Chapter 7: Flowers fade, flowers will bloom again, but

Du Shanü is not a traditional science girl.

Being unconventional, she not only knows how to do things, but also how to speak.

Not only does she speak, she also looks.

She early noticed that, among the original six, only Yu Hen stood out like a crane among chickens.

In the details, one could faintly see that he previously came from a wealthy family.

But he is also the one among the six who works the most diligently and puts in the most effort.

The millstone is very heavy; even a farming person cannot bear it for long, yet he hardly ever stopped, even protecting A Chou and doing even more work himself.

He is very tired.

So tired that his lip color faded a bit, his jawline grew slender, revealing a gaunt look.

His hemp clothes grew ever darker; his whole person lurked in the shadow of the wall corner, only slowly rubbing his knees with his hands covered in old calluses and chilblains, as if that could cover and heal all his wounds......

Even if immortals came, they would likely lower their eyes at this sight.

Moreover, Du Shanü is not an immortal.

Du Shanü placed the thing beside the beauty, and Yu Hen finally realized belatedly that she was calling him.

The blanket felt soft to the touch, carrying the fresh scent of having just been sunned.

If this thing were placed back when he was the Young Emperor, it would be nothing more than an ordinary item.

But since he suffered an assassination attempt, being pursued consecutively by Bei Mo and the Imperial Court, wandering homeless, exposed to wind and dew, unable to fill his stomach......

He then could never again sleep in a warm blanket.

Long, long.

So long that he almost forgot he was a child born in Ai Li, whose parents gave him the name 'Yu Yiai'.

Back then, everyone loved him; there was no ruthless struggle for the throne, no despicable scheming.

Even before his birth, he was expected to fulfill all hopes.

The Former Emperor held him, warmed his hands with his chest, and said to him, "All under heaven is your home......"

However, the Former Emperor died, foreign tribes came, and even the fiery oil came......

Hatred.

How hateful.

The mountains and rivers stretch for myriad miles; now there is no longer any 'Yiai', only a lingering 'Yu Hen'.

Yu Hen seemed somewhat dazed, his lowered head becoming ever more obedient and cute; Du Shanü resisted the urge to ruffle his head, smiling as she handed him the money pouch at her waist.

The money pouch full of copper coins clinked loudly, making others' ears itch.

Du Shanü merely smiled and said:

"Thanks to you today we could earn our first pot of gold; here is the over-two-hundred-wen silver cash earned today, I entrust it to you to manage; from now on you will handle the household's silver expenses, and we two will be of one heart, thereafter our days will be good."

"I will go out to earn money for you to spend; you stay home guarding the gate, waiting for my return; I will go out to work in the daytime, come back at night to eat a meal, then we will cover ourselves with a blanket for a good sleep; when we have children we will bear them, one or two not too few, eight or ten not too many......"

What is this called?

This is called the dream of a farming family!

What could be better than a wife and children warming the kang head?

None!

Save money for a year to repair the house, save money for a year to buy land, then buy a few servants; no matter how the north and south dynasties outside change, they will merely hide in the countryside living their own lives; thereafter, opening their eyes means planting fields, closing their eyes means sleeping; happiness and joy for a lifetime is all that's needed!

Just thinking about it feels empowering!

Du Shanü was happily scheming in her heart, when suddenly she heard the beauty before her say:

"You have liked the wrong person...... I am not good enough."

Du Shanü blinked, then heard Yu Hen press his lips, as if making some decision, and suddenly said:

"I was just pretending to be diligent because I feared you would drive me and A Chou away; actually...... I dislike work the most."

"Since childhood, the elders have doted on me; I can sit instead of stand, lie instead of sit; even at ten I still needed someone to feed and dress me; when eating fish I only ate the belly; I needed a full eight hours of sleep, two hours of play, two hours of eating each day......"

"If you treat me well now, I will misunderstand, and thereafter become ever more spoiled; not only will I not help you push the millstone, I will also demand ever more...... love from you."

Love.

Exactly, love.

He will cling to people without letting go, demanding her special attention toward him, demanding to be together forever, not wanting to leave even a moment, and not allowing her to give even a bit of her gaze to anyone else.

Rather than wait until that day to discover he is actually not good enough, better, better......

Better yet, make it clear from the start, don't be so good to him.

He can still, for survival and for A Chou, work day after day, earning a bit of food and a patch of land sheltered from wind and rain.

But more......

Then no longer will he seek extravagantly.

Yu Hen does not know what painful struggle he is in, or perhaps he does not know what answer he is longing to hear after speaking.

Before him is utter darkness; beside his ears is utter silence.

There is no answer at all.

He feels an indescribable disappointment, also some self-mockery, wanting to push the blanket and clothes away, but who would have thought that a force would instead press them back.

At his ear, that ever-smiling pleasant female voice sounded timely, saying to him:

"Then you need not work from now on; I will support you."

"However, how much love I will give you, how much of your temper I can tolerate, still depends on how capable you are——"

"How does that old saying go? Flowers fade and flowers will bloom again, but if you wither early, sorry, I will surely leave...... Oh! Who hit me! (? `Д? ′)!!"

A slight pain came from behind his head; the pebbles on the ground rolled and stopped, obviously the 'weapon'.

Du Shanü snapped her head around and saw several others looking at her with varied expressions.

Ouyang An, already stunned by what he'd heard, saw his sister looking at him and instinctively waved his hands repeatedly, speaking nervously:

"Miss Sister, don't look at me, it's not me!"

He was still shocked that the young lady had so easily handed over the silver, and hadn't even seen what stone it was!

Du Shanü looked at each person in turn; wherever her gaze fell, everyone waved their hands and said they didn't know......

Fine, fine, fine, nobody knows—then did the stone itself grow legs and fly up to hit her head?

Du Shanü still wore a smile, but this time it didn't reach her eyes; she turned a full circle, letting her gaze linger on the ugly, exceptionally dark eyes in the corner for a few breaths before clapping her hands and saying:

"Forget it, it's nothing."

"Now that everyone's here, let's discuss the matter of you repaying the money after you leave tomorrow."

As soon as she said that, everyone's expressions grew even stranger; they looked at each other, seeming to have something they wanted to say but held back.

Du Shanü pretended not to notice and continued:

"I only signed a marriage contract with one person; the others signed indenture contracts."

"The husband will definitely stay; since his close friend has done him a favor, I will certainly also support him. As for the others—the blacksmith, the scholar, the doctor, the child... you four had already agreed to leave, so I won't keep you."

"But there's one thing: each of you is worth a hundred wen; if you want to leave, you'll have to find a way to repay me this money."