Chapter : 15
How About I Take You to See a Doctor?
Whenever Xu Yuan glanced back, Bai Cha seemed to sense it.
“I’ll take good care of them,” she said softly.
“Good. When I get off work, we’ll take care of them together.”
Bai Cha tucked away a strand of hair lifted by the spring breeze and lowered her head, a smile curving her lips.
When she was a child living with her family, all the hens had been raised by her.
But the eggs always went to her older sisters because they were Qianyuan.
After she married into Xu Zhu’s family, she wasn’t allowed to eat eggs either because she had never given birth to a child.
However, whether it was her parents’ home or Xu Zhu’s household, neither family had ever owned twenty chickens and five ducklings.
For ordinary villagers, spending over a hundred copper coins at once on so many birds was extremely difficult.
Yet Xu Yuan had managed it.
In only three months, she had already saved more than two taels of silver.
The more Bai Cha thought about it, the more she admired Xu Yuan.
Secretly, she made a vow.
She would raise every one of those chicks and ducklings safely into adulthood.
For the time being, the chicks and ducklings were kept in Wang Cuicui’s backyard.
Xu Yuan bought five jin of wheat bran and mixed it into feed for them.
However, she worried the smell might become unpleasant.
Although Wang Cuicui had never complained, Xu Yuan took the initiative to ask for a day’s leave so they could move into a rental house.
She specifically wanted a place near Wang Cuicui’s home.
Wang Cuicui’s noodle shop had originally belonged to her mother.
Their family had lived in town for many years and ran a business, so they had extensive local connections.
One reason Xu Yuan wanted to live nearby was precisely because of that.
As the saying went, a single tree cannot make a forest.
She and Bai Cha belonged to a vulnerable group. If they lived alone in town and one day were discovered by Xu Dashan’s family…
But if they built strong relationships with Wang Cuicui’s family and gradually developed their own network, perhaps one day they could even force Xu Dashan’s family to return the settlement money and farmland that rightfully belonged to the original Xu Yuan.
Wang Cuicui was delighted by the idea.
After three months of working together, she, her mother, and Jiang Nan were all extremely satisfied with Xu Yuan.
Helping her out a little wasn’t difficult at all.
As they had hoped, Xu Yuan and Bai Cha moved into the middle house in the alley beside Wang Cuicui’s home.
Because of Wang Cuicui’s mother’s recommendation, the landlord reduced the rent by twenty copper coins.
The monthly rent became one hundred and eighty copper coins.
The house itself was somewhat old and worn down.
But saving twenty copper coins made Bai Cha happier than anything.
She immediately borrowed a broom and other cleaning tools from Wang Cuicui’s family and started cleaning.
Originally, Xu Yuan had planned to take a full day off work to help move and clean.
But Bai Cha insisted she could handle the cleaning herself.
After all, they hardly had any possessions.
A straw sleeping mat.
Two sets of old clothes.
An oil lamp.
A small wooden basin.
Twenty chicks.
Five ducklings.
That was everything they owned.
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone. How about we clean together?”
Xu Yuan hesitated.
Bai Cha shook her head.
“I can do it. Before I met you, I lived alone for several years.”
Nearby, Wang Cuicui covered her mouth and laughed.
“Xu Yuan is worried about you.”
Then she added,
“It’s fine. I can ask my mother to cover the shop for a day.”
Bai Cha tightened her grip on the broom.
Embarrassed, she tapped her cane against the ground and moved elsewhere to continue cleaning.
Wang Cuicui laughed again.
She was exactly the type of person who loved cheering on a couple.
Before leaving, she even suggested that Xu Yuan bring over the old bedding from their tiny room.
“Anyway, it’s just sitting there unused. You two can have it for now.”
Then she couldn’t resist teasing Xu Yuan again.
“Look how wonderful your wife is. She’s even trying to keep you from doing the cleaning.”
“Now that you’ve rented a house, save up more money. Buy a place of your own someday. Have a child too.”
“I can tell your wife really likes children. She absolutely adores our little Hua’er.”
