Chapter 25 Chapter 25 Entering the City
Yu Li walked along the edge of the field with twenty taels of silver in his sleeve.
The sky was clear and the golden sunlight was so bright that it hurt my eyes. People walked under the sun and after a while, they felt dizzy because of the scorching sun.
Yu Li walked slowly, feeling his chest swelling, sour and sad.
This is not her emotion, but the original owner's emotion.
In fact, after taking the silver from Old Lady Yu, the emotions in my heart suddenly became like boiling water, surging endlessly.
It was for these twenty taels that the Yu family married her to the Fu family for good fortune.
Even though she worked hard and contributed silently, no matter how obedient she was, her family still ignored her, didn't care about her thoughts, didn't care about how she lived, and didn't care about her personally - just because she was a girl.
A girl's life is cheap and worthless, a money-losing commodity.
This was the most common thing she had heard since she was old enough to understand things. Everyone told her so. Gradually, even she herself felt confused and began to think that because she was a girl, her life was cheap and she was worthless.
But is she really that unlucky?
If women are so worthless, why should we give birth to them? Why do we need women in this world?
No, without women, where would men come from?
Is that woman really unlucky?
Unfortunately, she couldn't figure out the logic behind it, and no one told her how to do it.
For thousands of years, everyone has believed this.
So it was only right that her family married her off to the Fu family for the twenty taels of betrothal money, right?
Is this her fate?
Not only her, but also her sisters in the future, will they be like her? Married off casually just for the high bride price, what is the difference between them and goods?
But she is a human being!
How can a living person with flesh and blood be a commodity?
In fact, she didn't dare to say that she really never thought that women were commodities. Comparing women to commodities, even women think of themselves as commodities - what a sad thing it is.
She felt a little sad about this.
"Yu Li" is silent, but that doesn't mean she is really a wooden person without her own thoughts.
She would occasionally feel confused, and feel that the world was covered with a thick shadow. She could not see the road ahead, the future, or hope.
She was tired and numb to such a life.
But in the end, she still felt resentful, but she didn't know what she was resentful about.
It’s not these twenty taels, but it seems to be for these twenty taels.
Yu Li walked in silence, savoring the emotions in his chest, sad, confused, bitter, desperate...
As he got closer to the Fu family, the excitement in his chest slowly calmed down.
When she stepped into the Fu family, all the emotions in her heart finally disappeared without a trace.
She lowered her head and reached out to touch her heart, knowing that the original owner's consciousness had finally disappeared completely and she would never come back.
When the Yu family gave her the twenty taels, "she" seemed to finally be relieved.
Maybe it’s not about relief, but about choosing to let yourself go.
Yu Li's expression was a little complicated.
They have similar looks and the same name. If people have past and present lives, she feels that the "Yu Li" here should be her past life. There is an inextricable relationship between them, which is why it was such a coincidence that she came to this world after her death, resurrected in the body of "Yu Li", and even awakened again.
-
"Li Niang, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
Zhou came out of the house and saw her standing there, covering her chest, and couldn't help feeling worried.
Yu Li came back to his senses, put his hand down, walked over as if nothing had happened, and said, "Mom, I'm fine."
She followed Zhou into the main room.
Seeing that she was sweating profusely, Zhou poured her a bowl of cold tea.
This herbal tea is made from herbs picked from the wild. Herbs like these are everywhere, growing like weeds beside fields, at the foot of mountains, and in the woods. In the hot summer, every household will make a big pot of herbal tea. When they are tired from work, they will drink a big sip to quench their thirst and cool down.
The taste of herbal tea is light, with the unique flavor of herbs. It is not difficult to drink. After drinking it for a long time, it gives people a sense of security.
Yu Li drank two large bowls of herbal tea, then took out twenty taels from his sleeve and handed it to Zhou.
Zhou was startled, "Mother Li, where did this come from?"
Yu Li said: "The dowry given to me by the Yu family."
"Dowry?" Zhou was confused, wondering if the Yu family would prepare a dowry for a married girl? If they were so generous, why would they marry their granddaughter to them for twenty taels of silver?
Although Zhou has a soft personality, she is not a fool.
