Chapter 10 Yunling Mountain

Jiang Shuyue looked at the mother and son in cotton clothes, and felt that they were both in the same boat.

"I'm willing to go, but I have to pay the rent for the house."

The little boy heard that Jiang Shuyue was willing to go, and he happily pulled Jiang Shuyue's sleeve, as if he was afraid that she would regret it.

The woman did not refuse, and she introduced herself: "My husband's surname is Su, you can call me aunt in the future."

"I am Nannan, the Nan in Nan Ke Yi Meng."

"My surname is Jiang, and my name is Shuyue. Nannan can call me Sister Yue'er." Jiang Shuyue saw Nannan's cute appearance and couldn't help but touch his little head.

"Aunt, Qiuju is with me. She is waiting for me in front. We haven't had lunch yet. Let's go back after we have lunch together!"

Jiang Shuyue looked at the woman's washed white cotton dress, and thought that she must have fainted from hunger because she couldn't bear to eat.

"I'm sorry for the expense, girl." Aunt Su nodded and smiled generously.

As long as the girl goes with her, the Su family will take care of her more in the future, and they can repay this favor.

What Mrs. Su didn't expect was that Jiang Shuyue would bring such changes to the Su family in this one encounter.

Under the guidance of Aunt Su, Jiang Shuyue went to buy some cotton wool and cotton cloth.

Qiuju was so happy to know that she had a place to go.

Finally, she didn't have to live a life of displacement.

Seeing that Mrs. Su had a kind face, she was also relieved.

With cash in hand, Jiang Shuyue found a small restaurant and ordered three meat dishes, two vegetables and a soup.

Seeing that Mrs. Su ate elegantly, Jiang Shuyue was more certain of her guess that the Su family was definitely not authentic villagers.

After dinner, Mrs. Su bought a few kilograms of brown rice and a little salt to take back.

Jiang Shuyue heard from Mrs. Su that they would take a bullock cart back to the village in a while.

She asked Qiuju to buy rice, flour, oil and some daily necessities.

After leaving the county town, they got off the official road and walked into a small road. After walking for about an hour, they finally arrived at the foot of Yunling Mountain.

This is a small mountain village surrounded by mountains on three sides, and behind the village are rolling mountains.

"The Su family's wife went to the county town today. Are there guests coming to your house?" A nosy woman asked while looking at the mule cart.

"Yes! They are my family members." Mrs. Su did not exchange pleasantries with the women, and led Jiang Shuyue and Qiuju home.

The Su family lived at the end of the village.

Villagers cast curious glances along the way.

Nan Nan seemed to see through Jiang Shuyue's thoughts, and he lowered his voice and said, "Sister Yue'er, you can take the path beside the field when you are not driving the mule cart on weekdays."

After walking through a bamboo forest, three tiled houses and two thatched houses appeared in front of us.

"Sister Yue'er, this is our home, the old house is over there."

Following the direction of Nan Nan's finger, two tiled houses and a thatched house were seen across a piece of land.

From the falling fence wall, it can be seen that the house seems to have been uninhabited for a long time.

Outside the fence, there are deep green bamboos. Although it is winter, there are still many lush trees on both sides of the path.

"Green bamboos enter the secluded path, and green vines brush against the clothes." Jiang Shuyue blurted out.

What a hidden place in the mountain village.

"Mother! Brother, this is..."

When Jiang Shuyue was looking at the old house in the distance, a little girl about twelve years old came out of the house.

"Hui'er, come and meet Sister Su and Miss Qiuju." Aunt Su waved to the little girl.

The little girl stepped forward and made a standard blessing to Jiang Shuyue and Qiuju.

Jiang Shuyue and Qiuju hurriedly returned the greeting, and Jiang Shuyue said: "Sister Hui'er, don't be polite. I will bother you in the future."

The little girl's eyebrows are like crescent moons, and a pair of dark and clear big eyes are as bright as black grapes.

With a white oval face, cherry lips and a beautiful nose, she is a beauty at first glance.

She smiled and said, "Sister, please don't bother me. There are only my brother and my younger brother at home. Hui'er finally has a companion."

"Sister, where are Dad and Big Brother!" Nan Nan walked towards home with Jiang Shuyue like a little adult.

"Dad and Big Brother went up the mountain to burn charcoal. They won't be back today."

It is the custom of the mountain people to go to the mountain to barbecue before it snows. The bad ones are kept at home for the winter, and the good ones are selected and sold in the county, just to get a good price.

Aunt Su said to Jiang Shuyue, "You and Qiuju will stay at our house tonight. Tomorrow we will go to clean up the old house together."

Qiuju and Nan Nan pulled the mule cart into the yard. Su Hui learned that her mother and Jiang Shuyue had lunch in the county town, and served mint tea and pine nuts.

After a round of greetings, Jiang Shuyue learned that Aunt Su's husband Su Huairen had passed the imperial examination.

Su Huairen served as the Assistant Law Officer in the Taichang Temple, an eighth-rank official, and worked diligently.

The candidates of Wanling State could continue their studies and take the imperial examinations.

Su Huairen was lucky. Later, he passed the imperial examination and became a minister of the Ministry of Rites.

But he was also unfortunate. He was framed by villains, his property was confiscated and he was demoted back to his hometown. He was almost exiled.

After returning to his hometown, Su Huairen's parents could not bear this huge blow. They both passed away in the second year after returning to their hometown.

The court ordered that the descendants of demoted officials were not allowed to enter the officialdom. Su Huairen did not give up teaching his three children to read.

He said that everything was inferior, only reading was high, and reading could open one's mind and understand the truth.

Speaking of her husband, Aunt Su's eyes were full of light, which showed how loving they were.

After a short rest, Aunt Su took Jiang Shuyue to see the old house.

"This house was where my husband lived before he passed the imperial examination. After we returned to our hometown, there was no room for many people, so we borrowed money from my mother's family and built the current house."

When Aunt Su talked about the past, there was no ripple in her eyes, which showed that she had looked down on the past and was content to be a peasant woman.

Jiang Shuyue walked into the courtyard, and the weeds in the cracks of the stone slabs in the courtyard had already withered and turned yellow.

The mottled window frames were covered with spider webs.

There were two main rooms, one bedroom behind the main room, and the other room had no partition wall, which made it much more spacious.

The floor of the house was paved with bluestone slabs, which looked pretty good.

The bed and tables and chairs in the house were very old, and it was obvious that they were a bit old.

"Wait for Su Jin to go home and ask him to find some wood to mortise and tenon it again, and it will be stable." Aunt Su pushed the tables and chairs, which shook a little, and the mortise and tenon joints of the tables and chairs had loosened.

Before she saw Su Jin, Jiang Shuyue could hear that if this family didn't have Su Jin, it would have fallen apart.

In front of the thatched house were the firewood room and the kitchen, and there was a small utility room at the back.

Aunt Su said that the house was empty anyway, and it would be more lively if someone lived in it, so she would not charge rent.

Jiang Shuyue insisted on giving her one or two taels of silver, otherwise she would not stay.

Aunt Su could not persuade her, so she had to accept it.

In this way, Jiang Shuyue and Qiuju lived in this remote village.

On the tenth day of the sixth month of the following year, a baby's cry resounded through the sky.

A little boy was born.

"Yue'er, look how handsome this child is." Aunt Su sent the midwife away, turned around and held the child to show Jiang Shuyue.

Qiuju cleaned up the blood-stained cushion, turned around and stretched her neck to look at the little guy wrapped in fine cotton cloth.

"Miss, look, why is the young master's face as red as a monkey's butt!"