Married a Scholar

41-50

Chapter 41▍I

　　want to plant some fruit trees.

　　Back in his room, Meng Yining pressed his heart that was beating too fast and cursed himself in his heart.

　　Not only was he seduced by an ancient person, but he also became so fascinated by her that he ran away in the end.

　　He was useless.

　　But thinking of Xia Wen Ze's handsome face and beautiful eyes, Meng Yining felt that it was not surprising that he was tempted.

　　Who said Xia Wen Ze was his type?

　　After his face was no longer so hot, Meng Yining opened the door and went to the kitchen to get hot water to wash his face and rinse his mouth.

　　He had a good night's sleep.

　　On this day, Meng Yining got up before dawn and prepared breakfast.

　　Xia Wen Ze also followed him into the kitchen to help light the fire.

　　After having breakfast early and putting the herbs to sell into a backpack, the two of them hurried to the yellow locust tree at the entrance of the village.

　　Generally, the ox carts in the village would wait for people there.

　　His calf would have to wait at least four or five months before it could pull the cart.

　　It was too early and the weather was a little chilly. Meng Yining put on the moon-white coat that Xia Wenzhe had modified, with a green bamboo hairpin on his head. His figure was a little thinner, but his complexion had become a little rosy after the good meals in the past few days. His already handsome face and the pair of almond eyes made him very eye-catching.

　　Xia Wenzhe glanced at his face, then looked at the worn-out shoes on his feet, "Let's buy a pair of shoes today." It takes a lot of effort to make a pair of shoes.

　　"That's fine." Meng Yining looked down at his patched shoes and smiled. It didn't match his clothes.

　　"Ze and Ning are going to the gathering too."

　　"Yes, Auntie Wu, are you going to sell eggs?"

　　"Yes, I have a lot of laying hens at home, and I have collected some eggs. I thought I would go to the market today to sell them and buy some meat."

　　"It's time to buy some meat. Spring ploughing is the most tiring."

　　"That's right."

　　Along the way, Meng Yining met several familiar uncles, aunts, and uncles, and he greeted them one by one.

　　There was no other way. They were all elders, and if he could greet them first, he would definitely greet them first.

　　There were not many people in Huangjushu. After all, there were still few people willing to spend that penny to ride in an ox cart.

　　Meng Yining and Xia Wenze sat at the end of the ox cart of the village chief. There were already several aunts and husbands, and an old lady on the ox cart.

　　Several people looked at the two of them, and one of them looked Meng Yining up and down, with a look of displeasure.

　　Meng Yining pretended not to see it. The aunt's husband's family was the Zhao family, and she had a very good relationship with the Zhao butcher's family. In the original owner's marriage with Zhao Zhonghe, this aunt often said that Meng Yining was not worthy of her.

　　The reason was simply that this aunt had a brother who was about the same age as Meng Yining, and she wanted her brother to be with Zhao Zhonghe, but that brother was not as good-looking as Meng Yining, and even his fortune was not as good as Meng Yining's.

　　So every time the original owner went to Zhao's house and met this aunt, she would be criticized for her nose and eyes.

　　The original owner was not good at speaking, and she endured it for the sake of Zhao the butcher's family.

　　Meng Yining didn't want to argue with others early in the morning, so he just pretended not to see it.

　　Xia Wen Ze greeted several elders, and Meng Yining followed suit, but he only ignored the aunt of the Zhao family.

　　This made people very unhappy, and the aunt of the Zhao family said, "What do you mean, Ning brother?"

　　Meng Yining leaned his head on Xia Wenze's shoulder and closed his eyes, and simply turned a blind eye.

　　Aunt Rui looked unhappy and opened her mouth to speak, but a man next to her interrupted her, "Aunt Rui, you should be quiet, this is the village chief's ox cart."

　　Aunt Rui glanced at the village chief driving the car in front and shut up. She just glared at Meng Yining unwillingly.

　　The other people in the car looked at each other, and there was some displeasure in their expressions. Obviously, this aunt was not very popular in the village.

　　Xia Wenze relaxed himself and stretched out his left hand to hold Meng Yining's waist to protect her.

