This Makes Me Sad. I Am Earning the Silver, You Do Not Need
Jiang Queyun’s lips curled up almost to the heavens.
He fumed and ranted silently at Lu Hanbai’s back. A seven-year-old child can’t afford to be delayed for half a day? Why don’t you go be a test proctor?
Every single day you just glare at people with a fierce face. Does the whole family owe you money or something?
“Jiang Queyun.”
“Ah, I am here, I am here!” Jiang Queyun immediately put on a fawning expression and trotted into the house. “What is it? Does the head of the house have any instructions?”
Their time together during this period had long since made Lu Hanbai know him like the back of his hand. The more respectful and fawning this person acted, the harsher he cursed behind your back.
Lu Hanbai said coldly, “Control your tongue. If you curse me behind my back again, watch out for your head.”
The expression on Jiang Queyun’s face instantly dropped. He pointed at his own face and asked, “Mister, did you or did you not just see me smiling like a blooming flower?”
At these words, Lu Hanbai’s gaze began to scrutinize him carefully.
This face was a rare kind of pretty. Even though he had seen many pretty faces before, none of them gave him the feeling that Jiang Queyun did.
Pretty, fragile, weak, easy to break.
Even his messy strands of hair carried a unique charm.
Lu Hanbai nodded. “So what if I saw it?”
Jiang Queyun gritted his teeth. “You don’t hit a smiling person. I am sucking up to you this much, yet how can you still coldly threaten me? You truly have no heart!”
“Those are two different matters. Do you dare say you weren’t cursing me in your heart?” Lu Hanbai remained unmoved, even pursuing the matter to the root.
“Naturally, I was not.” Jiang Queyun looked at him with exaggerated innocence.
Who knows what goes on in someone’s heart?
As long as he didn’t say it out loud, Lu Hanbai couldn’t cut open his chest to check whether there were any big-character posters pasted inside!
Lu Hanbai had finally figured it out. This person was simply a scoundrel, utterly shameless, having figured out that he couldn’t do anything to him.
Jiang Queyun smiled happily. Seeing that it was getting late, he called out to Lu Yu, who was outside the courtyard feeding the mosquitoes, to come inside and go to sleep. They had to wake up early tomorrow, after all.
The next day.
The dried herbs weighed close to thirty catties. Relying solely on the household’s bamboo baskets was nowhere near enough, so Lu Hanbai had to borrow two large ones from Auntie Rong’s house before they could barely fit everything.
When passing by Shanzao Village, they dropped Lu Yu off at the entrance of the village, and the ox cart continued on its way.
Jiang Queyun stared fixedly at that small, retreating figure, only withdrawing his gaze when he saw Lu Yu meet up with other children on the road. After all, he was just a seven-year-old child; it was hard not to worry when leaving him to manage on his own.
The ox cart rattled all the way into town. Being considerate of the many baskets he carried, the driver specially dropped him off right in front of the apothecary.
As Jiang Queyun shrugged on his baskets, he said, “You don’t need to help here. Hurry up and go do your work; if you’re late, you’ll definitely get yelled at.”
Lu Hanbai let out a silent scoff, still placing all the baskets neatly in front of the apothecary before instructing, “You’ll earn quite a bit of money today, so don’t walk back home. Otherwise, you’ll fall sick.”
“I’m not so stingy as to be like that.” Jiang Queyun sighed softly. He knew how to read the room, after all.
Lu Hanbai didn’t say anything more. After thinking for a moment, he turned and walked toward the direction of the escort agency.
Thanks to his month of hard work, he had gathered ten catties of madder roots and twenty-nine catties of black firewood roots, ultimately earning a hefty sum of:
“That is a total of two thousand five hundred and eighty-seven wen. Shall I weigh out two taels of broken silver for you, or would you prefer copper coins?” the apothecary clerk asked with a smile.
“Two taels of broken silver, and give me the rest in copper coins,” Jiang Queyun said happily, his eyes unable to tear away the moment he saw those two small pieces of broken silver.
He had indeed seen plenty of gold and silver jewelry, but this was his first time seeing broken silver that looked so much like stones.
