After walking Pei Jinrong home, Song Wenqing needed to make a trip to the market. Although there were still leftover ingredients from their wedding yesterday, the rations would not last more than a few days.
He had previously thought that since Pei Jinrong had grandly presented fifty taels of silver as a betrothal gift, his family must have some money. To his surprise, when he asked, the young man had actually given all of his savings for the betrothal gift.
Pei Jinrong watched Song Wenqing busying himself around the stove, feeling somewhat bewildered. It was not until Song Wenqing approached him holding a bowl and a cotton cloth, squatted down in front of him, and began untying the cloth strips wrapped around his hands that he understood.
“I forgot about this last night,” Song Wenqing said. “I wonder if the wound has been suffocated.”
As he spoke, he carefully moistened the cotton cloth with white liquor and wiped around the edges of the wound. “Fortunately, the wound has not festered. After changing the gauze, it should heal in a few days.”
Pei Jinrong did not respond, clearly lost in thought. After a long pause, he murmured softly, “It is fine. It does not hurt anyway.”
On any ordinary day, he would not have paid such an injury any mind. He had lived alone in Yunhan Village for two years and had long since grown used to minor injuries like this. Back when his legs were fully functional in the capital, climbing trees to snatch bird eggs and going hunting with his friends were common occurrences. Even when he was injured more severely, he had never uttered a single complaint. Even when he returned home and his mother found a physician to treat the external trauma on his knees, the physician had remarked on how well he could endure pain.
Unfortunately, while the external wounds had healed, the internal damage had not. Despite seeing so many physicians, none of them could figure out what was wrong with his legs.
Seeing his expression, Song Wenqing knew that he must have fallen into memories of the past again.
“If you have nothing to do at home later, see if we have any realgar powder. Scatter a ring of it around the courtyard. The weather has been hot lately, and there are plenty of snakes. It would not be good if they crawled into the house,” Song Wenqing said with a smile.
It was now late May, which was the time when snakes were most active. His reason for giving Pei Jinrong this task was twofold. On one hand, he was planning to go to the market to buy a few hens to lay eggs, along with a few little chicks to raise slowly so they would have chicken to eat by the New Year. On the other hand, he was afraid that Pei Jinrong would not be able to shake off his gloomy mood; having something to do would always help distract his attention.
Sure enough, upon hearing Song Wenqing’s words, Pei Jinrong nodded and said, “We have some at home.”
His eyes looked watery as he gazed at Song Wenqing, appearing incredibly well-behaved.
Receiving his response, Song Wenqing felt reassured. Holding the wedding robes that the two of them had worn for just one day yesterday before changing out of them, he headed to the market. These wedding robes had been bought using the betrothal money Pei Jinrong had given; the two robes alone cost two taels of silver, which was by no means cheap.
Since neither of them would have any use for them in the future anyway, it was better to resell them for some money to supplement their living expenses. After all, neither of them had any money left on them right now.
There were still two hours left before noon. After bidding farewell to Pei Jinrong, Song Wenqing set off for the market carrying the three taels of silver Shen Xiaolan had given him yesterday, the nine taels of silver the original owner of his body had saved by living frugally and selling hunted game, and the two heavy wedding robes.
On his way to the market, he encountered several aunties and gers who had helped out yesterday, squatting by the stream washing clothes. Upon seeing him, they all smiled and teased him.
“Brother Wen, the villagers are saying that you and your spouse were looking mighty affectionate by the official road this morning.”
“Oh my, everyone is like that when they are newlywed. What are you joining in the teasing for?” One aunty winked at the ger who had spoken, then turned to Song Wenqing and said, “Brother Wen, my son-in-law said he saw Young Lord Jin at the official road during the hour of the Mao this morning. Even though you are all sweet and lovey-dovey right now since you just got married, I am just afraid your eyes will be blinded by infatuation while your own husband is out there attracting butterflies.”
Fearing that Song Wenqing might not catch her drift, the aunty sighed and spoke bluntly, “Men are never any good. Do not look at how sweetly they talk; there is no telling what shameful things they might be doing behind your back.”
