My humble days in ancient times

Xu Dachuan searched for her for a long time but could find no trace of her. He kept asking around, but when he returned home it was already night. He waited all night for her, but she still wasn't there. So he went to the authorities the next day to report the case. Unexpectedly, Tian Yuhe returned two days later. Xu Dachuan went to the authorities again to withdraw the case.

When Tian Yuhe woke up, she found herself locked in a room with two girls, about thirteen or fourteen years old, huddled against the wall.

Tian Yuhe walked to the door and tried to open it, but found it locked. A ferocious face appeared through the crack of the door and said viciously, "Stay still and don't try to run away, or I'll beat you to death."

Tian Yuhe was so frightened that he closed the door and came to sit next to the two girls. Tian Yuhe lowered his voice and asked, "Do you know where this is?"

The girl next to her replied, "I don't know where this place is. They were all brought here after being knocked unconscious. They must be pimps."

Tian Yuhe thought to herself that this was bad, she didn't know where she would be sold to. Her mood suddenly fell to the bottom, she was worried and had wild thoughts. She thought about her past, when she was ten years old, her parents passed away early, and she lived alone. After finally getting married, she couldn't have children for many years, suffered from contempt, and finally divorced. She always suspected that it was her husband's problem, but her husband didn't recognize her, and her mother-in-law refused to recognize her. To be precise, his whole family didn't recognize her, causing her to suffer from torture and contempt. She finally got away from them, had a home, and the stable life didn't last long. How could she encounter such a thing again? Thinking of this, Tian Yuhe suddenly remembered something. Could it be that she was sold by someone?

The door was opened in the evening and the ferocious man brought in the food.

Tian Yuhe looked at the burly, ferocious-looking man in front of him and timidly asked, "Brother, I really can't help but ask you, was I sold by someone? If so, who did it? Could you please tell me who it was?"

However, the man ignored her question. He had a gloomy face, and then he widened his eyes and yelled at Tian Yuhe viciously: "Stop talking nonsense here! Don't ask about things you shouldn't know, otherwise I will be rude to you!" After that, he left.

Tian Yuhe gave up her thoughts. Unexpectedly, the next day, many more people were imprisoned. One of the new arrivals said that the girl she had come with was imprisoned elsewhere. At night, the door was opened, and the men who entered the room whipped them out. Seven or eight people stood outside, knives in hand. Tian Yuhe could only take things one step at a time.

They boarded a carriage and were taken to the river, where a large boat was already waiting.

They were driven onto the boat one by one, and Tian Yuhe had no choice but to get on board. When he was about to enter the cabin, he pushed aside the guard beside him and jumped into the river.

Landing at a riverbank, Tian Yuhe finally breathed a sigh of relief. He secretly thanked himself for often catching fish and shrimp by the river as a child. Even if he couldn't cook them into delicious dishes, at least he could grill them and not starve. Sometimes, even if he fell in the river, he'd struggle a few times, slowly figuring things out, and eventually he'd learn to swim.

Later, the rumor spread in the village that Xu Dachuan had "thrown away" Tian Yuhe because he was not good to the children. This made Tian Yuhe and Xu Dachuan furious. Seeing someone gossiping about her, Tian Yuhe cursed for a long time at the village entrance.

Xu Ruyi went to visit Aunt Zhang. Aunt Zhang took her hand and sat her down, then busied herself with making tea.

"This is the Viola yedoensis you gave me. Drink more. Next time I come, I'll brew the dandelion you gave me."

Xu Ruyi smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll come a few more times and drink back all the things I gave you."

The two of them smiled and chatted about some family matters. Finally, Xu Ruyi said, "Aunt Zhang, I'm here to buy eggs today."

Aunt Zhang listened carefully as Xu Ruyi continued, "I want to collect eggs in the village. But the eggs can't be older than a month."

Aunt Zhang nodded and said, "I'll ask for you."

Xu Ruyi added, "I only buy them in the afternoon. The price is the same as in town, one penny each."