Thinking this, he instinctively opened his mouth and bit down on one. The clerk nearby stared at him with wide eyes and said helplessly, “Are you trying to taste-test it or something?”
Jiang Queyun let out a couple of chuckles, stacked all the bamboo baskets together from smallest to largest, and finally hoisted them onto his back before leaving.
It wasn’t until he walked out of the apothecary that he realized today was a market day. The streets were bustling with people, crowded to the point where he could barely find a path to walk.
He originally wanted to stroll around for a bit, but remembering the poor child Lu Yu waiting at home, and constantly imposing on Auntie Rong’s care wasn’t a long-term solution either, he decided it was better to head straight home.
Jiang Queyun walked through the bustling crowd. Even though he didn’t plan on browsing the market, his eyes inevitably swept over the street vendors, and at that glance, he found it hard to look away.
“Wrap me up three pieces of red bean paste pastries, and three pieces of sesame-filled ones as well.”
“I want three bamboo tubes of sour plum soup!”
By the time Jiang Queyun made his way out of the market, his hands were already full of packages.
He tucked everything into the topmost bamboo basket, walked over to the entrance of the town, and began asking which ox cart was heading toward Beihe Village. Luckily, because it was market day, there were quite a few people taking the ox cart, so he didn’t have to wait too long before it filled up and started its return trip.
“Yun Ge’er, you even bought pastries? You only know how to waste silver, child. Bozi earns money not too easily either, so you should be more thrifty!”
“That’s right. Your A-Yu is still studying, isn’t he? You have to save silver for him to take a wife later, right? Speaking of which, did Hanbai find a job in town?”
“I saw you coming out of the apothecary just now. I haven’t heard that anyone in your family is sick, or is someone in your maiden family sick?”
Perhaps because Jiang Queyun had spent the past month quietly staying at home without causing any messy trouble, and on top of that had been quite diligent about frequently washing clothes down by the river, the aunties who previously disliked him for his laziness had changed their views of him quite a bit.
Although the original owner had indeed committed many bad acts in the past, they were mostly petty thefts, the kind of things local thugs would do, which was certainly looked down upon. Coupled with Jiang Queyun’s genuine intent to make amends, the villagers weren’t about to hold onto grudges forever.
Therefore, when these aunties spoke, there was actually a touch of sincere advice in their tone.
Jiang Queyun therefore put on an obedient smile and explained, “I heard from Hanbai that the apothecary buys medicinal herbs, so I dug some up and sold them. The pastries were bought at the market; they weren’t expensive.”
“Instead of having that idle time, you should go clear some wasteland. Every household in the village farms their own land, and you can’t just keep buying grain to eat all the time. Even though Hanbai is from out of town, once he comes to our village, he’s part of the village. If he wants to clear wasteland, the village won’t disagree,” an auntie said softly.
“Go back to the village and ask the village chief which patch of land is unclaimed and can be cleared. How much silver can a farming family have to buy grain to eat every single day?”
The aunties chattered away, planning everything out for Jiang Queyun. One aunt even said she would take him straight to the village chief to ask as soon as they got back. Jiang Queyun naturally smiled with a bitter face and offered profuse thanks. After all, he had never farmed a day in his life.
But that was fine. The original owner had.
Jiang Queyun quickly comforted himself. Once he got home, he stored the items safely inside the house and then followed the aunties to the village chief’s home.
The village chief of Beihe Village was surnamed Li. Seeing Jiang Queyun arrive, he found it quite a novelty. Even though he didn’t like him, he still had to put on a smiling face.
“Why is Yun Ge’er here? Is something the matter?” Village Chief Li asked with a smile, though his eyes subtly scanned him with a hint of wariness, hoping Jiang Queyun wasn’t here to cause trouble.
Before Jiang Queyun could speak, the aunties on the side beat him to it and explained the purpose of their visit.
Upon hearing the explanation, Village Chief Li laughed. “So you want to clear wasteland. I thought it was something major. There is still a patch of wasteland up on the mountain to the west. However much you clear will count as yours; just bring it over for me to measure later so it’s all properly registered.”
Things had reached this point, so Jiang Queyun couldn’t very well decline.
