Chapter 7. Improving life for the poor little one…

Cheng Qingzhi’s pearly teeth bit his lower lip tightly, his watery eyes glancing at her timidly as he said, “I’m afraid you’ll believe Liu Su’s words like before and drag me to the ancestral hall again…”

Cheng Qingzhi didn’t finish the rest, but Cheng Songer finally understood the reason why Cheng Qingzhi had been enduring silently all this time.

If resisting didn’t result in fair treatment and only led to more vicious beatings and scolding, it was better to say nothing at all.

Cheng Songer held his hand, her gaze sincere: “Brother, don’t worry. I will absolutely never do such a terrible thing again. If Liu Su or anyone else continues to give you trouble, you scold them back, hit them back-”

Cheng Qingzhi’s cold hand was held in hers, her burning palm making his fingertips tingle.

He said in a low voice, “But that’s what scoundrels do-”

“So what if it’s what scoundrels do? Should you just endure when you’re bullied? Don’t be afraid, I’ve got your back.”

Cheng Qingzhi’s watery eyes flickered.

…So this is what it feels like to have someone backing you up.

He gave a soft “Mm” in response.

After the commotion, Cheng Songer continued to lead him to look for the wild goose nest.

As night fell and the path became slippery, Cheng Songer tightly gripped his wrist the whole way. He followed behind her, feeling the scorching warmth on his wrist.

In the past, Liu Su often bullied him along with others. He hated it, but in his heart he was also envious.

No matter how many bad things Liu Su did, his wife’s family and father’s family would shield and indulge him.

Unlike him – even before his birth father ran off with that adulterous woman, he wasn’t treated as well as an outsider.

No matter how lively the big family was, he was always alone.

Now, he finally felt what it was like to be cared for by someone.

And that person was Cheng Songer, whom he had never considered before.

Would she… continue to be so good to him?

“Found it, found it!” Cheng Songer said excitedly in a hushed voice.

In the pitch-black reed marsh, a nest could be vaguely seen, with two lone wild geese huddled together.

Cheng Songer cast the large net over them. The geese were startled and spread their wings to fly, but it was too late. The net quickly tightened, trapping them securely inside.

Cheng Songer hurriedly rushed forward, grabbed their wings, and tied their feet with the rope she had brought. Taking this opportunity, Cheng Songer checked the geese – perfect, one male and one female.

She happily grabbed the geese and took out a fish trap she had prepared earlier, burying it in a gap in the river: “I’m going to Liu’s village tomorrow morning. When you have time, come here and check. You might be able to catch a few small fish.”

Cheng Qingzhi watched Cheng Songer’s deft movements and nodded.

After all this, Cheng Songer’s pant legs were also wet. The cold wind made her shiver.

Cheng Qingzhi wasn’t much better off. The water from the reeds had also soaked his pant legs. His body was already weak, and with the cold invading, his face was so pale it looked bloodless.

His body was already not good…

Cheng Songer stuffed the geese she was holding into his arms and squatted in front of him. “Get on.”

The geese’s wings flapped in Cheng Qingzhi’s arms, ruffling his slightly messy hair.

He unconsciously tightened his arms, his wet, affectionate eyes wavering slightly.

“Hurry up and get on, it’s really cold,” Cheng Songer knew Cheng Qingzhi was timid and afraid to get close to her, so she kept urging him, deliberately lowering her voice to sound cold, not wanting to give him time to think too much.

Sure enough, as soon as her voice dropped, Cheng Qingzhi’s heart trembled. A pair of arms climbed onto her shoulders, his feather-light weight pressing on her back.

“You’re so light,” Cheng Songer said as she stood up and started walking towards home.

Cheng Qingzhi lay on Cheng Songer’s back, his face red and silent. His arms encircled her neck, hands grasping the pair of geese hanging in front of her.

From his vantage point, he could clearly see a small strip of snow-white skin exposed at her neckline. A small wisp of hair that hadn’t been tied up snaked into her clothes like a winding vine.

