Men and women should not touch each other. Even if they are cousins, it is okay to help each other behind closed doors. But it is not good to do it outside the yard if others see them.
Moreover, Hao Cheng knew very well that the two were not cousins at all. She did not help him and turned to go into the house. The dim room was instantly filled with pale yellow light, which seemed particularly warm and bright.
After Jiang Mengzhen entered the house and sat on the stool in front of the dining table, Hao Cheng brought out the food from the small kitchen. There were green vegetables, fried lotus root slices with lean meat, radish and pork ribs soup, and the last serving was the fragrant fried river shrimp.
She put the food down in front of the man and said to Jiang Mengzhen, whose stomach was growling loudly, "Why are you looking at me? I can't finish the rest. Eat if you're hungry. It's up to you if you don't want to eat."
She said so, but the food was very clean, with no signs of having been touched. It was obvious that it was a portion that was left out before she started eating.
Jiang Mengzhen responded softly and started eating. When his chopsticks were about to reach for the plate of tempting and delicious fried river shrimp, Hao Cheng suddenly pulled the plate back from under his chopsticks.
Seeing the other person looking up at him, she explained, "You are still injured and can't eat shrimp." She is not a doctor, but she has worked in a hotel for a long time and is a cook, so she is familiar with the functions of various ingredients.
Seafood is a cold food, which is not conducive to wound healing. She also added chili peppers to the river shrimp. Spicy food is also something that the other party cannot eat now. She was careless for a moment and only remembered this when she saw the person.
Jiang Mengzhen's drooping eyelashes trembled, and he moved his lips. He wanted to say something, but in the end he kept silent and buried his head in eating.
The food was still warm, and he swallowed it mouthful by mouthful, feeling a long-lost sense of happiness. Thinking back, every time he ate at this scholar's house, it was always when he was starving, and the food seemed especially delicious.
Hao Cheng didn't try to guess what he was thinking. She was still planning to go to town to find a house tomorrow, so she didn't have the energy to guess. When the other party finished dinner, she still insisted on washing the dishes herself and asked someone to go to the inner room to change the medicine. After all, she didn't want to hear the sound of the dishes hitting the ground and breaking.
Although she had money, she planned to buy a house in the town, which would definitely cost a lot of money. She also wanted to start a small business to try and save money, which also required capital.
If they have a new place to live, the Hao family can sell the house here, but it won't fetch much money. She is still very poor, so she has to save as much as possible.
When the sunlight came into the room and warmed the quilt on Jiang Mengzhen's body, he finally woke up from his sweet dream.
He slept soundly last night, and when he was still drowsy he thought he was still in the magnificent Zhang Mansion, but when he woke up, he was still lying on the shabby but tidy old wooden bed. The scholar who saved people on the rainy night and the assassination full of betrayal and blood were not just a long dream he had.
After calming himself down, he got up and washed up. The Hao family's house was very small, and was filled with all kinds of messy things, but because the things were arranged neatly, the sunlight shone into the hall from outside the door, creating a different kind of bright and quiet feeling.
This quietness made Jiang Mengzhen feel particularly calm. He drank the porridge cooked by the scholar, changed the medicine by himself, and drew warm water from the well to wash the clothes stained with blood.
The scholar was good at housework, but she refused to wash his clothes, let alone his underwear. There were no servants for him to use, so he had to condescend and do it himself.
The husband of the Dong family next door saw how clumsy the clothes were being washed, and leaned over the low wall to point and say: "You can't wash the clothes clean by scrubbing them like this, and the washboard, put it on the stone slab... That's right, you can use more strength when washing."
The Dong family's husband thought to himself that he was probably a young master before the disaster. He knew at a glance that he had never done any housework. In this rural village, every boy helps the family at a young age.
Jiang Mengzhen didn't mind the man's noise, but took the opportunity to strike up a conversation with him. The man and the scholar were neighbors, and he was a big talker, so after a few more questions, he revealed all of Hao Cheng's background and life.
While Jiang Mengzhen was trying to get information from Hao Cheng, Hao Cheng hid the banknotes in a place where Jiang Mengzhen would never find them. He took the ten taels of silver and went to the town to find a human trafficker and investigate the market for small businesses.
After being in this other world for such a long time, she had already thought of a way out. She had the title of a scholar and was still young, so she could try hard to pass the examination and get the title of a juren.
It's not that she wanted to become an official in the future, but with the title of a juren, she would not be afraid of those ruffians and officials when she did business.
To take the imperial examination, she had to go to the capital to take the exam, and the journey would inevitably be a huge expense. The imperial examination was only held once every three years, and she had to use up countless pens, ink, paper and inkstones in the past two years.
Hao Cheng weighed the money in her hand and roughly calculated it. She finally had two days of happiness, but then she frowned again. She wanted to eat and drink well, but with such a small amount of money, she would soon spend it all. She was not a person who could treat herself harshly, so what else could she do? Of course, she would do business to make money.
In terms of familiarity with the market, Hao Cheng was definitely not as good as those human traffickers. She went to a human trafficking shop with a good reputation in the town and asked a human trafficker named Li to find a suitable house for her.
Just as she came out of the pawnshop, the scholar's adoptive uncle, Kou, joined the pawnshop. His wife said that she wanted to receive some guests and wanted to hire a few smart and clever servants for the house. Originally, the housekeeper could have done this job.
He was also worried that the housekeeper might choose someone too good-looking and might attract his wife's heart, so he went to the pawnshop in person, and by chance he saw Hao Cheng.
Mr. Li, the pawnbroker, was an acquaintance of his. After a few pleasantries, Kou asked directly, "What did my niece do at the pawnbroker just now? Her family can't afford to hire a servant!"
Li Ya said: "She is not here to buy someone, she wants me to find a house."
Buying a house, how much can the shabby house in Haoxiang Village sell for? The house prices in the village and the town are different. Kou felt strange and asked again: "What kind of house did she tell you to look for?"
"Of course the conditions were stated." Li Yagong stated Hao Cheng's request, "The scholar's wife said that she must have a house with a large courtyard, preferably not too far from the market, and the price of the house must be controlled at around five hundred taels."
Kou was shocked: "Did she really say that? A house worth five hundred taels of silver?" To him, five hundred taels of silver was not a huge amount, but it was definitely not a small amount of money.
He quickly asked, "Does she mean to buy it for herself or to recommend it to others?"
Li Yagong looked embarrassed and said, "I can't tell anyone about her affairs."
Kou stuffed some change into Li Yagong's pocket and whispered, "Brother Li, you know that I am her only relative. If she wants to buy a house, she will have to borrow money from me. You must explain it to me clearly."
Li Yagong also lowered his voice and said, "I am sure that she bought it herself and paid a deposit. Someone seemed to have seen your niece go to the pharmacy a few days ago. I'm afraid she has saved a lot of money."
Kou was so angry that he was fuming. When Hao Cheng saw the benefits, he didn't even think about his uncle. Instead, he just wanted money from him. He even took away twenty taels of silver from him a few days ago.
He was very upset, and the bad thoughts in his heart kept coming out. After a long silence, he went to Li Yagong again and whispered in his ear: "I know you have a kind heart, can you do me a favor? If it's done, you will definitely get the benefits..."
Li Yagong listened to him and thought for a moment, then said with a smile: "Brother, I will help you with this."