When Shen Qingyin opened her stall in the morning, she checked Lu Jinyou’s cheek and saw that the swelling had already gone down.
He was still limping a little, though.
Shen Qingyin said, “Don’t go to the private school this morning. Once it gets light, come with me to the clinic and let the physician take a look.”
Lu Jinyou hurriedly said, “I’m fine. It’s just a minor scrape. There is no need to go to the clinic.”
He had only just paid his tuition, and Sister in law had just paid the stall fee as well. Their household was certainly struggling financially now.
Medical treatment cost money, and every visit to a clinic felt like getting another layer of skin peeled off.
Shen Qingyin was firm. “We must go.”
“We can earn more money if we run out of it. But once you ruin your health, no amount of money can save you, and you won’t be able to earn any more either.”
“I’ll finish the busiest part of the morning and go with you when it reaches the tenth hour.”
The period from the fifth hour to the seventh hour was the busiest time of the morning.
Lu Jinyou still tried to argue. “Really, there is no need.”
She gave him a sideways glance. “Go.”
His objection was overruled.
Once the busiest period at the stall had passed, Shen Qingyin untied her apron. After giving the neighbor a bowl of noodles, she asked them to keep an eye on the stall for a while, then took Lu Jinyou to the clinic.
Lu Jinyou said nothing and simply followed behind his sister in law.
After they arrived at the clinic, Shen Qingyin asked the physician to examine Lu Jinyou’s leg.
The physician told him to roll up his trouser leg.
Lu Jinyou hesitated for quite a while before finally rolling it up.
As soon as he did, a large patch of dark bruising was revealed on the side of his calf.
Shen Qingyin’s brows were immediately knitted together.
The physician asked, “How did you get this?”
Lu Jinyou was probably lying, because he stammered, “I fell. I fell.”
The physician was an experienced man. With only a few glances, he could tell how the injury had really happened.
After hearing that the boy claimed to have fallen, he raised his head and gave the boy a meaningful look, but did not expose his lie. Instead, he simply said, “Fortunately, you didn’t injure the bone. Apply some medicinal wine and it will be fine.”
Shen Qingyin spoke up. “Jinyou, where else did you get hurt? Let the physician take a look.”
Lu Jinyou shook his head. “Nowhere else.”
The physician called over an apprentice and had him apply the medicinal wine to the patient first.
When Shen Qingyin went to pay for the medicine, she lowered her voice and casually asked, “Doctor, was that injury really caused by a fall?”
The physician glanced toward the boy, then looked back at the woman.
“It looks more like someone kicked him.”
Shen Qingyin turned to look at Lu Jinyou, who was gritting his teeth and enduring the pain. She understood now.
Although she had already guessed that he had been beaten, she still did not know why.
Only after seeing the physician did Lu Jinyou go to private school.
After closing her stall that afternoon, Shen Qingyin did not go to the market to buy bones. She went straight home instead.
When Lu Jinyou returned from school, there were no new injuries on his face, but the cloth bag he used to carry his books was obviously wet.
“Why is the cloth bag wet?” she asked.
Lu Jinyou said, “I accidentally dropped it into the water.”
Shen Qingyin asked, “What about the books? Are they wet?”
Lu Jinyou replied, “I picked them up quickly, so they didn’t get completely soaked. They will be fine once they dry.”
“Besides, I’ve already memorized all these books. If the writing has become blurred, I can simply write it again.”
He had been beaten the day before, and now his book bag had been thrown into the water.
This was a textbook case of bullying.
Lu Jinyou had no parents. There was only a widowed sister in law in his household, and their family was poor as well. There would always be some naturally cruel children who chose to bully children from families like theirs.
This was not modern times. The modern approach of finding the other child’s parents or going directly to the teacher simply would not work here.
Shen Qingyin spoke to him seriously. “If you ever run into any trouble, you must tell me. Endlessly giving in will only encourage others to become more aggressive.”
Lu Jinyou guessed that his sister in law had already found out something.
The corners of his mouth twitched a few times before he forced a smile.
“Sister in law, you’re worrying too much. I haven’t run into any trouble.”
Shen Qingyin was silent for two breaths before continuing.
“I mean in the future. If you ever encounter something, don’t carry it all by yourself. Whenever there is something you cannot resolve on your own, you must seek outside help. Do you understand?”
Lu Jinyou opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing more. He only replied, “I understand.”
The two of them finished dinner without much further conversation.
That evening, when Lu Jinyou brought out his books to help her, he noticed that the stove had not been lit. He asked his sister in law, who was hanging up the washed clothes.
“Sister in law, why aren’t you making soup today?”
Shen Qingyin replied, “I want to take a day off tomorrow.”
The tuition had been paid, the rent had been paid, and she could finally catch her breath.
There was no way to ever earn all the money in the world. Balancing work with rest was the most important thing.