　　Meng Yining curled the corners of his mouth and rubbed his shoulder with his head.

　　Xia Wen Ze lowered his eyelashes, hiding the tenderness in his eyes.

　　When they got on the official road, the voices became louder.

　　When they arrived at Yuhe Town, Meng Yining opened his eyes and followed Xia Wen Ze off the ox cart.

　　After entering the town, the two went to the pharmacy to sell the herbs first.

　　Naturally, it was Xia Wen Ze who led the way. Meng Yining, or it could be said that the original owner had never been to Yuhe Town.

　　The herbs Meng Yining picked were common and only sold for more than twenty coins.

　　There were five shuttlecocks in the backpack, and the two did not go to the street to sell them themselves, but went to the grocery store.

　　The owner of the grocery store originally wanted to bargain, but Meng Yining would not do as he wished, and finally sold them to the other party for ten coins each.

　　Meng Yining decided to spend all the seventy-odd coins.

　　"Do you want to go to a bookstore?" Meng Yining stopped Xia Wenze when they passed by a bookstore.

　　The two of them were not short of money now. Xia Wenze was copying books, but some books could also be bought and read slowly at home.

　　Xia Wenze shook his head, "The books in this bookstore are always expensive. I am familiar with the owner of the bookstore in Shangqing Town, and the books are cheaper there."

　　"Does that family need pens, ink, paper, and inkstone?" Meng Yining pointed to the Yumozhai next to him.

　　Thinking of how he had been practicing calligraphy during this period, Xia Wenze nodded and said, "Just buy some paper and take it home." He had no shortage of ink and pens.

　　The two of them walked into Yumozhai together.

　　There were some people dressed as scholars inside who were selecting brushes and ink sticks. When they saw the two people come in, they glanced at Xia Wen Ze's face.

　　Some people had a flash of realization in their eyes, while others showed sympathy.

　　Xia Wen Ze just pretended not to see it, and took Meng Yining to the paper counter to select some paper for his own use, and then went to the shopkeeper to check out.

　　Meng Yining pointed to one of the brushes made of ice jadeite and asked the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, how much is this?"

　　Xia Wen Ze looked over in the direction of his gaze, and opened his mouth to ask him not to buy it, but was stopped by Meng Yining's eyes.

　　"Twenty-seven taels." The shopkeeper took out the brush from the back and handed it to Xia Wen Ze on the side.

　　Meng Yining looked at the brush and said, "Brother Aze, buy it. It's beautiful." Most of the brush is white, but the green part looks like falling bamboo leaves, which is very beautiful.

　　Meng Yining liked it at first sight.

　　Although he doesn't often write calligraphy, Xia Wen Ze often uses it.

　　Meng Yining looked at the white, slender, and bony hand holding the brush. "Boss, we'll buy it." Without waiting for Xia Wen Ze to agree, Meng Yining took out a fifty-liang silver note and handed it to the other party without even asking for the price.

　　Xia Wen Ze also liked this pen very much. If it were in the past, he would definitely not have taken a second look at it, but now he tightened his hand holding the pen and looked up at Meng Yining, who was very happy.

　　After receiving the change from the shopkeeper, Meng Yining took Xia Wen Ze around the shop again, but he didn't see anything he liked. After

　　the two of them left Yumozhai, the scholars in Yumozhai started to speak.

　　"Is that the man?"

　　"I think so. Look at the scar on his face."

　　"It's said that his right hand is disabled, so why is he buying paper and pens again?"

　　"Has his hand been cured?"

　　"Maybe. I just saw that his right hand seemed to be wrapped in a medicated cloth."

　　Hearing this, the other scholars immediately started to discuss whether it was cured or not.

　　Meng Yining and Xia Wen Ze naturally didn't know about this. The two of them were buying cloth in the cloth shop at the moment. The shopkeeper was happy, so today they would buy cloth two cents less per foot than usual.

　　Meng Yining thought that she had no summer clothes, so she took Xia Wen Ze to the cloth shop. She

　　picked out some stain-resistant colors for linen and cotton, picked out two light-colored ones for Xia Wen Ze, and bought a pair of shoes for both of them. After paying, Meng Yining took Xia Wen Ze to a spice shop.