Although she was extremely worried about Fu Wenxiao's coma at that time, she also knew that the Yu family married their granddaughter to her for the twenty taels of betrothal money, and she felt guilty towards Yu Li for this, so after Yu Li got married, she tried her best to be nice to her daughter-in-law.
On the wedding day, Yu Li only brought a tattered package. The Yu family didn't give her any dowry. It's impossible that they suddenly have a change of heart and give her a dowry, right?
Yu Li pushed the silver towards her and said, "Mother, use it to buy food."
She didn't explain where the dowry came from. Anyway, it was given by the Yu family, and it came from a legitimate source, so there was nothing to worry about.
Although Zhou was puzzled, she stopped asking when she saw that she didn't want to say more.
But she didn't take the money.
She pushed the silver back and said softly, "Mother Li, this is the dowry given to you by the Yu family. You should keep it and decide how to spend it. You don't have to give it to me."
Yu Li looked at her for a while, took the silver back, nodded slightly and said: "Okay, then I will go to the city to buy some food tomorrow and find a job by the way."
"Looking for a job?" Zhou was stunned. "What kind of job do you want?"
"I don't know. I'll go to the county town tomorrow to see for myself."
Zhou: “…”
**
Yu Li took the twenty taels of silver back to his room.
Fu Wenxiao was sitting by the window reading a book. Although it was a hot summer day, he was dressed neatly. He had a pale face and was wearing a green robe. Beautiful green bamboos could be seen on the lapels and hems of his clothes, which made him look elegant and leisurely.
Yu Li came in sweating profusely. When I saw him, I had the illusion that even the stuffy air had become a little cooler.
When she put the silver on the table, Fu Wenxiao looked up at her with a look of surprise.
I just heard yesterday that there was no money at home, so how come she brought back a sum of silver today? I estimate it to be around twenty taels.
If he didn't know that she was simple-minded and not a wicked person, he would have thought that she had robbed someone's money.
"This is the dowry the Yu family gave me." Yu Li explained, "Use it to buy food tomorrow."
Fu Wenxiao's eyes flickered slightly, but he didn't ask why the Yu family suddenly gave her a dowry. From the information he knew about the Yu family from Zhou, he guessed that the Yu family attached great importance to money. The process for her to get this dowry must have been quite tortuous.
Yu Li wanted to find a place to put the silver, but after looking around, there seemed to be no place in the room where he could put the silver.
In her heart, the Fu family was just a temporary place to stay and she did not consider it as her own home.
It's not her territory.
This room is Fu Wenxiao's room. Her only thing is a package of clothes. The package is a piece of gray cloth and contains only one set of clothes. It looks extremely shabby.
Fu Wenxiao was very thoughtful and understood what she meant instantly.
His eyes moved to the worn-out package, and he paused for a moment. He pointed to a box on the cabinet next to the wall and said, "You can put the silver there. You can put anything else in the cabinet in the future."
Yu Li walked over obediently, opened the cabinet, and found that there were not many things in the cabinet. It was indeed a place to put things.
She put the silver into the box.
At this time, she heard Fu Wenxiao say: "Are you going into the city tomorrow?"
"Yes." Yu Li nodded, "I'm going to buy food. There's no need to ask Da Zhuang next door to go. It's not good to trouble people all the time."
The Fu family had old and young, and sick people. Before she got married, they would ask Da Zhuang from the Zhou family next door for help with fetching water, chopping wood, running errands, etc., and they would always pay him.
Although the reward was not much, Yu Li felt that he could do these things himself, so he decided to waive the reward.
Fu Wenxiao hummed and said, "The clothes you are wearing are old. Bring back some cloth tomorrow and let mother make you some clothes."
Hearing this, Yu Li looked down at his clothes.
Not only was it old, it had several patches on it. I don’t know how many years it had been worn, torn and patched, patched and torn again. Anyway, the Yu family didn’t have the money to buy any clothes for the second daughter, so they just picked up old clothes from adults and modified them.
According to their thinking, it’s good enough to have something to wear, so why be picky?
On the contrary, the men in the Yu family would buy new clothes every year, especially the scholars in the eldest house, who were quite particular about their clothes...
