Chapter 99: Eating Cold Melons
Jiang Huaizhen drove the carriage with the goods out of the valley.
Dongzhi saw the carriage pass by her door and quickly ran out, shouting, “Sister, where are you going?”
Jiang Huaizhen stopped the carriage and asked, “I’m going to deliver the goods. Do you want to come with me?”
Sister Huaizhen would invite her to go with her to deliver the goods? This was something she had never dared to think of. Dongzhi thought she had misheard and quickly asked again, “Can I go with you?”
“You can,” Jiang Huaizhen lifted her chin. “If you’re not afraid of your butt hurting from sitting on the carriage, you can come up.”
Dongzhi quickly threw down the broom in her hand and ran to climb onto the carriage, afraid that if she were a little late, Sister Huaizhen would drive away without waiting for her.
Matron Yan came out of the house and cursed, “You’re leaving halfway through sweeping. See if I don’t break your legs when you get back.”
Seeing that it was Jiang Huaizhen, she immediately changed her expression and smiled. “Huaizhen, are you going to deliver the goods?”
Jiang Huaizhen said, “Yes. I’ll be back in over an hour. Can Dongzhi go with me?”
“It’s alright. Go on. Be careful on the road.”
“Alright.”
Jiang Huaizhen shook the reins, and Jing Lei strode forward.
Dongzhi was so happy to be on Jiang Huaizhen’s carriage that she wished all the children in the village could see her. But she didn’t dare to shout, afraid that Jiang Huaizhen would find her too noisy and dislike her.
Jiang Huaizhen looked at her restrained yet unrestrained appearance and smiled. “Do you like to go out a lot?”
“I do,” she loved it. “I just like to go to all sorts of places and see all sorts of people.”
“Then you’ll definitely be very successful in the future.”
“How successful? Like you?”
Jiang Huaizhen chuckled. “What kind of success do I have?”
Dongzhi disagreed and said loudly, “In my eyes, sister is the most successful person.”
Jiang Huaizhen held the reins in her hand and looked at the road ahead. “Why do you think I’m a successful person?”
“Grandpa said that those who can protect the people around them are the most successful. Your grandmother was about to die, and you dared to go out and chop off heads to earn money to treat her. There’s no one more amazing than you.”
Jiang Huaizhen’s eyes narrowed slightly. “But this also has a price. You’ve seen it. Now everyone is unwilling to see me. It was the same with my father before.”
“That’s because those people are all cowards,” Dongzhi snorted. “An executioner is just a job to support a family. It doesn’t represent you. You can also be a carpenter, a stonemason, or a pig butcher. The person who likes you won’t just see the job you do as your whole.”
Jiang Huaizhen smiled. “Then what will the person who likes me see in me?”
Dongzhi was a little embarrassed, but since Jiang Huaizhen had asked her, she had no choice but to reply, “They’ll see your character… your personality, and just you as a whole…”
Jiang Huaizhen saw that she rarely mentioned her appearance like others and couldn’t help but look at her a few more times.
“The person who likes you will like you no matter what you are.”
Jiang Huaizhen suddenly asked, “Will they always like me?”
Dongzhi replied with conviction, “They will. Anyway, I definitely will.”
Jiang Huaizhen just thought she was talking like a child, but undoubtedly, her mood was indeed much better because of her words. Especially Lin Shuang’s reluctance to part with her when she had left, which made her heart warm. And the unknown fears that had come from nowhere were also suppressed.
They first went to Zhoutoupo.
The old tea shed was still in the same place, but a new shed had been built next to it, and a few more tables and chairs had been added. Zhao Mei’er’s younger sister, Zhao Huan’er, was busy making flatbreads, and Old Madam Zhao was helping on the side.
Those who came for tea would inevitably order a few flatbreads, and those who came for flatbreads would inevitably buy a couple of bowls of tea. The two businesses were doing well together.
