Translator: SJade, Editor: Dj22031
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Should she go and earn the young master’s money? Yong Ruo thought about it quickly, and the image of her mother lying in the bed flashed through her mind, the empty rice jar and the empty kitchen at home, and she quickly decided: Let’s take the gamble!
She walked forward slowly and stopped a few steps in front of the young master. When the young master and his servants looked at her, she bowed: “Hello, young master! Hello, gentlemen!”
The young master looked at her with a cold look and said nothing.
The scholar-like man next to the young master asked her lightly: “What do you want?”
Yong Ruo thought to herself: Arrogant as expected! She picked out a better plum blossom from the basket, lowered her head, and respectfully presented the flower with both hands, saying in a joyful tone: “Today is the Lantern Festival. I am fortunate to witness your spirit with my own eyes. It is really a blessing from my previous life. Although I am just a flower girl, I have heard of the story of throwing fruits into the car. But I don’t have any fruits, so I present this flower to you. May you have good luck and a long life!”
Throwing fruits into the carriage was an allusion to the famous handsome man Pan An. It was said that he was so beautiful that when he drove down the street, the women who loved him would throw fruits into his carriage that could fill it up.
She said this allusion and presented flowers, which was a bit frivolous, but it would definitely attract the attention of this noble man and leave a deep impression on him!
“Ahem…” The scholar coughed lightly, “You are a flower girl, but you speak elegantly. Have you read books?” There was a hint of smile in his voice.
Yong Ruo still lowered her head and held the flowers respectfully, copying Lin Daiyu’s words: “I have never read, but I know a few words!”
The scholar smiled softly: “My young master… is he really as handsome as Pan An?”
Yong Ruo did not change her posture, but said in a decisive tone: “This is what I say from the bottom of my heart.”
“Since my young master is so handsome, why do you keep your head down and don’t take a closer look?” The smile in the scholar’s voice became stronger.
“Just taking a look is a blessing from the previous life, how can I be greedy?” Yong Rou couldn’t look too much, lest the young master got angry.
The scholar laughed quietly, and then said, “You make a living by selling flowers, but now you want to present flowers. Will it be a loss?”
“To be honest, sir. This flower was cut from a plum tree in the corner of my home. The cost is nothing more than the vicissitudes of time, the sun and rain, and the hard work of my careful care. The first two costs are the grace of heaven and earth; the latter cost, I am willing to lose for you!”
“You are so good at talking!” The scholar took the flower from Yong Ruo’s hand and said with a smile, “I will accept this plum blossom on behalf of you! Thank you very much!”
Yong Ruo bowed again, without looking up: “Thank you, sir! I will take my leave.”
She lowered her head and took three steps back, then turned around and left, without looking back again.
She counted in her heart as she walked.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…
When she counted to seven, she suddenly heard a clear voice behind her: “Wait a minute!”
Yong Ruo was delighted and stopped walking. When she turned around, she saw the nobleman waving at her. She walked back and asked politely, “What do you want, sir?” The nobleman stretched out his hand to the scholar without turning his head and said, “Bring me five taels of silver!” He said to Yong Ruo, “Although you are willing to lose your hard-earned money, I don’t want to take your things for nothing.”
Yong Ruo hurriedly said, “A branch of plum blossoms is only 10 coins. Five taels of silver is too much! I can’t make the change.” But she was very happy in her heart: Wow, he is indeed a nobleman, generous. Silver! She hadn’t touched silver since she came here! Will the nobleman ask me for change?
The nobleman said, “No need to find the change. It’s all yours!” He took a five-liang silver ingot from the scholar, held it with four fingers, fingertips facing down, and handed it to Yong Ruo.
“Yes!” Yong Ruo no longer refused, “In that case, I am grateful for it! Thank you, sir!” She lowered her head, put her hands forward, palms facing up, and prepared to take the silver, this posture was very respectful.
The nobleman held the silver ingot and slowly handed it to Yong Ruo’s hands, only about an inch away from her palm. As soon as he loosened his hand, the silver ingot would fall into Yong Ruo’s palm.
But suddenly, the nobleman raised his hand and threw it, and the silver ingot flew to the side, drawing a smooth parabolic trajectory, and fell into the Taiye Lake next to them with a “gulp”.
Yong Ruo was dumbfounded!
“Oh! Why didn’t you catch it firmly?” The nobleman pretended to be surprised, but his tone was full of gloating, “That’s five taels of silver!”
Yong Ruo nodded woodenly, staring at the circles of ripples caused by the silver ingot entering the water, feeling heartbroken. That’s right! That’s five taels of silver! That’s a huge sum of money! I didn’t expect you to be such a nobleman!
The price of silver was very high at that time, and one tael of silver could be exchanged for more than 1,300 copper coins! A commoner with one and a half taels of silver could basically live for a year!
For her, even if Mother Zhou’s medical expenses were included, five taels of silver could guarantee the family’s expenses for several months! But it fell into the Taiye Lake just like that! With a “gulp”, it fell into the Taiye Lake…
Yong Ruo’s heart was aching! After a long while, she turned back and asked the nobleman, “Did you really want to give me the five taels of silver?”
The nobleman tried to hold back his laughter, and tried to put on a sincere expression, “I really wanted to give it to you! Alas, what a pity! Perhaps… you are not destined to have a windfall after all!”
Yong Ruo smiled at him, “How can I let your generous gift sink to the bottom of the lake and never see the light of day?”
