Ugly girl only wants to farm

When Aunt Qi came out of the pawnshop, the shop assistant impatiently chased her away and cursed at her several times.

"That old woman is so ungrateful. The amount of silver she gave me was already the highest I could ever ask for, and she's still being so hesitant. Doesn't she even know how much her rubbish is worth? I bet you've searched every pawnshop in town and none of them have given you as much as I did. Bah! She's so clueless. A penniless person like her just doesn't know any better."

Aunt Qi clutched the item in her arms tightly, wiped the sweat from her brow, and continued to inquire at the next shop. Her son was getting married in a few days, and she wanted to buy Yue Niangzi a decent piece of jewelry. After all, this thing was just an inanimate object; it was useless just sitting there.

Meanwhile, Yue Niang and Xu Chaoyan went to a clothing shop to look at several wedding dresses, but none of them were quite to their liking; they were either too tight or too loose.

At this moment, the two were sitting in the teahouse drinking tea and resting their feet. Yue Niang couldn't help but sigh: "This dress is not only expensive, but it's also not satisfactory at all. Why don't I buy some fabric and go back to make a wedding dress overnight? That way, I can save a lot of money."

Xu Chaoyan disagreed, saying, "Sister, time is tight, you only have a few days. Can you finish it? Making a wedding dress is already complicated. If you rush it like this, it will delay the time. Why don't we go back and get the dress from the first tailor shop we looked at? Although the dress is a little loose, I think it would look quite good after we take it home and alter it. The embroidery on it is also exquisite, and it would look very beautiful on you, Sister."

The Moon Lady looked distressed: "That wedding dress looks beautiful, but it's very expensive, and the workmanship feels just average to me. Since you'll only wear it once anyway, why waste so much money?"

Xu Chaoyan disagreed and dragged the person to the shop to take another look.

After Li Guangshuo had been there for an hour, Li Si came running back in a hurry: "Master, you've found out! You've found out!"

He glanced at Li Si and pointed to the tea beside him: "Take a break and have some tea before we talk."

He had previously sent people out to inquire, but later had Li Si withdraw the order, not even bothering to find out the person's exact address. He simply didn't want to disturb her peaceful life and just wanted to keep an eye on her quietly.

He feared that if he went to her door rashly, she would suddenly disappear like a frightened bird. He had been in this county town for quite some time now, and letters from home kept arriving. He was also hesitant about whether he should give up and leave. But he was still somewhat unwilling; after twenty years, he wanted to say a few words to her, to see how she was doing, only then could he feel at ease.

He was out for a stroll in a bad mood when he ran into Wanyu. Judging from her worried expression, she must have encountered some trouble.

After exchanging a few hurried words with her that day, seeing her haggard appearance, her much-white hair, her rough hands, and her somewhat frail body, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

If it weren't for the fact that the contours of that face still vaguely resembled what she looked like back then, he wouldn't have dared to associate this person with Wan Yu from back then.

Li Guangshuo was deep in thought at the moment, and he didn't hear a word Li Si said until Li Si called out several times, "Master, Master, what are your plans?" Only then did he come back to his senses.

"I didn't hear what you just said. Say it again."

Li Si repeated what he had just said.

"The woman went to the pawnshop to pawn some things. I heard that her son was getting married and she needed to buy some things. She was in a hurry to get money. Pawnshops like to take advantage of poor people and drive down the prices. It seems that she was not very satisfied with the prices. She went to all the pawnshops, big and small, in the county town."

Li Guangshuo looked surprised: "She wants to pawn something, but did you see clearly what she's pawning? Her son is about to get married. Time flies, and years pass quickly. I still vaguely remember what she looked like back then. Her bright eyes were unforgettable. When I saw her cloudy eyes that day, I almost couldn't believe that her eyes were cloudy and lifeless, weathered by the vicissitudes of time, and worn down by life. I never imagined that she had such a hard life."

Li Si sighed from the side, "Master, who can disagree? So many years have passed and Miss Wanyu has been wasted like this. It pains me to see her like this." After saying that, he also wiped away a tear.

Li Guangshuo fell into his memories again, then seemed to remember something.

"You still haven't told me what she does for a living? What difficulties has she encountered at home? Why don't you try to find a way to scrape together some money and send it to her? We two old folks are reminiscing about the past and have forgotten about the important matter."

Li Si quickly patted his mouth: "Master is right. It's all my fault for having such a big mouth. I didn't know how to pick out the important points."

"I found out that she pawned a piece of jade. After she left, I spent some money to redeem it. Master, take a look."

As he spoke, he took out the jade from his pocket and respectfully handed it over.

Li Guangshuo looked at the familiar jade before him, his eyes welling up with tears. His hands trembled slightly, and he murmured to himself.

