Section46: Simple Love

As the sky just began to lighten, Huangshu came to the Dongyang River with his own bucket, ready to take a good bath. He had tossed and turned in bed all night, and had slept like a pancake until dawn, covered in sweat.

He was not the first, but the third. There were already two people in front of him, pouring buckets of water over their heads. Huangshu was about to go down a little bit to avoid bothering the noblemen. Now he finally understood that the entire academy was full of noblemen, so he felt even more humble.

“Lao Huang, come here. Where are you going? You can wash here. You’re not afraid of being taken away by wolves.” Yun Ye had seen Huang long ago and was ready to chat with him. But when he saw the guy walking downstream without saying a word, he shouted to stop him.

Li Ke was wearing a pair of pants and was watering the plants without saying a word.

“Xiao Ke, I have great ambitions, but my heart is like a roc and my body is like a sparrow. You were born to be a tyrannosaurus, so why are you so depressed?” This little brat has been acting very strangely these days, and Yun Ye is a little curious.

“Am I stupid?”

“Who says so? You’re much better than a weasel.” Yun Ye said casually, and the weasel nodded like a chicken picking at food.

Li Ke went crazy and pounced on Yun Ye, who knew that in the academy, the weasel was synonymous with stupidity. Now, if anyone did something stupid, they wouldn’t call them stupid, they would just change their name to weasel. Yun Ye ran away, and Li Ke calmed down after kicking the accomplice, the weasel, twice.

“Xiao Ke, I know what you’re upset about. You lost to A Tai in the college entrance exam again. You were uncomfortable seeing him bragging on the stage. This is a normal psychological state for a teenager. When I was studying with my master, I was the only one, so I was naturally the top student. My master always praised me. Do you know why the elites of Shu lost to the big families?

Yun Ye felt that this was just a good opportunity to correct Li Ke’s worldview. As long as his pride was vented and he reached the pinnacle of his field with his own strength, the appeal of imperial power to him would be greatly reduced. After all, there are all kinds of peaks to climb in this world, and people are always full of self-confidence in their own achievements.

“It’s because they’re not as skilled as others. The five noble families are too powerful.”

“No, the elites of Shu chose the wrong place, the wrong time, the wrong goal, and even the wrong purpose. They didn’t prepare in advance, and they didn’t summarize afterwards. If there is a next time, they will still lose, and it will be even worse.”

“You are making the same mistake. You know that A Tai is a freak in the academic field, but you deliberately compete with him in his most proud field. Isn’t that asking for trouble? You have your own advantages, and your advantages are beyond A Tai’s reach. Using your shortcomings to compare with others’ strengths is like calling you a weasel, which is even more unfair to you.”

Li Ke stopped talking, lying in the water with only a head showing. He didn’t know what he was thinking, and Yun Ye didn’t care. It was a good thing for the young man to learn to think.

Huangshu knew that three people had heard the conversation, but what hurt him was that only two people knew what was being said.

“How are you doing in the academy now? Are you still thinking about tomb raiding?” Yun Ye asked the weasel, who was sitting in the river and splashing water on his body.

“I don’t have the heart for that now. If it weren’t for the noblemen not seeing things the same way as I do, I would have been beheaded a long time ago.” Huang Shu was a little embarrassed.

“Your line of work is not going to work now. It’s only a matter of time before you get caught and beheaded. You’re not young anymore. Take this opportunity to climb out of that mudhole and become a human again. Don’t be a ghost anymore. Your skills are misused. Work hard in the academy and you will have a place to use them.”

“I understand. Today I’m off duty. I’m going to clean up and go to Xinfeng City to see someone.”

“A woman? You have a sweetheart like you? You have to seize this opportunity. Go to the stables and get a horse. The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back.” Yun Ye casually arranged it. Now he is more at ease with the weasel. Since ancient times, it has been a universal principle to learn the arts of literature and martial arts and sell them to the imperial family. The weasel has a terrible reputation. It is already a blessing for his ancestors to be able to sell it to the Academy, which is connected to the royal family.

It was already high noon, and the weasel was riding a big red horse on the track, his sky-blue robe with sleeves tied up being blown up by the wind from time to time. Although he was ugly, he looked a bit noble in the outfit of the academy, especially the red horse under his crotch, which was obviously a horse of the best quality, not something that ordinary people could afford.

The longing of the past few days was like a knife cutting his hot heart non-stop. He turned a blind eye to the refugees passing by on both sides of the road. Now that he was with the nobles and people of status all day, how could he act like a refugee and do dirty deeds like he used to?

