Chapter 13: Chapter 13
Chapter 13
"Yueqian, it’s getting late. You should eat quickly. Don’t you have other errands to run later?"
Mu Heng interjected, cutting off the ongoing conversation. Although it was good that others’ perspectives on his wife were improving, they kept discussing how she had been mistreated, which ironically, that mistreat included becoming Mu Heng’s wife.
If his wife often heard this and did not want to be with him because others would look down on her, what would he do? Let her go? Or beg her to stay as a wife of a poor man like himself?
Compared to divorcing him, while society isn’t very accepting of divorced women, her own wealth would ensure she wouldn’t struggle more than staying with him.
Mu Heng, who always unbothered, now regretted bringing his wife here.
"I think so too. You two, hurry up and eat, then head back. There’s a lot to buy for the house on your first day of marriage. And you guys, stop listening to those baseless rumors. Focus on your studies and work for the government. Look at Mu Heng’s wife, she’s a woman but far more knowledgeable than all of you. Aren’t you ashamed?"
Shopkeeper Bai, knowing his honorary brother’s feelings, spoke up.
He quickly served food to the couple. Of course, Mu Heng paid six brass coins for this meal, which Yueqian did not reject or embarrass him by mentioning how much money she had. Moreover, she behaved like a delicate wife in front of other men, allowing Mu Heng to fulfill his role as a husband.
"Does it taste good?" Mu Heng asked after seeing Yueqian take her first bite.
Although it was just a small piece of meat and rice picked up with the tips of her chopsticks, in a manner befitting a lady of prominent family, which he thought she could not taste anything from that amount of food. But Mu Heng was the one recommended this place, he was eager to know if she was pleased.
"It’s delicious," Yueqian nodded to him.
Even though this meal couldn’t compare to what she had eaten before, the food, earned through her husband’s hard efforts, was bound to be delicious.
Well, what else could she say? Could she say that leftover steamed buns at her house tasted better?
"If it’s delicious, eat a lot then, you’re too thin," Mu Heng felt happy in his heart, smiling slightly as he spoke with concern.
Shopkeeper Bai caught Yueqian’s eyes briefly as if they both knew the truth behind her words. He was well aware, a lady from the capital would not find his food delicious.
Yet, seeing her please Mu Heng by answering like this relieved him about his honorary brother’s marital life. All that was left was hoping she would grow to adore the two children at Mu Heng’s house as if they were her younger siblings until they could move out. If she loved these two kids, Mu Heng’s life would undoubtedly improve.
He had heard that because of the wage for this hired marriage, Mu Heng had cut ties with the Mu family, who leech off them. This young man was truly grateful person but that did not mean he would let anyone harm his siblings, so to become an ungrateful person and sever ties must have been incredibly hard for him. He certainly knew that well.
Even so, everyone thought this was the best solution for Mu Heng.
Now, all that remained was to pray that his wife could be trustworthy.
The couple stood while eating like the scholars earlier; they soon felt full, though Yueqian did not enjoy the taste, and the meat was not as fresh to be considered fine, she was not the type of person would throw away foods. Being a farmer’s daughter in her past life, she knew well the hardships of providing food for the family.
Mu Heng, seeing this, thought that Yueqian enjoyed the meal as much as he did, so he led her home more happily.
On the way back, Yueqian spent several more silver taels buying food to take home and some clothes she wanted to blend in with the locals. They wore muted color clothing unlike those in the city, so Yueqian bought several of them.
She also bought things for the children and her husband, although Mu Heng didn’t ask for anything. Still, she picked them up and paid for it so fast he could not stop her in time.
"Yueqian, wait for me a moment, I’ll stop by the health facility. I found some herbs earlier."
Mu Heng said as they reached an herbal shop. However, he didn’t tell her to come along, although Yueqian was surprised to see him act like this. Because from what she saw this day, it seemed like he wanted to introduce her to everyone.
Though she did not know the reason and was puzzled, Yueqian did not ask, since it was not a proper manner; she simply waited under a tree and looked around.
Then, her gaze landed on a shop not too far from here. Since it was not far from a learning center for scholars, hence there were many stationery shops.
The beautiful woman brought her petite frame to the shop, looking at the coarse, cheap paper for the capital city, rarely used by anyone.