Of course, the main reason was still Lu Jinyou’s situation. Resting was only an added benefit.
Lu Jinyou did not think anything of it. He simply assumed that his sister in law was genuinely tired and wanted to close the stall for a day.
The next day, after Lu Jinyou went to private school, Shen Qingyin left home as well.
She went to the county office.
She was there to find Zhou Sheng.
Everyone in Qingshi Alley knew each other, and she was a widow. If she and Zhou Sheng interacted too often, people would inevitably gossip.
Zhou Sheng was currently meeting a prospective bride. If that marriage fell through because rumors spread about his relationship with her, he might very well hold a grudge against her.
Shen Qingyin waited outside the county office for quite some time. She was wondering whether she should simply wait there until Zhou Sheng appeared or go directly inside to find him when a young officer in black with an ordinary appearance suddenly walked toward her.
Shen Qingyin was somewhat confused.
When the man reached her, the officer actually smiled and asked, “Are you Madam Shen, here to see Military Officer Zhou?”
Who was this?
Did she know him?
Shen Qingyin was stunned for a moment, but quickly understood. She nodded.
“Yes, I’m here to see him. Is he inside?”
The officer replied politely, “He is. Please wait a moment. I’ll inform Military Officer Zhou.”
Shen Qingyin watched the officer walk away and silently thought that this officer was surprisingly nice.
Zhou Sheng frowned.
“You said who was looking for me?”
Zhao Yi thought his superior had not heard him clearly, so he repeated himself.
“Madam Shen from the noodle stall is outside the county office. She says she wants to see Military Officer Zhou.”
Zhou Sheng pressed his lips together, his brows drawing tightly together.
He and Shen Qingyin had barely interacted with each other, and they had hardly spoken more than a few words.
When had they become familiar enough for her to come all the way here to look for him?
Seeing his superior’s deeply furrowed brows, Zhao Yi wondered whether the two of them had quarreled.
After thinking it over, he decided to play peacemaker for once.
“Military Officer, Madam Shen looks very anxious. It seems she really does have something important to discuss.”
Zhou Sheng thought for a moment.
Considering that it might have something to do with Lu Jinyou, he got up and walked outside.
Seeing this, Zhao Yi thought to himself that the moment he heard there was something important, he went out to see her. Military Officer Zhou was not quite as uninterested in women as he appeared to be.
Shen Qingyin did not have to wait long before she saw Zhou Sheng walk out of the county office with a dark expression.
It was obvious that he was not very pleased.
To avoid being driven away, Shen Qingyin immediately took the initiative the moment he approached.
“Official Zhou, didn’t you tell Jinyou before that he could come to you if he ever ran into any trouble?”
Zhou Sheng frowned. “Something happened to Jinyou?”
Shen Qingyin nodded repeatedly.
“Jinyou came home injured the day before yesterday. There was a palm mark on his face, and his leg was injured too. The physician at the clinic said it looked like someone had kicked him, but he insisted that he had fallen by himself.”
“Yesterday, when he came home, the cloth bag he uses to carry his books was wet too.”
“I thought about it carefully, and it seems something similar has happened before. Every time, he said he had fallen.”
Zhou Sheng fell into thought after hearing her words.
Shen Qingyin continued, “He refuses to tell me the truth. It must be because the other party has some connections, and he is afraid of causing trouble, so he would rather grit his teeth and swallow the injustice.”
“I had no other choice, so I came here shamelessly to ask Official Zhou for help.”
Zhou Sheng came back to himself. Since the woman truly had something to discuss and had not come merely to approach him, his expression softened somewhat.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Warn them? Or arrest the person who assaulted him?”
Shen Qingyin shook her head.
“I’m just a woman who cannot read more than a few characters. Since I’ve come to seek an official’s help, I naturally leave the decision to you.”
Zhou Sheng gave a quiet hum.
“Since I promised him that I would help, I won’t go back on my word.”
“I’ll take care of this matter.”
Shen Qingyin bowed slightly.
“Thank you, Official.”
“And one more thing,” he added.
Shen Qingyin raised her head and looked at him in confusion.
Under her puzzled gaze, Zhou Sheng said, “Unless it is necessary, the two of us should preferably have no interaction or conversation with each other.”
Shen Qingyin: …
She had already sensed that he was prejudiced against her, so she was neither surprised nor shocked to hear him say this.
Besides, she was the one asking him for help right now, while he was an official and she was merely an ordinary commoner. She could not afford to fight with him.
She lowered her head and replied perfunctorily, “This common woman understands. I am a widow, so I would damage the official’s reputation.”
Zhou Sheng’s lips moved slightly, but in the end, he did not offer any further explanation.
“You should go back. I will take care of Jinyou’s matter.”
Shen Qingyin nodded. After walking a few steps, she suddenly stopped.
Endure it?
Not even a little!
