Translator: SJade, Editor: Dj22031
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The afterglow of the setting sun fell on the earth, and a dilapidated small courtyard in Mopan Hutong, the southwest corner of the capital, was also coated with a layer of golden warm light.
There were only five low and dilapidated thatched houses in the small courtyard, and there was a bleak atmosphere everywhere. Only a red plum tree in the corner of the courtyard was looking extremely beautiful and full of vigorous vitality.
Today was the Lantern Festival, but the family was almost out of money!
Yong Ruo thought: If I can’t get money tonight, I will have to pawn one thing out of the iron pot, copper kettle, copper basin and this pair of carved wooden barrels tomorrow.
Yong Ruo couldn’t bear to part with these things, especially this pair of carved wooden barrels, because this pair of wooden barrels were small, strong and thin, and it was not so difficult for her to carry water with it.
The water tank was out of water. Yong Ruo carried the small wooden barrel out to fetch water. Although she was a girl, she was at least fourteen years old. With her father dead, her mother seriously ill, and her two younger brothers, one nine and one six years old, she had to shoulder the burden of life by herself.
After walking out of the door for only two steps, she heard a voice saying, “Sister Yong, let me help you fetch water!”
A big, strong, dark-faced boy shyly trotted over from the side, trying to take over the burden on Yong Ruo’s shoulders.
“Stop!” Yong Ruo shouted, and dodged to the side!
The boy’s hands froze there, and then he waved them repeatedly: “I… I don’t mean anything else! I just want to… just want to help you!” The young man stammered.
“Thank you for your kindness! But you go and do your thing! I can do it myself.” Yong Ruo politely and unfamiliarly refused. The boy’s name was Jin Sanbao, and he lived next door to her house on the west side. If it was just ordinary neighbours helping each other, she wouldn’t reject him like this! But this boy was obviously interested in her, and she didn’t want to give him any illusions or hope, nor did she want to pretend to be stupid and take advantage of him.
“Sister Yong… you… why don’t you even give me a chance to help you?” Jin Sanbao looked disappointed.
“Because I don’t want to owe you a favour!”
“But in this world, how can you, with just the old, weak, women and children, survive?!” Jin Sanbao’s face turned red.
Yong Ruo smiled confidently: “There is always a way out. We will find a way out!” After saying that, she walked around him and went to the well.
The well was public, not too close to the Yong family but also not too far, about one thousand meters. When she arrived at the well, Yong Ruo used a windlass to lift a bucket of water up, poured it into the two small wooden barrels, and carried the water home.
Although this pair of small carved wooden barrels were very small, they were still very heavy after being filled with water. But Yong Ruo could bear it!
Jin Sanbao still stood there blankly, and Yong Ruo walked past him without looking at him, and without even saying a word. After running back and forth three times, she filled the water tank half full and filled the two large buckets in the main room. Yong Ruo put down the shoulder pole and buckets, and was about to go to the main room when she saw the courtyard door being pushed open, as her nine-year-old second brother Yong Qiao came back.
“Sister, I got the medicine.” Yong Qiao said, “I still owe the medicine shop five cents.”
Yong Ruo nodded, indicating that she understood. She said to him, “Let’s go eat! Today is the Lantern Festival, let’s celebrate it. I’ll cook all the remaining rice.” Brown rice with pickles was already unpalatable enough, and it was inhumane if you couldn’t eat enough! Tonight she had to work hard and she had to eat enough!
“Sister, if you cook everything, what will we eat tomorrow?” Yong Qiao said with a sense of crisis.
“Don’t worry! I will go out to sell flowers tonight and I will definitely make some money! If everything goes well, we won’t have to go hungry for several days!”
Yong Qiao hesitated even more: “Sister, I’d better go out to sell flowers! I’m a man after all!”
Yong Ruo sneered: “You should eat more for a few years and grow your hair straight before you say you are a man! Now, you are just a boy.”
