Chapter 8: The Countryside Wife and the White Moonlight (8)

Su Yu and Li Hua departed the inn, Li Hua’s admiration for Su Yu overflowing.

“Mother, if only I could be half as incredible as you someday! Then I could protect both of us from being bullied.”

Su Yu looked back as she walked. “As long as you have a heart eager to learn, there is nothing you cannot accomplish. For now, I can shield you; all your little head needs to focus on is your studies. Pay no mind to anything else.”

“Li Hua will remember! I will study hard with Mother!” Li Hua broke into a sweet, beaming smile, her eyes squinting into slits as the plump flesh of her cheeks bunched together.

It was the very first time anyone had ever offered to protect her. If her own mother were still alive, she surely would have treated her with the same tenderness.

“Is there a fabric store nearby?” Su Yu’s gaze swept over the storefronts flanking the street.

Though Li Hua rarely went out, she had heard the other maids in the manor talk. “There is one in Putao Alley on Hongfu Street called Tongshengji. It is a century-old shop known for good quality and reasonable prices. I hear they even carry fabrics imported from foreign planets!”

Su Yu had brought all nineteen silver dollars with her today. Whether meeting tutors or stepping out of the manor, she could not afford to look excessively shabby. Presenting oneself neatly was a basic courtesy.

Cosmetics and high-end skincare were beyond her means for now, so she had merely asked Butler Qian to procure a jar of vanishing cream. Applying it to her face and hands daily, her skin had already improved considerably over the past few days, losing its initial coarse texture.

Su Yu had Li Hua lead the way. To her surprise, Putao Alley was even more secluded than the hostel. For a century-old establishment to thrive in such an obscure location, the old adage truly held: fine wine needs no bush.

Su Yu was still dressed in garments tailored from her country-planet clothes. Li Hua wore her manor maid uniform, which, in terms of fabric quality, was actually superior to Su Yu’s attire.

When the two stepped into Tongshengji, the shop assistant who came forward to greet them was visibly bewildered. Retail clerks cultivated keen eyes for customers; here stood two women, one older and one barely fourteen or fifteen. The older woman wore coarse cloth clearly dyed at home in an old-fashioned, drab indigo, while the younger girl wore noticeably better fabric—inexpensive, but at least store-bought.

The clerk’s gaze flickered between the two. When Su Yu’s sharp, elegant phoenix eyes swept over him, a cold shiver shot down his spine, and he instantly knew who was in charge. “May I ask if the lady wishes to purchase fabric or ready-made garments? We also carry imported chiffon from foreign planets. Tailoring a chiffon dress for the summer is both breezy and beautiful.”

Su Yu examined the bolts of cloth stacked on the counter. “How much are the green printed fine cotton, the white shimmering silk, and the garnet-red polyester silk?”

The fabrics Su Yu selected were inexpensive yet ideal for tailoring qipaos. The green printed fine cotton could be made into a short-sleeved summer qipao, light and airy, while the white shimmering silk and garnet-red polyester silk were perfectly suited for spring.

“The printed cotton is one silver dollar for three chi, while the shimmering silk and polyester silk are one silver dollar for two chi. Does the lady intend to make qipaos?”

Su Yu nodded. “How many chi do you reckon I need?”

Not daring to let his gaze linger improperly, the clerk cast a quick estimation. “Six chi of the printed cotton, and eight chi each of the other two should suffice.”

Su Yu instructed him to wrap the fabrics and paid ten silver dollars. A few bolts of cloth had consumed more than half her wealth, underscoring just how tight her purse strings were.

When the clerk brought over the packaged bolts, Li Hua offered, “Mother, let me carry them for you.”

Considering the bundle had some heft, Su Yu figured carrying it would serve as part of Li Hua’s exercise. “Tell me if you get tired.”

Putao Alley was separated from the Marshal’s Manor by five streets, a half-hour walk away. Li Hua already struggled to keep pace unburdened; lugging two jin of fabric would surely exhaust her.

“Mother, I am very strong!” Li Hua felt underestimated. After all, she had bested four other maidservants to win this assignment.

“Very well. Hold on to them, and let’s go.” Su Yu cast a cool glance at the shop assistant, who had been suppressing a chuckle. The look terrified him into instant sobriety. With a stiff, awkward smile, he escorted them to the threshold. “Please come again!”

Once they were out of earshot, Li Hua leaned close to Su Yu and whispered, “Mother, that clerk was so strange.”

“Was he?” He was probably just frightened by my look.

Hongfu Street branched into more than just Putao Alley. Having taken the long way around via the main avenue on their way here, Li Hua suggested on their return, “Mother, let us cut through the alleys. We can bypass directly to Yuguang Street.”

Li Hua spoke with utter confidence, so Su Yu replied, “As long as you know the way.”

“Don’t worry, Mother! I grew up running through back alleys. The alleys in Xuancheng are all pretty much the same—there won’t be any problem!”

Li Hua hurried a few paces ahead, her face flushed with excitement as she looked back. “Mother, follow me!”

Twisting and turning through the labyrinthine passages, Li Hua stopped at a fork and pointed to the right. “Mother, once we pass through here, we’ll be out in no time.”

Though the maze was enough to make one’s head spin, it was indeed much faster than taking the main road. Following Li Hua around the right turn, Su Yu walked a short distance before the sound of footsteps reached her ears.

They had not crossed paths with a single soul in the alleys until now, so the sight of figures approaching made them halt in their tracks.

Curiously, the moment the other party spotted them, the man on the outer side—dressed in a black magua and a wide-brimmed hat—immediately positioned his body to shield a woman who was being supported by another, shorter man behind him.

The man in the black magua glared warily. Su Yu kept her expression neutral, giving Li Hua a gentle nudge. “Keep moving.”

Li Hua nodded blankly and continued forward.

Watching the two female figures disappear down the alley, the man in the black magua finally breathed a sigh of relief. He stepped aside, revealing the woman in a moon-white qipao behind him. She possessed an exquisite, slender figure, her head drooping, her hair styled in delicate, permed curls with loose strands falling beside her ears.

The two men hoisted the woman between them to resume walking, only to hear approaching footsteps from behind. The man in the black magua whipped his head around in shock, only to find the fuller-figured woman who had just left striding purposefully back toward them.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” he barked, his eyes bulging.

Su Yu closed the distance, her narrow phoenix eyes fixing him with a freezing glare. With her red lips tightly pursed, she delivered a vicious kick straight to his knee.

Crack!

The crisp snap of shattering bone mingled with a blood-curdling screech. The man’s leg buckled as the bone fractured clean through. He collapsed to the flagstones, clutching his mangled leg in terror.

Seeing his accomplice taken down so effortlessly, the short man dropped the woman and fled in panic. Su Yu’s only intention was to save the captive, so she did not bother giving chase.

Gathering the woman into her arms, she gently propped her up against the wall, brushing away the loose curls obscuring her face to reveal an icy, strikingly glamorous countenance.

Curling eyelashes, full crimson lips, and skin as fair as fresh snow. A smudge of dirt dusted her cheek from the fall, yet far from making her look wretched, it lent her a touch of fragile charm.

Su Yu produced a handkerchief and tenderly wiped the dust from the woman’s face. Staring down at the unconscious beauty, she could not understand why her own heart was suddenly fluttering with uncharacteristic palpitations.