Cheng Qingzhi lowered his eyes, averting his gaze.

But Cheng Songer’s upswept hair bun, swaying with her steps, brushed against his face intentionally or unintentionally, very light and ticklish.

Cheng Qingzhi shifted awkwardly. The geese in his hands seemed to sense something and started flapping their wings wildly.

Cheng Qingzhi’s heart lurched, afraid that the hard-won geese would escape. He hurriedly tightened his grip, his wrists unconsciously tightening. After finally subduing the geese, he let out a sigh of relief, only to hear Cheng Songer below him say weakly, “Brother, don’t squeeze me so tight.”

Only then did Cheng Qingzhi realize that in his effort to control the unruly geese, his hands had wrapped tightly around Cheng Songer’s neck.

His cold wrists pressed against her neck, like ice dropping into scorching coals. With each of her breaths, his thin wrist bones pressed against the soft, delicate flesh of her neck, and his heart inexplicably started racing.

Cheng Qingzhi hurriedly loosened his grip, his tone flustered: “I- I didn’t mean to-”

Cheng Songer shook her head, her voice gentle: “It’s alright, I know. Hold the geese tight, don’t let them escape.”

Cheng Qingzhi lowered his eyes and made a soft sound of assent.

——————————————-

The next day, as soon as Cheng Songer opened her eyes, she saw a familiar bowl of noodle soup in front of her.

After washing up, she gulped it down hastily and saw Cheng Qingzhi sitting at the doorway, mending his worn-out shoes.

“Aren’t you eating?” she asked.

Cheng Qingzhi’s clear, moist eyes flickered. “I’ve already eaten.”

“That’s good then.”

After breakfast, Cheng Songer took the pair of geese to the door of Landlord Liu’s house. As soon as she approached, she saw the plump-faced Landlord Liu berating her steward.

“Is it so difficult for you to handle one simple task? Is it that hard to find those betrothal geese?” Landlord Liu’s tone was harsh.

The steward kept smiling apologetically: “Please give us a few more days. It’s really hard to find betrothal geese recently. You know, with this weather…”

Landlord Liu let out a cold snort: “Don’t give me those excuses. No matter how hard it is, you must find them. Don’t tell me you want my daughter to get married without even a pair of betrothal geese? Do you want to make my Liu family the laughingstock of the village?”

“If you can’t even handle this small matter, what use are you, you useless dog of a servant!”

“You’re right…” The steward kept wiping his forehead, his posture subservient.

Cheng Songer, timing it perfectly, approached the angry Landlord Liu with two plump geese in hand.

Landlord Liu and the steward’s eyes lit up at the sight of the pair of geese in Cheng Songer’s hands, especially the steward, who quickly asked, “Cheng Songer, where did you get these geese from?”

Cheng Songer held the lively geese and gave a slight bow to Landlord Liu and the steward: “Greetings, Landlord Liu, Steward. I caught these in the village. The weather has been unusual lately, with temperatures dropping extremely fast. I estimate this is the only pair of stray geese left in all of Chengyang County.”

Rarity increases value, and Landlord Liu naturally understood the implication in Cheng Songer’s words. She gave the steward a look.

The steward immediately understood: “Cheng Songer, we’ll buy these geese.”

With that, the steward took out a silver ingot from his pocket.

Cheng Songer weighed it – five taels.

This price was truly unexpected for Cheng Songer. Earning five taels of silver for a pair of geese was equivalent to months of hauling cassava.

She was overjoyed and quickly handed the geese to the steward, then said a few auspicious words to Landlord Liu before leaving.

Although Landlord Liu looked down on small fry like Cheng Songer, she couldn’t help but be pleased by Cheng Songer’s sweet talk and compliments to herself and her daughter. Naturally, her opinion of Cheng Songer improved a bit.