However... here, in rural areas, such items were considered quite expensive. This shop also had many books and stationery items. Although they were not the best quality, but when she recalled how Mu Heng looked at her when she recited poetry, Yueqian decided to spend her money here.
Luckily, she had three or four coins on her, so she could spend it without waiting for her husband to return.
"Lady, you are buying so much paper, brushes, and ink. Are you planning to give them as gifts to your family?"
The shop owner said, rubbing his hands together with a wide, ingratiating smile that he did not try to hide, Yueqian found somewhat off-putting. However, she didn’t refuse.
The woman knew he wanted to suggest she buy more since she seemed well-off. Though aware of this, Yueqian didn’t plan to walk away or ignore his suggestions. Today, she was here to spend anyway, it didn’t hurt to spend a little more.
Back when she was Qin Yueqian, she didn’t have the time to browse like this. Wanting anything meant having servants following her around. Acting like a regular person would stop the rumors about her being a spoiled young lady, so she had to act smoothly. She had to make many hate her for being so self-centered.
For instance, looking at these inks or papers, she could not show her interest outright. The Young Villainess Qin had no right to show that she was educated. She had to be a beautiful woman who was beautiful only in appearance but foolish, skipping lessons from her teachers to chase after a man until he was sick of her.
Yueqian remembered being herself only when she went to the Art Institute as a partner. Then, she could have whatever she wanted sourced for her, paid in gold and silver, and stashed away in her own dimension.
During that time, Yueqian vividly remembered the discomfort, but she knew it was just for a few decades, after which more than half of her life would be spent in freedom. She wouldn’t need to compete or appease anyone, adhere strictly to conventions, or be a tool for anyone’s use.
Because of this, she was willing to sacrifice over 18 years of her life for freedom in the next 60-70 years.
Today was the first day she could shop comfortably, so she spent quite a lot of money, despite Mu Heng repeatedly warning her out of concern.
"As you understand, I’ve just married into my husband’s home, so I wanted to find gifts for my husband and his younger siblings," Yueqian pretended not to know that she was being baited by the salesman, acting as his prey.
"That’s the case; you are indeed a good wife. Allow me to suggest a few things," the shopkeeper laughed.
His demeanor is like that of a kindly elder about to help his kin, creating a friendly relationship with customers to make them trust his words more.
“Then I would need your help, Master,” Yueqian smiled sweetly.
Her already beautiful face became even more radiant, even the shopkeeper was momentarily distracted. If not for the hard-earned money involved, he might have lost his composure completely.
"Well, ahem, ahem... Now, madam, you have chosen three different sizes of brushes and three sets of them as well. I guess the recipients of your gifts must be three people, right?" Yueqian nodded at his attentiveness, and the shopkeeper who guessed correctly smiled widely.
"You’ve chosen quite a lot of paper already. What I would recommend next are the inkstones and three types of inksticks: coarse, medium-fine, and very fine. Each gives a different quality of ink when ground.
For practice, the coarse ink will suffice, but for serious writing, you will need the finer inks which are slightly more expensive. Also, I would advise you to get separate inkstones to avoid mixing the inks."
"Not just writing supplies, you should also consider getting three separate boxes for them, so they each know these are their personal sets. It makes the gifts more special. Lastly, I would recommend basic textbooks.
I’m not sure how old your husband’s younger siblings are, but if they’re just learning to write, there are basic textbooks about the characters. If they already know how to write, you could consider textbooks on geography, botany, agriculture, etc."
The shopkeeper delivered his recommendations as if he had rehearsed them beforehand. Yueqian, listening, smiled faintly, anticipating such incident. Nonetheless, his suggestions were intriguing.
Although in her own dimension, Yueqian had many books bought for her by the Art Institute, but those were valuable books paid for with gold taels. To let them read it now could potentially get herself caught by the authorities. She was certain that even the local governor might not have more than two or three such books.
As a local villager and as an evil Lady Qin, the foolish young lady who could not achieve anything, did she ever want to gather these books before being exiled from her family? Impossible!
Moreover, the textbooks she had were not even useful for children, and nor for Mu Heng himself. Therefore, the textbooks suggested by the shopkeeper were indeed useful for this place. At least, they might attract some buyers. If there were only textbooks from the capital, why would people in this town buy them, right?
