After tidying up one room, the mother and daughter prepared to head out. Since they didn’t plan to stay long, they had no intention of cooking for themselves.
Qu Weiwei looked at her mother’s beautiful face and felt it was far too eye-catching. Going out like this simply wouldn’t do. The news of the Qu family’s courtyard fire had already spread throughout the city—if one of the Qu family’s concubines appeared openly on the streets, it would definitely attract gossip.
“Mom, before we go out, you should fix up your face a bit. Going out like this is too noticeable,” Qu Weiwei reminded her, seeing how excited she was.
Only then did He Youyou realize she hadn’t thought of that. She hurried back into the room and rummaged through her box, but without the right items, it was difficult to disguise herself.
However, when Qu Weiwei had reminded her earlier, she had already prepared in advance. The cosmetics she took out were originally from her mother’s dressing table—deliberately scattered so they wouldn’t stand out.
“Oh my dear, you really prepared everything so well. Wait a moment, I’ll be ready soon,” He Youyou said excitedly, planting a kiss on the little girl before picking up a washcloth to clean her face.
She had been so busy earlier that she hadn’t even looked in the mirror. After wiping her face clean, she took out a darker-colored powder and quickly applied it to her face, hands, and neck, turning her complexion a wheatish shade—instantly darkening her by more than two tones.
Then she thickened her eyebrows and dotted her face with freckles. In an instant, all her refined elegance vanished, and she looked like an ordinary rural village woman.
Qu Weiwei stood there, completely stunned. So this kind of “magic” already existed in such early times? Her mother’s technique was simply masterful—if she lived in modern times, she’d definitely be a top makeup artist.
In just two minutes, she looked like a completely different person.
“Well? You can’t see my original appearance anymore, right? When you’re older, I’ll teach you. It’s easy to learn. When girls go out, they need to know how to protect themselves. Being a little ugly doesn’t matter—the most important thing is not to attract unwanted attention,” He Youyou said, reaching out to gently pinch her daughter’s soft cheek. She silently decided that once the girl grew a little older, she must teach her this skill. Given her daughter’s looks, she would undoubtedly grow into a great beauty.
In times like these, the prettier a girl was, the more tragic her fate tended to be.
Girls from humble families risked being taken by force by powerful people. Daughters of wealthy families were often married off for alliances, ruining their lives.
Families like theirs—powerless and without influence—fell into the first category. No matter how she had resisted back then, once she entered that household, she still had to submit. The life of her only relative was in their hands—what choice did she have?
“Mhm, Weiwei will definitely learn carefully. But right now, the most important thing is to fill our stomachs. Otherwise, mine is going to keep growling,” Qu Weiwei nodded seriously. But as soon as she finished, her stomach growled again.
She had forgotten to get something to eat earlier, and after all the chaos this morning, she was starving.
“Alright, alright, it’s my fault. Let’s go eat now. Aunt Wang’s wontons at the street corner are quite good—we’ll have wontons,” He Youyou said, suddenly remembering her daughter hadn’t eaten for several meals. She quickly dropped what she was doing, grabbed her purse, and took her daughter out.
She didn’t plan to disguise her daughter—after all, the child was still young, and it didn’t matter if she looked cute.
After locking the door, they soon arrived at Aunt Wang’s wonton stall. It wasn’t too busy at this hour, which suited them perfectly.
“Boss lady, two bowls of wontons—one large, one small. Add chili to the large bowl, and make the small one clear soup,” He Youyou called out loudly, no longer caring about appearances.
“Alright, miss, please wait a moment—it’ll be ready soon,” Aunt Wang replied while skillfully wrapping wontons. Everything here was made fresh to order.
They didn’t wait long before the wontons were served. The rich aroma of bone broth wafted through the air, making Qu Weiwei swallow instinctively—it smelled incredibly delicious.
It was the pure fragrance of slow-simmered bones, with no additives at all. Just the scent alone was enough to whet the appetite.
She didn’t know how many wontons were in the large bowl, but she counted the small one while eating—there were exactly twenty in it.
When He Youyou paid, Qu Weiwei was shocked by the price: eight copper coins for the large bowl, five for the small one.
After her mother explained, she learned that the currency system at the time was chaotic—there were Yuan Datou silver dollars, gold, silver, and copper coins. Although the government had introduced paper money, people didn’t trust it, as it depreciated rapidly. Many preferred not to exchange for paper currency.
Most shops didn’t accept it either. The value could drop drastically—money that could buy a pound of rice yesterday might only buy half a pound today.
Qu Weiwei thought carefully about the items she had collected earlier to see if there was any paper money among them. If there was, they should spend it quickly.
But aside from household registration papers and a deed of servitude, everything else wasn’t paper.
Before leaving, the mother and daughter packed two extra portions to take back and reheat for dinner.
They needed to head south. If they traveled by carriage, the journey across mountains would take over a month. But if they could get train tickets, it would only take three days and two nights.
Tomorrow, they would have to find one of her father’s friends and see if he could help them obtain two train tickets. It would be faster and safer, sparing them much hardship.
But train tickets were hard to come by—those who could get them needed not only money, but also connections. Thinking of this gave He Youyou a headache.
After all, the roads weren’t just plagued by bandits, but also refugees. How could the two of them—just a weak mother and daughter—possibly make it safely to the south on their own?
“Mom, what’s wrong? Why are you sighing? Is it going south that’s difficult?” Qu Weiwei didn’t know which province they were in, nor how far south they had to go. She had no idea whether they would travel by train or carriage, so she didn’t know how to comfort her mother or offer advice. She could only sit quietly beside her, not disturbing her thoughts.
Author: Jun Yaling