Chapter Eighty-Eight: Pouring Out

  After dinner, Zhen'er went to Ye's house to borrow a flatbed cart and pulled it to the mountain valley to pull out some medicinal herbs.

  Ye Baiji had just finished eating too, and under the pretext of taking a walk after dinner, followed along as well.

  The two sisters, Sun and Mao, had a good relationship, which was pleasing to see. However, Jiang felt uneasy about it and didn't stop them. She wanted to improve her relationship with Zhen'er and help her family's Bai Mei get married well, but Zhen'er remained indifferent. Despite her efforts, Zhen'er still treated her family with a lukewarm attitude, making Jiang feel annoyed. Her own daughter, Bai Mei, also ignored her good intentions, and whenever she asked Bai Mei to improve her relationship with Zhen'er, it felt like a slap in the face. Alas, they were all so uncooperative.

  Jiang hated the back of Zhen'er and Baiji, grinding his teeth for a while, then turned around and entered the west wing after shaking off his sweat.

  After walking for a while, Ye's residence was no longer in sight. Ye Baiji called out to Zhen'er and then jumped onto the cart.

  Zhen'er looked at her helplessly and said, "Bai Ju sister, if you want to get on the car, just say so. What if you fall off like this?"

  Ye Baiji smiled indifferently and coaxed, "Don't worry, Zhen'er, sister has her own measure." After finishing, she also pinched the little face of Hu Zi next to her, which made Hu Zi roll his eyes.

  "Sit in the middle of the car." There was a hub, and it was easier to pull when sitting there. Zhen'er called out to them, waited until Ye Baiju sat firmly, then started pulling forward. This section of road was all downhill with a slight slope, making it easy to pull without exerting much effort, which was also why Ye Baiju had jumped onto the car without hesitation.

  Ye Baiji had been drying in the sun for two days, and she truly felt that life was not easy to live, people were also very tired. She leaned against Hu Zi lightly and sighed to Zhen Er: "It's really a feeling of being human... The life I lived before was indeed a fairy-like life."

  Zhen'er smiled to herself, what is a fairy-like life? She thought that the life she and Hu Zi were living now was already very good. They were self-sufficient, had their grandfather who loved them dearly, and also had Mao Shi and Sun Shi who treated them well. To be honest, they now had the warmth and love that they hadn't experienced before. If you asked Hu Zi, he would probably think that their current life was great too, maybe even better than a fairy's. Besides, whether one is a fairy or not depends on one's own heart.

  "Zhen'er, do you have to work so desperately?" Zhen'er's momentary distraction allowed Ye Baiji's concerns to shift from herself to her. "You're not short of money, are you? You have over ten taels of silver from selling strawberries. If you save carefully, it'll be enough for you and Hu'er to use for seven or eight years. After a few years, when you grow up and get married, Hu'er will also start his own family, and you can relax. Why do you need to work so hard, risking your health to earn money?"

  Ye Baiji said it lightly. Zhen'er couldn't think like her, "That silver is enough for what? It's been spent in seven or eight years! Yesterday I went to the market with Hu Zi and bought some pens, ink, paper, and inkstone, which cost five taels. Not to mention the small chicken and vegetable seedlings we bought, and the money for oil cakes. You say I don't save money, how can I buy pens and ink for Hu Zi, how can I support his studies?"

  Ye Baiji nodded directly, "Also. It's quite expensive to support a scholar. Not to mention others, just take my third uncle's second brother Ye Suzi as an example. He's a spendthrift, and he spends three or four taels of silver on books every year. Sometimes his teacher recommends him to participate in poetry meetings in the provincial capital, which requires additional expenses. But I think he hasn't learned anything, it's really a waste of money."

  This is the second time Zhen'er has heard the name of Ye Sanjia's eldest son. The first time was when Jiang said he would be back after the summer vacation, and this is the second time. Every time Ye Baiji mentions him, his expression becomes somewhat strange. At first, Zhen'er thought it was admiration for a bookworm, but today she saw that there might be another mystery to it.

