Lady Ding had paid a full thirty taels of silver for Ji Xiulan! More than half of their family wealth was given away. Why? Besides not wanting her daughter to suffer, she had placed even greater hopes on Ji Xiulan.
If Ji Xiulan married Gao Zhiru and he could someday obtain the title of a scholar or get a small official position, Ji Xiulan would transform from a plain girl to a phoenix.
Isn’t that what Lady Ding has been looking forward to day and night?
Ji Xiulan furrowed her eyebrows: "How I wish too! But, but Zhiru is clearly hesitating now..."
With Ji Xiulan’s current bad reputation, Gao Zhiru, a scholar, naturally cares about his reputation the most. Now he has wavered a lot. Today at the tea house, Gao Zhiru was almost pulling her out directly; he had never been so fierce to her before.
"If he hesitates, you can’t hesitate! You have to know that you still have weight in his heart. You must hold onto him well; in this life, he is your only good husband!" Lady Ding instructed.
Only then did Ji Xiulan grit her teeth and nod: "I know!"
---
It was now the late autumn, and winter would probably arrive in a few days. The chilling wind was like ice penetrating through the bones.
This morning, Ji Xinhe was awakened by the cold wind.
This thatched house really was breezy from all sides. A strong wind would blow the cold wind into the house. Not to mention that Ji Xinhe didn’t have a kangtou to sleep on, and her quilt was very old and worn out. If she were to live through this winter, wouldn’t she freeze to death?
Ji Xinhe put on warm clothes and went out to see Ji Dong already awake, tidying up firewood in the courtyard. Seeing Ji Xinhe come out, he smiled and said, "There’s nothing to do today, sleep more! I’ll light up the stove later, you can warm up by the fire."
Ji Xinhe also went to help tidy up the firewood. While picking up the firewood, she said: "It’s too cold. The house is leaking air, and we can’t sleep well. Brother, let’s repair the house as soon as possible. How can we live when winter comes?"
"Absolutely! We can’t let you all freeze," Ji Dong used his strength to tie the firewood Ji Xinhe had collected with hemp rope and threw it to the corner to pile up. Soon, the pile grew higher.
Just as they were working, a voice came from the courtyard entrance: "Dongzi! Are you at home?"
Ji Dong hurriedly responded: "Yes, I am."
Jin Bao walked in, holding a small bag of rice and flour in his hand: "Hey there, you’re recovering quite fast. You’re able to work now? My dad told me to come and check on you."
Ji Dong naturally couldn’t reveal the true cause of his "serious illness," so he just responded with a few embarrassed laughs: "I was just saying, Doctor Zhong is so skilled. Thanks for Li Zheng’s concern."
Jin Bao waved his hand: "Ah, we’re all fellow villagers, no need for such words. Here, my dad asked me to bring you this. You’ve only just recovered, and you didn’t get any benefits from the family separation. Here’s some rice and flour, and six chicken eggs to help nourish your body."
Ji Dong hurriedly declined: "No, this..."
Jin Bao, not being one for formalities, directly shoved the items into Ji Dong’s hand: "Just take it. My dad asked me to give it to you. If I were to take it back, he’d probably beat me."
"But these things are too..." To the villagers, chicken eggs and rice and flour were indeed expensive items.
Ji Xinhe immediately went forward to accept them: "Brother, just take it. We’ll remember Li Zheng’s kindness, and later on, we can send something back."
Only then did Ji Dong nod: "Alright."
Jin Bao laughed: "What are you sending for? Now you guys just take care of yourselves."
He then glanced at their house and couldn’t help but frown: "How can people live here? It’s too cold in winter."
Ji Xinhe was indeed very grateful. Li Zheng was a good person, and he had helped her a lot during these days. If it wasn’t for his fairness and reasonableness, things would not have been so smooth for Ji Xinhe.
As if she suddenly remembered something, Ji Xinhe said, "We are planning to repair the house. I was just talking to my brother about this. We plan to build a mud kangtou inside, so we won’t be afraid of the winter."
Jin Bao slapped his thigh: "You should’ve told me about this matter. Since it’s the slack season now and there’s not much to do at home, I can come and help."
Ji Xinhe laughed: "Really?"
"Of course, my big brother is busy with his exams, but my second brother can come too. We can also call Da Tian and the rest; won’t that be enough manpower?"
Ji Dong hurriedly replied, "That’s enough, that’s enough. This small house doesn’t need that many people."
Ji Xinhe sweetly smiled: "Thank you, Jin Bao. When the time comes for you to help, I have to entertain you well."
Country folks usually don’t charge for helping each other out; it would make the relationship seem distant. Just providing meals every day is enough.
But seeing their current situation, Jin Bao waved his hands repeatedly: "No need for that, just a little help and you’re already talking about entertaining with meals? Save it for the winter; it’s hard enough already."
Ji Xinhe didn’t say much more, but her mind was already planning what to prepare for the meals.
After sending Jin Bao away, Ji Xinhe didn’t waste any time, taking Xiao Bei to buy goods from the town. With Jin Bao and others coming to help fix the house tomorrow, she naturally had to prepare the meals in advance.
Firewood, rice, oil, and salt were, of course, necessary. When buying rice, Ji Xinhe chose japonica rice. Coarse rice was too hard, and there were too many broken stones and other impurities in it. Since living well requires attention to detail, and Xiao Bei was at the age of growing up, she bought ten kilograms of rice at eight cents per kilogram. She also bought a slab of lard to refine oil and two kilograms of pork. Along with the slab of pork, she bought a big bone to make soup. After negotiating with the pork shop owner, she saved a few cents and spent a total of one tael of silver.
Xiao Bei stared in amazement, tugging at Ji Xinhe’s sleeve nervously: "Sister, we don’t need to eat this well. It’s too expensive."
"What’s wrong with spending money to eat well? Besides, inviting people to help fix the house, we can’t not serve them good food, right?" Ji Xinhe patted Xiao Bei’s head then pulled him into a cloth shop to buy cloth.
She bought three rolls of thick cotton cloth and a large bag of cotton to make winter clothes.
That day’s hustling made Ji Xinhe almost forget about the worries she had been harbouring.
But just because she forgot, it didn’t mean Mu Houchu forgot.
"Did you find her?" As soon as Ling Feng entered the door, Mu Houchu asked coldly.
"Yes, I found her. Her name is Ji Xinhe, a common farmer in Yangluo Bay. Her identity... there’s nothing special about it. Her ancestors for eight generations have been farmers, so her background is very simple."
Mu Houchu’s eyes deepened, as if contemplating something, his thin lips slightly parted: "Yangluo Bay..."
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