The afternoon weather was quite nice.
The exhausted Old Ancestor Yeman could not afford to enjoy the life in the countryside.
There was nothing enjoyable about life in the countryside; the villagers were all busy struggling for survival, suffering immensely.
Yeman put the hidden compartment away, looked at the cabinet, and decided against trying to move it.
The Old Ancestor might not even care for it; having silver would be better.
Yeman turned to the bed, facing the mirror on the table. The bronze mirror didn't show clearly, and she couldn't be bothered to look.
She opened the drawer and took out a cosmetic box from inside.
This one was more exquisite than the one displayed outside; an ordinary family couldn't afford it—it must belong to a wealthy household.
Yeman opened it. On top was the silver bracelet Madam Mao wore yesterday; it was inconvenient to wear while working today.
Yeman weighed it in her hand; it wasn't lighter than a small ingot. Beneath it was another silver bracelet, larger and heavier, likely weighing over three liang.
There were a few lighter items, several silver hairpins.
This plum blossom silver hairpin was beautiful and also heavy, weighing two liang.
For a woman like Madam Mao, flashy things were unnecessary, and good things were unaffordable. These were quite practical.
Yeman threw everything into the Spatial Dimension and turned toward the west room.
Villagers usually didn't lock their doors, or they locked them very rarely. Everyone in the village was busy, and they were all quite familiar with each other.
Yeman was rarely idle, and she was quite familiar with this household.
The front area of the west room served as the Study Room, and the back was Rong Bai's Bedroom.
The Study Room was filled with bookshelves, giving the appearance of a great Talented Scholar from a Scholarly Aura family.
A cheap book cost less than one Qian of Silver, an expensive one two or three qian, and even more expensive ones, like rare editions, were another matter entirely.
Rong Bai studied at the Village School and usually stayed with his Little Aunt, Rong Dongmei. His Little Aunt's parents were gone, and since Rong Bai was a Talented Scholar, supporting him was a good thing; many people sought to form connections, and Rong Dongmei didn't have to spend any silver.
Therefore, some of Rong Bai's books were not at home.
Yeman counted them; there were about a hundred books, some for Rong Jinye and Rong Zhi to read, none of which were expensive.
Yeman tossed them into the Spatial Dimension; they were convenient to move.
Leaving the west room, she went to the west side room.
The east side room belonged to the Old Madam; she wasn't home, and Yeman couldn't be bothered to go there.
The west side room belonged to Rong Jinye.
Pushing the door open, it was also divided into an internal and external section.
The front area held a bed; guests could sleep there if they came.
In the countryside, dedicated guest rooms were rare; having a place for guests to stay was already quite something.
Past the entrance, in the back, was Rong Jinye's proper Boudoir.
The embroidered bed was quite exquisite, a basic requirement for a Young Lady. It had gauze curtains, and on the bed lay a red embroidered quilt that looked very warm.
Yeman remembered the Original Owner had embroidered this for her.
The Original Owner not only had to do things like feeding pigs, farming, and chopping wood, but if she had a moment of leisure, she also had to do Needlework.
Her competence lay in doing everything well; it was innate talent.
Like the quilt on the bed, although not outstanding, it didn't look bad either.
Yeman hadn't come to admire it; she opened the drawer on the table in front of the bed as usual.
She took out a cosmetic box.
This was Rong Jinye's treasure. She wouldn't take it all with her when she went to the Township.
Because Rong Dongmei's eldest daughter was eight, the female cousins were considered one group. If Rong Jinye were well-off, she would have to look after her cousin.
Rong Dongmei married well; if Rong Jinye didn't have means, Rong Dongmei would have to look after her Niece.
These flowers, blossoms, and little trinkets for a young girl in this cosmetic box were acquired this way.
The flowers worth three or five wen, the Original Owner never touched, and she didn't even have time to wear a single flower from the mountain.
Rong Jinye really had some good things.
For example, this silver necklace with a longevity lock weighed a full four liang; a Child couldn't even carry it. It could be used separately.
Several pairs of silver bracelets, the heaviest pair weighing two liang. Besides silver earrings, there was also a pair of pearl earrings.
