Chapter 9
“Aren’t you taking your clothes off?”
They were about to rest when Song Yugui saw Shen Xizhi still dressed in her snowy-white undergarments. Remembering her assessment from the previous day—that she liked to sleep naked—she asked casually.
Shen Xizhi’s body stiffened slightly. Kneeling on the edge of the bed, her thick lashes fluttered, her voice extremely soft and thin. “Yes, I’ll take them off once I’m in.”
Song Yugui likes it when I take my clothes off…
Shen Xizhi had come to this realization.
She told herself, It’s just taking off my clothes, it’s no big deal. At least it doesn’t hurt. We are wives, after all. It’s normal to see each other’s bodies.
“Oh.”
Song Yugui obediently made room for her. She crawled past her, sat on the inner side of the bed, and slowly began to undress.
Her pale hands clutched her clothes, first the inner trousers, then the inner robe, until only a red, washed-out, yet still vibrant, dudou remained.
Shen Xizhi pressed one hand over the dudou, her cheeks as pink as a spring peach, hesitating whether to untie it.
Unaware of her hesitation, Song Yugui had already stripped down to her undergarments and was lying down, quietly watching her.
The quilt was small and thin, completely inadequate. She was waiting for the other woman to lie down so they could huddle together for warmth.
Seeing her watching her undress, Shen Xizhi understood her meaning.
First, she closed her eyes tightly, then bit her lip. Finally, with a surge of resolution, she untied the red knot of the dudou.
The red fabric slid down her snowy, smooth body, falling between her legs, concealing a hint of darkness and vibrant color. Even though Song Yugui had seen it before, seeing it again still made her stare.
So firm, so perky, so red.
To avoid a shameful nosebleed, she quickly looked down and said hastily, “Hurry up and lie down. I’m getting sleepy.”
Hearing her urgency, a starlike glint of moisture appeared in Shen Xizhi’s eyes. She nodded timidly and didn’t refuse.
Not wanting to provoke any more displeasure, she curled up and lay down.
Song Yugui shifted over and pulled her into an embrace, their chests pressing together, her long fingers wrapped around the woman’s slender waist. “Sleep!”
After issuing the command, she really did close her eyes.
But she left Shen Xizhi with her eyes wide in surprise. She’s not going to do anything? Not tonight either? Just… sleep like this?
The young woman was filled with doubt and suspicion, afraid that the other was tricking her. She carefully tried to find any sign of pretense on her face.
But there was none, not a single trace. She had even… already fallen asleep, her breathing even, her arm loosely draped over her waist.
Song Yugui hadn’t been transmigrated for long. This body was used to being lazy and pampered; its stamina was terrible. Just cutting a little pig feed had left her completely exhausted. She had fallen asleep not long after lying down.
But even though her body was tired, she forced herself up early the next morning, crawling out of the less-than-warm bed and leaving Shen Xizhi inside, to go to town and find a job.
The work she used to do wasn’t suitable for ancient times. It would require a lot of capital and time to develop, and right now, she and the original owner’s wife were on the verge of starvation. Those options were clearly out.
After searching for a long time, she could only find a job as a waiter to tide her over.
She had originally wanted to find a job as an abacus master, but she discovered that she couldn’t write the ancient characters…
Truly, if you don’t work hard when you’re young, you’ll only regret it when you’re old. If she ever had the good fortune to go back, she would definitely study until she knew the books inside and out!
So thought Song Yugui as she carried a tray.
This restaurant was an old, well-known establishment in the small town of Lin’an County.
There was a constant flow of customers every day, so after two waiters quit, the owner was in a hurry to hire new ones to avoid affecting service.
Song Yugui was selected without much competition. The monthly salary was three hundred wen, which wasn’t a small amount. Based on the price of rice from yesterday, at least they wouldn’t starve.
Being a waiter was even more tiring than cutting pig feed. She was running around the restaurant all day. By the time the half-day’s work was finally over, the sky was already dark. The owner was a nice, plump, and kind-looking woman.
“You’ve worked hard today. I’ll definitely hire a helper for you tomorrow.”
Both of the restaurant’s waiters had jumped ship to another restaurant, which had almost thrown her into a panic. She had rushed to hire someone and had only managed to find Song Yugui.
Song Yugui shook her head, her face embarrassed. “I should be the one thanking you, sister. If you hadn’t let me work at the restaurant, I would have starved to death.”
“Nonsense. A young person with hands and feet, how could you starve to death?”
Song Yugui scratched her head awkwardly, too embarrassed to talk about her own troubles.
The owner’s name was Lanxiang. Seeing her like this, she knew she was genuinely in a difficult situation. She lifted her slender hand, which was holding a fan, and waved the feathered fan in her hand. “I have some leftover meat in the kitchen. It’s from yesterday. It hasn’t gone bad, but we can’t serve it to customers tomorrow. Why don’t you take it home for a meal?”
Meat?
Song Yugui’s eyes lit up.
“That would be wonderful, of course! Thank you, Owner!”
“What’s there to thank me for? When I was your age, I worked just as hard. Seeing you is like seeing my former self.”
Lanxiang lowered her eyes, as if lost in memory.
Song Yugui blinked, sensing that it was best to say less. She stood quietly to the side like a chicken until Lanxiang waved her fan and smiled gently. “Alright, go to the kitchen and get it. I’ve had it all packed up. It’s not just for you; everyone gets some.”
Shiyue Pavilion was a large restaurant in Lin’an County, and they were very particular about their ingredients. Food that wasn’t fresh was not used; it was usually divided among the kitchen staff and waiters to take home.
Song Yugui thanked her again and happily took the meat, which was wrapped in oiled paper, and headed home.
She hadn’t had any meat since she arrived here!
She had been eating wild vegetables all this time; she was about to turn into a wild vegetable herself.
When she had come to work at noon today, the lunch rush was already over, so she had only eaten a little. She had heard that the restaurant usually provided meals with meat for its employees. She would try it tomorrow. Today, she would try the villain’s cooking first.
The sky was getting dark. She walked back from the small town. As she passed a row of vegetable stalls, she really wanted to buy a few vegetables to stir-fry with the meat, but… she had no money.
Damn it all.
When would she ever have money to spare?
I really want to run you all over.
Song Yugui was overcome with grief. The owner of the vegetable stall she had been eyeing suddenly couldn’t sit still any longer. She stood up angrily, biting her lip. “Song Yugui! Didn’t I warn you? Stop following me!”
Song Yugui was startled and instinctively retorted, “Wait, who are you?”
The other person was furious. “Don’t think you can get my attention by playing hard to get! I’ve told you so many times, I don’t like women, and I don’t like hooligans!”
Song Yugui finally recognized her. This was the girl who had spat at her the time before last, and who had inexplicably appeared last time, said a bunch of things, and then run off. The village chief’s daughter, according to Xizhi.
The original owner had probably been harassing her. Although she wasn’t the one who had done it, the other girl didn’t know that. Damn it, she had to take the blame again.
Not wanting to argue with her, as it wouldn’t lead to anything, Song Yugui could only lower her head.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. I won’t come over here again next time.”
There were so many vegetable stalls; she could just look at someone else’s. She didn’t have to buy from this one.
“Hmph, you’ve said that hundreds of times!”
Song Yugui: …
Give me a break, original owner. Don’t push me to my death.
She had nothing to say in her defense, so she could only walk away in silence, carrying the meat.
On the small earthen slope in Songjia Village, Shen Xizhi, along with a neighbor, was carrying a basin of laundry when she ran into Song Yugui at their gate.
