Never had he felt a winter as cold as this one.

  Her hands have also become coarse——

  Speaking of which, Chao Sheng suddenly remembered. Although she had just crossed over and was starving, her hands looked like they hadn't done any work before.

  Isn't it said that poor people's children start working early? But her hands didn't look like they were used to doing all sorts of chores. There were no calluses, nor any cracks from frostbite.

  But now they all have it.

  The tide is all clenched teeth and barely held on.

  People around her are living the same day and doing the same job. There's no reason why others can bear this suffering, but she can't.

  No matter what, people have to live on.

  She came to the pearl again, but still didn't hear any news. However, she brought a package of pastry sugar, a wooden comb, several hair ties, and a small box of hand and face cream for Chao Sheng. Because she was afraid of being seen, it was tightly wrapped and tied under her skirt: "This cream is given to me by Xiang Lu, this pastry sugar can be used to quench your hunger when you're hungry... I know life here is hard... keep it..." She couldn't continue speaking, and then took out a small bag of loose change: "I saved this for you..."

  "Never mind, I'll leave the things here, and you don't need to pay."

  The pearl diver didn't say a word, wiped her face and dropped the money bag before running away.

  Chao Sheng grabbed his purse and chased after her, reaching the door just in time to see Cai Zhu disappearing around the corner of the alley.

  The purse in her hand was covered with a pearl-encrusted pouch and was warm against her chest.

  Chao Sheng felt a blur in front of his eyes and hastily wiped away his tears with his sleeve.

  In the past when the three of them were together, she was closer to Han Xiang. She is straightforward and sometimes says things that are not pleasant to hear.

  I don't know how long she has been saving these things or how much effort she put in.

  Chao Sheng also used to be a small palace maid and knew that everything was very tight and every single thing had to be carefully calculated.

  Chao Sheng hid his money bag in the kang head. There was a hole dug by someone unknown there.

  To be honest, Chao Sheng was indeed in a very embarrassing situation. She was beaten unconscious and thrown into the alley, with only one set of clothes on her body, nothing else.

  If the handkerchief in her bosom can be counted as a piece of luggage, then she still has one piece of luggage.

  She had nothing else, not even the basic necessities like a comb, washbasin, or extra clothes and socks... let alone warm clothing now that winter has arrived. At first, Man'er gave her some of hers, but Man'er herself was also lacking in many things. Later, when the season changed and everyone received a new set of thick and padded clothing, Wu Mama found two old garments of unknown origin for her, and she made do with shoes cobbled together from scraps of fabric.

  Cháo shēng bǎ qián dài zhèng zhòng de cáng qǐ lái.

  Translation: Chao Sheng solemnly hid his wallet away.

  It's not going to be used anyway.

  The comb is made of peach wood and also an old comb.

  Chao Sheng combed her dry and yellowed hair carefully, tied it up with a ribbon. There was no mirror in the house, she looked at herself in the water basin.

  The face reflected on the water's surface looked both familiar and strange.

  She touched her face, making sure this wasn't a nightmare - everything was real.

  Even if... this is a nightmare.

  But it's not all bad either.

  At least there are people who truly care about her and are concerned about her. They sent her these things when she was in such a difficult situation.

  The ointment she and Man'er used together, relying on this, they got through the coldest days of winter. Despite this, both people's faces, hands, and feet were still frostbitten. What made Chao Sheng hard to believe was that Man'er's buttocks also got frostbite!

  Chao Sheng thought this was... she had seen people with frostbitten faces, ears, hands, feet, and knees before, but a frostbitten butt... cough, this was still the first time she knew!

  She asked Man Er about the reason, but Man Er's face turned red and he refused to say anything.

  The tide was born with doubts and couldn't figure it out. One day, he accidentally touched Man's cotton pants - huh? The texture didn't feel quite right.

  The crotch of the pants... is it padded?

  She asked again and again, and Man Er finally spoke out in a low voice.

  She thought the palace maids who came to do laundry looked slender and pretty. She felt that wearing this cotton pants on her body, and then tying a skirt around it, made her look too bloated and ugly, so she secretly removed all the cotton padding from the buttocks area...

  Chao Sheng's face suddenly became a "囧" character.

  Both funny and heart-wrenching.

  At that time, when they were looking for chili water to wash their hands and feet, Chao Sheng also asked Man Er if she wanted to use chili water to wipe her buttocks. Man Er's face was terrified, covering her buttocks and jumping far away, shaking her head repeatedly: "No!" She looked like Chao Sheng wasn't going to use chili water to help her treat frostbite, but rather was going to cut her buttocks with a knife.

  "Alright..."

  Chao Sheng put down the basin and stretched his frostbitten feet into it, shouting "ahhh" as he was stimulated, his whole body trembling.

  No choice, scalding is one aspect.

  If it were just frostbite, I wouldn't have felt much, but the problem is that it's not just frostbite.

  The crack on her hand just encountered chili water and she almost fainted from the pain!

  But the pain has to be endured. Moreover, the numb and itchy blisters being stimulated by the hot water, that kind of itch...

  It's really hard to describe, whoever tries will know.

  During the Chinese New Year, the laundry alley didn't say they wouldn't work, they just postponed their work.

  There's also a New Year atmosphere here, with red paper cutouts of window flowers and the character "fu" (good fortune) and spring couplets on the door. Wu Auntie gave each of them a small red pom-pom flower, everyone in the palace would receive an extra reward, they did too, but only a few.

  The tide is born, and perhaps this can be considered as the emperor giving everyone a lucky money?

  Man'er smiled and came over: "Chao Sheng sister, can you help me braid my hair? Make it look good."

  Chao Sheng smiled and replied: "Alright, take a seat."

  Man'er sat excitedly on the small stool. Chao Sheng scattered her hair, carefully combed it, and styled a fragrant bun for her.

  This hairstyle was taught by Qingjian. It is said that it was a concubine of the previous dynasty, born extremely slender and elegant, who wore this slanted bun, with flowers pinned on top, and when she walked past people, they couldn't tell whether it was the fragrance of the flowers or her own scent, quietly and faintly wafting over, lingering for a long time. Because she was highly favored, everyone vied to imitate this hairstyle, which later generations called the "Lingering Fragrance Bun".

  Chao Sheng helped her fix her hair and pinned the new pom-pom on for her, smiling as he said, "How's that?"

  Wu's mother pushed open the door and came in. At a glance, she was very surprised: "Wow, who is this? I can't recognize you at all."

  Man'er hastily stood up, somewhat awkwardly touching her hair, and shouted: "Wu Mama, are you looking for us?"

  "When did your head become so decent?" Wu's mother turned her shoulder over, took a closer look, and asked Chao Sheng: "Did you comb it?"

  Chao Sheng grasped the comb and nodded in response.

  "Not bad. I didn't know you had this skill. Come on, it's the new year, give me a new hairstyle too and change my luck."

  Wu's mother said and actually sat down, Chao Sheng didn't dare move for a moment.

  "Ouch!" Wu's mom turned her head and gave her a glance: "Don't worry, even if it hurts I won't hit you."

  Chao Sheng smiled: "Okay, what kind of hairstyle does Mom want? It's New Year's, how about a 'Wealthy and Auspicious' one?"

  "Good," said Wu's mother: "This is a good omen. Let's comb it into the 'riches at the door' style, so that next year when we open the door, we'll see wealth and have even more good fortune."