She touched Yong Qiao’s messy head and said softly: “You should take good care of mother and third brother tonight, and wait for me to come back at home! No matter how late it is, you are not allowed to go out to look for me! Otherwise, we will look for you everywhere, understand?” At the end, the tone became a little stern.
“Sister!” Yong Qiao was not convinced.
“Be obedient! Don’t cause trouble for me!” Yong Ruo gave a stern order.
Yong Qiao lowered his head and stopped talking.
Hearing the sound, the third brother Yong Miao had already run out of the main room and said obediently, “Sister, second brother, mother is still asleep and hasn’t woken up yet. She’s not thirsty and doesn’t want water.”
“Good! Good boy!” Yong Ruo also touched Yong Miao’s head and smiled at him, “Let’s go and eat. Tonight is the Lantern festival, I cooked thick porridge, you can eat more!”
Yong Miao showed a sincere smile on his face. Their living standard was quite low, and it was a rare thing to have a full meal.
The three siblings went to the main room.
In the main room, there was a bed placed against the north wall, which belonged to Yong Ruo’s mother Zhou; there was another bed placed horizontally at the foot of the east wall, which belonged to the three siblings; there was a square table at the foot of the west wall, which could be used for eating; at the foot of the south wall near the courtyard, there was a small mountain fireplace made by Yong Ruo with stones, grass mud and bamboo tendons. There were two buckets of water next to the fireplace, and there were ladles in the buckets.
There was a chimney above this small fireplace in the mountain village, and there was a simple stove made of stone and mud in the hearth, similar to a picnic stove. You could cook rice, boil water, decoct medicine, and stir-fry vegetables on the stove – of course, her family had no vegetables to stir-fry. Today, this fireplace had replaced the function of the Yong family’s kitchen.
Such a layout could maximize the use of heat sources, so that the main room would not be too cold, which was conducive to their mother’s recovery and would also reduce the risk of the three siblings catching colds – their clothes and quilts were not thick after all. It was a change made by Yong Ruo after she transmigrated here.
Mother Zhou was sleeping. Yong Ruo boiled medicine for her while eating.
She ate very quickly, and she had finished eating before the water in the medicine pot boiled. But at this time, night had fallen, and Yong Ruo asked Yong Qiao to take care of the stove and medicine, and pay attention to fire prevention, because she was going out to sell flowers.
Back in his room, Yong Ruo changed into a clean, not-so-shabby set of clothes, tied a saddle bag close to her body, and re-applied her “makeup” with mud and pot ash. She used a bundle of skin as a headscarf to cover her head and half of her face. She tied a wooden tray around her waist, picked up a huge basket full of red plum branches, hung the two straps tied on the top of the basket on her shoulders, and placed the side close to her body on the wooden tray. She then lifted the big basket without much effort.
After instructing Yong Qiao and Yong Miao a few more words, Yong Ruo smiled to herself, turned around and went out, walked through Mopan Hutong, and walked to the periphery of Taiye Lake. During the Lantern Festival, the capital city would light lanterns for three days starting from the thirteenth day of the first lunar month. Tonight was the main day and the last day. The most beautiful and concentrated place for lanterns was the periphery of Taiye Lake. It was right next to the imperial city, and the palaces of various princes, wealthy merchants, and all lit lanterns there to celebrate with the people.
Mopan Hutong was a slum, located in a remote area, and was very far from the southernmost end of Taiye Lake.
Yong Ruo walked for more than an hour, panting, and with a sore back and neck, before she reached her destination.
“Lulu, can’t you let me overdraw my points again and give me some extra energy on credit?” She asked the system in her mind.
Lulu was the “sterilization drug collection system” she got when she transmigrated. It always spoke in her mind with a very soft and cute girl’s voice, and she also imagined that she had a pair of big wet eyes, so Yong Ruo called her: “Lulu”.
“No! You can only overdraw system points when you are dying. Your current points balance is already -500 points, so I can’t give you extra physical strength.” Lulu said in a soft and cute voice, “You’d better take more sterilization medicine as soon as possible! As long as you take more sterilization medicine, or absorb more sterilization medicine from others, you can get system points. As long as you have points, you can let me control your body according to your wishes. Disease prevention and treatment, beauty and skin care… I can take care of it all!”
