see the place where Ye Lingyu grew up.
Now that I finally have the time and the mood, I'm accompanying Ye Lingyu to walk through all the streets we've been before. I want to see what my wife ate and played with when she was little.
The freshly fried wontons were drained of oil and then served.
Cheng Qingyan picked one up, sniffed it, and found it to be very fragrant.
He blew on it to cool it down, and then held it to Ye Lingyu's lips: "Wife, you eat first."
Hearing Ye Lingyu bite into the fried wonton wrapper, Cheng Qingyan also picked one up and tried it. Sure enough, the wonton wrapper was crispy, the filling was fresh and fragrant, and it was delicious—no disappointment!
The wontons themselves weren't very big; one serving of fried wontons contained twelve. Cheng Qingyan ate seven, and Ye Lingyu ate five.
"Wife, this tastes almost as good as our pan-fried buns. The vendor really puts a lot of thought into the filling of these wontons."
"It's rare to receive your praise, but the fried wontons here are really delicious, no wonder the tables are full."
"Then, my lady, let's go and make room for them."
Okay~
After leaving the wonton stall, Cheng Qingyan bought two more skewers of candied hawthorn.
Hawthorn berries aid digestion and stimulate the appetite, so she and Ye Lingyu each had a skewer and ate them as they walked.
Children were playing and laughing on the street, peddlers were hurrying along, and some people who relied on begging for a living were leaning against the wall, picking at the black bowl in front of them.
One of the women, who was with a child, caught Cheng Qingyan's attention.
The woman was dressed in rags, holding a child in her arms, and her face was covered in bruises. The child in her arms was motionless, as if asleep.
Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu walked over, squatted down, and placed a piece of silver in the broken bowl in front of her. They didn't rush to leave, but instead kept an eye on the other beggars nearby.
The man looked eager to snatch the broken bowl from in front of the woman.
The woman clutched the piece of silver in her hand and kowtowed to Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu, saying, "Thank you so much for your kindness, sir and madam! Thank you so much for your kindness, sir and madam!" Just as the woman was kowtowing in gratitude, the child in her arms tilted to the side, its eyes tightly closed, showing no sign of waking up. Moreover, its face was sallow and its lips were pale; something was clearly wrong.
Ye Lingyu frowned and asked her, "What's wrong with the child in your arms?"
The woman hugged the child tightly, her face filled with panic: "She's sick, I'll take her to see a doctor right away."
She tried to get up, but failed, and could only crawl forward while holding the child.
Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu then noticed that her leg seemed unable to move. Moreover, it was broken; the broken bone had pierced through her pants, exposing the stark white bone.
Cheng Qingyan instinctively reached out to block Ye Lingyu's eyes: "Wife, don't look."
Ye Lingyu grasped Cheng Qingyan's hand and slowly let go: "It's alright, I can manage."
The woman continued crawling forward, seemingly oblivious to the pain. She held her child in one arm and crawled on with the other. The man who had initially tried to snatch her belongings, seeing that Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu hadn't offered help, couldn't resist this time and threw the broken silver piece at her.
The robbers were incredibly swift and agile. Although some people witnessed the theft, no one offered to help. Some even deliberately avoided the area.
The woman held her child tightly as the robbers beat and kicked her mercilessly, showing no regard for the child she was protecting beneath them.
Cheng Qingyan couldn't stand it any longer and kicked the person who was trying to steal the things away.
Ye Lingyu rushed to help the beaten woman. At that moment, the child the woman was protecting weakly opened his eyes.
"Mother, you should run away by yourself and don't worry about Xue'er."
The woman, overjoyed to see her child awake, wept tears of joy: "My dear child, you're finally awake! I'll take you to see the doctor and buy you some food. Just hang in there a little longer!"
After being kicked away, the man who had been robbing the woman got up and pointed at Cheng Qingyan, yelling, "Who are you? It's none of your business what I do with my wife!"
Cheng Qingyan glared at him defiantly: "Oh, I'm going to interfere today, what can you do about it?"
The man clutched the spot where he had been kicked and threatened, "You wait, I'm going to report this to the authorities right now! How dare you lay a hand on my wife! I'm going to report this to the authorities!"
Cheng Qingyan didn't bother looking at him anymore: "Then go and report it to the authorities."
Instead of reporting to the authorities, the man lunged at Cheng Qingyan, who turned around and kicked him again.
That's it, he just lay on the ground groaning, attracting a lot of onlookers.
He kept spewing vulgarities, and Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu finally understood why no one had stepped forward to help when they saw him bullying the woman; this guy was a complete scoundrel.
Cheng Qingyan really didn't want to pay attention to him, so she turned around and went with Ye Lingyu to check on the woman's injuries.
The commotion quickly alerted the constables patrolling the streets, and Nie Yilin happened to be leading the team today.
The man saw Nie Yilin as if he had seen a savior: "Gentlemen, you must do me justice! That man, just because he has a few stinking coins, is trying to steal my wife!"
Nie Yilin impatiently pulled his leg away from where it was being held: "Wang Mazi, you'd better shut up. Everyone knows how you treat your wife. Now, what's the matter today?"
Wang Mazi began to complain: "It was her, she hit me. I can't even stand up now. She has to pay me money to see a doctor."
Wang Mazi is like a leopard that can't change its spots; he's always been like this, but no one can do anything about it. He is indeed that woman's legal husband.
This wasn't the first time his affair with his wife had escalated to the county government. Previously, someone had intervened to intervene, but that person was fined and punished.
After that, no one cared about their affairs anymore, and Wang Mazi became even more ruthless, constantly beating and scolding his wife and showing no mercy to his children.
This child was almost sold last time, but his wife snatched him back, so he broke his wife's leg. The child was so frightened that he fell ill.
When someone is sick, it becomes difficult to sell them, so he drives them out into the street to beg for money.
At that time, the concept of domestic violence did not exist. It was said that even an upright official would find it difficult to settle family disputes, especially since the previous county magistrate was not considered a good official.
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