The absolute superiority in his mind made him more eager to see the woman selling the fermented rice wine.

The fat horse and light coat are passing through Xinfeng. I, the weasel, just want to drink a bowl of moromi. Isn’t this a piece of cake?

The willow trees in Xiliuying were annoying, and the myriad threads of branches were disturbing. The horse under his waist seemed to understand his thoughts, and it kept speeding up its hooves. Xinfeng City was finally reached.

The market was much quieter than before, and the noisy hawkers were few and far between. Under the big tree, the third stall did not have the plump woman, only a few sparrows looking for food on the ground.

“Shopkeeper, where is the stall selling moromi over there?” Huang Shu asked the owner of the grocery store next to him.

“It’s a disaster. Ying Niang, a widow, lost her business and had to take her daughter to her mother’s family. Do you have an old relationship with Ying Niang?” The white-haired shopkeeper is also a talker.

“Yes, I used to drink moromi, but I’m disappointed that there is none today. Some people like this taste, and it’s no fun not to be able to drink it. I plan to ask Ying Niang to come to my house to be a cook. What do you think, shopkeeper?” Huang Shu had long been a vagabond in the world, and knew that he could not ask directly. He had to ask indirectly. As for whether Ying Niang would be his wife or cook, that was his own business.

“If that’s the case, Ying Niang’s family lives at the market entrance, and they’re not rich. Wait a moment, I’ll send my son to call them. They’re desperate, and they’ll definitely agree to go to your house to be your cook.” The shopkeeper went on and on, and sent his son to find Ying Niang.

The weasel was so happy that it was about to burst out of its head. Things were just as he had imagined. Ying Niang was a widow, and as for having a child, that was no big deal. What’s wrong with being a father from the moment you walk in the door? I’ve always dreamed of having a daughter, but I was afraid that my looks would harm the child. Now Ying Niang has one, and God bless me!

“Sir, sir.” The innkeeper called out twice to pull the weasel back from his dream.

Wiping his mouth, the weasel bowed deeply to the innkeeper, causing the innkeeper to become flustered.

“Why are you so polite, sir?” The shopkeeper was very surprised, having never seen such a strange person.

“I’m here to apologize for nothing else. I just deceived the old man. My name is Huang Shu, which means ‘big tree’ in Chinese. I work at Yushan Academy and earn a monthly salary of one tael. I’m not a wealthy family, but I don’t worry about food and clothing. I’ve never married. At the beginning of this year, I came here by accident. I’m not afraid of being laughed at by the old man. When I saw Ying Niang, I couldn’t walk anymore. I wanted to ask for her hand in marriage. The words I just said were an excuse. Please forgive me.” Huang Shu had never spoken so eloquently in his life. After finishing his long speech, he was sweating profusely.

The old shopkeeper laughed heartily when he saw the weasel’s sweaty head, and he couldn’t stop laughing for a while. The weasel also laughed foolishly, which made passers-by look at him sideways for a while.

“I’ve seen you for a long time. You’ve been drinking at Ying Niang’s stall for months, and you drink a lot of rice wine every time, and you sit there for a couple of hours. Ask the merchants in the market who doesn’t know that you have a crush on Ying Niang? Who do you think I would tell where Ying Niang is? You haven’t been here for two months, and I feel sorry for Ying Niang, thinking that she has missed a good marriage. Today, as soon as you came, I wanted to ask you, but you said it yourself.

After the old shopkeeper finished laughing, he probably felt that he should tell the neighbors about it, so that everyone could have a good laugh. It was rare to have a happy event in a famine year, so a large crowd of people gathered around, including many uncles and aunts, and some of the faster ones had already run to Ying Niang’s brother’s house.

The more people there were, the more nervous the weasel became, sweating profusely and feeling utterly embarrassed. He thought that these neighbors were even more terrifying than the red-haired vampire.

One said that the rat’s outfit was okay, another said that the horse was beautiful, but no one praised the rat’s appearance.

“You know nothing. A good man has no good wife, and a bad man marries a pretty one. This is an old saying. Brother Huang looks strong and can support a family. He has to pay a monthly salary of one tael. Can you poor people compare with him? Or work in the academy, where is the difference? In the future, Ying’s daughter may marry a scholar who can read and write. What are you wives talking about? Ying’s husband died early and she has no brothers. She has been suffering for almost six years. Now Brother Huang is not ashamed of Ying’s children and wants to marry her and bring her home. Who is this lucky? Does a man’s family care about looks?