Thinking of this, Yu Li suddenly felt that she was still too kind to the Yu family, and that the Yu family's actions had not yet achieved the fairness she wanted.
Yu Li responded, "Yeah, I understand."
Although she only cares about food, she would also be willing to wear better clothes and live in a better place.
People are not born to suffer. If conditions permit, who wouldn’t want to be nicer to themselves?
After putting the silver away, Yu Li told Fu Wenxiao that she would go to the city to find a job tomorrow.
"...I asked my second sister, there are a lot of jobs to do in the city. When I find a job and make money, I will buy you delicious food. I heard that there are a lot of delicious food in the city, such as maltose, cakes, braised meat, roast chicken..."
Fu Wenxiao saw her longing look and knew that the end was the key point.
I couldn't help but laugh. It seems that he is still a child. Only children's eyes will light up when talking about delicious food.
She said, Fu Wenxiao listened silently, and did not turn the page of the book in his hand for a long time.
When she finished speaking, he asked, "Have you been to the county town?"
"I went there when I was a child." Yu Li said.
Fu Wenxiao looked at her, and was worried for the first time. "If you don't know the way, you can take a boat. You can wait for the boat at the riverside pier at the head of the village. The boat is fast and can reach the county town in more than half an hour."
Yu Li tilted his head to look at him and said, "I know."
She had the original owner's memories and knew where to take the boat. She thought he was very strange and asked why he told her this.
Fu Wenxiao looked at her, then calmly looked away.
He casually turned the book to the next page, thinking that although she didn't understand the ways of the world, she was still clear about some common sense and the situation in the village.
-
During dinner in the evening, Yu Li told Fu Yanhui, Fu Yansheng and others that she would go to the county town tomorrow.
She said, "I'll buy you some candy when I come back tomorrow."
Children all like to eat candy. When they saw the two children from the Fu family, they thought that since it was a rare opportunity to go to the city, they might as well buy them some snacks or something to make them happy.
Having just received twenty taels of silver, Yu Li, who felt he had plenty of money, was now very generous.
Of course, because she wanted to eat candy herself.
Fu Yanhui and Fu Yansheng's eyes sparkled as they said crisply, "Thank you, little aunt."
The two children were rather shy, perhaps because there was a patient at home. Mrs. Zhou often kept them under control and rarely let them go out to play. They were completely different from the lively and active children in the village who ran around everywhere, got tanned, and were very lively.
But they are indeed well-behaved and obedient. Even Yu Li, who doesn't have any special feelings for children, thinks it's good to raise these two children. When he goes to the mountains to look for food, he will remember to bring some for them when he thinks of them.
After spending these days together, the two children have completely accepted Yu Li as their aunt.
In the children's minds, their aunt is very capable. She often brings them food and plays with them. With her around, even their uncle's health has improved a lot.
In addition, Zhou would chatter to them from time to time, saying that Yu Li was Fu Wenxiao's lucky star, which made him a powerful person in the children's eyes.
Yu Li reached out and touched his head, looking forward to going into the city tomorrow.
-
The next day, Yu Li woke up at dawn.
The light in the room was dim. She groped her way out of bed, changed her clothes in the dark, then opened the door and went out.
Zhou had already gotten up and was making breakfast in the kitchen, while also decocting medicine for Fu Wenxiao.
The room was filled with a strong smell of Chinese medicine, which wafted out from the kitchen.
Normally, even if Fu Wenxiao is not sick, he still has to take medicine, one bowl a day, Zhou said it is a tonic. Yu Li is not familiar with the medicine in this world, and feels particularly sympathetic towards Fu Wenxiao. He has to take medicine even if he is not sick. What is the difference between this and eating only those unpalatable foods in the end times?
Mrs. Zhou specially made multi-grain steamed buns today. Steamed buns are more filling than porridge, so she asked her to eat more so that she wouldn't be hungry on the road.
After being initially surprised by Yu Li's appetite, I soon became indifferent.
Li Niang is strong and eats more. Isn't that normal?
Zhou placed the freshly steamed multi-grain buns on a plate and reminded her, "Mother Li, you are taking a boat to the county town today. Don't save money. If you can't make it back in time for lunch, you can eat in the county town. Don't save money. You can go have a bowl of noodles. Shredded pork noodles in the county town are not expensive. I heard that it's five cents a bowl..."