Yong Ruo smiled bitterly, thinking that Lulu’s words were very similar to the lines in the TV sales in her previous life.
The original owner of her body died of illness. When she came through, this body was completely unusable. It was Lulu who used its own strength to help her repair this body, and she overdrew 500 system points.
After a short rest, Yong Ruo cheered up and began to shuttle through the crowd to sell flowers.
It was not that easy to sell the flowers in the basket. You had to observe the guest’s face and clothes, guess their temperament, and choose words that the other party would like to hear.
“Madam, buy a plum blossom! This big branch of plum blossom that can be taken home and put in a vase is 20 cents a branch; this small branch of plum blossom that can be pinned on the hair is 10 cents a branch… Today is the Lantern Festival, madam, you are so noble, you must be born rich and noble, do you still care about these 10 or 20 cents?” 30 cents into the pocket.
“Girl, buy a plum blossom! You are so beautiful, if you don’t pin a flower on your hair, wouldn’t it be missing this icing on the cake? This plum blossom has a subtle fragrance and bright color, just right for you!” 10 cents into the pocket.
“Young Master, buy two flowers! You are so dignified and this girl is so beautiful. If you buy a pair of plum blossoms and put them on your temples, wouldn’t it make you two more beautiful? Besides, the Lantern Festival is full of bright lights and lively. If there is a scent of plum blossoms, wouldn’t it be more interesting for both the refined and the common people?” 10 coins went into the pocket.
“Old lady, you are really energetic! Just like these plum blossoms, you have gone through countless hardships, but you seem more and more elegant and extraordinary! If I can have one-tenth or half of your demeanour when I am old, I will have no regrets in my life!” The old lady smiled and put 50 coins into the pocket.
“Gentlemen, please buy a plum blossom! Judging from your appearance, could it be that you are the juren[1] who are going to Beijing to take the imperial examination? I am so disrespectful! According to the custom, the new juren must wear flowers in their hair. Today is the Lantern Festival, why don’t you buy a plum blossom to wear on your hat, which can also be regarded as a good start?” 20 coins went into her pocket.
…
Yong Ruo had no intention of watching the lanterns, but just shuttled among the crowd, her eyes rolling around, searching for potential customers who might buy flowers.
Although her legs and feet were sore from walking and her mouth was dry from talking, she was still very happy. As she expected, the business tonight was very smooth. In less than an hour, there were only two plum blossoms left in the basket.
Four people came towards them, and judging from their attire, they were a master and three servants. The three servants were all in their twenties. One of them was dressed as a scholar, like a Qingke staff member; the other two, one had a bow on his back and the other had a sword on his waist, like guards.
The leader was a beautiful boy of seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed exquisitely and luxuriously, wearing a white jade crown with excellent color on his head, a moon-white jade headband on his forehead, and a moon-white cloud-patterned brocade cloak with silver fur edging on his body. Inside, a set of sky-blue brocade jacket and straight body could be vaguely seen… In short: the three words “nobleman” seemed to be written all over his body. The nobleman had a small V-shaped face, a pair of long eyebrows flying diagonally into his temples, and a pair of eyes as clear as autumn water. Although his nose was straight, it was very round; his lips were neither thick nor thin, and the color was very bright.
The corners of his lips were slightly hooked, as if he was smiling. But he gave Yong Ruo the feeling that he seemed to hide a kind of arrogance that went deep into his bones, but this arrogance was slightly covered by his gentle appearance.
“Should I go forward?” Yong Ruo was a little entangled in her heart. If such a nobleman was happy, the reward would be unprecedentedly considerable. But this kind of nobleman was mostly difficult to serve. If you accidentally annoyed him, the trouble would be unprecedentedly big!
Should she take the gamble?
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[1] Juren (lit. ‘recommended man’) was a rank achieved by people who passed the xiangshi exam in the imperial examination system of imperial China.