Cheng Songer tucked the five taels of silver into her pocket. Having been used to living in abject poverty, suddenly having five taels of silver made her feel like an instant millionaire.

She looked at the sky – it was still early.

Now that she had money, she didn’t need to toil moving cassava anymore. Why not go to the county town and get all the things needed for the house?

No sooner said than done, Cheng Songer set off for Chengyang County town.

As luck would have it, today was market day, and the streets were exceptionally lively with small merchants and peddlers gathered.

She curiously surveyed the bustling ancient market, first spending two copper coins to buy a large bamboo basket, then headed to the rice shop.

The shop assistant was dozing off at the entrance. Cheng Songer woke her up.

The assistant jolted awake, thinking the boss had caught her slacking off. When she saw it was Cheng Songer, the notorious bully, she assumed she had come to make trouble and extort money again.

The assistant was both fearful and disgusted, her face showing no pleasant expression.

Cheng Songer knew what kind of person she had been before, so she ignored the assistant’s gloomy face and pointed at the rice shop’s sign, saying, “Give me twenty jin of flour and half a shi of rice.”

The assistant’s tone was contemptuous, but she didn’t dare mock openly. She snorted lightly: “Buying this much will cost 500 wen. If you want to buy rice, you have to pay first. Do you have the money?”

Cheng Songer pretended not to hear her sarcasm and took out the silver from her pocket: “Can you give me the rice now?”

When the assistant saw the money in her hand, her expression immediately changed.

The customer is always right. Although the assistant was still dissatisfied with Cheng Songer, seeing that she had brought money, she had no choice but to invite Cheng Songer into the rice shop.

Behind the counter, the shopkeeper was fiddling with an abacus. Seeing the assistant leading Cheng Songer in, she suddenly slammed the abacus and shouted angrily, “Cheng Songer, you dare come here to make trouble again!”

Cheng Songer pursed her lips. The original owner had indeed offended countless people.

She gave a slight nod to the shopkeeper and said, “Shopkeeper, I apologize for my past offenses. I’m truly here to buy rice today.”

“Buy rice? More like rob rice!” the shopkeeper sneered.

Cheng Songer shifted her gaze to the assistant. Although the assistant also had a poor impression of Cheng Songer, she had to say, “Shopkeeper, she really is here to buy rice today.”

As she spoke, the assistant placed a silver ingot in front of the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper looked at the money, then at Cheng Songer, her eyes widening as if she’d seen a ghost.

“Twenty jin of flour, half a shi of rice,” Cheng Songer repeated.

The shopkeeper took the money, skeptical for a long while, before finally telling the assistant, “Go get it.”

The two types of grain cost a total of 500 wen. One tael of silver was equal to 1000 wen. After giving change, there were still four taels of silver and 500 wen left. Cheng Songer was overjoyed – now she was about to turn from a slave to a singer.

Cheng Songer packed all the rice and flour into the bamboo basket, thanked the shopkeeper, and left.

This left the shopkeeper and the assistant looking at each other in bewilderment.

After a long while, the shopkeeper muttered, “Could it be that this troublemaker… has really turned over a new leaf?”

Cheng Songer walked through the bustling market carrying the heavy bamboo basket. She wanted to buy everything the house lacked now, as only this way would they have an easier winter.

It had been a long time since she’d eaten meat. She bought two liang of pork from the pork shop, along with a large piece of lard, thinking of rendering a pot of lard at home to at least taste some meat.

Meat alone wasn’t enough; vegetables were also essential.

In ancient winters, there weren’t many vegetable varieties. Besides Chinese cabbage, there were only white radishes and potatoes. She bought several jin of these as well.

The purchasing power of one tael of silver was very strong in ancient times. After buying all this, Cheng Songer had spent just over one tael. If it weren’t for the limited capacity of the bamboo basket, she would have bought a pile of Chinese cabbage to stack in the yard.

Besides these, Cheng Songer also bought spices like star anise and bay leaves, as well as paper for pasting on windows.