"That's great! This saves us the bus fare to town!" Aunt Zhang was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. She took out her eggs and said, "These are all I have. I should have saved more."

After Xu Ruyi finished counting, there were thirty-two in total. He offered the money to Aunt Zhang, but Aunt Zhang refused.

Xu Ruyi said, "This is a business. We'll need eggs every day from now on, and we'll need a lot." She stuffed the money into Aunt Zhang's hand and went back with the eggs.

Soon after returning home, Aunt Zhang and a few villagers arrived carrying eggs. Xu Ruyi counted them one by one and paid for them. Everyone was delighted when they received the money: they didn't expect Aunt Zhang to be lying to them.

Aunt Li asked, "Girl, are we going to collect it every day from now on?"

Xu Ruyi smiled and said, "I want to collect it every day, but you can't have it every day either. Besides, collecting it every day is annoying. Why don't you all come over after noon on the third and ninth days of the lunar month? That is, on the third, ninth, thirteenth, nineteenth, twenty-third, and twenty-ninth days of the lunar month."

Everyone understood, and Mrs. Li said, "That's good. This saves us a lot of trouble." The aunties nearby began to think about making money: "Oh, I still need to go to town to buy some more chickens."

Everyone laughed for a while, then left with their baskets. Xu Ruyi handed Aunt Zhang the basket and said, "Please take it home, Aunt Zhang."

Aunt Zhang smiled and said, "What's the big deal? I'm making money! But I've collected so many eggs. Can I use them all?"

Xu Ruyi smiled and said, "Don't worry, Aunt Zhang, the daily dosage is very large."

After hearing this, Aunt Zhang didn't know what to say and left.

Xu Ruyi thought about it and put up a large wooden board in the yard with the words: Collect eggs after noon on the third and ninth day of the lunar month. The eggs must be fresh and within a month.

Now Xu Ruyi has one more thing to do in the morning: boiled eggs.

The first time I sold boiled eggs, I only boiled 30. Unexpectedly, they were all sold out. The next day, I boiled 20 more.

Almost everyone in the village knew about Xu Ruyi's stall and her chicken sales. Many families were delighted, and those who didn't have chickens went to town to buy some. Those who had a few and weren't satisfied also bought a few.

When someone is happy, someone else is sad. Huang Guiyun can't be happy. What's the point of competing? She's not even as good as a child.

That day, she also went to the county town. She said she was going to buy something, but she secretly followed the brother and sister, and only turned away when she saw where they were setting up their stall. Since they arrived early, many shops were still closed, so she just wandered around the county town.

After buying the cloth, he went to the stall where the brother and sister had set up their business. From a distance, he saw several people gathered in front of the stall. Huang Guiyun thought to herself, "This business is good."

After the brother and sister finished their work and were about to speak, they looked up and saw Huang Guiyun.

Huang Guiyun said with a playful smile: "I want an omelet and a rice ball. I didn't eat breakfast and now I'm hungry."

Xu Qinghe was stunned.

Xu Ruyi thought that if one did not make money, he would be a fool. He said, "You pay first."

Huang Guiyun took out the money.

Xu Ruyi quickly made it and handed it to her. She ate the egg pancake and thought to herself, "It's delicious." She also ate the rice balls, which were also good. No wonder the business is so good. Huang Guiyun couldn't figure out how the rice balls were made, so she deliberately asked, "Ruyi, why is the rice black? How are you making it?"

Xu Ruyi: "Steamed."

Huang Guiyun was unhappy, but still flattered: "This chili oil and sauce are delicious too. How are you so skillful? You are so capable, little girl. Well done. My sister-in-law likes this chili oil and sauce. Can you tell me how to make it? I will make some for my family to try when I get home."

Xu Ruyi: "Keep it secret."

After hearing what Huang Guiyun said, Xu Qinghe was furious, but after hearing Ruyi's reply, he felt secretly happy and delighted.

Huang Guiyun stopped pretending and got angry: "What's so great about it? Are you the only one who can do it and no one else can? You can do it, but others can't?" After saying that, he patted his butt and left.