Qiu Hanlu had memories of this dark-skinned girl in her mind. She was the original owner’s good friend, Tian Niu. Tian Niu’s mother had died in childbirth when she was born, and she lived alone with her father, the two of them depending on each other.
Tian Niu had a boyish personality. Seeing Qiu Hanlu being bullied, Tian Niu often stood up for her, and that was how the two became friends.
Recalling these things, Qiu Hanlu was still quite grateful to this girl. She had saved the original owner from some suffering and given her spiritual support and comfort.
While Qiu Hanlu was still lost in her hazy recollections, Tian Niu had already reached her side: “Hanlu, did Qiu Lixia really marry that cripple?”
Qiu Hanlu looked at Tian Niu’s young and curious eyes and said with a smile, “Mm, Qiu Lixia has been married off. I watched her get on the bridal sedan.”
Tian Niu jumped up with joy: “That’s wonderful! Now there’s one less person to bully you. Qiu Xiaoxue is still annoying, but she doesn’t have as many schemes as Qiu Lixia.”
After saying this, she looked at the basket behind her with some disappointment: “I’m in a hurry to get to the herbal medicine shop in the county town. You wait for me to come back, and you must tell me all about today’s events in detail.”
Tian Niu’s father had learned a bit of herbalism from a medicine gatherer. During the slack farming season, he would collect some herbs and sell them to earn a bit of money to get by.
When Qiu Hanlu heard about going to the county town, she felt a bit excited. Since she had nothing to do anyway, she might as well go with Tian Niu to see the city and look for opportunities.
So she said, “Then I’ll go with you. We can talk along the way, and you’ll have company.”
Tian Niu looked at Qiu Hanlu as if she were a stranger: “Hanlu, didn’t you used to be afraid of going to the city?”
Only then did Qiu Hanlu remember that the original owner had been timid to the point of death, rarely spoke, and disliked crowded places.
She could only say, “I used to live too tired and too wronged, so I want to live a new kind of life, like you said. Let’s talk as we walk.”
Tian Niu was also in a hurry to get to the county town. She pulled Qiu Hanlu’s hand and walked forward, saying, “Then let’s talk as we walk.”
The two girls left the village together and headed toward the county town.
On the way, Qiu Hanlu recounted everything that had happened at the Qiu family today to Tian Niu.
After hearing all these things about the Qiu family, Tian Niu was extremely surprised: “Hanlu, it’s so good that you’re like this now. Promise me you’ll stay this tough from now on, or else they’ll harm you for the rest of your life.”
Qiu Hanlu nodded: “I know. Don’t worry, Tian Niu. I’ve been bullied and scolded every single day, and I’ve really had enough. I promise I won’t be that foolish anymore. That’s why I want to go to the city with you—to first build up my courage.”
Hearing Qiu Hanlu’s promise, Tian Niu was especially happy: “That’s right! I go to the county town often and know everything about it. Once we get to the city, I’ll introduce you to it.”
Before long, the two young sisters arrived at the county town gate. Their village was very close to the county town—only about two quarters of an hour on foot, which in modern time would be roughly half an hour’s walk.
The county town was called Jilong County. Because of its good geographical location, being close to the capital, and sitting at the intersection of three main roads, its economy was thriving, and many capable and extraordinary people lived there.
The city was bustling. Stepping on the blue stone slab roads, looking at the antique shop fronts lining the streets on both sides, and listening to the rising and falling cries of street vendors, Qiu Hanlu felt everything was more real.
After entering the city and walking for a while, Tian Niu pulled Qiu Hanlu’s sleeve excitedly and said, “Hanlu, look over there—Ye Rong, the second young master of the Ye family. Isn’t he handsome?”
Qiu Hanlu followed the direction Tian Niu was looking. Standing at the entrance of a medicine shop was a young master of seventeen or eighteen, dressed in white robes, elegant and refined, with an ethereal air about him. He was indeed quite handsome.