“She actually kept this jade. All these years, she has had such a hard life, and she couldn’t bear to pawn it. This time, she must have encountered even more difficult things. Do you think she has already forgiven me and no longer holds a grudge? Otherwise, why would she have kept this jade for twenty years? She only had no choice but to pawn it this time.”

After hearing this, Li Si couldn't bear to dampen his master's spirits, so he could only give a dry reply.

"Master, I don't know how to judge this matter. How can an old man like me understand a woman's thoughts? Otherwise, why would I be scolded by my wife every day?"

Li Guangshuo carefully held the jade in his hands as he received it, looking completely focused.

“Look how well she’s kept this jade; its luster has only grown stronger. She must take it out and look at it often. Do you think she still thinks about me?”

Li Si muttered to himself, "If someone really cared about you, they wouldn't have pawned the jade so readily." But he didn't dare say this aloud; he only dared to mutter it to himself.

He had no choice but to quickly change the subject: "Sir, her son heard that he is getting married and is in urgent need of money, so he pawned this jade."

"Her son is about to get married; time flies so fast. But her family is struggling financially, and what does her husband do? How can he let her work so hard without showing her any compassion?" After saying this, she became somewhat irritated and even more dissatisfied with her husband.

Li Si then told him what he had found out.

"She has been a widow for many years, raising her son alone. Over the years, she has made a living by sewing and mending clothes for others. She has been supporting her son's education. I heard that the boy is quite talented, but he failed the imperial examination three years ago. This time, for some reason, he can no longer take the exam."

Li Guangshuo paced back and forth in the room, unable to come up with a solution. He knew that openly offering her money would be met with a refusal. So, how could he possibly find a way to give her some money? He couldn't think of a pretext.

Li Si was so confused by his words that he didn't dare to utter a sound. He sat quietly to the side, drinking his tea.

Xu Chaoyan and Yueniang finally bought the wedding dress. The two of them altered the size in the house.

Suddenly, Xu Chaoyan took out a small box from her body and handed it over: "Sister, this is for your dowry, I hope you won't find it offensive."

Zhang Yueniang immediately refused, saying, "Didn't you just give me some fabric? Why are you preparing things for me again? It must have cost a lot of money. You should keep it for your little Xia girl. She's a young lady, so you should prepare some dowry for her."

Xu Chaoyan opened the box and took out the silver hairpin: "It's nothing valuable. I'll prepare one for my sister-in-law later. This is just a token of our affection. You can't refuse, or I'll get angry."

As she spoke, she pinned the peach blossom silver hairpin to her head, then quickly ran over to find a small bronze mirror and held it in her hands: "Sister, don't you think it looks beautiful?"

The peach blossoms on the silver hairpin looked incredibly lifelike; the two blossoms were in full bloom, and a small tassel hung down. It swayed beautifully as she walked.

The Moon Maiden was a little embarrassed by the praise, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she gently stroked the tassel with a shy expression.

"Sister Xu, you chose a really beautiful hairpin. Thank you for your kindness."

On May 11th, the Zhang and Qi families had already bought all the meat and vegetable dishes needed for tomorrow's banquet. Originally, they planned to set up two tables outside. After some discussion, everyone said that not only would two tables at a restaurant cost too much money, but there wouldn't be much to eat; it would just be something to look at.

These people are from poor families, so they should be more practical.

Finally, we ordered some meat from the butcher's house. The butcher's wife was very enthusiastic and said she would come to help. She had learned a few cooking skills from a chef when she was young, and it wouldn't be a problem to prepare two tables of food.

Zhang Rongrong has been extremely busy these days, saying she would come over on the 12th to join in the fun. She complained to Xu Chaoyan for a long time about why she hadn't been notified earlier, saying that the shop had plenty of fabric and she could have sent some over to make clothes, but she only found out when it was almost time.

Since Jiang Xinyi returned last time, she has not sent a message through anyone, saying that she is taking her baby out for a few days to try to make it to tomorrow's banquet.

Qi Yu is currently locked in a room by Shen Siheng and the others.

Shen Siheng smiled at him with a malicious grin and shook the wine jar in his hand.

"Qi Yuming'er is your good day. As good brothers, let's drink until we drop tonight."

Meng Jiuhe coughed lightly: "Shen Siheng can just give a token amount. Qi Yu's alcohol tolerance isn't great, and he has things to do tomorrow. Aren't you supposed to help with the wedding procession? If you're completely drunk, how will you go to the wedding procession tomorrow?"

“That makes a lot of sense. Although the wedding procession is only a few steps away, we still need to do what we should. We'll walk around the alley outside and then bring the bride back. Today, for Brother Meng's sake, I'll let you off this time. Hmm, tomorrow... heh heh, you won't be able to escape.”