Chapter 31: Proposal
Zhou Wangshu looked at the girl in front of him.
She was truly optimistic.
In fact, he wasn’t lying— in his eyes, she was ten times, a hundred times better looking than the pretentious Jiang Yihuan.
When she laughed, her whole being seemed to glow.
Returning home, Su Yaoguang closed the courtyard door and said to Zhou Wangshu, "Let’s go inside and count the money."
Zhou Wangshu followed her into the bedroom. This was Zhou Wangshu’s first time coming into her room. It wasn’t large, the furniture was rather old, but it was very clean.
He saw a broken jar by the window, which held a handful of wildflowers. At this moment, the flowers were blooming vibrantly, adding color to the simple room.
Su Yaoguang took out a tattered cloth bag from the basket.
She placed it on the table and opened it. Clink, clink—a lovely sound of copper coins, as if they were playing music.
The two first strung the copper coins together. Once their hands were tired from stringing, they finished the last string, leaving about twenty scattered coins.
"We sold twenty-seven bottles, almost all were small ones, only one large bottle was sold. Among these twenty-seven bottles, eyebrow powder, lipstick, and rouge were the most popular, only three face creams sold. Besides, there were nearly a hundred cosmetic applications; the first twenty customers paid two cents each time, and the latter dozens paid five cents. Finally, Sister Chun’e gave us dividends, making a total of eight taels and three hundred twenty-seven cents."
"Eight taels?" Zhou Wangshu was shocked.
Even before he fell into hard times, his monthly silver was only ten taels. Now they’ve made eight taels in just one day?
"This is the total revenue. After deducting the cost of previous materials and our daily hard labor, we only have seven taels left."
"That’s quite a lot," Zhou Wangshu said. "It seems like this business is not bad. What other flowers do we need to gather next? I can go up the mountain tomorrow."
"Sister Chun’e still has over forty boxes left. There’s no need to hurry. But from today’s first-day trial selling, I realized we should make fewer of those large bottles and more small ones so customers can buy without burden, and we can sell out the stock sooner."
Su Yaoguang went to the kitchen and skillfully kneaded the dough, making ribbed ramen.
Zhou Wangshu ate three large bowls and finally felt a bit embarrassed.
Su Yaoguang smiled at him, asking, "Is it delicious?"
Zhou Wangshu nodded, "Delicious."
"I’ll make it for you again another day. You can’t eat more today, or you’ll have indigestion." Su Yaoguang looked at Zhou Wangshu more kindly, with a bit of...
Motherly love?
Zhou Wangshu recognized the meaning in her eyes and suddenly felt inconceivable.
The villagers say he is her little husband, but why does he feel she is raising him like a son?
"Mother..." Second Aunt Su walked into the courtyard mysteriously, speaking to Grandma Su who was picking vegetables, "I just passed by the sister-in-law’s house, guess what I smelled? I smelled the scent of meat. Mother, Su Yaoguang dared to eat meat secretly again, aren’t you going to scold her?"
Grandma Su didn’t even raise her eyelids, responding sarcastically, "You have time to act like a dog but can’t come back early to take care of Dabo? Haven’t you heard Dabo is hungry? You’re not going to cook, are you waiting for my old bones to do it?"
Second Aunt Su pouted, "I’m not idle either! Sister-in-law and Su Yaoguang are becoming more dismissive of you, shouldn’t I keep an eye on them?"
"Su Yaoguang went to the market today and squatted at the meat stall for some bones with no meat at all. Those bones have no meat, and it takes a lot of firewood to stew them. They smell great but there’s still no meat! If you like gnawing on bones, go beg Su Yaoguang for some food."
It was only then Second Aunt Su realized why Grandma Su could remain calm; she already knew there was no advantage.
"Mother, the little sister-in-law hasn’t shown up until now. Is she deliberately avoiding our family? Do you think she regrets and doesn’t want Mutou to marry Su Yaoguang?"
"She doesn’t want to go pick manure water and has felt embarrassed coming over here after losing face a few days ago. Just wait, she will be back before long. Her son doesn’t have anyone willing to marry, they’ll have to make a move on those nearby. Since Su Yaoguang only has a widowed mother taking care of her, she’s the easiest target."
"That’s good, I was really worried the little sister-in-law would back down and dare not target Su Yaoguang anymore."
"Luckily Su Yaoguang didn’t buy Xiao Yanci. Xiao Yanci is of age, bought back can get married directly, then there’d be no way to target her anymore."
Su Yaoguang handed a string of copper coins to Zhou Wangshu.
Zhou Wangshu was puzzled, "This is...?"
"Your wages," Su Yaoguang said, "Save it for yourself."
"Didn’t you buy me?" Since she bought him, he’s her servant, like Xiao Yanci. She didn’t have to give him any copper coins.
Though the villagers joke he’s her little husband, she merely treats him as a shield with no such intentions.
Su Yaoguang said, "Didn’t I say, you can leave anytime. When you want to leave, won’t you need travel expenses? This is your travel expense. How much you can save depends on your diligence. I won’t let you work for nothing. Your indenture can be given to you when you decide to leave."
Zhou Wangshu’s fingers rubbed across the copper coins.
"Alright."
Apparently, his decision was correct.
Staying here is indeed his wisest choice.
"Get some rest, we’ll go up the mountain tomorrow."
Zhou Wangshu looked at Su Yaoguang, "How about signing the marriage contract and writing the marriage book with me?"
Su Yaoguang: "..."
She turned her head in surprise, "Why?"
"Don’t you want to send away your aunt’s family?" Zhou Wangshu said, "Once you write the marriage book, they won’t dare to target you."
"But then you won’t have freedom. If you want to leave, you have to file for separation with the government."
"You bought me and saved my life, and I should repay you. If there’s ever a day to leave, I don’t mind having such a record of separation, it’s up to you if you mind."
"I certainly don’t mind, I’ve never thought of getting married anyway." Hasn’t she learned enough from the past life? Are men more important than earning money?
"When do you think we should go?" Zhou Wangshu asked.
"When my mother returns," Su Yaoguang said, "Such an important thing should be known to the closest family member."
"Alright."
"You... rest now!" Su Yaoguang suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.
Though they discussed a pretend marriage, even pretending feels awkward suddenly.
Zhou Wangshu turned and left, returning to the woodshed. He searched there until he found a hole, and he stuffed the string of hundred-cent copper coins inside.