A few Hu merchants were sitting in the shed, drinking tea and eating flatbreads. Old Man Liu heard the sound of the cart wheels, looked over, and seeing Jiang Huaizhen driving the cart, his face lit up with joy. He walked out of the shed. “Little Jiang is here—”
Old Madam Zhao and Zhao Huan’er also looked over, their faces showing surprise and joy.
Jiang Huaizhen stopped the carriage, carried the jar down, and walked toward the shed.
The old woman wiped her hands on her apron and came up to her. “We’ve troubled Little Jiang to deliver the sauce to us again.”
Jiang Huaizhen said, “It’s no trouble. I’m delivering them all on the way.”
“Good, good. Huan’er, come out and get the sauce.”
Jiang Huaizhen said, “I’ll take it in. Where should I put it?”
“Sister Jiang, put it on the shelf here,” Zhao Huan’er looked at Jiang Huaizhen, her cheeks warm.
Jiang Huaizhen’s eyes softened, and she replied with an “alright.”
“How many catties?” Old Madam Zhao asked.
“Both the sauce and the oil pastry are twenty catties,” Jiang Huaizhen said.
Hearing this, Old Madam Zhao turned to get the money.
Jiang Huaizhen took the money from her hand and asked with some unease, “Is business good?”
Old Madam Zhao smiled. “Look at how busy our Huan’er is. How can it not be good?”
“As long as it’s good,” Jiang Huaizhen said. It was she and Lin Shuang who had suggested that they sell flatbreads here, hoping that they could earn some money to supplement their family’s income and not have to live such a hard life.
If they couldn’t earn money, then it would have been a false hope.
In fact, from the amount of sauce they had requested, she also knew that their business was not bad, and might even be better than the two stalls in the city. But she still wanted to hear it from them to be at ease.
“We can earn a dozen or so copper coins for each flatbread. On a good day, it’s four or five hundred coins. That’s a lot in a month,” Old Madam Zhao lowered her voice. “It’s all thanks to you, Little Jiang. If Mei’er knew in the underworld… sigh, let’s not talk about Mei’er. We have to look forward.”
Jiang Huaizhen’s eyelashes lowered. “You can sell the flatbreads well. You can sell them until December. I’ll send some new sauce over in a few days when you’ve used it up.”
Old Madam Zhao agreed and asked, “Is that child your younger sister? Does she want a flatbread?”
Jiang Huaizhen turned her head and saw that Dongzhi had run to the tea shed at some point and was chatting with a few Hu merchants. She couldn’t help but smile. “That’s my cousin. She can’t sit still at home, so she came out with me to play.”
With that, she called out to Dongzhi, “Dongzhi, let’s go.”
Dongzhi had said something to the Hu merchant and, hearing her call, she ran toward her like a gust of wind.
“Why did you run to their table as soon as I turned my head?”
Dongzhi smiled. “They look so interesting. I just went over to talk to them.”
Jiang Huaizhen couldn’t help but flick her on the forehead, bid farewell to the few of them, and got on the carriage to go to the city.
After going to the East Market, she went to the West City. Dongzhi got a flatbread from Wang Zhimei’s place and ate half of it in one go. She was so happy.
Jiang Huaizhen bought her some snacks to take back to her younger brother and sister, and also bought some meat at the market on the way home.
Seeing someone selling melons at the market, each one bigger than a baby’s head, green, with dark green stripes on the skin.
She didn’t know what kind of melon it was.
Jiang Huaizhen was not the kind of person who liked to join in the fun, but since Dongzhi was on her tiptoes, looking into the crowd, she also took a look.
The one selling the melons was an old man in a conical hat. He was holding a thin knife and, with a “crack,” he split the melon open, revealing the watery red flesh inside, with shiny black seeds embedded in it, like a handful of black pearls.
“This is called a cold melon. It’s a rare thing from the Western Regions!” the old man cut a thin slice and placed it on a lotus leaf. The juice soaked through the lotus leaf. “On a hot day, one slice is more thirst-quenching than drinking well water!”
A crowd had gathered around. When they heard that a melon was sold by the catty and one would cost over thirty copper coins, they were reluctant to buy it.
