CMWKSD -Chapter 26 The Young Boy

The shopkeeper asked humbly, “What is starch? Is it the same as flour?”

Jiu Yue fell silent, blinking her eyes. What was starch again?

She only very occasionally got to eat the poached meatballs the kitchen maid made. Those meatballs, paired with a bit of vegetables or mushrooms, each about the size of a thumb—one bite at a time. Fresh, fragrant, light, so delicious that you could practically swallow your tongue along with it.

But the problem was—she didn’t know what starch was!

After all, she had absolutely no common sense about daily life.

Seeing that Jiu Yue stopped talking, the shopkeeper didn’t dare to disturb her further. This was a distinguished guest, after all.

Jiu Yue ate her food sullenly. Just moments ago she’d thought of poached meatballs, and now her entire mind was filled with meatball soup.

But she didn’t know what starch was! She really wanted to eat it, really wanted to—if she couldn’t eat it, she’d be upset!

Ji Yiqing had no idea why Jiu Yue was suddenly unhappy.

Not until they left the shop did something suddenly flash through Jiu Yue’s mind. She grabbed Ji Yiqing’s arm. “I remember now.”

Ji Yiqing hurriedly glanced around. Though they were husband and wife, such contact outside would still invite gossip and pointing fingers.

But since Jiu Yue didn’t care, he naturally wouldn’t immediately pull away. He only smiled at her and asked, “Remember what?”

“I remember what starch is! I remember things like sweet potato starch and corn starch.”

Ji Yiqing was still puzzled. “So?”

The look on Jiu Yue’s face—how can you not understand this—left Ji Yiqing speechless. In her eyes, it seemed he was supposed to know everything and be able to do everything.

Wasn’t that a bit too much to ask?

Meeting Jiu Yue’s eager gaze, it was as if not being able to let her eat poached meatballs, not being able to eat those tender, smooth, soft slices of meat, would be some unforgivable sin.

Ji Yiqing self-mockingly curled his lips and could only say helplessly, “I’ll think about it when we get back?”

Jiu Yue raised an eyebrow. This man really knew how to get things done.

In truth, Ji Yiqing’s brain was about to be wrung dry, but at least he finally had a starting point. Since it was called corn starch and sweet potato starch, it must be inseparable from those two things.

Sweet potatoes were cheap, harvested by the thousands each year. Taking some to make the starch Jiu Yue wanted wouldn’t draw any complaints.

What’s more, this was something Jiu Yue wanted—no one would dare say anything.

Thinking this through, Ji Yiqing felt a bit more at ease. If he couldn’t even satisfy such a small request from his own wife, how could he call himself a good husband?

In the remaining hour or so, Jiu Yue acted as if she wanted to spend every last bit of the silver notes she’d just earned.

Buying a horse alone cost ninety taels!

Ninety taels!

Ji Yiqing was stunned just watching. Then Jiu Yue spent another fifteen taels on a ready-made carriage frame.

Jiu Yue could ride a horse but couldn’t drive a carriage. Riding was tiring; sitting in a carriage was much more comfortable—so now they had a carriage.

That wasn’t all. Right after that, Jiu Yue rushed into a grain shop and bought three hundred jin each of white rice and flour.

She also bought quite a lot of seasonings. People like them usually only used salt and vinegar—soy sauce was expensive and rarely used—but Jiu Yue didn’t think it was expensive at all and bought everything.

She bought a lot of chili peppers too, saying she wanted to make something called doubanjiang. What kind of thing was that?

She bought plenty of Sichuan peppercorns as well.

Clearly, all of these could be found in the mountains. They usually picked them not to eat, but to sell.

At the fabric shop, she shopped like she was stocking up—more than ten bolts of cloth.

If they hadn’t bought a carriage, they might not even have been able to get all this stuff back.

According to Jiu Yue, food, clothing, shelter, and travel—all had to be the best. If they ran out of silver, they’d just go do another “job.”

What she meant was going to treat patients again.

But Ji Yiqing inexplicably felt that when Jiu Yue said “do another job,” she meant going out to rob people.

She also bought plenty of pastries.

