The monkey performers traveled from one town to another, putting on the same show wherever they went. Cui Zhu had already watched it several times, yet she never seemed to tire of it.
The little monkey scampered through the crowd in a lively circle before stopping in front of Cui Zhu. It clasped its tiny hands together and bowed politely.
Delighted, Cui Zhu hurriedly fished out two copper coins and placed them into the monkey’s hands.
As if it truly understood human manners, the monkey grinned from ear to ear and bowed to her once more.
Laughing, Cui Zhu waved it away.
“Go on now. That’s all I’ve got for you!”
Those two copper coins had originally been set aside to buy a candied hawthorn skewer.
The clever monkey wasn’t offended in the slightest. Instead, it bounded over to Arui.
Unfortunately, Arui was so poor that she didn’t even have a single copper coin to her name. With the monkey staring expectantly at her, her face turned bright red with embarrassment.
“Don’t mind it,” Cui Zhu said, taking her hand. “Come on, let’s look around somewhere else.”
She led Arui out of the crowd before continuing, “You’re just too thin-skinned. Not everyone here gives it money. If you don’t have any, just shoo it away.”
After all, if every single person handed over coins, the monkey troupe would be making a fortune.
Cui Zhu sighed inwardly.
Arui was simply too honest. A person like her was bound to be taken advantage of.
She had already been living with Qin Lie for quite a while, yet somehow she hadn’t picked up even a fraction of that intimidating man’s cold, unapproachable aura.
Seeing Cui Zhu’s expression of helpless disappointment, Arui smiled sheepishly.
“I’ll be braver about refusing next time. Shall we go to the embroidery shop first?”
In the end, it all came down to one thing.
She was poor.
If she had even a few copper coins in her pocket, she wouldn’t have been so embarrassed.
Cui Zhu nodded.
“All right. Let’s go.”
There was only one embroidery shop in the town.
The owner, Shopkeeper Su, was a plump, cheerful woman in her thirties whose face was always lit with a welcoming smile.
Cui Zhu had bought needles and thread there several times before, so the two were fairly familiar with one another.
As soon as she spotted them, Shopkeeper Su greeted her warmly.
“Lady Wang, buying more sewing supplies today? I just received a few new embroidery patterns. Would you like to have a look?”
Although Cui Zhu’s embroidery skills were dreadful, she never hesitated to spend money.
Customers like that were Shopkeeper Su’s favorites.
“Not today,” Cui Zhu replied with a grin. “We’re actually here to sell something.”
She motioned for Arui to take out the embroidered handkerchief and placed it on the counter.
“Could you have a look and see if you’ll buy this?”
The moment she heard they wanted to sell embroidery, Shopkeeper Su’s smile stiffened slightly.
She knew perfectly well how poor Cui Zhu’s needlework was. She didn’t want to reject it outright and risk offending one of her best customers.
But when the handkerchief was unfolded before her, surprise flashed across her face.
“Oh?”
She picked it up and examined the stitching carefully before looking toward Arui.
“What’s your relationship with Liu Lanxiang?”
Liu Lanxiang was Zhou Mother’s given name.
Whenever Arui finished embroidery in the past, it had always been Zhou Mother or her eldest sister Zhou Qi who brought it into town to sell.
It was obvious that Shopkeeper Su recognized the workmanship.
Arui quietly clenched her hands before answering.
“She’s my mother.”
“No wonder.”
Shopkeeper Su smiled knowingly.
“Then why didn’t she come today?”
She had always remembered Zhou Mother well.
Every batch of embroidery she delivered was both fast and beautifully made, among the best in this little town.
This shipment had already been delayed by several days, and Shopkeeper Su had assumed something had come up.
She hadn’t expected Zhou Mother’s daughter to appear instead.
Arui pressed her lips together in a small smile.
“I got married a few days ago, so I’m no longer living with my mother.”
“Oh! That’s wonderful news.”
Shopkeeper Su beamed.
“So all those embroidered handkerchiefs before… were they actually made by you?”
Arui nodded, unable to hide her nervousness.
“Would… would you still be willing to buy them?”
“Of course.”
Shopkeeper Su answered without hesitation.
“I’ll pay the same price as before. Fifteen copper coins for each handkerchief. How does that sound?”
Arui drew in a sharp breath.
“Fifteen… copper coins?”
Mistaking her surprise for dissatisfaction, Shopkeeper Su quickly explained.
