The Farm Girl’s Charismatic Fortune
Chapter 106 - 103: Implication

Chapter 106: Chapter 103: Implication

Zhen Yi went to the river to fetch water for cooking dinner and for boiling water to bathe, and happened to witness this scene.

It must have been her parents who, seeing the Ruo Family receive the Emperor’s reward, shamelessly tried to get involved themselves, only to be thrown out, right?

This time, how much dowry would they demand?

With parents like bloodsuckers desperately clinging to others, she felt guilty marrying into any decent family.

Setting the bucket down, Zhen Yi filled it with water, watching her reflection ripple in the river.

At that moment, she suddenly felt life was meaningless, and part of her wanted to jump into the river and end it all!

Zhen Yi looked at the shimmering river surface, the migratory birds under the blue sky, the splendid sunset...

All of which seemed more beautiful than her own life!

Ruo Shui hurried home, catching a glimpse from the corner of his eye of Zhen Yi standing by the river, a despondent figure, and he frowned slightly.

Not wanting to meddle, he strode away quickly. After a few steps, he stopped in his tracks.

Muttering a curse under his breath, he headed towards the river and, before getting close, shouted towards the riverbank, "Zhen Yi."

Zhen Yi came back to her senses, turned her head, and saw Ruo Shui. She instinctively lowered her head and asked, "Brother Ruo Shui, did my parents bother your family again just now? I’m sorry!"

"It’s fine, you are you, your parents are your parents, you don’t need to apologize for them."

Zhen Yi kept her head down, "You don’t have to listen to whatever my parents say, just ignore them."

Ruo Shui said, "I know that, you don’t have to worry. I came to find you because my family is planning to hire people for land reclamation, paying 300 wen a day. You should come help out when you have the time!"

Zhen Yi was surprised and looked up at him, "Isn’t it fifty wen?"

The village chief said a hundred wen for men, fifty wen for women, and many villagers had already gone to sign up with the chief. Zhen Yi didn’t want to get close to the Ruo Family, afraid it would trouble the Ruo Family people, so she hadn’t signed up.

Ruo Shui then said, "We tell outsiders it’s fifty wen, but for some diligent people, we pay three hundred wen privately. Don’t tell anyone about this, tell nobody. Just say it’s fifty wen a day."

Zhen Yi understood that he might be worried she would tell her parents. She nodded, "Rest assured, Brother Ruo Shui, I won’t tell."

"Then remember to come and help with the land reclamation."

Zhen Yi smiled and thanked him but did not agree, "Thank you, Brother Ruo Shui."

Ruo Shui was just worried she might get desperate, after all, they grew up in the same village, and it would trouble him if something were to happen.

After all, if he had parents like Zhen Yi’s, he would either run away from home or give up on living!

"Have you heard any news about your third sister?"

Zhen Yi shook her head.

Ruo Shui nodded, "No news might be good news, so don’t worry too much!"

After saying this, Ruo Shui left.

No news is good news—Zhen Yi felt there was truth to that.

Initially, her father wanted to send her third sister to a wealthy family in the neighboring town to bring them luck, but her third sister ran away in the middle of the night and had since vanished.

She knew her third sister had eloped with He Dayong, a hunter from a neighboring village, but with no word for two or three years, she didn’t know how they were faring now.

But surely it was better than at home.

He Dayong knew how to hunt, and the third sister was someone who was very focused and good at managing a household.

Thinking back, Zhen Mei was always good at earning money and would always secretly save a portion of what she earned; this was also her courage to flee during the night back then.

Zhen Yi suddenly felt a shock; Brother Ruo Shui had asked her to help with the land reclamation, offering her such high wages, and then suddenly mentioned her third sister—was he hinting at something, or trying to give her the courage to free herself from her current plight?

The people of the Ruo Family were all good people!

Interrupted by Ruo Shui like this, Zhen Yi also lost the despair she felt moments before.

If worse came to worst, she could just run away like her third sister!

Although she didn’t have anyone to elope with, her third sister had told her where she would go, so she could seek refuge with her third sister when the time came.

Once Zhen Yi had cheered up, she filled the water buckets and then carried a load of water back home.

Ruo Shui hadn’t meant to imply that Zhen Yi should elope with someone, he simply wanted to tell her that there were many paths in life, and with her capabilities, she needn’t choose a dead end.

At worst, just pack up and leave!

Life is filled with endless possibilities!

Of course, Ruo Shui’s nature was rather unconventional, and his thoughts differed from many others.

When he had learned that Zhen Mei had run away, he had a great admiration for her!

Such a tomboy!

Good for her for running away!

Brilliantly done!

Crowing like a winning rooster!

By the time Ruo Shui got home, the villagers had already left, busy moving tables and dishes from the village chief’s house for the drinking feast.

The gifts from the Emperor hadn’t been completely moved yet, so he immediately picked up two large chests and headed for the Stone House in the back.

Ruo Xuan was checking what was inside the chests in the Stone House.

One chest was full of Golden Ingots, each weighing about ten taels, glittering with a golden glow. Ruo Xuan loved them very much.

Another chest was full of jewelry and jade artifacts. There were items suitable for children, young women, and elder women, with the majority being for children, clearly showing that whoever prepared them had put a lot of thought into it.

The majority of items were fabrics—fine silks and satins, every kind available, all tribute goods, each piece of fabric was of the highest quality, even unavailable in most cloth stores outside.

Many of these fabrics were treasured by the powerful elite in the capital, saved for their children’s weddings as trousseau.

The fabrics came in all colors, suitable for men and women, young and old alike.

Ruo Xuan selected a set of jade headdress for Granny Lei, a set of ruby and gold headdress for her own mother, and a set of South Sea pearl headdress for Madam Jiang. These three sets were the finest, each capable of being passed down as family heirlooms.

Beyond the headdresses, Xuanbao picked out various individual items such as hairpins, bracelets, jade pendants, earrings, and other small pieces of jewelry for them. Each person got a jewelry box filled to the brim.

The jewelry boxes were flawed pieces crafted by Ruo He in the past, not sold due to minor defects, which Xuanbao put to good use.

Then she gave each uncle and brother a jade pendant, all of which were of heirloom quality.

The fabrics were freely chosen by Madam Jiang and Madam Liu for making clothes for the family.

No one in the family could bring themselves to refuse.

Madam Jiang waved her hand, "It’s too valuable. I can’t wear it around the village. Keep it for Xuanbao’s dowry. Second Auntie doesn’t want it!"

She didn’t have a daughter, and usually, it wasn’t appropriate to wear such things in the village.

Granny Lei added, "Right, grandma is old now. I don’t like these fancy things. Wearing them to the field would make me anxious!"

Ruo Xuan replied, "If you can’t wear them now, you’ll be able to in the future! Just keep them. I’ll earn more silver in the future and buy more jewelry for everyone—don’t worry about losing them! If they’re lost, we’ll buy more!"

The entire family was amused by Ruo Xuan’s words.

Madam Liu and Ruo Shui laughed and persuaded everyone to accept the gifts.

Eventually, Granny Lei also spoke up and let everyone keep the gifts.

Ruo Xuan also picked out two colorful gemstone and gold butterfly hair ornaments for her hair, which trembled like real butterflies at the slightest movement of her head!

After all, flowers do love to attract bees and butterflies!

Ruo Xuan happily said, "Aren’t we inviting everyone over for a feast? I’ll go invite Brother Xuanyuan’s grandmother and Brother Xuanyuan himself!"

She had gifts for the Divine Monarch and his grandmother, and also wanted the Divine Monarch to see if her butterfly looked pretty!