She nodded and quietly asked Tian Niu, “Do you like him?”
Tian Niu blushed and replied in a low voice, “I just think he’s good-looking. What status do we have? We’re not even worthy of being his concubine. Second Young Master Ye’s mother is a young lady from an official family in the capital. The Ye family’s medicine shops are spread all across our Fenglan Kingdom. We could never reach that high.”
When Qiu Hanlu heard “Fenglan Kingdom,” she realized this was a fictional world, because in the history she had studied, this country didn’t exist at all.
From the information she had searched out of the original owner’s memories, this era had an open culture. Although it was still a polygamous system, there weren’t as many restrictions on women. Women could do business and establish their own households, and there were even female generals. That was quite good.
Just now, when Tian Niu mentioned that the Ye family ran medicine shops, she asked Tian Niu, “Are we going to the Ye family’s medicine shop to sell herbs?”
Tian Niu sighed and shook her head: “How could small-time sellers like us supply herbs to a big medicine shop like the Ye family’s?”
Qiu Hanlu smiled and pulled Tian Niu along: “Let’s work hard. In the future, you can plant a huge field of medicinal herbs, and who knows, maybe you can cooperate with the Ye family?”
Tian Niu said somewhat dejectedly, “My father actually really liked studying herbs, but back then he only learned for about a month before my mother had her accident. He gave up learning to take care of me. Now he only recognizes a few types of herbs, and since our family has no capital, I guess we can only dream about it.”
Qiu Hanlu listened to the difficulties Tian Niu mentioned, which weren’t really that big of a deal—if you had money, you could just find someone to learn from. But right now, she didn’t have any money either, so she still needed to figure out a way to earn some first.
So Qiu Hanlu said, “It’s fine. Anyway, we’re poor, so there’s no harm in daydreaming, right?”
Tian Niu looked at Qiu Hanlu and smiled. “Right, daydreaming is pretty nice. Hanlu, you’ve really changed.”
With that, the two continued walking forward. Since Second Master Ye, Ye Rong, had already left, there was nothing left for them to see standing there.
After walking a bit, they reached a small herbal medicine shop at the head of the market. Tian Niu led Qiu Hanlu inside. She knew the shopkeeper, chatted with him familiarly for a few words, and sold the herbs from the basket.
They sold them for a total of one hundred wen. Qiu Hanlu didn’t bother calculating exactly how much that would be in modern currency, since the original owner’s memories didn’t have much of a concept of money.
After selling the herbs, Tian Niu put the money away and said to Qiu Hanlu, “Should we take a look around the market before heading home?”
Qiu Hanlu naturally had no objections and followed Tian Niu to the market.
As they walked, Tian Niu pointed out the shops along the way, telling her which one was famous for cosmetics and powder, which one was known for silk and satin…
These were all things Tian Niu had heard from others; she herself had never had the money to go to such places.
Through Tian Niu’s introductions, Qiu Hanlu learned quite a bit of information. She began to think—should she set up a stall to do business, or sell designs?
If she set up a stall right now, those bloodsuckers in the main house would see she could make money and would never agree to split the family. So she still needed to earn some money on the sly first, keeping it in hand for emergencies. That settled it—she’d sell designs.
She didn’t know much about other things yet, but she’d just seen the jewelry shop, and an idea had formed in her mind.
In her past life, she loved watching period dramas and was especially interested in ancient jewelry and clothing. Plus, she was originally a concept artist herself. Though she wasn’t an expert in jewelry design, drawing a few jewelry sketches that could earn money in this era wasn’t hard.
And even if that failed, she was still a food blogger—she could sell recipes too, since she could whip up both Chinese and Western dishes and desserts.
But there was one problem at hand: she had no paper or pen, and no money to buy them. If she went to a shop owner empty-handed, they might think she was a swindler and report her to the authorities? That would be even more dangerous. So before she had full confidence, she’d better observe a bit more first.
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