Wei An saw it clearly. As soon as Shen Chen's fingers moved, the fat woman cried out "ouch" and fell to the ground as if she was tripped by something.
She turned her head and looked at Shen Chen, and saw that Shen Chen's brows were tightly furrowed.
The little girl on the roadside was a little at a loss, the wontons in her hand were still steaming. She hesitated for a moment, then put the things on the table next to her without hesitation and reached out to help the woman who had fallen.
The woman didn't appreciate it at all. She was so ashamed after falling down in front of so many people. She stood up and hit the girl on the head: "You unlucky star, you jinx, what kind of sin did we commit in our previous life that God sent you to collect the debt!"
She lay down as she spoke, tossing and turning, swearing over and over again, calling the girl an unlucky star, saying that she had lost her job, and the family had lost their subsidy after just a few days of good life.
There were many people coming and going on the street. The stall owner came over and tried to persuade the woman, shaking his head and sighing, but the woman just refused to listen.
The stall owner was also a little annoyed: "The little girl said that her sister wanted to eat it, so she came to buy a bowl. It doesn't cost much... If it really doesn't work, can't I give you this bowl of wontons? There are people coming and going on this street, and I still have business to do. Please be kind, the girl is grown up, and she also needs to maintain her dignity. As a mother, it is not appropriate for you to curse your own daughter like this, right? Don't you think so?"
When the woman heard that it was free, her eyes lit up and she stood up. She stretched out her hand and poked the little girl on the forehead. She widened her eyes and scolded: "Did you hear that? Why don't you serve the food quickly? How precious is your sister? She doesn't eat the meal prepared at home, but wants to eat these wontons. What kind of girl do you think you are?!"
As he spoke, he went to the street vendor, cursing, to get the five copper coins.
Although this face was too ugly when eating, Wei An had seen it before. When she went to the other village and brought Su Ping and Wen Xiu back, she saw many such scenes nearby.
In many places, girls are indeed not treated as human beings. They always think that girls are here to collect debts. Especially mothers, who are the most harsh in deducting money from girls.
She sighed, and when the girl walked to the side with her head down, she called her softly, "Your hair is loose."
The little girl thanked him in a voice so soft as to behold the woman in front of her, but when she heard the woman in front of her turn around and scold her again, her face suddenly turned red. She looked at Wei An with gratitude and hurriedly chased after him.
The woman's cursing voice continued to carry over with the wind, but from beginning to end, no complaints from the girl could be heard.
Wei An was keenly aware of Shen Chen's depressed mood. When Han Bo found his seat and came to invite them, he asked him, "Haven't you seen this scene before?"
Shen Chen helped Wei An sit down, shook his head and frowned, "I've really never seen this before. For people like us, it's really incomprehensible that people would go through so much trouble for a few copper coins and lose all their dignity."
Wei An thought for a moment and said, "My grandmother once told me that there is no harder life in the world than that of a girl. She can only live a comfortable life for a while at her parents' home. But when she gets married, she has to serve her parents-in-law, have children, and manage the household..."
Wei An lowered his head and laughed, a little melancholy: "This is still a very good life. Only those who are born into a good family and marry into a family of equal status chosen by their parents can live such a life. But most of them are girls whose families are not so good. When they are at home, they have to take care of their younger brothers and sisters. They have to start washing clothes, cooking, chopping wood and making fire at a young age. When they grow up, their parents will estimate a good price for them and sell them to their husband's family to continue living such a life. If they meet good in-laws and husband, it's fine. But if they meet bad ones, they will live like that for the rest of their lives..."
She raised her head and looked at Shen Chen seriously: "So what you saw is just a microcosm of the poor girls in this world."
Shen Chen sighed: "If you say so, it seems that girls never have a happy time in their lives."
"This is the truth." Wei An laughed at himself. "Think about it, there were no female households in the Zhou Dynasty? Think about it again, how many cases of disputes over inheritance have there been? How many families who didn't give birth to sons, when they died, had their wealth taken away by their clansmen or relatives, while their daughters were left penniless? This world has never been fair to men and women."
Shen Chen did not refute, but Wei An no longer had the heart to eat wontons. She stood up, thought for a moment, and said to Shen Chen: "Since that girl is buying wontons here, she must live nearby. Judging from what the woman and the stall owner said, they seem to know each other. Why don't you go and ask if there is anything we can do to help. The girl is about my age, and it's time for her to get engaged..."
Although the general environment in this world is like this, we can still help in any way we can and try to change some things if we can.
Shen Chen agreed and got on the carriage with Wei An. After taking a walk on Zhengyang Street, they went to Fenghuangtai first.
Xie Liangcheng is now the head of Fenghuangtai. He smiled first when he saw Wei An.
Wei An was also happy to see him, and when he got upstairs, he asked him, "Why are you here today?"
Phoenix Station is equivalent to Shen Chen's intelligence department. Most of the intelligence is sent here and then to Shen Chen. Xie Liangcheng is also very busy and has almost no free time. He is rarely seen here.
Xie Liangcheng smiled, asked someone to serve tea, sat opposite Wei An, smiled and said, "Of course I heard you were coming, so I stayed here to wait for you."
After the joke, he looked at Shen Chen, then at Wei An, and said, "The Marquis was afraid that you would worry, so he specially asked me to tell you that the prince will be coming to the capital soon, probably in the next few days. There are people waiting at the dock from the Ministry of Rites and the Prince's Mansion these days. Once the prince returns, someone will immediately inform you, so you can rest assured."
The matter of Prince Zheng has been dragging on for nearly half a year. Finally, Wei An was relieved to hear the exact news. He said hurriedly, "Then we have to go tell the princess. There has been news recently, but they were delayed on the way for some reason, so we can't get through to them. The princess is always worried about what will happen again." (To be continued)