He nodded repeatedly and smiled. “Alright, then I’ll discuss it with Hanbai when he gets back, and I’ll let you know before we start.”
Seeing that he was sensible, Village Chief Li’s expression relaxed a bit. “It is best if you think this way. In the future, live your life properly with Hanbai and stop causing messy trouble. If you need any help with anything, just speak up.”
Hypocrite.
Jiang Queyun sneered inwardly. He spoke high-sounding words, but his eyes were filled with wariness and the desire to chase him away, terrified that Jiang Queyun might actually make some request.
Being a sensitive and fragile person, he had a clear perception of such subtle emotions. Even if an emotion flashed by for just a moment, he could sense the shift within it.
Village Chief Li didn’t like him, or rather, he loathed anyone who brought him trouble, and his gaze swept over the aunties with a hint of impatience.
Jiang Queyun knew when to back down and smiled. “Then I won’t disturb you any longer. The aunties need to go home and cook too. Let’s go, everyone, so we don’t give Village Chief Li any trouble.”
Hearing him say this, the aunties realized the hour was late. They slapped their thighs and each headed toward their respective homes.
Jiang Queyun also had to hurry back home to cook. Fortunately, since he had left early and returned early, there was still plenty of time left by the time he huffed and puffed his way up the mountain slope. He alternated between digging up medicinal herbs and pausing to gaze into the distance.
Before long, he spotted a small figure parting ways with his classmates and hurrying toward the mountain.
“Why weren’t you waiting obediently for me?” Lu Yu looked at Jiang Queyun, who was covered in sweat, his thick eyebrows knitted tightly together. “Didn’t my dad give you silver? You dig herbs every day; don’t tell me you took all the silver back to your maiden family?”
Lu Yu was a bit displeased. That maiden family was a bottomless pit, and besides, they didn’t actually like Jiang Queyun; they only wanted to milk benefits out of him.
This troublemaker was truly an idiot!
Jiang Queyun casually wiped away his sweat and hoisted the bamboo basket straight onto Lu Yu’s back. “You talk a big game. You carry it for me, then.”
Lu Yu obediently adjusted the basket on his back and continued questioning. “You really didn’t take the silver back to your maiden family, right? Hurry up and say you didn’t!”
“I didn’t. Didn’t I already say I wouldn’t give them anything ever again? Don’t we even have the most basic trust between people? This makes me sad.” Jiang Queyun rattled off smoothly, successfully using a feigned aggrieved look to shut Lu Yu up.
He wasn’t the original owner.
He wouldn’t foolishly try to please those people with a smile while knowing full well they harbored malice toward him.
“That’s good then. I’ll trust you a bit more from now on,” Lu Yu said generously. Master said he was a good boy, after all!
Jiang Queyun couldn’t help the corners of his lips twitching upward. As long as children received proper guidance, they could turn into wonderful little companions.
Evening.
When Lu Hanbai returned home, Jiang Queyun told him about the matter of clearing the wasteland.
“Because of our livelihood, my job in town cannot be delayed. If you tried to clear the land all by yourself, it probably wouldn’t work out. Besides, the western mountain slope is too far from home, and walking back and forth to farm would be too troublesome. You should think it over carefully,” Lu Hanbai said in a deep voice.
His analysis was thorough and brought Jiang Queyun back to reality.
Jiang Queyun didn’t know how to farm in the first place. Although he could rely on the original owner’s memories to clear the land, deep down he was resistant to the idea, and coupled with what Lu Hanbai had pointed out, there really was no need to look for unnecessary suffering.
“But if we don’t farm, we can only spend money to buy grain, and taxes are also quite a sum.” Jiang Queyun worried aloud. He knew all too well how painful it felt to starve, and he was genuinely afraid of it.
“As I said before, since you married me, I naturally won’t just take a wife without supporting him. I am earning the silver, and you do not need to trouble your mind over this.”
Lu Hanbai’s gaze landed on Jiang Queyun.
Softly spoken, devoid of his usual teasing tone, yet exceptionally earnest and open.
Panic flickered in Jiang Queyun’s heart, and he quickly looked away to avoid the collision.