Knowing the aunty meant well, Song Wenqing responded with a smile. But when he pictured Pei Jinrong’s aggrieved and pitiful expression, he suddenly felt that while others might be like that, Pei Jinrong definitely would not be.
Nevertheless, he took the aunty’s words to heart. The distance from their home to the official road was not short, and Pei Jinrong already had difficulty walking. If one were to argue that he just went there to join the crowd, his personality truly did not seem like someone who would do that.
That left only one explanation: Pei Jinrong had gone to send a letter. The hour of the Mao was precisely when the courier passed through Yunhan Village.
But that made sense. Pei Jinrong had parents, after all. It would be stranger if he did not write a letter following their wedding yesterday.
As it happened to be the busy farming season, there were not many people at the market. Carrying the wedding robes, Song Wenqing went first to the clothing shop on the street. The shopkeeper was extremely shrewd. After thoroughly inspecting the two sets of wedding robes, he gestured the number one with his finger and said, “One tael for both sets. Seeing as this set of yours is missing a piece of fabric, I will not cheat you and will give you a round number.”
Song Wenqing looked down and took the wedding robes back from the owner’s hands. “Shopkeeper, putting aside my set that is missing a piece of cloth, look at this other one. It is ninety percent new and was only worn for a single day. Your offer is a bit too low.” Leaving the rest unsaid, Song Wenqing feigned making his departure.
Well-accustomed to such scenes, the shopkeeper waved his hand and said, “It will be the same wherever you go.”
However, seeing that Song Wenqing was truly walking away, he hurriedly rushed forward to catch up. “Sigh, I will take a bit of a loss, alright?”
Pulling Song Wenqing back into the shop, the shopkeeper took the wedding robes from his hands while muttering, “It is only because it is you; I would not give this price to anyone else.”
Hearing this, Song Wenqing smiled faintly. Having lived for so many years with the grandmother who had adopted him in the countryside in his past life, the essence of bargaining was already etched into his bones.
In the end, the two agreed on a price of one tael and two hundred and fifty copper coins. Song Wenqing accepted fifty coins less, counting it as a favor to the shopkeeper. This market only had this one shop with decent quality; he and Pei Jinrong would definitely have to come here to buy fabric in the future.
Sure enough, seeing that he had accepted fifty coins less, a smile instantly broke across the shopkeeper’s face. He said, “Make sure to come to my shop often in the future to buy ready-made clothes or fabric, and I will give you a discount.”
Song Wenqing nodded repeatedly. After leaving the shop, his money pouch felt a bit heavier, giving him an increasing sense of security.
This street mainly sold delicate items like fabrics and rouge. To buy chickens, he had to change to a different street.
There were many hunters on this particular street, selling rabbits, wild pheasants, and even wild boars brought down from the mountains. Seeing Song Wenqing arrive, a young man at one of the stalls asked, “Brother Wen, when do you plan to head up the mountain to hunt with us again?”
Hunting was generally left to the young men or the strong, able-bodied men of the village. However, because Song Wenqing was tall and sturdily built, and because he had been afraid of Shen Xiaolan accusing him of eating free meals, the original owner of his body had been able to go up the mountain to hunt alone by the age of seventeen.
Over time, seeing that Song Wenqing’s skills were even better than theirs despite being a ger, the young men in the village grew fond of calling him along to go up the mountain together.
Song Wenqing pondered for a moment and said, “In a few more days. I just got married recently, so there are still quite a few things to keep me busy.”
Upon hearing this, the young man smiled and bid Song Wenqing farewell.
Once Song Wenqing had walked away, a man standing beside the young man’s stall muttered in a low voice, “If I had known back then that Brother Wen was capable of so many things, I would have gone to the Song family to offer a betrothal gift.”
After hearing that Song Wenqing was getting married over the past few days, he felt a bit of regret for not having gone to the Song family to propose back then.
