There were only a few medicine shops in town.
Wei Linyě often went to the town or the prefectural city, so he was somewhat familiar with the shops here.
Liu Muli followed him into a medicine shop. It was fairly large, and the entire shop was filled with the strong scent of medicinal herbs.
The shopkeeper was a gray-haired old man over fifty. His hair and beard were both grizzled, and he knew the various medicines in his shop inside and out. Naturally, he could also diagnose minor ailments.
The shopkeeper first examined the several red, swollen bumps behind Liu Muli’s ear, then looked at her tongue before saying, “Girl, you’re indeed suffering from excess internal heat. I’ll prepare some medicine to clear the heat and reduce the inflammation for you.”
Liu Muli quickly thanked him and quietly waited to the side.
Wei Linyě said nothing either. The only sound in the entire medicine shop was the shopkeeper muttering to himself as he measured out the herbs.
Soon, the shopkeeper had finished preparing the medicine. There were six packets in total, but each packet was not very large, probably because her symptoms were not particularly severe.
The shopkeeper instructed her, “There’s no need to decoct these medicines. Just boil them in a bowl of water, let the liquid cool after it comes to a boil, and drink it directly. Boil two packets a day. After three days, you should be fine.”
As he spoke, the shopkeeper took a larger sheet of oil paper, wrapped all six packets together, and tied them up with a dry grass stalk.
Liu Muli took the medicine, smiled, and asked how much it cost.
The shopkeeper said, “Six qian of silver.”
Gasp. That was a little expensive.
Before she could take out her purse, Wei Linyě beside her had already handed the shopkeeper the money.
Liu Muli immediately put her purse away.
Seeing the cloth wrapped around Wei Linyě’s left hand, the shopkeeper asked, “Young sir, did you injure your hand?”
“It’s nothing.” Wei Linyě’s tone was indifferent.
The shopkeeper continued, “If the wound is deep, you should still have it examined. Otherwise, if it worsens, it’ll be troublesome. Why don’t I take a look at it for you?”
“No need. It’s just a minor injury.” Wei Linyě rejected him coldly.
“All right. But I still have to remind you, young sir, even if the wound isn’t deep, you should apply medicine promptly. Otherwise, it could leave a scar.” Seeing that Wei Linyě did not look as rough and weathered as an ordinary village man, the shopkeeper guessed that he might be a scholar or the young master of a wealthy family, so he offered the extra advice.
Wei Linyě did not care in the slightest and gave a perfunctory word of thanks.
Liu Muli naturally had no intention of paying attention to it either. It was only a bite wound. It wasn’t as if it could kill him.
After leaving the medicine shop, Wei Linyě grabbed Liu Muli by the wrist and pulled her toward the Embroidery Pavilion.
Liu Muli knew about the Embroidery Pavilion. It was the largest ready-to-wear clothing shop in town, specializing in expensive garments. The clothes were indeed beautiful, making it a favorite place for the wives and young ladies of wealthy families in town.
“Why did you bring me here?”
Wei Linyě glanced at her and said indifferently, “To buy clothes.”
Liu Muli’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. She hesitated before asking, “You want to buy new clothes?”
Wei Linyě looked at her again. His cold gaze seemed to be looking at an idiot.
“Take a look. Is there anything in here that I can wear?”
Liu Muli: “…”
Tsk. There really wasn’t.
They were all beautiful clothes favored by ladies and young women.
So he was buying clothes for her?
Suddenly, Liu Muli remembered how Huang Shi had told Wei Linyě a few days ago to take her out to buy clothes so she could accompany him to the capital. Her heart immediately began pounding.
Her alarm bells rang loudly, and she hurriedly said, “Wei Linyě, I’m not going to the capital, so you don’t need to buy me clothes. Let’s just go home…”
But who was Wei Linyě?
Before she could even finish speaking, he firmly took her hand and led her into the shop, his tone indifferent.
“Take a look. Buy whichever one you like.”
Liu Muli raised her eyebrows slightly at his words.
This bastard hasn’t even placed first in the imperial examination or become a high-ranking official yet, and he’s already this arrogant?
Could it be that he had secretly earned quite a lot of money?
After thinking it over, Liu Muli decided to give him a good beating—financially speaking. Since they were already in town and the bastard was willing to spend money, she might as well take the opportunity to get a little revenge for the grievances she had suffered in her previous life.
Thus, Liu Muli bought five complete outfits at the Embroidery Pavilion, along with several jackets and a few pairs of embroidered shoes. The fabrics and embroidery were all of fairly good quality, and the total cost came to sixteen taels of silver.
When she heard the price, Liu Muli was nearly so frightened that her heart jumped out of her chest.
She grew a little worried and glanced at the man beside her, only to see him calmly take out two pieces of silver and hand them to the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper then used a large pair of scissors to cut off a small piece of silver as change and handed it to Wei Linyě.
Liu Muli had never been able to figure out Wei Linyě’s thoughts. Carrying the clothes and shoes wrapped in a bundle, she carefully considered her wording before asking, “Wei Linyě, I just spent so much silver. You wouldn’t be angry, would you?”
Wei Linyě glanced at her and gave a cold snort.
“I’m not as stingy as you.”
Liu Muli: “…”
You really can’t expect anything nice to come out of that dog’s mouth.
The last trace of guilt in her heart instantly vanished. She said boldly, “Then I also want velvet flowers, hairpins, and bracelets.”
If she bought the ones made of silver, she could exchange them for quite a bit of money later.
Wei Linyě turned his head and met her clear, limpid eyes. He ultimately swallowed the words, Are you doing this on purpose?
Instead, he simply said, “Go buy them.”
Liu Muli was astonished.
She did not hold back either. She toured several streets in town and bought quite a few things—velvet flowers, silver hairpins, silver hair ornaments, silver bracelets, as well as snacks and treats. She spent a considerable amount of Wei Linyě’s money.
This was also the first time Liu Muli realized that Wei Linyě had already saved so much money before even becoming a high-ranking official.
It seemed that he really did have an extraordinary mind, knowing both how to make money and how to save it.
Yet Liu Muli still did not want to be with him.
She thought that she could earn money herself and live a satisfying, comfortable life.
By the time the sun was about to sink behind the mountains, Liu Muli and Wei Linyě finally returned to the place where Ergou had parked the ox cart.
Ergou had not grown impatient waiting for them. When he saw the two of them carrying large bundles of things, his eyes widened in surprise.
“Wow, you two bought so many things?”
Liu Muli smiled lightly. “Mm. He’ll be going to the capital soon, so we have to buy some necessities for the journey.”
With a resounding thud, the blame for their extravagant spending was dumped squarely onto Wei Linyě.
Wei Linyě looked at her calmly but said nothing.
Ergou scratched his head and chuckled. “That makes sense. The capital is a long way away, so naturally you have to make more preparations.”
After chatting for only a couple of sentences, Ergou hurried to drive the ox cart. Otherwise, they would not make it back to the village before dark.
After spending the entire day wandering around the streets, Liu Muli began to feel sleepy once they were on the swaying ox cart. In the end, she simply lay down on the cart and fell asleep.
Seeing how carefree she was, Wei Linyě could not help frowning.
Even though there was straw padding the cart, it was still dirty. How could she just lie down on it?
With a dark expression, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into his arms.
Liu Muli suddenly woke up. The moment she looked up and saw the sharp, well-defined line of his jaw, she hurriedly tried to push him away.