Then she glanced at herself, dressed in coarse, drab clothing she wouldn’t have worn before—worn solely for the convenience of labor—looking entirely disheveled and unkempt.
She suddenly felt an inexplicable urge to cry.
She hadn’t always been like this. Yet now, she spent her days doing backbreaking work, still being scolded by Grandma, who called her lazy and gluttonous and said she couldn’t do anything right…
Wang Shi said with a complicated expression, “Li Niang truly married into the right family. It’s just a pity that Scholar Fu’s health isn’t good. If only he were in good health…”
Old Madam Yu, feeling annoyed, snapped, “A sickly man, so ugly he can’t even be seen in public—what’s so great about him?”
She was unwilling to admit that it was her own greed for the twenty taels of betrothal money that had prompted her to facilitate this marriage in the first place, ultimately leading the Yu family to its current state.
Not only did they not receive a single copper of the betrothal money, but the Yu family was also forced to split into separate households.
In the end, the Yu family gained nothing, while that wretched girl Yu Li’s life kept getting better and better. Old Madam Yu was fuming with resentment.
Wang Shi and Yu Qin were momentarily stunned.
They had almost forgotten about that part of the story.
The rumors about Fu Wenxiao being an ugly man had already spread throughout Qingshi Village. People said that no matter how rich the Fu family was, it didn’t change the fact that their son was a sickly, ugly man who couldn’t be seen in public.
Suddenly, Yu Qin felt much better about herself.
So what if Yu Li was doing well now? Her husband was a sickly and ugly man. She would be burdened by him for the rest of her life.
—
Zhou Shi kept Yu Li at home to rest for five days before finally allowing her to go out and do some work.
Even so, she was still worried. “If you feel uncomfortable, stop working and come back home. Let Xiao Ge’er support you. I can support you too. I’ll just take on more large embroidery commissions…”
Yu Li said, “But I eat a lot.”
“That’s nothing!” Zhou Shi waved her hand dismissively. “Let Xiao Ge’er copy more rare manuscripts to sell. He’s read plenty of them anyway.” The first rare manuscript Fu Wenxiao sold had been taken to the bookshop by Zhou Shi herself, so she was very familiar with the process.
Yu Li: “…”
She blinked and was once again reminded that Fu Wenxiao was a golden treasure.
Back in their room, she saw Fu Wenxiao sitting by the window reading a book. She couldn’t help but stare at him directly.
Fu Wenxiao set down the book, his expression soft and gentle, as he asked in a warm tone, “Li Niang, what’s on your mind?”
Yu Li sat across from him, her face serious, and asked, “Have you read a lot of rare manuscripts?”
“Not too many,” Fu Wenxiao said modestly. “Back in the day, my family had some foundation and collected quite a few rare manuscripts. I’ve read through a couple of them during my leisure time.”
Yu Li exclaimed in awe, “Now I finally understand why everyone wants to study.”
Because scholars could really make money easily.
The saying that “a scholar is useless” only applied to those pedantic and impractical scholars. Truly educated people, with flexible minds, could make money with ease.
Fu Wenxiao chuckled. For him, studying wasn’t about making money—it was about achieving scholarly honors, ascending to a higher social class, wielding power, and earning respect.
Making money was secondary.
That was the way of the world. What man didn’t aspire to build a career of merit?
Yu Li added, “Tomorrow, I’ll go to the county town and stop by the bookshop to collect the payment.”
Fu Wenxiao held his book and smiled at her.
She continued, “Xiao Ge’er , when your health gets better in the future, you must remember to earn money for me to spend.”
For a moment, Fu Wenxiao couldn’t describe what he was feeling. Or perhaps he wasn’t feeling anything at all—his mind had gone completely blank.
She said, when his health got better…
For the first time, he heard it clearly from her—that his body would recover.
She said it so naturally, as if his recovery was a matter of course, something inevitable.
Fu Wenxiao had never believed that, dragging along this broken body of his, he could live like an ordinary person. To him, simply being alive was a luxury.
In the past, he had sought divine doctors to save him, but in the end, none of them could help.
He had long since given up.
He was not someone who easily resigned himself to fate, but reality had forced him to do so.
Drifting to this remote village, he spent year after year, day after day, enduring a life of pain and monotony. Lying in bed, silently counting the passing hours, he could feel his life slowly ebbing away.
When he was near the end of his life, a young woman appeared and told him he didn’t have to die.
She said he would get better.
“…Alright,” Fu Wenxiao said hoarsely. “I’ll work hard to earn money for you to spend.”
The Fu Wenxiao of the past had everything and cared little for wealth, regarding it as something external and insignificant, the least valuable thing he possessed.
But the Fu Wenxiao of now had nothing, and he was determined to work hard to earn money for her.
—
The sky outside was still dark when Yu Li woke up.
She accepted a basket of scallion pancakes from Zhou Shi, who had covered them with a cloth.
The roads in this world were dirt paths. When the wind blew, dust swirled through the air, and anyone walking outside for a day would return covered in it, looking travel-worn and weary.