The old shopkeeper Wang Ba was so angry that he fired a cannonball at the neighbors in the room, and everyone was speechless and quiet.

Hearing the old man say this, Huang Zi’s heart was greatly in favor of it. His bent back straightened up again. Yes, I am now a member of the academy. Why should I bow my head? I am not a tomb robber. I serve all the big shots in the academy. I even see the prince every day. What are you poor people talking about?

Money is the courage of a man. He felt the bulge of several silver ingots in his waist and took out a purse from his bosom and handed it to the old shopkeeper.

“You are a sensible man. There is broken silver and 500 coins in this bag. You can buy some gifts with it, and I can go to ask for my wife.”

With a loud noise, the old shopkeeper emptied the money bag, and the yellow, golden pile of money, with a handful of silver worth one tael in the middle, made the neighbors who were doing small business on the street gasp in surprise.

Before coming here, Huang had taken out all the money from the ghost willow. This was the little fortune he had saved up as a grave robber for more than ten years. He had long ago exchanged it for silver for convenience of carrying. Now, he could just use a bag to carry it.

Before the old shopkeeper could clean up, a small hand with small pits on the back of one hand reached out and gathered the money in a bag in a few seconds, and tied it.

Ying Niang! She was crying and said, “I’ve been waiting for you for more than a month, but you never came. I thought you were just having fun and teasing me, a poor woman. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I closed my stall and went to my brother’s house to get something to eat. Why did you come now?”

When Ying Niang started to cry, Huang Shu felt sorry for her and was at a loss. He rubbed his hands together and said, “You know, I’m a person with a job. I went to Lanshan for two months this time. As soon as I came out, I came here. Don’t cry. I’ll take you and your mother to Yushan. The people in the academy are very nice, and the girl will probably like it.”

“Where’s the oxcart?” Ying Niang asked.

“There is no oxcart. I came here on horseback.” Huangshu was at a loss.

“Men don’t have a long-term vision. You ride a horse, but can we ride a horse?”

Hearing this, the weasel’s eyes turned red, and he took out a ten-tael silver coin and held it high: “Who has a carriage? Sell it to me!” The weasel’s anger was so great that it filled the sky and earth.

Before he could reply, another fat little hand reached out, grabbed the silver coin from his hand, put it in her bosom, and dragged the weasel out of the room.

Outside the door, a skinny little eight-year-old girl was sitting on a pile of luggage, looking at the weasel timidly. She was both afraid and attracted.

The weasel rushed into the grocery store again, grabbed a large pile of various snacks in the store, put them in a basket, ran to the little girl, squatted down, and stuffed the basket into the girl’s arms. The neighbors stood there admiringly watching Ying Niang busy running around, watching the little girl eat hard snacks like a stone, and the weasel sitting next to her occasionally feeding the girl a drink of water.

The neighbors were invited to a big meal at the restaurant, received countless blessings, received several baskets of black bread, and gave Ying Niang’s brother five guan. The sun had just reached the top of the head.

The carriage was running fast, and the weasel was proudly waving his whip, occasionally teasing the young lady who was sticking her head out of the window. It was his daughter. By the way, Ying Niang’s white eyes were also felt. Everything was harmonious. As for whether it was all happening a little too fast, it was completely out of the weasel’s scope of consideration.

When they arrived at Yushan, they heard that Huang had brought his family along, and they were all curious. The students looked at Huang, who had always been timid and withdrawn, but now he was strutting around with his head held high. Some of them were curious, and the more meddlesome ones even wanted to teach him a lesson, but they forgave him for the sake of the timid little girl.

The bad-tempered manager threw a large bag of things for the bridal chamber to him, and told him that he had a small courtyard next to the academy where he could live, and that this was specifically ordered by the marquis.

Huangshu knelt on the ground and bowed deeply. Ying Niang didn’t understand, but since her husband was like this, she quickly knelt down and bowed as well. The look of contempt on the manager’s face gradually disappeared after Huangshu’s forehead turned red.

The little girl was drooling at the kitchen. She saw someone just now carrying a big plate of red meat from the room, which looked very delicious. Huang Shu told the girl that if she wanted to eat it again in the future, she could use the paper in the box to get it. As long as she had this kind of paper, she would get that delicious braised pork. Seeing her daughter holding a plate and turning back and forth to the kitchen, Ying Niang suddenly shed tears.

The moon was half in the sky, and the frogs were croaking. The little girl outside the yellow rat’s house had already fallen asleep. Looking at the plump and beautiful woman, the yellow rat couldn’t wait to blow out the candle and pounced on her like a hungry wolf.