Ugly girl only wants to farm

Madam Qi glanced at her impatient son, took out some silver from her pocket and stuffed it into his hand: "Go and say a few words to your acquaintances and have some tea. I'll wait for you at the inn ahead. After we pay our respects to that divine doctor, we'll leave and go home to celebrate the New Year."

After his mother left, Qi Tianci muttered to himself, "She has nothing better to do than come here every year to worship this miracle doctor. I don't know what's so great about it. Don't you already have a son here? Why are you thinking of having so many more? Are they just there to compete with me for the family fortune? How could I possibly let you have your way?"

After saying that, he gave a cryptic smile.

At this moment, a lot of people were gathered around Meng Jiuhe's stall. They used to buy couplets in town, where a couplet written by an old gentleman would cost about 3 to 5 coins.

Normally, people are reluctant to spend this money, but since it's the Lunar New Year, everyone will grit their teeth and buy two or three to put up at home.

Xu Chaoyan's words had a great effect. Everyone was willing to spend five coins to buy three sets of couplets to take home. One set was for the kitchen, one for the courtyard gate, and one for the place where the animals were kept. That was just enough to barely make ends meet.

Meng Jiuhe never imagined that one day he would be making money by writing couplets on the street. When everyone greeted him warmly as a scholar and asked him to write a couplet, he was secretly overjoyed. On the surface, he kept a straight face and blamed Xu Chaoyan for revealing his identity as a scholar.

Now that his legs are injured, how can he still bear the title of scholar? He is merely a figurehead.

An elderly woman with gray hair came over, leaning on her cane: "Young man, I heard you are a scholar. I imagine your calligraphy must be very beautiful. I would like to trouble you to bestow a couplet upon my family, hoping that next year will bring good weather and abundant harvests, and that our livestock will thrive."

After saying that, she shakily took out a cloth bag from her bosom, opened it with trembling hands, and handed over two coins: "Scholar, this is all I have. Please don't mind. This old woman just wants some good luck."

Meng Jiuhe glanced at the old woman, hesitated for a moment, and took the two copper coins. They were still warm. He suddenly felt that the copper coins in his hand were as heavy as a thousand pounds, and he couldn't take them back.

Xu Chaoyan saw this and quickly put away the coins for him, whispering in his ear, "You should keep them. If you don't, the old woman will feel uneasy."

Xu Chaoyan offered her her small stool: "Grandma, please sit down first. My husband's calligraphy is excellent, especially his couplets. Just tell me what you'd like to have written, and I'll have him write a few for you. How many rooms in your house need them?"

After saying that, he winked at Meng Jiuhe, who nodded.

The old woman glanced at her and said, "Fine, I only have a few coins on me. Just write something like 'May the livestock prosper.' We poor people definitely hope that next year our livestock will grow fat and strong so we can sell them for a good price to support our family."

Xu Chaoyan nodded: "Okay, then you wait."

First line: Abundant harvests and full granaries; Second line: Prosperous families and everlasting wealth. Horizontal scroll: Favorable weather and abundant harvests.

As Meng Jiuhe wrote, Xu Chaoyan read aloud from the side: "Grandma, what do you think of this?"

The old woman sat to the side, staring intently with her cloudy eyes: "Well done, young lady, you recited it so beautifully. The meaning of this couplet is also quite good. Thank you for your hard work, sir."

Meng Jiuhe looked up at Xu Chaoyan and saw her pointing at the couplets very seriously, explaining them to the old woman. He was somewhat surprised, not expecting that she could read and understand the meaning.

This surprised him again. He had thought she was just someone who had been spoiled since childhood, and that it was normal for her to know a few words. He never expected her to be able to explain it. She could even casually recite a couplet and ask him to write it down.

Seeing Meng Jiuhe staring at her, Xu Chaoyan thought the ink was running low, so she quickly picked up the inkstone and ground it for him a couple more times: "Hurry up and write, what are you staring at me for? My face isn't covered in pustules, how can you stand looking at it? Was the couplet I just mentioned not suitable?"

Meng Jiuhe began to write: First line: Spring returns to the earth, the scenery is beautiful; Second line: Blessings fill the world, and there are many happy events; Horizontal scroll: Spring fills the world.

Meng Jiuhe wrote a few more, and after the ink dried, he rolled them all up and handed them to the old woman: "You can take these home and paste them up."

The old woman refused to accept any of the money, saying she only had two coins and could only afford one set.

Xu Chaoyan quickly stuffed the remaining sheets into her hands, saying that there was no more paper left, and she was selling them to her at a lower price because they needed to rush home for the New Year to bring good luck.

The old woman said a lot to them, and finally held Xu Chaoyan's hand: "Young lady, you have married a good husband. He is literate and writes beautifully. You will surely be blessed in the future."

Finally, I wish them both a healthy baby soon.

Meng Jiuhe's face was slightly red at this moment. He quickly turned his face to the side, picked up the ink stick, and began to grind it idly.

"Oh, who do we have here? It's our great scholar Meng. What happened to you? You've given up your scholarly life and come here to sell couplets at a low price. Look how well you write these characters. I say, scholar Meng, you've really stooped to selling couplets in this remote, poor town. If the teacher finds out, he'll be furious. You're his most prized student."

"It's truly disheartening to see things fall to this state. Well, I'm in a good mood today, so write a few for me to take home and hang up. Consider it a favor to support your business as a classmate. Look at this freezing winter, I hope your hands are so cold you can't hold the pen. I'm waiting to take them home and hang them up to ward off evil spirits."

Xu Chaoyan saw Meng Jiuhe's expression change instantly, his hands gripping the bedding tightly as he suppressed his anger.

She quickly put on a smile to meet Qi Tianci's provocative gaze: "Oh, I say, young master, so you're my husband's classmate? Let alone one 'Fu' character, we'd write ten for you, right? Since we're classmates, how about you take good care of us? Look at these bamboo-woven tofu jerky we have, they're quite nice, perfect for taking home to have with drinks. I'll sell them to you at a discount because we're classmates."

Qi Tianci, with an arrogant look on his face, picked through the bamboo weavings with disdain: "What kind of junk is this? Do you think my family would lack these things? Judging from the crude craftsmanship, it must have come from our Scholar Meng. Tsk tsk tsk, I never thought that the hands that hold a pen would do such lowly things. Alas, it's such a pity that you have such learning. Well, for the sake of our friendship, I'll do you a favor this time. How much are these? I'll buy them all."

Meng Jiuhe's face changed, and he bit his lip without saying a word. He was afraid that if he couldn't control himself, he would implicate his younger sister and Xu Chaoyan. Now that they were two weak women, if they were bullied, he would definitely be responsible for his injury last time.

He took a deep breath before replying, "We earn our money with our own hands, how is that an eyesore to you? Get the hell out of here, we're not selling to you."

Meng Jiuxia quickly came to her older brother's side and protected him tightly.

Xu Chaoyan neatly tidied up the bamboo weavings: "Hey, classmate, these things are worth six taels of silver. For the sake of our friendship, you can give me five taels."

“Xu Chaoyan, can’t you understand what I’m saying? I said I won’t sell it to him, and I won’t. How can someone like him be worthy of using the stuff my father made up?”

Xu Chaoyan ignored Meng Jiuhe's anger, signaling him to calm down. She neatly packed up the things and held out her hand: "Come on, classmate, five taels of silver is a small business, no credit."

Qi Tianci had only said it casually, thinking these things were only worth a hundred or two hundred coins. Who knew they would cost so much silver? He was a little embarrassed, unable to come up with the money right away, and didn't want to lose face in front of Meng Jiuhe.

Note: The couplet is from Baidu.