Chapter 50 - 50: A Fight
The breakfast was very appetizing.
For the three children, boiled eggs were simply a delicacy.
They could no longer remember when they had eaten it.
Heng Yi had never eaten this before.
Han Qiao gave them two each.
“Let’s eat.”
Heng Yi took the boiled egg and hesitated for a moment before putting it in front of Han Qiao. “You eat it!”
“I have two.”
Sun Xiu, Sun Yi, and Sun Ke began to peel the eggs and eat them in small bites, their faces filled with happiness.
Seeing Han Qiao’s insistence, Heng Yi also took an egg and prepared to peel it.
However, he was good at hunting and chopping firewood, but peeling eggs was a mess.
Han Qiao couldn’t stand it anymore. She took the egg from his hand, peeled it, and handed it to him.
Heng Yi took the peeled egg and ate it in small bites.
Originally, he could eat two of such small eggs in one bite. But this was the first time Han Qiao peeled an egg for him, and he ate it reluctantly.
After breakfast, Han Qiao didn’t even need to do the dishes. Sun Xiu and Sun Yi could do it.
Han Qiao instructed the two sisters to boil a pot of water and make some tea. Then, she would cut some grass to feed the chickens. At the same time, she would check if there were any eggs. If there were, she would bring them home so that they wouldn’t be crushed by the chickens.
She went to the front to take out the fabric and tidy it up.
Sun Ke walked around her and followed her in and out. Han Qiao asked Sun Ke to play with her two sisters.
Sun Ke looked at Han Qiao for a moment, then nodded and ran off to look for her two sisters.
Heng Yi was digging in the yard.
That piece of land was not big to begin with. He was strong and did a solid job, so he turned it over in a short while.
He stood in the courtyard and hesitated for a moment, planning to flip through it again.
“Heng Yi!”
Han Qiao called out to him.
“Coming!”
Heng Yi put down his hoe and entered the central room.
Han Qiao asked him to sit down and drink a cup of tea. She looked at the mud on his shoes and pants. His shoes were cracked, and she frowned slightly.
Heng Yi followed Han Qiao’s line of sight and saw his shoes. He stood up immediately. “I…I’ll go outside and clean them now.”
Han Qiao reached out and pulled him back.
“Sit down. I’m not put off by you.”
The main thing was that Heng Yi didn’t have any sense either.
He had made a lot of money from hunting, and so had the taverns in Puyi County.
However, he did not know how to use the money.
The bags of fabric were very heavy. He had spent a lot of effort picking them from Ninghe Town, thinking that she would like them.
He didn’t know how to please her. He gave her all the money and bought so much fabric.
But he never thought about himself.
This was a silly and oblivious man.
“I’ll take your measurements and make a few sets of clothes for you. My cousin’s wife made a lot of soles and sold them in town. I’ll buy a few pairs later and make a few pairs of shoes for you.”
“Can you ask White Tea to come to my house and ask him to help me bring something back from the county town?”
Heng Yi nodded blankly.
He didn’t expect Han Qiao to prepare shoes for him.
In any case, he felt like he was floating.
“I’m going into the mountains for two days. Can you help me prepare some food?” Heng Yi asked tentatively.
“Two days in the mountains? Are you alone? Where are you going?” Han Qiao was puzzled.
Wasn’t it always half a day?
“Yes, I’m going to hunt tigers. Someone has been waiting for a long time.”
Han Qiao’s hands paused.
Tigers were ferocious beasts.
“Are you going alone?”
“Yes, it’s dangerous to have more people!”
Han Qiao took a deep breath and said, “Heng Yi, you don’t lack money. I have 1300 taels of silver with me. You can take it all whenever you need money. There’s no need to risk your life.”
“I know, but I have to go this time.” Heng Yi said.
He had his own persistence.
“I can live in Xishan Village, I can live here for the rest of my life, but I have to have a house and land before I get married. Other than money, I can still give you a home.”
Hearing this, Han Qiao turned her head, feeling a little uncomfortable. After a while, she asked Heng Yi, “is it worth it? Is it worth it to sacrifice so much for me?”
II
It’s worth it!
II
Han Qiao wanted to call him a fool.
But looking at Heng Yi’s determined face, she couldn’t help but sigh.
Han Qiao slowly lowered her head to hide the look in her eyes. “Heng Yi, even if you can earn a lot of money, even after we get married, I won’t stay in the Inner Residence and be a rich lady who doesn’t leave the house.”
“I, Han Qiao, also want to make a career of my own.”
“I won’t use the money you gave me. At least, I won’t use it before we get married.”
“If you want to enter the mountain, I can’t stop you. I only hope that you remember one thing and come back alive. If you die in the mountain, I won’t keep my chastity for you!”
Han Qiao got up and went to the kitchen.
Only then did she realize that she was feeling very uncomfortable, and her eyes were a little red.
Heng Yi sat on a chair in the central room, silent.
Then, he went back to his room to get his tools. He left without a word to Han Qiao.
When Han Qiao packed up her things and couldn’t find Heng Yi anywhere, she realized that he might have already gone into the mountain.
II
Bastard!
II
Han Qiao cursed.
She went into the room and opened the closet. Heng Yi’s clothes and shoes were still there.
His clothes and shoes were very old. She took the fabric and measured it before cutting it.
The undergarments and underwear were made of white cotton cloth.
There were several colors of clothes and pants on the outside. They were tied with belts and strings.
The hem of his pants was rolled up, and he sewed the pockets inside.
Then, she took the shoe size to her uncle’s house and found the sister-in-law.
When the lady in the lobby learned of Han Qiao’s visit, she even teased Han Qiao. “I used to only make soles for sale. Later, I realized that the price of the finished shoes was higher, so I made shoes. Look at these pairs. They’re just the right size.”
Not only did the eldest uncle’s wife make shoes, but anyone who knew how to do needlework was also doing it.
Han Qiao thought about Heng Yi’s expensive hunting shoes, so she asked for five pairs at once.
“Ah Qiao, you’re already so good to him now. When you get married in the future, won’t you treat him with all your heart?”
“He treats me quite well!” Han Qiao pretended to be shy.
After a few vague words, she paid for the shoes and left home.
The Han family was actually not very poor. Regardless of whether they had skills or not, they were trying their best to save money and live a good life.
It was just that no matter how hard they worked, they would always lack luck and opportunities.
They couldn’t get sick either, as they couldn’t afford to be sick.
Many people could only wait for death in pain.
When Han Qiao returned home, she taught the three children to sort out the rags and spread them on the table piece by piece. Then, they cut them into squares or rectangular shapes.
“The big ones can be made into purses, the small ones can be made into sachets, and the smaller ones can be sewed together to make pillows.”
“Mother, what is a bolster?”
” We’ll sew these pieces of fabric into a big piece and sew them together. When the chrysanthemums bloom all over the mountain, we’ll pick them and wash them to dry. Then, we’ll put them in and hug them to sleep at night!”
The three children were already looking forward to it.
“It can be used to store osmanthus flowers.”
“It can also be used to store herbs.”
“The wood and leaves that are used to store the text should also work, right?”
“Of course!” Han Qiao rubbed Sun Ke’s head.
The mother and daughters were busy with their own things.
When Hu Laosan brought his men to deliver the cotton to the door, Han Qiao was extremely surprised.
“And you are?”
Old Third Hu sized up Han Qiao.
She was good-looking, but she was a little tanned and looked a little old.
What did Heng Yi like about her?