After dinner, Huo Yan took Su Ruanruan to a clothing store to buy clothes.
After being tossed and turned all night, Su Ruanruan's legs are still weak and she doesn't want to walk much. She just wants to go back and have a good sleep.
"You've already bought me plenty of clothes, I have enough to wear."
Su Ruanruan yawned, "I just want to get a good night's sleep."
She rubbed her aching back and continued walking when a little girl stopped her.
"Sister, sister, here, have this."
Su Ruanruan glanced at the somewhat wrinkled and dehydrated apple offered to her, then looked at the little girl.
She was dressed in tattered clothes, with several patches on her body. But her eyes were clear, and she had a small braid in her hair; she was incredibly cute.
Su Ruanruan bent down, smiling kindly, "Why are you giving your sister an apple?"
The little girl blinked her big, dark grape-like eyes. "My mother said that we've been able to eat our fill these past few days because of a very beautiful and kind-hearted older sister."
"I searched all morning and found that my older sister is the most beautiful. Did she treat us to dinner?"
Huo Yan walked forward with his hands behind his back and stopped beside Su Ruanruan.
The little girl looked at the figure that was so much taller than her, a hint of fear in her eyes. She shrank back a few steps, "Mother... I'm scared."
Just as Su Ruanruan was about to say a few words of comfort to the little girl, she saw a woman hurrying over from a distance. "The child is ignorant and has offended an important person. Please be magnanimous and don't take it to heart."
Huo Yan sighed, wondering if he was really that scary.
Su Ruanruan smiled and said, "He won't hold a grudge against a child. Don't be fooled by his cold face, he's very gentle. Don't be afraid, I don't think I've seen you before. Did you come here as refugees?"
The woman sighed, “Last year, the man in my family died. My mother-in-law resented that I had caused her husband’s death and that I hadn’t given her family a grandson. In a fit of anger, she kicked us out of the house.”
"I have no family at my parents' house and I didn't know where to go, so I just wandered around and ended up here."
“If it weren’t for your help, my daughter and I would probably have starved to death long ago.”
As she was about to kneel down, Su Ruanruan quickly caught her.
"I was just doing what I could, it's nothing."
Su Ruanruan sized her up several times and could tell that she was a clean and efficient person.
"If you have nowhere to go, I have a place here where you can stay. It will provide food and lodging, and you'll receive a monthly stipend for your work. It won't interfere with you taking care of your child. Would you be willing?"
The woman nodded eagerly, "Yes, yes."
Su Ruanruan gave her the address of the estate and some copper coins, saying, "Go find Wang Zhuangtou, she will arrange everything for you."
The woman wiped away her tears. She had truly met a benefactor today. She hurriedly pulled her daughter to kowtow, but Su Ruanruan had already left with a smile. "Go quickly."
Huo Yan was unaware that Su Ruanruan had become a great philanthropist in the eyes of beggars and the poor. Apart from the old, weak, sick and disabled beggars, the others could no longer be as lazy as before after eating their fill. They all had to go out to find work. If they couldn't find work, she would introduce them to some jobs. Although the wages were low, at least they could support themselves.
Furthermore, ever since they exchanged paper for copper coins, the braised meat shop has been closed, though it's not entirely shut down.
However, they no longer sold the food they prepared to other people, but instead transported it to the south of the city and sold it cheaply to the laborers.
Even if they can't sell them, they won't sell them to anyone else; they'll give them all to beggars.
The aroma of the vegetables and meat was so enticing that it made the worms in people's stomachs feel like they were going to come out.
But when I crave braised offal, I try to make it myself, but it always turns out terrible and never tastes the same.
Now, I can only watch others eat with envy, feeling both angry and regretful.
The night was as dark as ink, utterly gloomy.
Jin Yu and Niu Mang had just returned. They went to the next courtyard with Huo Yan and Wei Zheng. Su Ruanruan had no idea what they were talking about.
She was busy cooking in the kitchen, and she even prepared the spicy stir-fried pork intestines that Niu Mang had been craving for the past few days.
She took out the thousand taels of silver notes that Huo Yan had just given her and looked at them again.
As long as the money is right, she can prepare ten dishes and eight soups.
After dinner, Su Ruanruan strolled in the courtyard to digest her food, and casually made a cute little snowman. Huo Yan then went to prepare bathwater for her.
The night was cold and bleak, but the bedroom was filled with the warmth of spring.
Su Ruanruan was exhausted and had no strength left.
Huo Yan went to the kitchen to boil water and then put Su Ruanruan into the bathtub to wash her.
Then he used a white cloth to dry her body and put her in a soft quilt.
Huo Yan pulled her into his arms and gently pecked Su Ruanruan's forehead. "With you by my side, this life is enough."
Su Ruanruan raised her beautiful eyes, "Did you find anything in the secret passage today?"
Thinking of the gold and silver treasures hidden in the tunnel, Huo Yan smiled and said, "I can't tell you that."
Su Ruanruan didn't care what was there; she just wanted to know when they would catch the person who killed Xiaoxi.
"When will you take action?"
Huo Yan's fingers stroked Su Ruanruan's back, which was as smooth as jade. "Don't go anywhere at home for the next two days. Wait for me to come back."
"Once things are settled here, I'll take you back to the capital."
"good."
...
Before dawn, Huo Yan was already fully prepared to depart. Su Ruanruan was half asleep when she felt someone gently stroking her cheek. "Wait for me to come back."
When she opened her eyes again, she was all alone in the room.
Niu Mang delivered all three meals a day, saying that Huo Yan had ordered her not to go out.
By evening, Huo Yan still hadn't returned.
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