Hearing the man say this, the young man merely smiled. After a long silence, he said, “If you really married Brother Wen and brought him home, your parents would probably beat you to death the moment they saw that birthmark on his forehead. Not to mention, Brother Wen is over 1.8 meters tall. If you stood outside with him, people who did not know any better would think that you were the ger. Aren’t you afraid of people gossiping if you marry him home?”
The young man’s tone carried a hint of self-deprecation. After speaking, he lowered his head to continue the work in his hands. Seeing the young man’s demeanor, the man also understood his feelings and shook his head slightly.
Unaware of what had just occurred over there, Song Wenqing finally found a place selling chicks as he neared the end of the street. The weather had been warm lately, so the survival rate for hatched chicks was quite high. Consequently, they were not very expensive; one could buy a desirable chick for just ten copper coins.
He grandly bought five chicks in one go. Seeing that he was purchasing five at once, the stall owner threw in a chicken coop for free. In addition to this, he bought two hens, which cost him another one hundred and forty copper coins.
This morning, he had checked near the stove and noticed that the white flour was almost gone. Thus, Song Wenqing moved to another street to buy white flour, corn, and rice. The price of rice had risen recently, but his intention in buying rice this time was to brew wine for sale. Yesterday during the wedding feast, when the aunty brought him food, she had also brought a jar of rice wine, but its taste was incredibly bland.
Though he had not let it show on his face at the time, he had noted it down in his heart. Now that he was a newcomer, even with what happened this morning, everyone would likely still be very skeptical of his medical skills. How could they possibly seek out someone like him who neither owned a medical clinic nor had a reputation?
Page 2
However, he still needed a means to make a living. He had learned the art of wine brewing from his grandmother when he was a child; by the age of ten, all the wine at home was brewed by him, and he had long since mastered the control of the heat. He might as well return to his old profession for now, simply to secure a livelihood in the village first. Once he had a bit of free time, he would set up a free clinic at the head of the village to build up his reputation before making his next move.
With his hands completely full, he suddenly remembered something just as he was about to head back. Turning around, he bought a rabbit. He remembered that on the night he had died from overwork in his past life, the takeout he had ordered was spicy rabbit head. Unfortunately, he never got to eat it, and he craved that flavor dearly.
When Pei Jinrong saw Song Wenqing, the man was holding a chicken coop in one hand and cradling a rabbit in the other. Seeing this, he grew anxious. Disregarding any sense of pride, he stood up to help Song Wenqing carry the items.
Seeing him stand up, Song Wenqing did not stand on ceremony either and threw all the things in his hands into his grasp. He then headed back outside the door, returning a moment later carrying the white flour and the raw ingredients for brewing wine.
He had wandered the market for an hour and had been delayed a bit on the road, so it was already noon by now. The midday sun was at its harshest; Song Wenqing was panting heavily, and a great deal of sweat had broken out on his forehead.
“Ah Wen, some sour plum soup.” Hearing these words just when he was feeling unbearably hot, Song Wenqing hurriedly took the bowl handed to him by the young man. After downing the large bowl of sour plum soup, he finally felt himself coming back to life.
Pei Jinrong held a round fan, gently fanning him.
A thought stirred in Song Wenqing’s mind. Enjoying this brief moment of leisure, he actually felt that traveling to this world was not so bad after all.
“Do you want to drink more?” Seeing that Song Wenqing had calmed down a bit, Pei Jinrong spoke up.
“No, it is much cooler now.”
Pei Jinrong pressed the round fan into his hand. Remembering something, he hopped on one foot toward the stove again. He filled a bowl to the brim with more sour plum soup and placed it into the well water he had drawn just before noon; the well water was still emitting a chilling vapor. He placed a lid over it, fearing that Song Wenqing might want to drink more later.
With eyes full of laughter, Song Wenqing watched Pei Jinrong stubbornly hop his way back.
The young man flushingly covered Song Wenqing’s eyes with his hands and muttered, “You… you are not allowed to laugh.”
Don’t think he did not know what Ah Wen was laughing at. If he had not been afraid of tiring him out, he would never have limped over to help him take those things. It looked hideous.