The Return of the Noble Abandoned Consort

Chapter 9: The Second Purchase

Widows were restricted in what they can and cannot do in society.

Qiáo Wēi had been here for some time and although she had put a lot of effort into being a suitable mother, she had forgotten that in the eyes of outsiders, she was nothing but a small widow with no one to rely on. Forget an unmarried man like Dà Zhuàng, even if he had been a married man with his own family to feed, Qiáo Wēi's interactions with him could cause rumors of a love affair.

Perhaps the reason why Aunt Liú was so hostile to her was because her man had taken some sort of notice of her.

Qiáo Wēi felt her heart soften, knowing that her son had used what limited capabilities he had to handle the situation in his own way. She touched her son's face, wanting to say something but found that her throat was choked up, unable to get even a single word out.

She had never known anyone willing to sacrifice everything for her before; that the feeling of someone wanting to answer the injustice done to her felt like this. Qiáo Wēi's chest felt warm and she could feel the tears building up, threatening to fall.

Qiáo Jǐng Yún looked at his mother's slightly reddened eyes. "I'm too small," he said, his voice sounded like sweet milk. "Couldn't win against Tiě Niú. But once I grow up, I will definitely win so he will no longer dare to say bad things about niáng [1]."

Qiáo Wēi gathered her son into her arms and shed a few silent tears, hidden from her son's eyes.

Xīniú Village was not too far away from town. Since it was about ten lǐ [2] away, it would only take an adult about one shíchén [3] to get there on foot. Of course children would not be able to walk such a distance so Qiáo Wēi planned on hiring a vehicle.

Qiáo Wēi had two different options for a vehicle, the ox cart and the horse carriage. Both were simple modes of transportation with open air. One on hand, the ox cart was slow but could be hired at a low price while the horse carriage was fast but was also much more expensive. After debating for a moment, Qiáo Wēi finally decided on the horse carriage. The price for a one-way horse carriage was ten coins per adult, five coins for children so altogether, Qiáo Wēi had to pay twenty coins. The horse carriage definitely wouldn't wait around for them once they arrived in town. Once it could find other customers, it would definitely take off.

There were a lot of things Qiáo Wēi planned to buy so without a horse carriage, she wouldn't be able to return. There should also be other horse carriages in town but where to hire them? She looked around for a moment before her eyes landed on the owner of the horse carriage she was currently occupying. She managed to haggle a price to employ the horse carriage for half a day for two hundred coins.

That price also included the transportation of the goods she wanted to buy. Qiáo Wēi felt that the price was worth it. After all, if she were to convert it to Chinese Dollars, then it was only a hundred and twenty Chinese Dollars.

The family of three, in an ancient version of the modern taxi, happily rode towards the town. A smile could be seen on all their faces as the scenery flew past them and the image of the village was getting smaller and smaller behind them, it seemed as if even their troubles were disappearing.

This town was called Líng Quán Town. Because it was located near the capital, the population was dense and business flourished. The horse carriage driver, Shuān Zi Diē knew that Qiáo Wēi came to shop so he drove directly to town's largest marketplace. From eating to playing, all kinds of goods could be found there.

The children could not remember when the last time they've gone to the marketplace was. They looked around at the dazzling line-up of goods displayed on the shelves, eyes wide and bright.