Chapter 206
“So it’s little Ling ger.” Li Wanyun smiled and held the child’s hand, teasing him playfully. She had been afraid of asking the wrong question earlier, what if this wasn’t Lu Gu’s child? That would have been like rubbing salt in the wound.
Standing in the middle of the street wasn’t ideal, so Lu Gu asked her, “Are you busy? Would you like to come inside the shop and sit for a while?”
“I’m not too busy, just delivering these few bolts of cloth to the fabric workshop.” Thinking that they hadn’t seen each other in two years, Li Wanyun didn’t refuse. She glanced at the shop and asked, “Is this your family’s business?”
Lu Gu led her and the boy of about eleven or twelve inside, gesturing for them to sit. Holding the child, he could only pour tea one-handed. Smiling, he said, “We just opened this year, selling chicken, duck, and rabbit meat. Sometimes we butcher pork too.”
For common folk, eating meat wasn’t an everyday affair, some families only bought it during festivals. To most people, anyone who could afford to run a butcher’s shop was impressive, and Li Wanyun was no exception.
She had never forgotten her time in Qingxi Village, the steamed buns Lu Gu had given her during that freezing winter, stuffed with slices of meat and pickled vegetables. They were the most delicious meat and pickles she’d ever eaten. Seeing that Lu Gu’s life had improved, she felt happy for him.
She set the three bolts of cloth in her lap and said, “This is my nephew, Wang’er. He’s eleven this year. He came with me to sell the cloth, helping me carry a couple of bolts. Call him little ahma.”
“Little ahma,” Li Wang’er echoed, also laying the two bolts in his arms across his lap.
Guaizi, who had been following Shen Xuanqing in the back, had sharp ears and keen eyes. Hearing voices at the front, he trotted over. Before he could bark, Lu Gu scolded him softly, so the dog circled around to sniff at Li Wang’er instead.
“Shoo,” Lu Gu chided gently, then reassured Li Wang’er, “Don’t be afraid. He won’t bite as long as I’m here.”
Li Wanyun still remembered the dog and laughed. “He came with you too?”
“He guards the house at night. But how did you end up here?” Lu Gu asked after sitting down with the tea. He was curious, Lijia Village was closer to Fenggu Town, yet Li Wanyun had come to Jixing Town instead.
With him, Li Wanyun didn’t hide the truth. Glancing at her nephew, she smiled bitterly. “Fenggu Town is closer, but what if I ran into the Zhang family? They’ve never given me a way out. What can a woman like me do except stay far away?”
At her parents’ home, she was safe. Her family was there, so the Zhang relatives wouldn’t dare barge in. But if she encountered them outside the village, things could turn ugly.
Realizing he’d touched on a painful subject, Lu Gu felt a little awkward.
Li Wanyun noticed his discomfort and smiled. “It’s all in the past. I’ve made my peace, I just avoid them. What about you? Why did you open a shop so far away?”
Lu Gu handed the small rattle drum on the table to Lingjun, who was reaching for it, and said, “Erqing’s master and his family are in Jixing Town. Coming here meant we’d have relatives to rely on. They helped us find and buy this shop.”
Li Wanyun nodded in understanding. Starting a business in an unfamiliar place was difficult, having connections made all the difference.
The rattle drum shook with a dong-dong-dong sound, making Lingjun giggle. The two adults amused themselves with the child for a while as they chatted. Then Shen Xuanqing returned, carrying a freshly slaughtered old duck.
“It’s Wanyun, I just saw her on the street,” Lu Gu quickly explained.
Seeing Li Wanyun instinctively stand, Shen Xuanqing smiled and said, “Please, sit. I’ll go buy some pastries from the street so we can eat while we talk.”
He and Li Wanyun had little interaction, and as a woman, it wasn’t proper for him to engage in too much conversation. But since they had a guest, it was only right to prepare tea and snacks. So he headed out, with Guaizi trotting after him.
Noticing the slaughtered duck, Lu Gu said, “Are you in a hurry at noon? If not, I’ll cook a meal. I was just about to stew this duck, why don’t you join us?”
Li Wanyun’s smile was noticeably brighter than it had been two years ago. “I came here thanks to a village uncle’s mule cart. He’s waiting for us at the town entrance in half an hour, so we can’t stay.”
Since that was the case, Lu Gu didn’t press further. Spotting the five bolts of cloth she’d brought, he asked curiously, “Did you weave all these yourself?”
Li Wanyun’s smile changed slightly, her eyes brightening. She unwrapped the cloth to reveal two bolts of silk and one of cotton. “Yes. I don’t have many ways to earn money, but thankfully I know how to weave. Selling to fabric workshops brings in a little income.”
She handed one of the silk bolts to Lu Gu, urging him to feel it. “At first, I only wove hemp and cotton. This year, after saving up, I found a villager who grew mulberry fields. I couldn’t afford much, so I negotiated to lease one mu, enough to raise silkworms at home. That’s how I managed to weave these two bolts.”
The silk felt completely different under his fingers. Hearing how capable she’d become, Lu Gu smiled and handed it back. “Having a skill to earn money is good.”
“Exactly.” Li Wanyun nodded, rewrapping the cloth. These past two years, her life had been decent. With money in hand, she secretly helped her parents. Whenever anyone - openly or not, tried to drive her away, she’d curse them out.
Later, between weaving and leasing the mulberry field, she sometimes couldn’t handle all the work alone. So she had her parents help with weeding and watering. After selling the silk, she’d buy them food and supplies or give them a few dozen copper coins. She was clever, she always paid them after they finished, treating it as wages so they wouldn’t complain about working for free.
As a widow, she feared her parents might hastily marry her off to some widower. If she ended up with another family like Old Lady Zhang and Zhang Zhengzi, she’d just be jumping back into the fire.
So she made a habit of weeping and lamenting her misfortunes in front of her parents, emphasizing how unlucky she’d been in marriage. She also reminded them that she still had three years of mourning left. And she hinted that if she remarried, all her earnings would go to her husband’s family. She wouldn’t be able to support her natal family anymore, and even the leased mulberry field would have to be returned.
With their daughter at home, Old Man Li and Old Lady Li had food, clothes, and even earned copper coins from working the mulberry field. Life was much better than before. If Li Wanyun married off, she’d be like spilled water, unable to be gathered back. The money would belong to her husband’s family.
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