Xu Yuan glanced toward Bai Cha.
Bai Cha was carefully sweeping every corner and crevice, gently feeling around with her hands.
“Cui-jie.”
Xu Yuan lowered her voice.
“Can you not mention children in front of her?”
Wang Cuicui froze.
As a businesswoman, she was good at reading people.
“…Of course.”
Her expression immediately became serious.
“I won’t bring it up again.”
Only then did Xu Yuan smile and nod.
She went back to the noodle shop, borrowed the handcart, and transported all their belongings to the new house.
With Xu Yuan helping, the cleaning progressed quickly.
“The chicks and ducklings grow fast. I think we’ll need a bigger cage soon.”
That evening, Xu Yuan finished making the bed.
The bedding was still the old quilt from Wang Cuicui’s backyard.
Bai Cha sat on a small stool while the oil lamp cast a soft, hazy glow.
Xu Yuan spoke cheerfully.
“When you get off work tomorrow, buy some hemp cord.”
Bai Cha’s gentle voice answered.
“I know how to weave fishing nets. We can use netting to fence off a chicken pen in the courtyard.”
Twenty chicks and five ducklings would eventually become full-grown birds.
A large cage would cost a lot of money.
Ever since they started saving, Bai Cha had become extremely sensitive about spending.
She lightly bit her soft lower lip.
She truly hated seeing Xu Yuan spend more money.
If she worked a little harder and wove the fencing herself, it would save them a great deal.
After all, she didn’t have much else to do at home.
“Okay.”
Xu Yuan agreed immediately.
As long as Bai Cha found things she wanted to do, Xu Yuan was willing to support her.
“Come on. We’ve worked hard all day. Let’s soak our feet together.”
Xu Yuan lifted an iron kettle.
The kettle had been borrowed from Wang Cuicui’s family.
The hot water had been heated using the remaining embers from the noodle shop’s clay stove.
“Bai Cha-jie.”
Xu Yuan removed her shoes.
Inside were brightly colored patchwork socks.
Those had also been sewn by Bai Cha using leftover scraps of fabric.
The insides were stuffed with bits of leftover cotton.
They were incredibly warm and soft to walk in.
“Hm?”
Bai Cha tilted her head slightly.
Under the dim oil lamp, there was a somewhat innocent, adorable beauty about her.
Smiling with crescent-shaped eyes, Xu Yuan said:
“Thank you.”
Confusion immediately filled Bai Cha’s blind eyes.
Her long eyelashes fluttered softly, as though asking:
Thank me for what?
“Thank you for doing so much for me.”
Xu Yuan’s eyes curved like little moons.
She began counting on her fingers.
“You made me cotton socks.”
“Cotton shoes.”
“Cotton clothes.”
“Cotton pants.”
“You rented a house with me.”
“And you helped me buy chicks and ducklings.”
The frequency of Bai Cha’s blinking increased.
Suddenly, she lowered her head.
Several crystal-clear tears fell into the steaming wooden basin below.
Xu Yuan panicked.
“Bai Cha-jie?”
“I’m fine.”
Bai Cha desperately suppressed the tremor in her voice.
She didn’t know why.
But whenever Xu Yuan said things like this, her tears became impossible to control.
“Alright.”
Xu Yuan gently used the softest part of her palm to wipe away Bai Cha’s tears.
Bai Cha’s delicate eyelashes brushed across the back of her hand.
The gesture felt pure and fragile.
After pouring out the foot-soaking water, the two girls climbed beneath the quilt.
It was the season when warmth had only just begun to return.
The nights were still cold.
“Bai Cha-jie.”
Xu Yuan spoke softly.
“Our lives are going to keep getting better.”
“We’ll save up more money and eventually start a small business.”
“Right now, I still have two taels and thirty-three copper coins left.”
“I heard that having a doctor from the town clinic make a house call doesn’t cost very much.”
She swallowed nervously.
Then, staring carefully at Bai Cha’s reaction, she asked:
“On my next day off… how about I take you to see a doctor?”
