Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Curiosity
“Actually, I can carry it over.”

Tang Yi Chen’s voice was calm, almost stubborn.

Those wealthy classmates wouldn’t look down on him because he delivered once. If they were going to look down on him, they already did. He didn’t care what they thought. He lived his own life and did his own things.

“Fine.” Qin Hui Yin finally looked up at him. “Then carry five. Keep one for yourself. Give the rest to your tutor and the teacher’s wife.”

She turned to Tang Yi Xiao. “Pack five for your brother.”

“Got it.” Tang Yi Xiao lifted the basket Tang Da Fu had woven from his bed. It had been meant for carrying vegetables. Qin Hui Yin had liked it on sight, and now it finally had a purpose.

He arranged five bamboo buckets of chilled jelly noodles inside, careful not to spill.

Third Master Tang wandered over. Seeing Tang Yi Chen, he broke into a grin. “Brother Chen! I haven’t seen you in ages. How have you been lately?”

“Third Grandpa.” Tang Yi Chen bowed in greeting.

“Oh, you scholars have too many rules.” Third Master Tang laughed. “These past two days I’ve been running errands for your family and earned a bit. When I go back later, I’ll buy some meat to eat too.”

“Third Grandpa, if you can help us sell, you can still earn one wen for every five portions,” Qin Hui Yin said.

“Then pack me a few more.” Third Master Tang rubbed his hands together. “Maybe someone on the road will want to buy.”

Qin Hui Yin packed him 20 portions. Third Master Tang loaded them into a back basket and trailed after Tang Yi Chen toward the private school.

Li Tao Hua’s face had gone pale with fatigue. She finally found a spot to sit and waved Tang Lu Wu over. “I can’t do it anymore. Keep an eye on things for a while.”

When the line thinned, Qin Hui Yin finally had time to think about what Tang Yi Chen looked like.

This was the first time she’d truly seen the male lead.

She hadn’t stared. She only remembered he looked decent and carried himself gently.

In the future, he would be a powerful minister—refined like jade, handsome and elegant, often dressed in white, as pure and untouchable as an immortal stepping out of a painting.

But that was the future him.

Right now, he was just a slightly good-looking scholar.

And once she’d seen the male lead, she couldn’t help comparing him to the villain.

The male lead was born poor and suffered misfortunes early on. Yet in the end, he still became that spotless, peerless exile immortal—clean enough to make people forget the mud he’d crawled through.

The villain was born poor, too, but his road was harsher. Compared to the male lead, whose path was full of benefactors, the villain’s path was a chain of traps and mire, until he became a rebellious minister reeking of blood.

“How many portions have we sold?” Li Tao Hua asked, voice hoarse.

Before Qin Hui Yin could answer, Tang Lu Wu said, “Besides the 15 portions Third Grandpa took extra and the five my brother took, we sold 60. There should be seventy-something left.”

“This is from Elder Brother.” Tang Yi Xiao handed Li Tao Hua a string of copper coins. “He said he earned it copying books.”

Li Tao Hua took it, and her expression eased slightly. “At least he’s sensible.”

She counted quickly. Fifty wen.

Enough to cover the debt for the chilled jelly noodles they’d given away the past two days.

Qin Hui Yin smiled and turned back to the customers.

Not long after, Third Master Tang returned and dropped his basket beside the stall. “What you said earlier still counts, right? I took 15 portions out and sold them all.”

“Third Grandpa, you’re amazing!” Qin Hui Yin took the copper coins with one hand, then pulled out four wen and pressed them into his palm. “The rest will sell easily. We won’t trouble you today. Go find a place to rest.”

Third Master Tang had earned quite a bit these past two days. Grinning from ear to ear, he took the money and headed off to buy liquor.

Curiosity tugged at Qin Hui Yin. “Third Grandpa is smart and easygoing. How could a man like him not have a wife?”

There were men in the village who beat their wives and still managed to marry. How could someone like Third Master Tang—who could earn money and kept his temper—end up alone?

