Ex-Wife is a Big Villainess
Chapter 182 - 118 I Am Worth Er Liang_3

Chapter 182: Chapter 118 I Am Worth Er Liang_3

"I came looking for you before, but you weren’t home," Yan Changqing gestured as he spoke, "A little girl, dark and skinny, left after she finished cleaning your courtyard."

Gazing at the clean and tidy courtyard, Jiang Shouzhong felt a bit dazed.

So it was her.

The first time they met, she sold herself to hide her grandfather, and he had given her Er Liang of silver pieces.

The second time was on the street, when a vicious young miss maliciously gave her gold in an attempt to take her life, and it was he who stepped in to save the girl. When they parted, he even told her to find a job as a maid in a wealthy family on Confucian Street.

He had thought the girl had left, but to his surprise, she had actually found her way to his home.

Looking at the cleaned yard, Jiang Shouzhong scanned his surroundings for the dark and skinny girl’s figure. With a resigned rub of his forehead, he murmured softly, "At such a young age, why so stubborn?"

Back inside the house, Jiang Shouzhong sat in his chair, falling into his habit of daydreaming.

He recalled Mr. Yan’s question.

If justice could be obtained, would it be with one sword strike, or with two, to doubly repay?

Jiang Shouzhong clenched his fists tighter and tighter, a chill flickering in his eyes, "I would strike ten times!"

...

The sunset glowed like red silk, and Yan Changqing, walking along the bank of Huailan Lake, suddenly laughed out loud, "You little brat, quite to my liking. This half-apprentice of mine is finally growing on me."

In his mirth, he tipped his head back and took a swig of wine.

But before he could swallow, he quickly spit the wine back out.

Yan Changqing wiped his mouth, and with an awkward smile, said, "Got too happy and nearly forgot your warning not to drink again, my punishment, my punishment..."

He picked up the wine jug and hit himself on the head with it a couple of times.

"However, for something as important as taking in an apprentice, a sip or two should be okay, right?"

Yan Changqing hesitated.

Smelling the strong aroma of the wine, swallowing his saliva, Yan Changqing ultimately put the wine jug back at his waist, and whispered softly, "Never mind, since I promised you not to drink again, I can’t break that promise a second time."

He looked up at the sunset in the sky and gently asked with a tender smile, "Wife, when we find our daughter, may I drink again, just once?"

The vast sky was silent, only highlighting the slender and solitary figure on the shore.

—

On the last night of the year, it began snowing again, and the north wind whistled.

In a desolate shack not far from Jiang Shouzhong’s courtyard, a dark and skinny girl huddled on a worn straw mat, nibbling on a moldy steamed bun, swallowing it bite by bite.

Time is the best medicine for healing grief, and for a girl of merely twelve years old, the heartbreak from her grandfather’s death had subsided from its initial excruciating pain. Although occasionally she would hide in a corner and cry quietly, sobbing until she fell asleep, dreaming of her grandfather and waking up with a happy smile... upon awakening, all that remained was confusion and helplessness.

Ever since she could remember, she had depended solely on her grandfather.

Sometimes she accompanied him to work in rich families’ homes for a few meals, other times they watched the sunset or the stars in front of their earthen house, or she carried a little bamboo basket with her grandfather into the mountains to chop firewood... Her happiest times were listening to her grandfather’s stories.

The most vivid memory was of a New Year’s when her grandfather gifted her a string of candied hawthorns; it was then she was amazed to discover such delicious things existed in the world.

Too precious to eat quickly, she nibbled just a bit, stashing the rest away and occasionally taking it out to savor...

During that time, she was truly happy.

Even though she rarely had new clothes or tasted the savory flavor of meat for long stretches, the little girl felt utterly content.

Although sometimes the grandfather and granddaughter would go hungry for several meals, they generally didn’t have too many worries.

But everything changed when Grandpa fell ill.

The young girl wanted to help by working for money, but no one would hire her. Watching her gravely ill grandfather lying on the hard bed, all she could do was take a bowl and beg for something to eat. Sometimes she managed to get food, other times she could only return with an empty bowl, filled only with the young girl’s tearful grievances.

During this time, she was chased by vicious dogs, pelted with stones by mischievous children, and even kicked by passersby venting their frustration. Once, she was kicked in the abdomen and lay curled up on the ground in pain for a long time, unable to stand... Of course, she also encountered kind-hearted people.

After Grandpa died, she was left with nothing but loneliness and bewilderment, and even thought about lying down in front of his grave and joining him.

But she remembered what Grandpa often told her, "Don’t take for granted the kindness others show you. No stranger is obliged to care for you without reason, and you must remember to repay any kindness you owe."

Thus, the young girl found the strength to live on.

The heavens did give her hope, letting her meet the benefactor who had helped bury her grandfather. Unfortunately, the benefactor didn’t want her. So, she became that helpless and confused girl once more.

Yet that evening, she secretly followed him and memorized where his house was.

Following the benefactor’s advice, she went to Confucian Street hoping to be employed as a maid in a wealthy household and save some money to repay her benefactor’s kindness, but still, nobody wanted her.

She was like a fly, shooed away by everyone.

Nobody wanted her.

Apart from Grandpa, no one would want her.

Gradually, the young girl finally realized that maybe she was just superfluous in this world.

The girl thought about joining Grandpa, who must surely be very lonely too.

Yet, feeling guilty, she decided to repay her benefactor’s kindness first, otherwise Grandpa would surely scold her after she passed. But she didn’t know what she could do. After all, sweeping the yard was the only thing she knew how to do.

Outside the shack, the snow fell thickly, covering everything and decorating the mundane world like a fairy tale.

Inside, the girl was as cold and miserable as humble grass.

Although her stomach was still hungry, and her body still shivered with cold, the girl thought about being able to help her benefactor by sweeping the yard tomorrow, and her heart was still satisfied...

She also thought that tomorrow was New Year’s Eve. Maybe she should make a little snowman for herself, so she’d have someone to spend the New Year with.

As she thought, the weary girl closed her eyes.

In a daze, she remembered Grandpa carrying her young self up the mountain to gather firewood, humming her favorite folk song... Gradually, she also recalled the night the benefactor had taken her hand...

"The benefactor’s hand is so warm."

The girl with a fever murmured and slowly collapsed to the ground.

After an unknown amount of time, the girl groggily opened her eyes and found herself lying on a wide, warm back. The cold wind howled, the snow swirled like cotton, and the man’s profile was very handsome.

Noticing that the girl had awakened, Jiang Shouzhong asked softly, "By the way, I still don’t know your name?"

The girl’s voice was as faint as a fly’s, "Er Liang."

Er Liang?

Jiang Shouzhong stopped in his tracks, his expression odd.

He couldn’t have changed her name because he had given her Silver, could he?

The girl squinted her eyes, her murmuring voice so soft it seemed even she couldn’t hear it clearly, "Grandpa said when I was born, an old fortune teller said... I am worth Er Liang."

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