She took down the basket and placed it on the river bank, untied the wooden support around her waist, and began to undress.
The nobleman’s face changed, and he shouted, “What are you doing?!” His three followers, who were originally watching the excitement, also stopped smiling.
Yong Ruo took off her cotton jacket and trousers and put them in the basket, wrapped her saddle bag in the cotton jacket, took off her worn-out cloth shoes and placed them next to the basket, and said, “I’ll go and fish out the silver ingot!”
She was not overestimating her own abilities. In her previous life, she was a winter swimming enthusiast, and swimming in winter was a common occurrence. Although she lacked exercise in this life, she had a system to support herself. There was no risk of exhaustion or drowning in the water. Why shouldn’t she take the gamble! Perhaps this self-torture trick could really impress the nobleman and she could get even more.
She really wanted to eat meat! She really wanted to eat white rice! She really wanted… a lot of things!
“You’re crazy!” The nobleman lost his smile and looked at her as if she were a madwoman, “Are you willing to die?”
His three followers had a similar expression. Although it was the beginning of spring, the weather was still cold and everyone was still wearing a cotton-padded jacket. Going into the water to fish for silver at this time was not simply a matter of money but life!
“Don’t worry, sir! I’m a very good swimmer.” Yong Ruo’s voice was full of smiles. She pulled off the bundle that covered her head and half of her face, revealing a large black “birthmark” on her cheek (actually drawn with soot from the bottom of the pot to prevent lechers). Then wearing a patched shirt and pants and barefoot, she swiftly climbed over the stone railing and jumped into the water. She immediately felt a piercing cold.
The advantage of being poor was revealed at this time! She had no money to buy special underwear, so she patched up the worn-out clothes she wore in summer and wore them as underwear. Therefore, when she walked in front of people in such clothes, she only looked poor, not impolite.
When the nobleman and the three followers saw her face, they were so scared that they all shrank back and forgot to stop her.
The water near the shore was not too deep, but not shallow either.
Yong Ruo stood by the water, pouring the cold lake water over herself to adapt to the water temperature. After adapting, she swam towards the point where the silver ingot fell into the water according to her memory. She swam around the point twice, recalling the parabolic trajectory of the silver ingot in the air. A picture of the silver ingot falling into the water was automatically generated in her mind, roughly circling the position of the silver ingot, and regaining a little feeling of winter swimming, so she dived in.
At this time, the shore was already in commotion. The nobleman and his group were completely stunned, staring at the lake where the figure disappeared.
Several people dressed as ordinary people came around unnoticed and surrounded the four people in the middle to prevent them from being bumped into.
The tourists watching the lanterns around said that someone fell into the water, someone committed suicide, some asked for information, some expressed deep sympathy, and some just wanted to watch the excitement…
Because there were many people at the lantern festival, Yong Ruo did not avoid people when talking to the nobleman just now, so people who saw it clearly nearby began to spread the truth.
“Was that silver really thrown into the water by the nobleman?” Someone whispered to the Truth Emperor beside him.
“Why should I lie to you? I saw it with my own eyes, how could it be false?” The Truth Emperor whispered back, and seeing the nobleman’s eyes, he was filled with fear and disgust.
“Did the girl jump into the water to get the silver?”
“That’s right! In my opinion, the girl must have gone crazy because of poverty, that’s why she would rather jump into the freezing lake than live! I hope she doesn’t die! Alas, these rich young men…” He shook his head and sighed.
The nobleman looked at the water stupidly, and was completely stunned.
The scholar next to him came to his senses first and whispered: “Sir, let’s ask someone to pull the girl back! Don’t let her die…”
The noble young man woke up as if from a dream and said: “Yes, yes, yes! Ask someone to pull her up!” After that, he murmured to himself, “Is she crazy about money?”
The scholar ordered the plainclothes guards around him: “Go and get two good swimmers to pull the girl back!” Then two people stood up, began to undress and take off their shoes, and prepared to go into the water.
At this moment, everyone suddenly heard a happy shout: “I fished it out!”
Yong Ruo had floated to the surface of the water. She smiled and raised one hand high, holding the silver ingot in her hand. From her mood to her voice, she was extremely happy.
Everyone on the shore was stunned!
In such a weather and such cold water, this girl actually fished out a silver ingot thrown into the lake! In the crowd, someone shouted loudly, “Good! Good job, girl!”, and then some people in the crowd cheered and applauded.
“Come up quickly!” The nobleman yelled at Yong Ruo, feeling like he was going crazy.
“Okay! Coming up right away!” Yong Ruo held the silver ingot in her mouth and swam happily to the shore.
She was able to successfully fish out the silver ingot so quickly, thanks to Lulu’s help!
At that time, she dived into the water and felt around the approximate location where the silver ingot fell into the water. When she didn’t find it, she floated to the surface for a breath. After taking a breath, she dived into the water again to feel. The lake water was cold, and her physical strength was lost quickly. After diving into the water and feeling three times, she felt her hands and feet gradually numb and became a little out of control.
At the critical moment, she suddenly heard Lulu say in her mind: “The host is in danger of life, and the points overdraft conditions are met. Overdraft 50 points to replenish the host’s physical strength; overdraft 20 points to indicate the location of the silver ingot! The host’s points balance is: -570 points.”
Yong Ruo felt her limbs warm up, as if she was full of strength again. Then, a flash of inspiration came to her eyes, and she could clearly see the silver ingot in the dark water!
She was so happy that she swam over quickly, grabbed the silver ingot, and floated to the surface.
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