The windows of the old house were all broken, with cold wind whistling in at night, making it deathly cold.

Speaking of cold, Cheng Songer remembered that she didn’t even have a quilt at night, and Cheng Qingzhi’s pitiful blanket was also thin and miserable. He must be shivering while sleeping at night.

She hurriedly went to the clothing shop, which also sold quilts.

The clothing shop owner had also been harassed by her original self in the past, and didn’t have a pleasant expression upon seeing Cheng Songer.

But Cheng Songer, having learned from her experience with the rice shop owner, first apologized for past offenses, then promptly took out money and explained her intentions.

Before the clothing shop owner could get angry, she was disarmed by those few sentences.

After all, no one wants to turn away money. The clothing shop owner muttered under her breath, “Has this troublemaker changed?” Then invited her in.

“The clothes and quilts are all here. Take a look yourself. Which one do you want to buy?”

Cheng Songer put down her bamboo basket. The shop owner glanced at the heavy items in her basket, gradually feeling reassured that she truly came to buy things.

Cheng Songer chose two sets of thick quilts and asked, “Shopkeeper, how much are these quilts?”

“500 wen per set.”

…So expensive.

Cheng Songer’s gaze shifted to a winter coat hanging on the wall. It was moon-white in color. Though not made of silk, Cheng Songer vaguely felt it would look good on Cheng Qingzhi.

On the way to Chengyang County town, she occasionally saw some men wearing cloaks while shopping with their wife-masters. At this time of year, they were already wearing warm winter clothes.

While that poor thing at her home was still wearing a thin summer garment that couldn’t be any thinner, not even daring to use hot water to wash clothes.

She pointed at that garment and asked, “How about this coat?”

“Also 300 wen.”

…Goodness, almost as expensive as a thick quilt.

Seeing her hesitation, the clothing shop owner chuckled lightly, as if to say, looks like you can’t afford it either.

Then she said, “If you think it’s too expensive, buy the one next to it, 100 wen.”

The one next to it was a brown winter coat that hadn’t sold due to its old-fashioned color and style.

Cheng Songer felt the thickness of the coat. Not bad, very warm.

She didn’t care much about color or style, as long as it kept one warm.

But looking at that winter coat, Cheng Qingzhi’s face kept flashing in her mind, along with his leaf-like weight on her back.

She gritted her teeth: “Boss, I’ll take those two quilts and these two winter coats.”

The clothing shop owner widened her eyes in surprise: “Are you sure? All of them? That’s a full 1 tael and 400 wen!”

She had thought that even if this troublemaker Cheng Songer had suddenly changed, she would still be penniless and unable to afford a 300 wen coat. Who knew she would make such a grand purchase.

Cheng Songer nodded: “I know. I want them all.”

She placed the money on the counter.

“…Alright, alright!” The clothing shop owner hurriedly put the money in the cash box and began packing the clothes and quilts for Cheng Songer.

Throughout the process, the smile on her face was about to overflow. Who knew what kind of lucky day it was, getting such a big order as soon as she opened the shop.

The two sets of quilts plus two sets of winter clothes were indeed quite thick. The shop owner used a very long rope to tie the quilts and winter clothes into a tofu-like block and tied it to Cheng Songer’s bamboo basket.

Because the clothes and quilts were so thick, the shop owner had some difficulty tying them. Her elbow accidentally bumped into a pair of men’s shoes displayed outside the shop.

The shop owner let out an “Ouch,” and Cheng Songer turned her head at the sound, just in time to see the men’s shoes that had fallen to the ground.

She bent down to pick them up, lost in thought.

She still remembered when she first arrived, she had promised Cheng Qingzhi to buy him a new pair of shoes, so he wouldn’t have to wear those tattered ones that could even hurt his feet.