With craftsmanship like Arui’s, each handkerchief could easily fetch twenty copper coins in the county town.
If there were more embroidery shops in this small town, she probably wouldn’t have been able to keep such a talented embroiderer for long.
After a brief struggle, she gritted her teeth.
“Sixteen copper coins. I really can’t go any higher.”
“You know business here isn’t as good as it is in the county. There aren’t many people buying embroidered goods, and my shop is only a small business. You have to leave me a little profit.”
Her explanation was only half true.
Most of the fine handkerchiefs she purchased weren’t sold in town at all.
She shipped them to the county, where they brought in handsome profits year after year.
Meanwhile, Arui’s mind had gone completely blank.
Her embroidery…
It was actually worth this much?
Then why had her mother always told her that each handkerchief sold for only five copper coins?
But she couldn’t go home anymore.
She couldn’t even ask her why.
Seeing Arui standing there silently, Shopkeeper Su waited patiently for an answer.
Collecting herself, Arui finally nodded.
“All right.”
Sixteen copper coins for one handkerchief.
She could embroider three in a day.
That meant forty-eight copper coins every day.
Even without relying on Qin Lie…
She could survive on her own.
Her heart pounded so hard she could almost hear it.
After paying her, Shopkeeper Su asked whether she wanted to continue taking embroidery commissions.
Naturally, Arui accepted immediately.
She collected thread and fabric for her next batch of work, leaving ten copper coins as a deposit.
Of the remaining six copper coins, she handed every one of them to Cui Zhu.
Cui Zhu immediately shook her head.
“It was just a scrap of cloth. It wasn’t worth anything.”
Besides, if she had kept it herself, she would only have wasted it.
But Arui refused to listen.
She pressed the coins firmly into Cui Zhu’s hand.
“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have earned this money today.”
“If you won’t accept it, I’ll be too embarrassed to ask you to come out with me again.”
Cui Zhu couldn’t argue with her and finally gave in.
“Fine. I’ll keep it.”
After a moment, however, confusion crossed her face.
“From what Shopkeeper Su said, you’ve been selling embroidery for years. Why were you worried you wouldn’t make any money?”
Arui lowered her head.
Shame filled her eyes.
“My mother and my eldest sister were always the ones who sold it.”
“My mother always said… my embroidery wasn’t very good, and that the handkerchiefs couldn’t sell for much.”
“What kind of mother does that to her own daughter?”
Cui Zhu exploded with anger.
“My embroidery is terrible, yet my mother praises it every chance she gets.”
“But yours is this beautiful, and not only did your mother never praise you, she actually kept putting you down!”
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
“Then when they sold your embroidery, did they at least give you the money?”
Arui gently shook her head.
Her mother had always said she hardly spent any money at home.
Whatever she earned wasn’t even enough to cover the cost of feeding and clothing her.
How could she dare ask for any of it?
Cui Zhu reached over and gently patted her hand.
“It’s a good thing you got married.”
Even becoming a widow was better than staying in the Zhou Family and working herself to the bone.
At least now, every coin she earned belonged to her.
Arui gave a quiet nod.
Her nose stung.
Her mother always claimed to love her.
Yet she ate worse than her eldest sister.
She wore worse clothes than her younger sister.
And she did more work than anyone else in the household.
If it had been her eldest sister who was engaged to Qin Song in the beginning…
Would her mother have allowed her to marry into the Qin Family instead?
Deep down, Arui already knew the answer.
She blinked rapidly, forcing the tears back into her eyes before speaking in a hoarse voice.
“I think… things are much better now.”
She ate better than she ever had in the Zhou household.
She could finally earn her own money.
Even if she had to remain a widow for the rest of her life, she could accept it.
After everything that had happened, neither of them felt like wandering around town any longer.
They headed straight home.
Seeing Arui’s low spirits, Cui Zhu continued trying to comfort her.
“As long as you don’t go back to your parents’ house, they can’t bully you anymore.”
“And even if they dare come looking for you at the Qin Family home, the moment they see Qin Lie, they’ll be scared stiff and run away.”
Arui burst into laughter.
Qin Lie might be cold and distant, but he wasn’t some terrifying demon who frightened everyone on sight.
Still, she had already made up her mind.
Now that she had married into the Qin Family, she was part of the Qin Family.
She would still respect her mother’s words, but her husband’s family would always come first.
Most importantly…
She would never hand over another coin she earned again.