“Forget it. He’s always been domineering, and his brother-in-law works at the county office, so we can’t afford to offend him. Let him take advantage. Besides, we brought the roe deer back home in the end, didn’t we?” After starting the fire, Wu Laosan skinned the deer while observing Yunyi. “I see you’ve gotten thinner since you came back. Are you not used to working at the Governor’s residence? I heard that in those big mansions, the rules are very strict. If you make even a small mistake, or if some master takes a dislike to you, you’ll be punished—kneeling for two or three hours is common.”
Yunyi smiled. “The rules are numerous, but the people in the residence are all fairly kind. It’s not as harsh as Father described. Besides, your daughter doesn’t need to do servant work at the Governor’s residence.” Under Wu Laosan’s surprised gaze, she explained about being selected as a dancer. Wu Laosan was quite pleased to hear this, nodding repeatedly. After asking a few more questions about Yunyi’s life at the Governor’s residence, he sighed. “It’s all because Father is useless and can’t earn much money, forcing you, a young girl, to go out and work.”
Yunyi tried her best to imitate Meixue’s tone. “Father must never say such things. You rescued your daughter from a tiger’s den and raised her through hardship. What your daughter does is nothing compared to that.”
Wu Laosan shook his head. After a while, he said, “If you’re unhappy there, don’t go. Father can support you. At most, I’ll make more trips up the mountain and hunt more roe deer and wild chickens to exchange for money.”
Thinking of Feng Cheng’s face, Yunyi sneered coldly. “I’m afraid no matter how much you hunt, it’s Feng Cheng who gets the real benefit in the end.”
Wu Laosan had never seen Meixue with such an expression and tone. He looked at her in surprise. Yunyi realized she had misspoken and quickly covered up. “Your daughter feels sad thinking about how Feng Cheng bullies Father.”
Yunyi’s words warmed Wu Laosan’s heart. He waved his hand. “It’s nothing. Father is used to it. Father has no other thoughts now—just hopes to save up silver these two years, then find you a good family so you can marry in style. Then Father’s heart will truly be at peace.” He said somewhat regretfully, “I actually met a young man with good character some days ago. He was refined and handsome too, but unfortunately he’s already married.”
Yunyi was startled, then laughed. “Where did Father’s thoughts go? Your daughter has never thought about marriage.”
“Ah, when men come of age they should marry, when women come of age they should wed. There’s no such thing as not marrying. If people heard that, they’d surely laugh at you. Actually, that boy Ruhui isn’t bad either—he studies hard and treats you well. The Du family is fairly well-off too, but his mother… sigh!” Wu Laosan shook his head, then said, “How about… I go ask Matchmaker Li at the east end of the village to help keep an eye out?” While speaking, he had already finished skinning the roe deer, and the water over the fire had boiled.
Yunyi said with some amusement, “Though that may be so, your daughter is still young. As Father just said, let’s wait a couple more years.”
Wu Laosan didn’t insist. He skillfully rinsed the meat, and seeing Yunyi’s hands were cold, he found two iron pieces, clamped charcoal between them, wrapped them in old clothes, and stuffed them into Yunyi’s hands. “Here, hold this to warm your hands. By the time you come back next, Father should have saved enough copper. Then I’ll make you a copper hand warmer—that would be much better.”
Yunyi examined the thing in her hands with curiosity. She had never known that two iron pieces and a piece of charcoal could make a hand warmer. “You can make hand warmers?”
Wu Laosan smiled. “You silly girl, have you forgotten everything after being away for just over a month? What hasn’t Father made? Blacksmithing, carpentry—making a hand warmer is nothing. It’s just that copper is very expensive now, so I can’t afford to buy much at once. I can only gather it bit by bit.” He asked, “How is it? Are you warmer now?”
Yunyi smiled. “Very warm. Thank you, Father.” Her words made Wu Laosan very happy, and he bent down to continue processing the roe deer. He didn’t see Yunyi’s complex gaze.
The person she should truly call Father, though he didn’t slight her, had never neglected her in terms of food, clothing, and necessities. From childhood to adulthood, she had used at least eight if not ten hand warmers, but none had been as warm as this one.
She could see that Wu Laosan truly loved Meixue, truly treated Meixue well. In this regard, Meixue was much more fortunate than her.
“There!” Wu Laosan’s voice pulled Yunyi back from her thoughts. Looking up, she saw that Wu Laosan had already cleaned the roe deer completely. He had even cut off the remaining hind leg and chopped it into pieces, preparing to make braised roe deer meat later. The rest he rubbed with sauce and hung in the courtyard to air-dry. This way it could be preserved for a long time—whenever they wanted to eat some, they could just cut off a piece. This was a common method used by ordinary families.
When Wu Laosan was preparing to take the meat back inside, he remembered something. “Girl, what did you say to add to remove the gamey taste?”
“Vinegar and radish.” Fearing Wu Laosan would suspect something, she added, “The cook at the residence taught me.”
Wu Laosan responded, “Alright then, I’ll go buy some right now. You wait here. If you get cold, go sit inside the house. Don’t let yourself freeze.”
“Mm.” After Wu Laosan left, Yunyi carefully examined this small courtyard. There were only two wooden houses here—one was a kitchen connected to the dining area, the other was where the father and daughter lived. It was divided into two rooms by wooden boards. Apart from beds and a cabinet on one side, there was nowhere else to go. Meixue’s room also had a dressing table with a somewhat rough makeup box on it, which Wu Laosan had probably made himself. Opening it, apart from a thin silver hairpin, there were only a few red ribbons. At the bottom was a yellowed piece of paper. Opening it, she saw written: Born in the year of Wuwu, month of Gengshen, day of Renwu, hour of Gengzi.
Seeing these characters, Yunyi’s pupils contracted sharply. If she wasn’t mistaken, this should be Meixue’s birth date and time, but… how could this be? This… this was impossible!
Just as her thoughts were in turmoil, footsteps came from outside. She quickly folded the paper and put it back. Just as she closed the makeup box, the door was pushed open. Turning around, she saw a man about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a moon-white scholar’s robe, with a clear and handsome face, looking at her with joy.
Yunyi secretly guessed this man’s identity. All along, she had only heard Meixue mention Wu Laosan and had never spoken of any other relatives. She didn’t dare ask rashly, lest people see through her disguise. However, looking at the quality of his clothing, his family circumstances should be quite good—at least much better than Meixue’s family.
Before Yunyi could speak, the man had already said happily, “I just ran into Uncle Wu. He said you had returned, so I hurried over to see you. Meixue, are you doing well at the Governor’s residence? I heard that Chunxiu and Jirong both entered the Governor’s residence too. Have they been bullying you?”