Chapter 197

That night, Du Ruo suffers from a rare case of insomnia.

Actually, strictly speaking, she has confidence in Jiang Li. With Jiang Li's skills, plus the emergency medicine from the system, there shouldn't be any life-threatening danger.

But if those people are really just ordinary refugees, how could they defeat the well-trained and well-equipped local government soldiers?

And the number of those government soldiers was twice as many as theirs!

There must be something fishy about it.

Either that so-called Benevolent and Brave Colonel is really stupid to the core and commanded blindly;

Or those beasts are playing the pig to eat the tiger, using the banner of refugees while actually being murderous, fierce bandits.

But no matter which one it is, the situation is not optimistic for Jiang Li.

"Sigh..." Du Ruo turns over and sighs for the one hundred and first time.

Creak, the door is pushed open, and Zheng Shi walks in.

"This child, sighing so early in the morning, be careful of attracting the God of Misfortune."

Zheng Shi puts the washbasin on the rack, walks to the bed, and pats her daughter. "You can't sleep in today, get up quickly, we still have to go to Ling'an Temple early."

Du Ruo obediently says "oh," gets out of bed, and gets dressed and washes up.

Then she casually grabs a bun hairstyle.

Zheng Shi can't stand to watch from the side, so she simply pulls her to the dressing table to sit down and does it herself.

"When going to worship the Bodhisattva, you must be clean and tidy, dressed properly, so that you can show your sincerity, and the Bodhisattva will bless you, do you hear me?"

She doesn't know what's wrong with this daughter of hers; she learns everything fast, but only this skill of combing hair, no matter how she teaches, she can't learn.

Clumsy and awkward, not even as good as ten-year-old Chunhua.

Fortunately, she is beautiful, so even with disheveled hair, it is pleasing to the eye...

Zheng Shi works on her daughter's head while looking at the little beauty in the mirror with satisfaction.

The little beauty is also observing her through the mirror.

"Mother, you seem to have become a little younger."

Zheng Shi straightens her head, which is moving around, and says unhappily: "Stop trying to coax me. Mother knows I'm old, my skin is wrinkled and my face is sagging, not as good-looking as you young people."

"Who said that?" Du Ruo pulls Zheng Shi in front of the mirror and says with a grin, "Mother, take a good look, haven't you become younger?"

Zheng Shi doesn't want to look; it's not like she hasn't looked before.

Women, regardless of age, definitely care about their appearance.

It's just that life was hard in the past few years, and Aman was in that state, so she really had no mood to pay attention to these things.

Now it's different; Aman's face has recovered, and life has hope, so she has also started to notice her own changes.

It's just a pity that the flower of Xinglin Cun back then has already withered and is no longer in shape...

Seeing Zheng Shi distracted, Du Ruo rolls her eyes and stuffs the small mirror directly into her hand.

"Mother, take a look, I really didn't coax you."

Zheng Shi has no choice but to look perfunctorily, muttering: "What's there to look at, isn't it just like that..."

Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly lets out an "eh."

The person in the mirror looks no different from usual at first glance, but if you look closely, you will find that the eyes are clear and bright, and the complexion is even more rosy and lustrous.

Even the wrinkles seem to have been reduced by half.

The whole person looks at least younger!

This, Zheng Shi is stunned and can't help but raise her hand to touch her face.

"Aman, is there something wrong with your mirror? I clearly have several white hairs in this place, how come I can't see them?" she asks puzzledly.

Du Ruo's eyebrows curve. "There's nothing wrong with the mirror, it's you who have a problem, Mother; you've been rejuvenated."

Zheng Shi rolls her eyes at her and slams the mirror onto the dressing table.

"Forget it, rejuvenated, do you think I ate some divine pill? What your mother ate was rat poison!"

Pfft, Du Ruo laughs out loud on the spot.

Alright, if Zheng Shi doesn't believe it, she doesn't believe it; anyway, she will naturally believe it before long.

After all, the Rejuvenation Pill from the system is not much worse than a divine pill.

After combing her hair, Zheng Shi digs out a pink, front-opening ru skirt from the wardrobe and lets Du Ruo change into it. "This color is bright, the Bodhisattva will definitely like it when she sees it, and she will bless us a little more."

Du Ruo doesn't care; anyway, whatever Zheng Shi says is fine.

After dressing up, the mother and daughter walk out of the room, and Chunhua has already made breakfast.

Besides what they eat themselves, there are also several vegetarian dishes and snacks, which are offerings prepared for the Bodhisattva.

"Chunhua is really getting more and more capable." Du Ruo praises.

"That's right." Zheng Shi huffs. "Anyway, much more capable than you. You can't embroider, you can't make shoes, and even combing your hair requires Mother's help. How can you compare to Chunhua? She's younger than you, but she can do all these things well."

Du Ruo has food in her mouth: "... Mother, is it appropriate for you to disparage your own daughter like this?"