Yeman collected them all in one go. For a little girl, even things that weren't valuable could be cherished treasures.
The Old Ancestor didn't feel like bullying a little girl; her current height wasn't even as tall as Rong Jinye's.
Yeman put the cosmetic box back and turned to face the cabinet.
Opening the cabinet revealed the Young Lady's beautiful clothes, covering spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
The Original Owner had washed them all. Yeman had some recollection; she took them out one by one, giving them a quick look-over.
Except for two plainer ones set aside, the rest were thrown into the Spatial Dimension; the cabinet was already empty.
Several books were revealed.
Yeman glanced at them; the little girl was truly studious, already learning from books with illustrations. She must Pass the Provincial Examination in the future; her talents shouldn't be wasted.
Leaving the west side room, Yeman casually grabbed a teapot from the Main Hall and went to the back.
Several pigs were squealing; they hadn't eaten lunch.
Yeman threw all the beautiful clothes into the Pigsty; the pigs didn't react.
One pig stomped fiercely twice. Another pig urinated on top of them.
Yeman threw the hundred or so books in as well.
The pigs smelled the ink and bit immediately, not at all Scholarly.
It was an insult to the Scholarly appearance. Yeman took the teapot to the Kitchen.
She fetched a semi-new basket, lined the bottom with some straw, scooped up over ten Eggs, and placed them on one side.
She took a basin from the cupboard; even piling dozens of Eggs high wouldn't fill it, so she just put them in the Spatial Dimension.
She scooped the water from the pot into the Slop bucket, then boiled another half pot of water.
While eating the Eggs, she threw the shells into the Spatial Dimension; after eating, she continued to recover vitality.
Yeman cleaned the teapot, filled it with boiling water, and placed it on one end of the basket. She put Rong Jinye's clothes on top.
She then took a bowl.
Yeman slung the basket and left the Kitchen, taking a look at the Pigsty.
My heavens! The pigs had eaten all the books! Occasionally, a few scraps of paper could be seen as evidence.
Those clothes hadn't been eaten, but they had been thoroughly turned into Pigsty material, and the possibility of them returning to normal seemed slim.
Yeman waved her hand.
Regardless of what use the pigs gained from stuffing themselves with books, the final outcome would likely be being slaughtered for the New Year, or killed sooner.
She slung the basket and left this household.
She walked out of Huangmao Village.
This village wasn't large, about thirty or forty households. This household was relatively large; few in the village were better off.
She didn't encounter anyone in the village; the Children must have all gone off to play somewhere.
Outside the village, she ran into a Village Girl carrying a load of straw on a shoulder pole.
The Village Girl looked about Thirteen or Fourteen years old, average height, wearing old, heavily patched clothes—typical when working.
She was plain-looking, and when she glared, she looked even uglier.
Yeman moved to the side of the road to make way.
The Village Girl's anger flared up from nowhere, and she insisted on confronting her, angrily demanding, "You've already been promised to Young Master Tan, haven't you?"
Mantis?
Yeman didn't care if it was a mantis or a cockroach. The Original Owner was too busy all day to waste time chatting with people. Just being able to pass by was a blessing; she continued on her way.
The Village Girl grabbed her even more forcefully: "Look at yourself, are you even worthy?"
Yeman had no choice but to stop and look at the Village Girl numbly: "Does it make a difference where you die?"
The Village Girl was startled by her expression, then snapped back to anger: "Even if you die, you're not worthy."
Forget it, encountering this kind of Mentally Disabled Person was a waste of time.
Yeman said, "Then one night, if you hang yourself at the Tan Family's gate, those who don't know might think you were disgraced."
The Village Girl was shocked!
Her brain wasn't working properly.
Yeman had said it casually and started walking up the mountain path.
Halfway up, she heard the Village Girl rushing up behind her.
Yeman was speechless. Are all fans people with nothing better to do?
The Village Girl rushed over, grabbed her, and hissed in a low voice, "How dare you ruin Young Master Tan's reputation? You slut!"
How Malicious! The Village Girl channeled the moon to destroy her and shoved her down the mountain!