In just over a month, the three of them would embark on their journey. Liu Yizhu wasn't sure how much time they would spend on the road, and she didn't want to neglect her studies. After taking a two-day break, she reluctantly returned to the academy.
"I'm leaving now, and I'll be back at the end of the month. Is there anything you want me to bring? We should prepare the gifts in advance before we return, or should we buy them in your hometown?"
"Let's buy them in my hometown. There doesn't seem to be much to bring from here, and it would be a waste if they got damaged on the bumpy road."
"Alright, then I'm off."
Liu Yizhu looked at Old Lady Wang, who had nothing special to tell her, and waved her hand. "Goodbye, goodbye."
Li Mingwei also waved at her, and as she watched him walk away, she breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally left.
She smiled at Old Lady Wang beside her and asked, "Mother, are you going to buy groceries? I'll go with you."
Old Lady Wang's gaze fell on Li Mingwei's hands, and she remembered what Wang Chunhua had said about her being too weak to carry things. She didn't want her to make the trip in vain.
But then she thought that at least there would be someone accompanying her, so she agreed, "Alright, let's go."
She closed the courtyard gate behind her and led Li Mingwei out.
Li Mingwei used to accompany Wang Chunhua to buy groceries frequently. She thought she was good at bargaining, but now, seeing how effortlessly Old Lady Wang interacted with the vendors and stall owners, she realized how shallow her skills were in the past.
After buying vegetables from one stall, the two of them walked a few steps forward when suddenly Old Lady Wang sighed, "Next time, we shouldn't buy from his family anymore. Let's go to another one. She used to want to marry her daughter into my family and always gave me a discount, but recently she hasn't been willing."
Li Mingwei rolled her eyes. Your son is already married, so it's strange that they still want to give you a discount.
She silently followed Old Lady Wang, and when they arrived at the school, Old Lady Wang told her not to accompany her anymore. "You can't help with cooking, so you can go back first. Come over for lunch later or stay in the school and read for a while."
Since there was no one at home, Li Mingwei didn't want to go back, so she went to the second floor of the school to read.
After finishing a class, Mr. Jin came up to rest and noticed that she didn't seem to be in high spirits. He thought she was missing Liu Yizhu and teased her, "You're like this right after he left. In a few days, you might not even be able to attend classes."
"Huh?" Li Mingwei frowned, and when she understood his meaning, she helplessly replied, "Mr. Jin, what are you thinking?"
"Aren't you thinking about Yizhu?"
"No." Li Mingwei tilted her chin slightly and then said, "I'm thinking about my mother-in-law."
"Hmm?"
"I just realized today that my mother-in-law is quite remarkable. When I went grocery shopping with her, it seemed like she knew everyone."
It was understandable that she was familiar with the vegetable vendors since they often interacted, but she also seemed to be on good terms with the shopkeepers and owners along the road. She would stop and greet almost everyone she encountered.
For example, the small inn where she stayed on her first day here. Logically speaking, she didn't need to stay at an inn, and they weren't relatives, so their interaction should have been minimal. However, she seemed to be very close with the innkeeper.
Upon hearing her question, Mr. Jin sighed with a wry smile and said after a long pause, "That's because your mother-in-law has worked for them before."
"She is not as skilled and literate as you, and her strength is not as strong as a man's. How do you think she managed to raise Yizhu all by herself?"
In the beginning, his school only had a few students, all from the town, so there was no need to hire someone to cook. The children would go home to eat and then come back, with enough time to spare.
In the past two years, because of Liu Yizhu, his reputation has grown, and some people from nearby villages have started sending their children to him. They couldn't go home for lunch, and eating at restaurants every day was expensive, so Mr. Jin hired Old Lady Wang to set up a canteen.
Before this, Old Lady Wang used to do odd jobs and chores for the shop owners outside, so everyone knew her.
"The small inn you mentioned used to be her only stable source of income. She would change the bedsheets and pillowcases there for seven or eight years. Later, when Yizhu became a scholar, he started earning a little money each month, and the first thing he did was ask her to quit that job."
Initially, Old Lady Wang didn't want to quit, but it was Mr. Jin who gave her this cooking job, and she reluctantly accepted it.
Li Mingwei bit her finger. She had heard Sister Chunhua mention before that Old Lady Wang had a difficult life, but she didn't expect it to be this hard. It would be fine in the summer, but the water was so cold in the winter, and she endured it like that.
Mr. Jin recalled those past events with a touch of sadness and said softly, "Winter is hard to endure, especially when you spend an hour or two soaking in cold water. Her hands have never been good. They are full of cracks, and when it gets severe, they even bleed. Yizhu was young at that time, and she scared him so much that he didn't want to study."
"He came to apologize to me, saying that he wanted to quit school and help his mother wash clothes to earn money. At that time, my situation wasn't good either, and I couldn't help them. I could only watch him walk away with a small bundle."
"I don't know what they said afterwards, but the next day, with red eyes, he was sent back."
The day before, feeling helpless in his inability to assist, Mr. Jin spent a sleepless night full of guilt. From that day on, his concern for Liu Yizhu increased by a considerable margin. It might have been unfair to the other children, but at that moment, he was genuinely grateful for his return and the opportunity to give him another chance.
Li Mingwei wiped away her tears and sat in her own seat, feeling desolate in her heart.
Although life in Qingshi Town was poor, she had arrogantly believed that she could support herself even without her family's help and live a decent life. Unfortunately, she forgot that everything she relied on for survival was given by her family.
She learned to read and write from her grandfather, and embroidery was taught by an embroiderer hired by her family. Even though she left home, she couldn't escape from it.
If she didn't know anything and had no money, what kind of life could she live? She couldn't even earn money by washing clothes. Perhaps she would starve to death in some unknown place.
She had always yearned for a life without rules and social conventions, but if she had truly been born in such a poor town or village, as an ordinary peasant child, free from those constraints since childhood, could she really be as happy as she is today?
She thought she had achieved everything by herself, only to realize that it was all illusion. The shackles of the capital city were something she could never escape from.
Li Mingwei chuckled self-deprecatingly, feeling like a fool.
Suddenly, she didn't want to go back. She had been too eager, only thinking about how to contend with her mother before.
Liu Yizhu had never experienced these things before. If she took him back now and he made the slightest mistake, the rumors in the capital would spread like a flood, devouring him. It wouldn't just be her who would be laughed at, but the entire Li family would become a laughingstock.
And then there was her mother-in-law. She had never learned the proper etiquette and would be subject to ridicule by others.
Every single thing that made her want to escape, every clause and condition, would become their burden.
She should wait a little longer. Perhaps if Liu Yizhu passed the autumn examination successfully and became a jinshi next year, she could bring him back without causing too much shame to her family.
At least he had achieved this based on his own abilities. Considering his family background and age, it was not easy to become a jinshi. It wouldn't mean she had poor judgment if he became the top scorer, it would prove her discerning eye and justify her status as a daughter of the Li family, just like her grandfather who had great foresight.
Of course, this was the best possible outcome. But if, by any chance...
There won't be any "by any chance"!
Biting her lip, Li Mingwei prepared paper and pen and wrote a letter to encourage Liu Yizhu in his studies, also telling him not to come back for now.
After sealing the letter, she drew up a manual of etiquette for her mother-in-law, intending to show it to her and help her learn during her free time.
Sneaking out secretly, she was determined to return with her head held high and her chest puffed out.