Li Tao Hua answered without much emotion, as if she were reciting something everyone already knew.

“I heard when he was young, he had a childhood sweetheart. They were about to marry when a local tyrant humiliated her. She couldn’t bear it and killed herself. Third Master Tang beat the grievance drum and sued the tyrant at the government office, but the county magistrate back then was in the tyrant’s pocket.”

Li Tao Hua’s mouth tightened as she spoke.

“Not only did the magistrate refuse to punish him, he turned the case on Third Master Tang instead. Third Master Tang escaped prison and kept petitioning. It took two years, but he finally won—the tyrant and the county magistrate were executed. After that, people tried to arrange marriages for him, but he refused them all. His parents cried and nagged every day. One night, he left home. 10 years later, he came back to care for his parents and send them off. He never married the rest of his life.”

For all her sharpness, when Li Tao Hua talked about someone else’s love, something like envy slipped into her eyes. It vanished almost at once, replaced by the hard edge she wore like armor.

“A man like that is gold buried in mud,” she said. “It’s not easy to dig him out. Little miss, don’t spend your days dreaming that men only love you. Go stand outside a brothel once in a while—see what men are really like.”

She let out a humorless laugh. “Don’t say the village men don’t go. They just don’t have money, so they don’t get the chance. Give a man a bit of silver and see how many stay honest.”

“Mom, don’t say scary things like that,” Qin Hui Yin said, only half serious. “We’re still young. Besides, how can men be as lovable as silver? I only want to earn more silver and buy whatever I want. If I have enough silver, what kind of obedient man couldn’t I find?”

Tang Yi Xiao slapped his hands over Tang Lu Wu’s ears, horrified. “Sis, don’t listen to her. She’s talking nonsense.”

Tang Lu Wu blinked. “But Sister Yin is right. Silver can give us a good life. With silver, we really can live better.”

As for men…

She didn’t have to imagine. The village was full of examples. Sometimes men didn’t bring good fortune—they brought misfortune.

It was just that no woman had ever said it so openly before. The elders taught girls to obey their father at home and their husband after marriage, to stay faithful to one man and swallow every grievance. No one ever told the girls at home that men weren’t absolutely necessary.

Tang Yi Xiao wailed inside: [We’re doomed. Sis has been influenced by that mother and daughter. If Elder Brother finds out, he’ll definitely beat me.]

When they sold the last portion of chilled jelly noodles, there was still some braised meat left. A few women nearby had been watching the whole time. Seeing the stall start to pack up, they rushed over, asking if the braised meat could be sold cheaper.

Qin Hui Yin smiled politely. “Sorry, aunties. Today’s braised meat is already very cheap. Starting tomorrow, there won’t be any discount. To be honest, our family hasn’t eaten meat in a long time either. We’ll take this little bit home for ourselves.”

One of the women frowned. “What about the braised eggs? We’re buying meat. You can at least give us the eggs to eat, right?”

Qin Hui Yin put on a troubled look. “Braised eggs are one wen for three. If I give them away, that hurts even more than giving away meat. How about this—if you buy five wen worth of braised meat, I’ll give you one braised egg.”

“You little miss, you’re so stingy!” the women complained.

Qin Hui Yin just kept smiling. No matter how they tried to make trouble, it was hard to bully a young miss who never dropped her pleasant expression.

Li Tao Hua, sweating in the sun, snapped from the side, “We’re going home. This last bit of braised meat and braised eggs—whoever pays can take it all for 20 wen.”

Qin Hui Yin grabbed at her sleeve, feigning panic. “Mom, that’s not worth it. We’ll lose money!”

“The sun’s out. I’m not standing here baking.” Li Tao Hua’s face was full of impatience. “I’m your mother. Can’t I make this decision? Besides, they probably can’t even come up with 20 wen. What are you panicking about?”

The women bristled. There were four of them. How could they not scrape together 20 wen?

“Fine!” one of the aunties said, slapping the coins down. “Pack it all. We want everything.”