  "You said my third uncle's family would think, after finishing their own wheat harvest, they want to leave." Seeing Zhen'er's puzzled look back at her, Ye Baiji immediately became interested and explained: "Yesterday and today's harvested wheat are all from my third uncle's house. Today we rushed to finish it for him. When all the wheat bundles were loaded onto the ox cart and started to be pulled towards the rice field, my third uncle accidentally sprained his foot. He went back to let Grandpa take a look, and it was already swollen into a big package, but fortunately didn't hurt any bones. Grandpa said he'll be fine after resting for two days."

  Ye Baiji's words were spoken without much emotion, but Zhen'er still detected a hint of skepticism in them. She too had her doubts about Ye Shiyans injury. How could it be that she just happened to finish harvesting the wheat from their own field and then sprained her foot? How could it be that she just happened to only twist it without hurting any bones? And what's even more suspicious is that Ye Shiyans was the only one in the Ye family who had inherited Old Master Ye's medical skills. Having been a doctor for so many years, how could he not know what kind of injury looked scary but was actually nothing serious?

  "You'll see, tomorrow my third uncle and his family will have to leave." Ye Baiji said, the certainty in her tone made Zhen'er also deeply convinced.

  Fei Lai helped Zhen Er carry the herbs back home. Ye Bai Ju sat on a stool and didn't move, saying to Zhen Er who was boiling water in the kitchen: "Boil more water, I'm not going out today either."

  Zhen'er heard the words and poked her head out from under the stove, asking: "Aren't you going down to the ground tomorrow? Can you not go back?"

  Ye Baiji waved her hand nonchalantly and said, "It's nothing, Eldest Aunt has already told me that I won't be allowed to go down tomorrow. Today, we've received a confirmed message that Xian Xiuzai will come on Dragon Boat Festival. Aunt said let White Wei sister embroider several pouches for Xian Xiuzai to bring back to his younger siblings."

  It's proper to give gifts to elders, it's impolite to return them, but giving them to younger generations is just right.

  Ye Baiji continued to mutter: "Auntie said that my mother should guide Baiwei's embroidery skills, I reckon tomorrow my mother will definitely take me back to learn with her, so I'd rather hide out here with you and have some peace."

  Zhen'er was too lazy to bother with her obvious excuses, and instead poured half a bucket of pig feed into the trough, calling out to Huzi and the others to come and bathe.

  At night, lying in bed, Ye Baiji was obviously preoccupied with something on her mind. She didn't say anything to Zhen'er, nor did Zhen'er ask her. Having stayed at the Ye's house before, she also knew that there were some annoying things inside.

  "My father is just getting restless." The silence didn't last long, and just as Zhen'er thought she had fallen asleep, a faint voice sounded in her ear.

  "He's limping and still desperately trying to get out, going to my house to ask my mother for money. My mother said she didn't have any, so he started smashing things and was about to attack my mother. He even turned our house upside down! Luckily, I had hidden the silver at grandfather's place, or else he would have gotten away with it!" Ye Baiji spoke with indignation.

  This is a rotten account, there are no parents in the world who are not wrong, no matter how Ye Shixie mixes, Ye Baiju hates him, but also can't do anything about it.

  "What's good about gambling? Ye Guang gambled and lost, almost losing the ancestral hall, not to mention being beaten half to death and lying in bed without even a servant to attend to him. Such a good example is right in front of you, how can he still not come to his senses?"

  Zhen Er remained silent, some people have obsessions, they think about it but can't get it even if it's an illusion, they still keep running towards it.

  After listening to Ye Baiji pour out her grievances for half the night, Zhen'er fell asleep with a mind full of confusing information. The last thought before she fell asleep was, why do they all like to confide in her? Does she look like a flower that can dispel worries and troubles?