Yu Li listened silently, eating something, and responded vaguely.
Zhou handed her a bowl of thin multi-grain porridge and asked her to eat it with steamed buns to avoid choking. Seeing that she was still too thin, she couldn't help but feel a little pity for her.
I've been raising it for almost a month, but it doesn't seem to have gained much weight and is still so thin.
The amazing thing is that even though Fu Wenxiao had been bedridden for a long time, he didn't look as thin as her. This shows how extremely thin Yu Li was.
Knowing that this was Yu Li's first time going to the county town - she had been there once as a child, and she had no one to accompany her, she was somewhat worried, afraid that she would get lost alone or something might happen to her in the county town.
All I can say is that Yu Li’s current appearance is too deceptive, making people unable to help but worry about her.
Zhou asked again and again: "Li Niang, don't you really need to ask someone to accompany you?"
"No, everyone is busy, don't waste their time." Yu Li said, "By the way, I want to help my third sister deliver embroidery to the embroidery shop. Mom, give me the embroidery you made recently, and I will take it to the county town to help you sell it."
Zhou responded, wiped the water stains on her hands, and went back to her room.
Soon she came out with a package. When she opened it, she saw some neatly stacked embroidered handkerchiefs, purses and other embroidered items. All of them were exquisitely embroidered and lifelike, which showed how good Zhou's embroidery skills were.
Yu Li picked up a purse out of curiosity and took a look. The pattern embroidered on it was green bamboo. The bamboo seemed to come alive, leisurely and elegant.
It is exactly the same as the green bamboo pattern on Fu Wenxiao's clothes.
"Mom, it's beautiful." She said truthfully, "Your embroidery is different from that of the people in the village."
The women in the village all know how to sew and mend things with needle and thread, but when it comes to embroidery, few of them can do it.
Zhou smiled, as if a little embarrassed: "My embroidery is only good in this rural area. In the capital, it can't compare with those embroidery girls specially trained by cloth shops and embroidery workshops or big families. They make a living by this craft. I also learned from an embroidery girl for a few years, but unfortunately I didn't learn her essence..."
I don’t know what she was thinking about, but Zhou’s face showed a rare nostalgic look, which was also a little complicated.
After breakfast, Yu Li prepared to go out.
Zhou handed her a backpack with a relatively large space. She could use it to carry the food back from the city when she bought it. The backpack could hold about 50 kilograms of food.
Yu Li put the embroidery made by Yu Yin and Zhou into the backpack.
Zhou said, "Li Niang, when you go to the city this time, please go to Huichuntang and bring back some medicine for Xiao Ge'er. You can go find Doctor Xu from Huichuntang. He knows about it." Thinking of something, she said, "By the way, when you go to sell embroidery, buy some cloth. I will make you two sets of clothes when you come back."
She looked at the clothes on Yu Li and couldn't help feeling a little guilty.
Li Niang's clothes were old and torn, but she was short of money these days and Fu Wenxiao was in poor health, so she didn't have the energy to do anything.
This time when Yu Li went to the city, he asked her to buy some cloth to make her two sets of clothes.
Embroidery workshops and cloth shops all sell ready-made clothes, but those are more expensive, and it is not as economical as making them yourself by cutting the cloth.
Yu Li agreed to all of them.
Fu Wenxiao mentioned to her yesterday about buying cloth to make clothes, so she decided to use her own money to buy a piece of cloth instead of using the money Zhou earned from selling embroidery.
When I went out, it was already bright.
The villagers were busy working in the fields while the sun was not shining. When they saw Yu Li passing by, they looked at him in confusion but did not say hello.
The main reason is that the girls from the second branch of the Yu family are all busy working, and no one is familiar with them.
Arriving at the riverside pier at the entrance of the village, Yu Li waited for a while and saw a boat coming.
The boat came from the next village, and would stop if there were people taking the boat along the way.
At this time, there were already two people on the boat, and there were some things piled on it. They should be people going to visit relatives in the city. Most people would not be willing to take a boat to the county town. A boat ride costs four cents, and four cents can buy a bowl of vegetarian noodles in the county town, and there is still one cent left.
