But this courtyard was her bottom line.
Unless they were truly at the end of their rope, she would never sell it.
As for ways to earn money…
Girls in this era generally made a little income by weaving cloth, mending clothes, or washing laundry for wealthy families.
Those jobs…
Forget it.
The original owner could only patch simple holes in torn clothes and didn’t know embroidery at all.
As for Jiang He herself…
She was even worse.
Whenever her clothes tore, she’d simply throw them away. The idea of mending them had never even crossed her mind.
Wash other people’s clothes?
Forget that too.
She’d work herself to death for barely any money, and with how clumsy she was, if she accidentally ruined someone’s clothes, she couldn’t even afford to compensate them.
Gather medicinal herbs in the mountains?
Yeah, right.
First, she had grown up in the city, so traveling into the mountains wasn’t convenient.
Second, she couldn’t even tell vegetables apart, let alone medicinal herbs.
After thinking it over for half the day, she came to one conclusion.
She was completely useless.
She honestly couldn’t understand why fate had arranged for someone as incompetent as her to transmigrate.
Without Xie Zhao, she really would be dead.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“Jiang He, are you home?”
Jiang He searched through the original owner’s memories.
That voice…
Wasn’t it the neighbor next door?
She hurried over and opened the door.
“Auntie Zhang, is something the matter?”
Auntie Zhang stuffed a pair of shoes into her arms.
“Forgot already? You asked me to make these shoes for you. They’re finished now, so I brought them over.”
“Huh?”
There was such a thing?
Although she had inherited the original owner’s memories, they still weren’t truly her own.
They were like scenes from a TV drama she’d fast-forwarded through.
She had to think carefully before she could recall them.
Now that she thought about it…
Something like this had indeed happened.
“Thank you, Auntie Zhang. How much do I owe you?”
“No charge.”
“Huh?”
“No charge.”
“Didn’t we agree already? I’d keep the leftover scraps of cloth as payment for my work.”
As the saying went, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse.
Although there wasn’t much left in the house worth selling, they still had plenty of old quilts, worn-out clothes, and fabric scraps.
The original owner hadn’t known how to make shoes herself, so she’d stuffed a bundle of rags into Auntie Zhang’s hands, and in return, the woman had made the shoes free of charge.
“R-Right.”
Jiang He smiled awkwardly.
“I’m sorry. Ever since my father passed away… my mind’s been a little muddled.”
Auntie Zhang’s smile faded.
She let out a sigh.
“My poor child. Ten years ago, your family was so prosperous. You even had several maids and servants waiting on your household. Who would’ve thought that in such a short time, both your parents would be gone?”
Jiang He lowered her head dejectedly.
Auntie Zhang continued,
“The biggest problem was your father… He trapped himself in a dead end.”
“A woman giving birth is already walking through the gates of hell. Accidents are all too common.”
“When your mother had a difficult labor, everyone said the baby boy should be saved.”
“But your father refused. He insisted on saving your mother.”
“In the end, your little brother suffocated to death on the spot… and your mother couldn’t be saved either.”
“After your mother died, if your father had remarried, life could’ve gradually improved.”
“But instead, it was as though your mother’s death took all the spirit out of him.”
“Then he fell ill too.”
“And you were the one left to suffer.”
The original owner’s parents hadn’t actually been locals.
They had been merchants.
When business brought them here, they decided to settle down.
No one knew where they originally came from because they had never mentioned it.
The neighbors only gossiped privately, guessing that the two had eloped together.
Jiang He defended Father Jiang.
“My parents loved each other very much. My father would never have abandoned my mother for anyone.”
“Yes, yes.”
“They certainly loved each other.”
“But the one who suffered was you.”
“He didn’t even manage to arrange your marriage before he passed away.”
“My father entrusted my marriage to my brother.”
“Your brother? The young man your father picked up?”
“Yes. Before Father died, he accepted him as his adopted son, so he’s my older brother now.”
“Oh dear…”
Auntie Zhang shook her head.
“Your father was confused.”
“I always thought that since both of you were poor orphans with no parents, you might as well get married and live together.”
“Who would’ve thought your father wouldn’t think of you at all? All he cared about was preserving his family line.”
“By adopting that young man, the Jiang family got someone to continue the ancestral line.”
“But that means you’ll have to marry out.”
“Wouldn’t it have been better to bring in a live-in son-in-law instead of becoming someone else’s daughter-in-law?”
Unexpectedly, Auntie Zhang had completely empathized with the original Jiang He.
And she wasn’t wrong.
One reason the original owner had been so determined to marry Xie Zhao was exactly what Auntie Zhang had said.
Even if the Jiang family had fallen on hard times, they still owned a large house.
They could certainly afford to take in a live-in husband.
But the original owner had been afraid that ill-intentioned people would seize the family’s property.
Naturally, Xie Zhao had seemed like the perfect candidate.
Unfortunately…
She had underestimated the fact that Xie Zhao was anything but an ordinary man.
“My father wasn’t doing it just to preserve the family line.”
At least, Jiang He believed Old Jiang wasn’t that kind of person.
“He definitely was.”
Auntie Zhang answered with absolute certainty.
“Men—especially dying men—care about their descendants more than anything.”
Jiang He: “…”
Fine.
Believe whatever you want.
She couldn’t be bothered arguing anymore, so she changed the subject.
“Auntie Zhang, do you know of any work that would suit me?”
“No.”
The answer came without even a moment’s hesitation.
Jiang He: “…”
Did you really have to answer that fast?
“You can’t even stitch a shoe sole.”
“So what exactly can you do?”
…
The truth really did hurt like a knife.
“My parents never taught me needlework because they hoped I’d become a shopkeeper one day.”
“I know how to use an abacus.”
“I know bookkeeping.”
“I have excellent handwriting.”
“If I married into a wealthy family, I could even manage the entire household, because I know how to run one.”
Unfortunately, none of those strengths meant anything to Auntie Zhang.
She looked at Jiang He with obvious disdain.
“Jiang He, don’t blame me for speaking bluntly.”
“If your parents were still alive and your family were still wealthy, then everything you just said would be wonderful.”
“But look at your family now.”
“Those skills are useless.”
“As the saying goes, noble families marry noble families, and humble families marry humble families.”
“You can only marry someone with circumstances similar to your own.”
“When a family’s entire fortune amounts to just a handful of copper coins, what use is bookkeeping or household management?”
Jiang He’s lips twitched.
Once again…
Auntie Zhang’s honesty stabbed her heart like the tip of a knife.
That evening, she handed the shoes to Xie Zhao.
He looked at them in surprise.
“Where did these come from?”
“I gave Auntie Zhang some fabric scraps and asked her to make them. She kept the leftover cloth as payment.”
“So that’s how you got them.”
He looked at her.
“Why are you giving them to me? Do you have a pair for yourself?”
“I don’t.”
“You’re out working every day, so your shoes wear out quickly. I noticed yours were already torn.”
“I’m home all day and hardly walk anywhere. My shoes are still practically new.”
Xie Zhao didn’t refuse.
Instead, he happily accepted the shoes.
“You’ve learned how to care about people.”
…
Jiang He stared worriedly at the little rice and flour they had left.
They were also running low on firewood.
And buying firewood wasn’t cheap.
Xie Zhao naturally noticed all of this.
Over the next few days, every morning when he cooked, he deliberately made enough food for the entire day in one go.
Then he’d fill two buckets with water and place them in the sunniest spot in the courtyard.
He told Jiang He to use the sun-warmed water whenever she bathed.
It was, in its own way…
A very primitive solar water heater.