She abruptly turned around and took two heavy steps back toward Zhou Sheng.
A trace of confusion appeared on Zhou Sheng’s face.
“Is there something else?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the woman before him raised her eyes.
Her gaze was clear and frank.
“I must have done something that caused the official to misunderstand me. That is why you think I have impure intentions, isn’t it?”
A trace of astonishment appeared in Zhou Sheng’s eyes. He clearly had not expected her to confront the matter so directly.
Wasn’t that exactly what he thought?
Shen Qingyin looked around. Aside from a few people inside the county office poking their heads out to watch, there was no one nearby, so she lowered her voice.
“If you became prejudiced against me simply because I climbed over the wall and took a few extra glances, then perhaps the Official’s mind is a little too narrow.”
“All I knew was that the people living next door before were a middle aged husband and wife. Then suddenly a strange man appeared there with half his body bare. Of course I was frightened out of my wits.”
After hearing her explanation, Zhou Sheng seemed to find it reasonable.
He pursed his lips and stared steadily at her, as though trying to examine every detail of her expression and find some sign that she was lying.
But her expression was open and honest, her eyes clear, and there was not the slightest trace of guilt in them.
It was laughable. Shen Qingyin had worked for years, and she had long since mastered the skill of saying whatever needed to be said in front of her boss. There was no way he could tell that she was lying.
She carefully thought about what else might have caused him to misunderstand her.
After thinking for a while, she remembered that he had stopped coming to eat noodles.
So she said, “If the official is talking about how I always gave you a larger portion of noodles, that was only because you were willing to eat so much.
Every time, you would eat two bowls, sometimes even several bowls. In my eyes, the official is practically the God of Wealth himself, so naturally I had to treat you well.”
“If that caused you to misunderstand me, then I won’t try to please you anymore.”
Seeing that the man had not interrupted her, she knew he had already believed at least seventy percent of what she said. That also meant she could continue. Perhaps this connection could even be restored.
Shen Qingyin thought about her transmigration and desperately squeezed out a few tears. She covered her chest and reddened her eyes as though her heart were aching.
“I have guarded my chastity for my late husband all these years because I have always kept him in my heart. I cannot forget him, and no one can ever replace him.”
Zhou Sheng was startled when he heard this.
She actually cared so deeply about her late husband?
But when he thought about it carefully, Lu Dalang had indeed been a gentle and kind man. It was only natural that she would continue to remember him.
Shen Qingyin then advanced by retreating.
“If my actions have caused the official to misunderstand me, then today, just pretend that I never came looking for you, and that you never promised Jinyou that you would help him.”
“After all, widows are always surrounded by gossip. People keep misunderstanding me and throwing dirt at me. I’ve grown used to it.”
Hearing the woman’s grievances, Zhou Sheng’s hard heart somehow gave rise to a trace of guilt.
Perhaps she was right. He had formed a prejudice against her the first time they met, and because of that, everything she did afterward had seemed as though she had ulterior motives.
Shen Qingyin did not leave. Instead, she lowered her head and wiped away her tears.
She needed to hear what he had to say. If she hurried away, she would not get to hear it. She had to give him some time to digest everything.
Her mind was as clear as a mirror.
A man who still cared about the younger brother of his childhood friend and remembered their past could not possibly have a truly cold heart.
When he had arrested someone and damaged the tables and chairs of a street vendor, he had been an official. He did not actually need to compensate her, and no one would have dared say anything.
Yet he had personally repaired them.
How could such a man possibly be narrow minded?
But if that was the case, why had he remained completely silent after she had said all those things?
Could she have gone too far with her performance?
Just as Shen Qingyin was beginning to feel uneasy, she suddenly heard a voice.
“I’m sorry.”
The moment she heard those words, Shen Qingyin immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Perhaps her connection had really been restored, and maybe the God of Wealth would be coming back too.
She simply continued wiping her tears without saying anything.
Several breaths later, she heard the man continue.
“Indeed, I was narrow minded. I admit that what you said was correct. I was prejudiced against you.”
Thinking about it carefully, a young widow with a fairly attractive appearance and no children of her own could easily remarry into a better family.
Yet she was willing to remain a widow and support her younger brother in law’s studies.
How many sisters in law could truly do that?
How could someone like that possibly have impure intentions?
“I’ll resolve Jinyou’s matter.”
“As for what I said earlier, consider it as though I never said it.”
Shen Qingyin’s voice trembled with emotion.
“This common woman will still be more careful in the future.”
She gave him a small bow and turned to leave, walking faster and faster as though her dignity had truly been wounded.
Zhou Sheng stared steadily at the woman’s retreating back. He closed his eyes and let out a breath.
After a moment, he turned around to return to the county office, only to see Zhao Yi and two other officers leaning against the entrance, all staring at him with the eyes of men looking at a heartless scoundrel.
Zhou Sheng: …