Chapter 78
Zhao Ger was stunned. Being pushed and shoved out the door, he still felt somewhat embarrassed and upset. He was buying things, it wasn't like he wasn't paying. He wanted to buy small jars, if they said there were none, then there were none, but why did they act like this?
The shopkeeper used considerable force. Zhao Ger staggered, almost falling, when suddenly someone caught him from behind.
"Are you alright?"
A very gentle voice came from above. Zhao Ger blinked, realized they were standing very close, immediately took two steps back to create distance between them.
"I'm fine. Thank you for just now."
Zhao Ger's eyes were as clear and distinct as a child's, his features delicate like a painting, his cheeks slightly red, tiny beads of sweat on the tip of his small, straight nose. Zhang Huaiwen got a clear look at his appearance, and his heart instantly skipped a beat.
His gaze was intense. Staring at a ger like this was very impolite behavior. Zhao Ger's brows furrowed slightly. He thanked him and turned to leave, but Zhang Huaiwen stopped him.
"Wait..."
Zhao Ger's brow furrowed very slightly. He expressed his thanks and turned to leave, but Zhang Huaiwen stopped him, quite rudely asking for his name.
Zhao Ger finally looked up at him then. Zhang Huaiwen was wearing blue silk clothes, his hair tied up high, a jade pendant hanging from his waist, and a small fan painted with a landscape scene held in his right hand. His features were proper and handsome, giving him the air of a scholarly gentleman.
The wariness and vigilance in Zhao Ger's eyes were too obvious, and Zhang Huaiwen also reacted, quickly apologizing for his rudeness.
There were strict boundaries between men and women or gers. One shouldn't abruptly ask for someone's name upon first meeting. If the ger before him wasn't married, it might be alright, but if he was married, this action would be harassment of a married man.
However, he secretly glanced at Zhao Ger again. The ger looked very young, his clothes weren't particularly good, he was probably a village ger. Although village girls and gers married early, some having children by seventeen or eighteen, some parents also kept their children at home to do a few more years of work. Zhang Huaiwen sincerely hoped that the ger he had taken a liking to at first sight hadn't married yet~
"Daddy..."
Guaizai, dragging a basket, ran over from the side and hugged Zhao Ger's calf.
Zhang Huaiwen: "..."
Zhang Huaiwen seemed utterly shocked and incredulous, retreating several steps in succession. He looked at Zhao Ger, then at Guaizai, his gaze sweeping back and forth between them until he saw their identical small mouths, and then his whole world cracked open.
Zhao Ger ignored him, took Guaizai, and left.
When he got home, he immediately sat on the bed to count the copper coins. Fang Zichen had taught him the multiplication table. Calculating one hundred coppers per jar for twenty jars was something he could figure out even while picking his toes, but Zhao Ger just wanted to count them again.
The copper coins piled up into a small hill. Guaizai's small mouth hung open as he lay on the bed, his eyes wide like cow's eyes, looking like a little miser.
"Daddy, so much money, we've made fortune!"
Zhao Ger felt the same way. He counted three times: two thousand and ninety-three copper coins. Two thousand copper coins was the income from selling chili sauce, and ninety-three copper coins was the income from blood sausage.
One jar of chili sauce was worth more than a whole basket of his blood sausages.
One tael of silver was one thousand copper coins. In just half a day, he had earned over two taels of silver. Zhao Ger was incredibly excited, his heart beating violently, his cheeks burning. He felt a bit inflated, thinking he was truly capable now, finally able to let his little husband live off him.
On the other side.
Du Xiaodu, after selling goods in another village for four days, finally returned.
Just as he reached the courtyard gate, he heard the weak crying of a child coming from his house, like a kitten's mew. At first, he didn't react, until his mother came out of the kitchen holding a bowl of porridge, saw him, and urged, "You're finally back. What are you standing there dumbly for? Hurry up and go see Wu Ger and your son."
"Wu Ger gave birth?"
"Yes! Several days ago."
Du Xiaodu threw down his carrying pole and rushed into the room. Wu Ger was leaning against the headboard, holding their son and softly comforting him.
"Wu Ger."
"You're back?" Wu Ger was happy to see him, but when he sat by the bed, couldn't help complaining, "Why did you only come back now?"
Du Xiaodu saw his red eyes, as if he was about to cry, and quickly said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't think you would give birth so quickly. I, I thought it would still be a few days."
He felt too embarrassed to return without selling all the goods. The family was tight on money, so he wanted to sell more goods to earn more silver. Otherwise, when Wu Ger gave birth, he wouldn't know what they would eat.
He was a grown man. Seeing Wu Ger cry, he only thought it was because he wasn't by his side during childbirth, making him afraid.
Thinking about it, it made sense. When any family's wife or fulang gave birth, wasn't there a large group of people waiting outside? Only his poor fulang, when giving birth, didn't even have his husband by his side.
After comforting him, Du Xiaodu carefully took the child, looking left and right, a foolish smile on his face.
"Our son looks just like you!"
"Really? But I think he looks like you," Wu Ger said with a smile.
Madam Du, seemingly remembering something, laughed a few times and interjected, "The midwife said my little grandson looks like Young Fang."
"...Huh?"
Du Xiaodu knew Fang Zichen. He'd met him a few times and was deeply impressed by his face.
"That can't be!" He stared at his son again. The child had grown for a few days, was white and tender now, not as ugly as at the beginning. But to say he looked like Fang Zichen was really stretching it.
Wu Ger said to Du Xiaodu, "Zhao Ger and Fang Zichen are the lifesavers of me and our child."
Du Xiaodu was slightly stunned: "What happened?"
Wu Ger then explained the events of that day. Du Xiaodu listened, terrified.
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