“Mother, I’m leaving now. Go back to bed,” Yu Li said to Zhou Shi, who had risen in the middle of the night to make her breakfast.
Zhou Shi responded and said, “If you’re hungry, eat more. If it’s not enough, let me know, and I’ll make more for you tomorrow.”
“It’s enough. There’s food in the county town, too.”
Yu Li urged Zhou Shi to return to her room and rest. Then, carrying the basket and a bamboo backpack, she set out.
Outside, it was pitch dark, with stars twinkling in the sky.
Yu Li no longer stumbled blindly, like a person fumbling in the dark. By the starlight, she could make out the outlines of trees in the shadows.
When she repaired her body with her abilities, her night blindness had also been cured. Now, even on dark roads at night, she could see without needing to carry a torch.
Upon arriving at the county town, Yu Li headed straight for the butcher’s shop.
On the way, she encountered a drunken man who, upon seeing her, tried to harass her. Yu Li did not hold back—she slapped him so hard that he flew into a wall. The drunkard slumped to the ground, dazed, and promptly began snoring as he fell asleep.
Yu Li ignored him. Soon, the patrolling officers would pass by and deal with the drunkard.
She had arrived early. When she reached the butcher’s shop, only Zhang Fu was there, bleary-eyed, squatting to sharpen his knife. The others had not yet arrived.
Upon seeing Yu Li, Zhang Fu immediately woke up. He put down his slaughtering knife and walked over to size her up for a moment. “Li Niang, how’s your health? Are you all better now? Why are you here today instead of resting at home?”
They had all been quite worried about her. When they heard that she had fallen unconscious and wouldn’t wake up, they feared the worst.
Fortunately, Tu Laoda reassured them that she woke up after two days and only needed to recuperate, so she stayed home to rest.
Yu Li said, “I’m fine now. I’ve rested enough, so I came over.”
Zhang Fu examined her under the dim light of the oil lamp and noticed that her complexion seemed good, indicating she was indeed in better shape.
When Tu Laoda and the others arrived and saw Yu Li, they immediately began fussing over her, expressing their concern.
Yu Li responded to each of them, assuring them she was perfectly fine.
“Elder sister Yu, your face looks plumper now,” Zhang Yaoping said bluntly, his youthful nature showing in his careless words. “Have you been sleeping and eating, eating and sleeping these past few days?”
Zhang Fu smacked the back of his head. “What do you mean ‘eating and sleeping’? You think she’s a pig?”
Zhang Yaoping protested, “Didn’t Tu Laoda say she needed to recuperate? Isn’t that just eating and sleeping? Look at Elder sister Yu, hasn’t she grown a lot in just a few days? She looks like a proper young lady now.”
He regarded Yu Li as an older sister and knew she was already married, so he spoke with complete honesty, without any ulterior motive.
The others glanced at Yu Li and couldn’t help but agree—didn’t she now look like a grown young lady?
Previously, she had been short and skinny, and they had always treated her like a little girl to be looked after. But now…
By the time daylight fully broke and Yu Li returned from her delivery, they finally realized just how much she had changed.
If it weren’t for the fact that she was still the same person with the same face—though, wait, her skin was now much fairer, and her features seemed to have fully blossomed, giving her a stunning and refined appearance—they might not have recognized her.
“Li Niang, is the effect of this body recuperation really that good?” Uncle Luo exclaimed in surprise. “Which doctor prescribed the tonic? I should get some for my Nuannuan to recuperate too.”
Zhang Yaoping immediately chimed in, “Uncle Luo, don’t even think about it! Your Nuannuan’s already round as a ball!”
Uncle Luo raised his hand, pretending to strike him. In a father’s eyes, his daughter wasn’t fat—she was healthy and plump.
Yu Li replied, “It’s Doctor Xu from Huichun Hall.”
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in understanding. “Doctor Xu, huh? His medical skills really are excellent. He’s the best doctor in our county.”
The people at the butcher’s shop marveled at Yu Li’s transformation.
If it weren’t for the fact that they had witnessed her gradual change—from skeletal thinness to gradually filling out, and now fully recuperated—they might have thought she had been replaced by someone else.
Of course, no one overthought it. They simply assumed that she had been well cared for at home during these days of recovery. Combined with her ongoing treatment, it seemed natural for her to end up looking like this.
After chatting with them for a while, Yu Li collected her wages and left the butcher’s shop.
Instead of heading straight to the bookshop, she went to a narrow alley in town called Luoyu Alley.
At the entrance of the alley stood a large banyan tree. Nearby, children often played under the tree, and occasionally, groups of young men would squat in the corners gambling.
As Yu Li passed by, she glanced toward the group of idle gamblers clustered together.
She paused, changed direction, and walked toward them. Then, without hesitation, she delivered a solid kick to the back of one of the gamblers.
The man stumbled forward, crashing into the person across from him, setting off a chain reaction that left the group sprawled on the ground in disarray.
Cursing and muttering, the group turned their angry faces toward her, only for their expressions to shift to shock when they saw who it was.
“Li…Boss Li?”