As for the rouge shop, Jiu Yue stayed inside for barely half a quarter-hour before coming out cursing, her mouth nonstop: “Is there really nothing good here?”

Then she turned around and went straight into a medical hall, buying nearly a hundred taels’ worth of medicinal herbs. Whole pieces of lingzhi, deer antler, and ginseng were too expensive, but she bought plenty of the broken pieces.

By the time the carriage was completely filled, even Jiu Yue herself could only sit on the outer carriage frame.

Seeing that the sky was gradually darkening—if they delayed another hour or so, they’d have to stay at an inn for the night—Jiu Yue finally headed back, still not quite satisfied.

Ji Yiqing didn’t pay close attention to how much silver Jiu Yue spent.

After all, she’d earned it herself. He only roughly calculated it—about two hundred and fifty taels were gone.

She could earn silver, but she could spend it even better.

Yet Jiu Yue didn’t seem very interested in jewelry. There was only a simple ribbon tied in her hair.

He took her to a jewelry shop; she browsed for a short while before losing interest.

Ji Yiqing touched his face. Since he could no longer continue studying, he had to find some other path to support Jiu Yue. Farming was definitely not an option.

Even if he farmed nonstop for twelve hours a day, it still wouldn’t be enough for her.

As they spoke, the two left the city gates. There were hardly any people on the road now—no one wanted to travel at night.

With fewer and fewer people around, Jiu Yue grew happier. She’d finally bought everything she needed to eat and use. Ji Yiqing said Su Ruo was very good at making clothes and shoes.

That meant Jiu Yue’s clothes and shoes would be taken care of in the future.

While she was thinking this, someone suddenly darted out from the roadside.

Ji Yiqing abruptly pulled the reins.

Jiu Yue shot a cold look and was about to rush forward.

Ji Yiqing didn’t even look at the person at first, instead patting Jiu Yue on the shoulder. “It’s fine.”

Only when the person came closer did Jiu Yue see that it was just a dirty child, no more than thirteen or fourteen years old.

Seeing Jiu Yue and Ji Yiqing, the boy excitedly waved at them, then seemed to realize his breach of etiquette and hurriedly bowed.

Ji Yiqing felt the boy looked somewhat familiar. “Who are you?”

The boy ran over quickly. “I work at the horse market—I clean the stables and lead the horses.”

Jiu Yue and Ji Yiqing remembered. This boy seemed to be the enthusiastic one from the horse market earlier.

He’d eagerly shown them horses, introducing each one tirelessly.

At that time, Jiu Yue had been holding some pastries. Later, when she didn’t want them anymore, she casually handed them to the boy.

Could it be that he thought she was generous and had deliberately come looking for them?

Ji Yiqing’s expression cooled as he was about to speak, but the boy, flustered, spoke first. “Miss, sir—you’d better not go home today.”

Ji Yiqing stepped sideways to block Jiu Yue behind him. “Why?”

The boy’s shoes were dusty, patched, even with holes, and his face was filthy. Still, it wasn’t hard to see his naturally handsome features.

As if he’d run too fast, he coughed twice in succession. “When you bought the carriage and left the horse market, I saw several people following you.”

“They’re bandits from Qingshui Stronghold. I once saw them kill someone.” As he spoke, the boy shuddered.

“I heard them say they wanted your lives. I also heard something about the Wang family, and about setting up an ambush or something.”

“I don’t know who you offended or what happened, but I came specially to tell you—today, it’s best if you go back into the city and stay the night.”

Ji Yiqing didn’t immediately believe him. Instead, he asked coldly, “How did you know we were taking this road?”

The boy scratched his head, looking a bit disheveled—he must have run too fast, his hair coming loose. “You mentioned it when we were chatting. I know you’re from Ji Village.”

Jiu Yue noticed that the boy had an oilcloth bundle tucked in his arms, with the name of the pastry shop still visible—it was the pastries she’d casually given him.

She found it a bit unbelievable. “Why did you specially come to tell us this?”

The boy looked up and smiled. “Because I think you’re good people.”

After speaking, the boy clasped his hands in farewell. “I’ve delivered the message. Please don’t go back—at least don’t go back tonight.”