Seeing Cheng Songer staring at the men’s shoes, the shop owner sensed an opportunity and quickly promoted: “Sister Songer, these shoes have a thousand-layer sole, sturdy and durable. And look at the fabric, it’s excellent, clean and white. Men will definitely like it.”

Cheng Songer smiled. The shop owner had never called her Sister Songer before, only cursing her as a good-for-nothing troublemaker.

“How much are these shoes?” she asked.

“Fifty wen.”

“Wrap them up.” Cheng Songer didn’t hesitate. Cheng Qingzhi’s shoes were already as worn as they could be. After hurting his feet last time, she had seen him mending them with needle and thread, truly pitiful.

The shop owner immediately picked up the shoes and stuffed them into the bamboo basket.

After one round of shopping at the market, half the money was spent.

But at least all the necessary items were bought, and the bamboo basket was packed full.

She carried the almost overflowing bamboo basket, making her way through the bustling market crowd, when suddenly her shoulder was heavily bumped.

“Sorry.” A coquettish male voice came from beside her ear.

Cheng Songer looked up and saw a stunningly beautiful man in white clothes. In Chengyang County town, far from the capital, such beauty was like a celestial being descending to earth.

Moreover, unlike other men, he wasn’t wearing a cloak, freely displaying his stunning beauty in this closed and conservative county town, attracting countless gazes.

“It’s fine.” But Cheng Songer only glanced once before lowering her head and walking away quickly.

The beautiful man was left staring at Cheng Songer’s retreating figure carrying the large bamboo basket.

Soon, a woman anxiously came to the beautiful man’s side: “Qing’er, didn’t I tell you not to run off? Are you hurt?”

The beautiful man quickly forgot about Cheng Songer and smiled sweetly at the woman: “It’s alright, Jade elder sister.”

Cheng Songer hurried towards the outskirts of town with the heavy bamboo basket on her back. Only when the city gate was out of sight did she finally let out a sigh of relief.

“That was close!” She wiped the sweat from her brow: “I didn’t expect to encounter the male lead here.”

Fortunately, the current Cheng Songer had a different soul now, and didn’t flirt with the male lead, thus avoiding disaster.

Having saved her life, Cheng Songer composed herself and continued home.

When she returned to Cheng Family Village, it was just noon.

Smoke rose from every household’s chimney. In the past, she had rarely eaten lunch at home. She wondered if Cheng Qingzhi had eaten yet, and what he had eaten.

As she stood in front of the small courtyard with the bamboo basket on her back, she was spotted by Xu Shu and Lin Yuxiu’s family who were eating in their yard.

Xu Shu’s wife, Elder Sister Cheng, was out doing labor work and didn’t come home for lunch. Only the two men were at home.

When Lin Yuxiu saw Cheng Songer, his eyes were immediately drawn to the heavy bamboo basket on her back, especially the moon-white winter coat tied on top.

Sharp-eyed Lin Yuxiu immediately noticed the magnolia embroidery on the winter coat, which looked quite expensive.

Men particularly like these unique designs with a bit of hidden meaning.

Lin Yuxiu could tell this was a set of men’s clothing. Cheng Songer certainly wouldn’t buy it for herself to wear. He suddenly remembered his father mentioning yesterday about Cheng Songer the loose woman turning over a new leaf.

He immediately understood who this winter coat was bought for.

Thinking about such a beautiful and eye-catching outfit being worn by that slut Cheng Qingzhi, Lin Yuxiu’s pretty face immediately fell, looking as ugly as could be.

But Cheng Songer didn’t notice him at all.

Her attention was drawn to the kitchen that showed no signs of cooking.

She entered the courtyard, put down the bamboo basket, and brought the clothes and quilts into the main room.

Entering the cold kitchen, she saw a sight that pained her heart.

Cheng Qingzhi was sitting in the gloomy, cold little kitchen, with a broken clay bowl in front of him containing half a bowl of water, holding half a piece of dry, hard coarse flatbread… the same flatbread she had given him yesterday.