The people beneath the Sky Screen were already numb. Going to the outhouse was nothing, but that thing called a toilet was just too useful ba.
No wonder such a tiny outhouse could be this clean and tidy. If the woman in the Sky Screen had not said anything, they would have suspected that this place was somewhere one could drink tea and eat meals.
But some people felt that it was not very good either, especially the farmers in the villages.
“It is clean, yes, but where do all that shit… all that filth go? Once the water flushes it away, won’t it be gone? Then how can it be used to make fertilizer for growing crops?”
“You really are stupid when I call you stupid. That is an immortal’s home. Would an immortal still need to grow crops? Even if they wanted to grow them, they surely would not need to make fertilizer. Even if they did need fertilizer, they surely would not use this kind of filthy thing.”
Everyone, “……” They actually felt that what he said made a lot of sense.
When the Sky Screen lit up again, Zhaozhao also came out of the bathroom.
She stayed inside for quite a while. It was not because of anything else. When she stood on the little stool to wash her hands, she was truly startled by the large mirror in front of her.
The Hu family only had a small bronze mirror, in Madam Zheng’s room. Zhaozhao had looked into it when she cleaned the room, but the mirror was extremely blurry, and she could not even see a person clearly. It was not even as good as looking at her reflection in the water.
But no matter how clear the surface of the water was, it was still not as clear as this large mirror in front of her.
This mirror was so good. How much money must it cost?
When she came out, she still turned her head to look from time to time. Was this really not a place where immortals lived? Everything was good, and everything was comfortable.
The wontons were already done. Jian Yunsang directly brought them to the coffee table and simply sat on the soft carpet to eat.
The bowl in front of Zhaozhao was very cute, and she was almost reluctant to use it. The bowls she used at the Hu family’s home all had chipped edges. Once, she was not careful and knocked her lip against one, and a lot of blood came out.
“Eat ba, it’s a little hot. Take it slowly.”
Zhaozhao took the little spoon and held it with both hands, looking at Jian Yunsang. Only after she took a bite did Zhaozhao carefully scoop up one.
The next moment, her eyes lit up, “It’s so delicious. This, this inside, is it meat?”
“Yes ah, it’s all meat inside.” Jian Yunsang smiled as she pulled out a tissue and wiped the corner of her mouth for her.
“I’ve never eaten meat before. So meat is this delicious.” The Hu family had also cooked wontons, but they would not be so extravagant as to fill them entirely with meat. They would put in some meat, then add some vegetable leaves, and when things were good, they would even add some egg. But Zhaozhao could not eat them. Let alone meat, she had never even eaten an egg. She could only smell the aroma and imagine how delicious that thing must be.
Jian Yunsang’s movements paused. After a moment, she continued, “If you like it, from now on Mom will cook meat for you every day. Pork, beef, chicken, duck, fish, shrimp. Whatever you want to eat is fine.”
Zhaozhao could no longer hold back and let out a ‘wah’. The temptation of meat was too great. She could not worry about anything else and eagerly scooped up another one.
Then, because it was too hot, she spat it out. But halfway through spitting it out, she could not bear to, so she simply kept it in her mouth.
Jian Yunsang was given quite a fright and hurriedly reached in to get it out, “Spit it out first. Didn’t I tell you to eat slowly? What if you burn yourself?”
That mouthful of wonton still ended up being spat onto the tissue. Zhaozhao felt extremely guilty, her eyes red and somewhat uneasy, “I, I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose. I just didn’t want to waste the meat. Don’t be angry.”
“Mom isn’t angry. I’m just worried you burned yourself. Come, open your mouth and let me see.” Jian Yunsang softened her voice. Only after confirming that there was nothing wrong inside her mouth did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Seeing that Jian Yunsang did not look unhappy, Zhaozhao felt a little more at ease. She obediently opened her mouth and let her examine it. Immediately afterward, she felt a little happy again. She knew that Mom must have been worried about her, which was why she had become so nervous.
Earlier, she had once hurt herself because she was too anxious. Lin Lan Jiejie had been just like this, scolding her while also applying medicine to her.
Seeing that Zhaozhao dared to scoop up a wonton and eat again, Jian Yunsang relaxed. But she was afraid that Zhaozhao would become too anxious again, so she simply talked to her while eating, slowing down her pace.
“You said just now that you had never eaten meat before, right? Was it that the family you lived with before had no meat to eat, or did they not let you eat it?”
Zhaozhao indeed slowed down. Her voice was very small, “They said I was a silly girl[1]丫头片子 (yā tou piàn zi) – (coll.) silly girl / little girl; a colloquial term for a young girl, sometimes used teasingly or dismissively. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3344118_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3344118_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); and couldn’t eat it.” But many of the girls in the village could eat meat too.
Jian Yunsang furrowed her brows, “Nonsense. If men in this world can eat something, women can eat it too. Calling you a silly girl is simply an excuse. They were both bad and stingy, so they found an excuse to deceive you.” Talking about the issue of valuing sons over daughters was too complicated. Anyway, anyone who said things like calling her a little girl was not a good person, and being stingy was only natural.
Zhaozhao blinked and felt that it made sense, so she obediently nodded.
“Then… how did you appear at the foot of the mountain this morning?” This was something that greatly surprised Jian Yunsang. Ordinarily, the place where Zhaozhao lived was most likely a poor and remote place. Zhaozhao was only a five-year-old child. If no one took her along, she was probably unable to even get out.
Zhaozhao said, “It was A-Shan who took me there.”
“A-Shan?” Jian Yunsang narrowed her eyes, “Where is this A-Shan now?”
Zhaozhao shook her head, “I don’t know either. I passed out. When I woke up again and called for A-Shan, it was no longer there.”
Passed out?
Jian Yunsang fell into thought. So this A-Shan knew that Zhaozhao had been abducted and sold, and that she was being abused by that family, so he secretly rescued Zhaozhao. As for why he knocked Zhaozhao unconscious, could it be that he was also from that place?
There were too few clues, so Jian Yunsang could not say for sure either.
After seeing Zhaozhao eat a couple of bites, she asked again, “Then what is the place where you have lived these past two years called?”
“En… Shangliu Village.”
There was the name of the village, but the area was still too broad. If she wanted to find it, she was afraid it would take some effort.
She paused, then continued asking, “What about the county seat? Which county is Shangliu Village in?”
Zhaozhao shook her head, “I don’t know.” As if afraid that Jian Yunsang would be disappointed, she hurriedly said, “I also know Xialiu Village, and Zhengjia Village, Tongkao Village.”
She had never left Shangliu Village and did not know about the outside world. There were people in the village who did go to the county seat, but they only said they were ‘going to the county,’ and would not say what county it was.
And the Xialiu Village, Zhengjia Village, and Tongkao Village that Zhaozhao knew of were all around Shangliu Village. Moreover, Madam Zheng’s maiden family was in Zhengjia Village.
She had many things to do every day and didn’t come into contact with many people, so she had very few ways of obtaining information, and most of what she learned was only from within the village.
“I’m sorry.” Zhaozhao lowered her head somewhat guiltily, “I’m too ignorant.”
“You know several villages already. That’s really great.” Jian Yunsang planned to search the names of these villages in a little while and first see if she could find them, “Eat your wontons first. They’ll get cold in a while.”
She did not continue asking. The mother and daughter quietly began eating.
However, at this moment beneath the Sky Screen, County Magistrate Gao of Huaiping County in the Great Qi Dynasty was struck as if by lightning.
References[+]