Chunhua covers her mouth and laughs.

After being here for so long, this child is finally not as cautious and timid as when she first arrived, and has truly integrated into this family in a real sense.

However, subconsciously, she still habitually positions herself as a maid.

Since she is a maid, naturally she must be able to do everything, so that she can serve her master well.

After breakfast, Zheng Qinghe goes to the construction site to supervise the work as usual; Jiang Cheng goes to the fields, where the chili peppers in those few mu of land are growing gratifyingly, having already bloomed small white flowers, and should be able to bear fruit in about another month.

Jiang Wan prepares to return to the academy to resume classes.

"Are you sure you can? Do you want to rest for a few more days?" Du Ruo asks with concern.

Jiang Wan has already slung her small schoolbag over her shoulder and even spins around. "I'm fine, Sister-in-law, look, I've recovered almost completely."

Since that's the case, Du Ruo lets her be.

Zheng Shi hurriedly puts down her bowl and leads Jiang Wan to the next door.

Master Jiang just happens to come out of the room. Seeing Zheng Shi and Jiang Wan, he raises his eyebrows slightly and nods at Zheng Shi. "Mistress Zheng."

"Third Brother Jiang." Master Jiang has often visited Jiang Wan at home lately, and the two are more familiar than before, so Zheng Shi is not overly polite. "I'll leave Wan'er to you."

Master Jiang's gaze falls on her face, then quickly moves away, and he smiles.

"Mistress Zheng, rest assured, Wan'er is not only my student but also my niece, so I will naturally take care of her."

Zheng Shi says thank you, gives Jiang Wan a few more instructions, and then turns and returns.

Master Jiang leads Jiang Wan toward the academy at the west end of the village.

Jiang Wan looks up at his thin and solemn face. "Master, actually, you look very good when you smile."

Master Jiang's voice is as calm as an ancient well. "Oh? When have I smiled?"

"Master is not honest." The little girl puffs out her cheeks. "The Master says, do not deceive yourself internally, and do not deceive others externally. Master clearly smiled just now, but insisted on saying you didn't, isn't that deceiving yourself while also deceiving me?"

A smile flashes in Master Jiang's eyes, and he raises his hand to touch Jiang Wan's little head. "Those big principles, just listen to them, don't take them too seriously."

As he walks, he points out: "Actually, all the principles and rules in this world are used to restrain the foolish, while the truly wise will find ways to make their own words become principles, understand?"

Jiang Wan blinks, half-understanding.

Master Jiang is not in a hurry; anyway, Jiang Wan is still young, and when she grows up a little more, she will understand everything.

After sending Jiang Wan off, Zheng Shi and Du Ruo also pick up their small bamboo baskets and walk out toward the village entrance.

They meet several groups of people on the road, and when they see them, they all come up to talk, everyone enthusiastic beyond belief.

The mother and daughter have no choice but to deal with them all the way, and the fifteen-minute journey takes them thirty minutes to reach the willow tree at the village entrance.

Old Tietou's ox cart is still parked there, rain or shine.

I don't know if they came too early, but there is no one on the ox cart.

"Mistress Zheng, Jiang Li's wife, are you going to town?" Old Tietou asks with a smile.

Du Ruo hurriedly waves her hand. "No, Uncle Tietou, we are going to Ling'an Temple."

Although Ling'an Temple is also on the town side, you have to turn off onto a side road halfway, so it's not very much on the way.

After speaking, the mother and daughter prepare to walk there on their two legs.

Old Tietou stops them. "Jiang Li's wife, look, how about this? Anyway, there's no business today, you pay ten wen, and I'll take you two to the destination, how about that?"

Du Ruo and Zheng Shi look at each other.

Ten wen to Ling'an Temple, this really counts as a cabbage price.

Du Ruo doesn't want to take advantage of an old man, but she can't refuse his kindness either.

"How about this, I'll pay twenty wen, and you don't take anyone else on this ox cart, just take us to the foot of the mountain, how about it?"

Old Tietou laughs out loud. "I couldn't ask for more, it just so happens to let my old ox catch its breath."

That water buffalo seems to understand and turns its head to moo at the few of them.

With the matter settled, Du Ruo pulls Zheng Shi onto the cart and sits on the straw mat handed over by Old Tietou.

Old Tietou cracks the whip, the old ox pulls the broken cart, and they sway all the way toward Ling'an Temple.

After walking not far, they see from afar that there are several women from the village in front, laughing and making a scene together.

Even Cao Shi is there.

As soon as Cao Shi sees the ox cart, she immediately reaches out to stop it.

"I say, Old Tietou, didn't you say you weren't taking passengers today? How come you're carrying people in the blink of an eye?" She slants her eyes at Du Ruo and her mother, her expression unkind.

Old Tietou still has that smiling look. "Yes, when you came before, I suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable, so I planned to rest for a day; it's a coincidence, as soon as you left, I felt better, so... hehe."