Yu Li didn't know the way into the city, so he decided to take a boat.
The man rowing the boat was a middle-aged man with a tanned skin. He was from the next village and his surname was Wang. Everyone called him Wang the Boatman. It was said that he was a relative of Yu Laosan's wife, Wang.
Wang the boatman rowed the boat and stopped it at the riverside. When he saw Yu Li, he asked hesitantly, "Are you Li Niang from the second branch of the Yu family?"
Yu Li nodded, got on the boat, and found a seat to sit down.
The two guests on the boat looked at her curiously, and their first impression was that the girl was very thin.
Wang the boatman said with a smile while rowing the boat: "I often send your two elder brothers to study in the county. I heard that they will take part in the county examination next year. If they pass the county examination, they will become Tongsheng..."
As he spoke, he couldn't stop showing envy on his face.
Although the second and third branches of the Yu family work like slaves to support the eldest branch's studies, like they are being taken advantage of, in fact, in the eyes of outsiders, they are very envious of the Yu family. They envy the fact that the Yu family has three scholars, and it is said that Yu Jingde and Yu Jingli are more knowledgeable than the eldest brother Yu back then, and they are expected to pass the imperial examination and become scholars.
Once the two brothers pass the imperial examination and become scholars, it would be a big deal. The Yu family would have two scholars, and not only would they be exempt from taxes, but their status would also be improved, making the whole family glorious. Then the second and third branches would also benefit from it.
As a relative of the Wang family, Wang Yugong naturally had some understanding of the Yu family. That was why he recognized Yu Li when he saw him, but he was not sure at the moment.
He knew very well that the Yu family did not pay much attention to the girls from the second house and they were rarely seen out and about.
Seeing her for the first time, I was not quite sure.
Yu Li was not good at speaking and didn't know how to get along with strangers. He just listened quietly and didn't say anything.
Wang the boatman didn't care. After talking about the two brothers Yu Jingde, he asked, "What's the matter with Li Niang going into the city today?"
It's rare to see her taking a boat into the city, so I couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
Yu Li said: "Go buy some food."
"What?" Wang Chengong was a little confused. Country people had to go to the city to buy food?
Could it be that the Yu family has run out of food?
No, I seem to have heard that the eldest daughter of the second branch of the Yu family got married a while ago. She married a scholar named Fu from the same village. It was only when Wang mentioned it casually when she returned to her parents' home that the Wang family knew about it.
People from other villages were not very clear about the Yu family marrying their daughter to a scholar from the same village to bring good luck. The main reason was that the Fu family kept a low profile after moving to Qingshi Village, and they didn't have many relatives here, so there was nothing to say.
Therefore, regarding this marriage, only the people in Qingshi Village talked about it in their spare time, but no one told anyone else.
The main reason is that I don’t want to offend the Yu family.
Who doesn't know that Yu Li was sold to the Fu family for the purpose of bringing good luck?
Although the Yu family did something unkind, they have two students. It is said that Chen Xiucai from the county town is very optimistic about them. If they succeed in their studies and become scholars one day, they cannot afford to offend them.
Wang the boatman is a man of great eloquence. In their line of work, one has to be good at speaking in order to attract customers.
He understood, "I heard that the Fu family used to be peddlers. Although they bought land, they rented it out to others to grow crops. It's normal for them to buy food. It's a blessing for you, Li Niang, to marry into the Fu family..."
Yu Li looked at him strangely and still said nothing.
The two passengers on the boat also looked at her and, knowing that she was a girl from the Yu family, they were somewhat polite to her.
This is the norm in this world. As long as there is a scholar in the family and he has the potential to pass the imperial examination, others will be polite to him.
All things are inferior, only reading is superior.
Scholars have an extremely high status in the eyes of the world, almost sacred, as if as long as one is a scholar, he or she cannot be desecrated.
Yu Li seemed to be thinking about something, as if she understood why the Yu family had so much confidence in her uncle.
Boss Yu is a scholar and in their eyes is the most powerful. They can't do anything to her and think that Boss Yu can deal with her.
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