Jiang Huaizhen looked at the watery red flesh and felt that her throat was a little thirsty, so she went forward and bought two slices, one for Dongzhi and one for herself.
The melon slice was handed to her, and the coolness crawled up her arm from her fingertips.
With just one bite, the cool sweetness went from the tip of her tongue to the top of her head, and the heat was instantly dissipated by half.
She thought of Lin Shuang, who was probably busy in the fields at this moment, and her heart softened. She called out to the owner and bought three.
One for Dongzhi to take home, and the remaining two for them to eat when they got back.
Dongzhi had had a full harvest on this trip and was a little embarrassed. “Sister, can you take me with you next time? I don’t need to buy anything.”
Jiang Huaizhen rarely raised an eyebrow. “We’ll see then.”
When they entered the valley, they saw Lin Shuang from a distance, leading Ping’er to continue to reclaim the wasteland at the foot of the west mountain. Old Madam Jiang was nearby, pulling weeds. She led the horse back to the stable, put the meat away, and then turned and went to the fields.
Seeing her come with a bulging cloth bag, Lin Shuang’s moon-white shirt was blown against her waist by the wind, outlining her beautiful lines.
She straightened up and asked, “What did you buy?”
“Cold melons,” Jiang Huaizhen said, walking to the shade of a tree at the edge of the field. She took out a dagger, split the large cold melon in her hand, and the green skin split open, revealing the watery red flesh inside.
The clear and sweet juice immediately splashed out, creating dark round spots on the yellow dirt.
Ping’er ran over, cheering, and looked at this green-skinned and red-fleshed thing she had never seen before. She turned to look at Lin Shuang. “Auntie, can we eat this? It’s as red as…”
She suddenly got stuck, unable to think of a suitable word.
“Like the red jacket we wear for the new year,” the corners of Jiang Huaizhen’s mouth lifted slightly. She cut a slice and handed it to her. “Take it to Grandma to try first.”
Ping’er carefully held the melon slice and ran with her little short legs. “Grandma, have some melon—”
Old Madam Jiang propped herself up and squinted. “Oh my, this is so red—”
She took the melon slice, first sniffed it, and then took a small, tentative bite.
“Mmm! Sweet! It’s cooler than well water!”
Seeing Ping’er looking at her with eager eyes, Old Madam Jiang understood and handed the melon slice to her mouth. “Here, you little greedy cat.”
Ping’er took a bite, and her eyes also lit up. “Delicious—”
With that, she turned and ran toward Jiang Huaizhen.
Jiang Huaizhen had already cut the large cold melon into a dozen or so large and small slices. Seeing her run over, she handed her a slice. “Eat.”
Lin Shuang also came over at this time and sat down next to her.
Jiang Huaizhen also gave her a slice.
But Lin Shuang didn’t reach for it and just stared at her.
Jiang Huaizhen hesitated for a moment and brought the melon to her mouth.
But Lin Shuang suddenly said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “Feed me with your mouth.”
Hearing these few words, the heat in Jiang Huaizhen’s body instantly rose, and it soon burned to the base of her ears.
“Auntie!” Ping’er suddenly squeezed between the two of them, holding up a melon slice with her left hand. “Why aren’t you eating yet? It’s so delicious.”
Lin Shuang hadn’t expected that the little girl had heard her flirting with this block of wood. She cleared her throat, moved away a little, and then smiled at her. “I want Ping’er to feed me.”
Oh, what was so difficult about that?
Ping’er held the cold melon in her hand and brought it to her mouth. “Auntie, I’ll feed you.”
Lin Shuang took a bite and looked at Jiang Huaizhen, giggling.
Jiang Huaizhen’s ears were red, and she put the melon in her hand back on the rock.
“Auntie, is it sweet?” Ping’er took a bite herself and then asked Lin Shuang.
Lin Shuang looked at Jiang Huaizhen’s beautiful appearance and replied, “Sweet. It’s so sweet it’s gone to my heart.”
