The Formidable Lady of the Poor Scholar’s Household

Chapter 9: Country Bumpkin Qian Sishui

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The streets were paved with stone slabs, and although they were slightly uneven, they were already visibly flat to the naked eye.

Once, all Qian Sishui knew to do was kill. When did she ever have the chance to go out under the sunlight and experience these ancient things?

Having been used for years on end, the stone road had been worn done by time.

When Shi Jinhua saw Qian Sishui studying the cobbled roads like a child, he thought to himself, Is she a person living in a cage? Why is she even using her foot to test the stones?

But it was true that everything Qian Sishui saw was new to her. She was like a child who had never seen the world.

“Let’s go in and buy you clothes.” Shi Jinhua pointed at the shop in front of them.

Curious, Qian Sishui followed him in. She looked at the plainly-dyed fabric and the ready-made clothes hanging on the wall.

“Welcome. What are you looking for?” The shop assistant welcomed the couple warmly.

“Which one do you like?” Shi Jinhua looked at the row of clothes but felt that none of them looked good.

His wife pointed at the full-black outfit, causing both Shi Jinhua and the shop assistant to be rendered speechless!

They both said in unison, “That’s for older people!”

Qian Sishui was a little embarrassed that she had forgotten the customs of this era.

“How about this light purple one?” The young man had already given up on feeling helpless when it came to his wife.

“Boss, how much is this?”

“Two hundred and eighty-nine copper coins.” The shop assistant saw the clothes Shi Jinhua was pointing at.

“So expensive?” I can’t even afford a piece of clothing with half a month’s salary?

Qian Sishui thought about it. After a while, the memory of the body’s original owner embroidering and making clothes appeared in her mind.

“I’ll make it myself.” The style of these clothes was a hindrance.

“Your hands are blistered. How are you going to do it?” Making her own clothes was clearly wishful thinking!

“I’ll do it myself!” The young lady stood her ground.

Qian Sishui shot a cold glare at her husband, and he immediately gave in. What more could he say?

“Madam, look over here. We sell fabric here too.”

The shop assistant knew how to read people’s expressions. It was obvious that the woman was the matriach of the family, so he quickly tossed Shi Jinhua aside.

As Qian Sishui strutted out of the shop, Shi Jinhua, who was behind her, was carrying a large pile of fabric.

“Although the fabric is cheap, you can’t buy so much at once! What a waste of money!”

I don’t even have any dignity as the head of the family, he grumbled inwardly.

When Qian Sishui passed by the embroidery store, her brows relaxed. The body’s original owner was talented in embroidery. This would undoubtedly earn money quicker than copying books, so she walked in.

“Young lady, what do you want to buy?” It was the first time the female shopkeeper at the counter had seen such a cold beauty.

“Embroidery tools?”

When the shopkeeper heard this, he sized his customer’s hand. Yes, it was wrapped up but it couldn’t conceal just how fair and tender her skin was!

“Yes, I’ll decide on how much to pay after seeing the quality.”

Qian Sishui nodded and tilted her head to look at Shi Jinhua. The latter no longer had any hands to hold his money bag, and could only watch helplessly as the shopkeeper took it from him.

“I…”

Could he object? Facing Qian Sishui’s gaze, he could not say a word.

When they finally exited the shop, Shi Jinhua could not see the road ahead! His sight was completely blocked!

“Let’s go home!”

I’ll just die of anger! Aargh! It’s all money! The problem is that I can’t afford to support my own wife! What a failure! He ranted to himself.

Qian Sishui wanted to have another look around town, but when she saw her husband carrying a pile of things, she had no choice but to walk back.

The oxcart back to the village would only return in the afternoon. It was only noon now.

“We don’t have any choice. We’ll have to walk home. If we wait for them, we’ll have to wait until the afternoon.”

Initially, he had decided to attend classes at the academy next month once he had enough money. Now, there was no hope.

Qian Sishui couldn’t care less. She followed behind the young man leisurely, enjoying the scenery along the way. Unknowingly, they arrived at the village.

“What was your childhood like?” It was as though it was her first time being out after being locked up for decades.

Qian Sishui did not reply him and simply continued walking. How could such a simple person understand her?

When they got home, Shi Jinhua boiled the medicine and applied ointment on his wife’s hands as usual.

Qian Sishui finally understood now. This medicine was probably anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. The ointment was something like an analgesic. Needless to say, it was quite effective. She watched as the blisters on her hand slowly shrank.

“Because of you, the house has almost become a pharmacy. You can smell the medicine once you enter.”

Shi Jinhua could handle herbs very smoothly and naturally now.

Having stayed at home with his wife for a few days, he wanted to go to the fields to take a look. So did Qian Sishui.

Seeing how brightly the sun was shining as he stepped out of the house, Shi Jinhua realized that it would be a scorching day. He turned around and grabbed a straw hat for Qian Sishui, but he couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. After thinking for a long time, he remembered that the women in the village all wore scarves. He could probably find one at home.

Only after a long while did he manage to find a women-style hat for his wife.

“This was made when my mother was around. It hasn’t been used for many years. You can have it.” He had never expected his wife to be the one using it.

Down in the field, he realized that the grass was growing again.

Qian Sishui also realized that the corn seedlings were too thin.

“Where’s the fertilizer?” Why weren’t they fertilized?

Shi Jinhua waved his hoe around. “We don’t have any livestock at home, so how would we have any fertilizer?” How much feces could he produce alone? However, it seemed a little too coarse to talk about that, so he remained silent.

Qian Sishui didn’t understand much about farming, but she remembered that when she went to the south to carry out a mission, she had seen the villagers there mix the weeded grass with one-tenth its weight of soil. After drying it, they were then mixed and burned to ashes.

The huge pile could burn for three to four days. By the time it burned through the layer of soil outside, it would ready.

“We’ll make our own then.”

Could anything really come out of these thin and yellow seedlings? What if they worked all for nothing?

“Make it ourselves? How?” He couldn’t possible “make” that much!

Qian Sishui looked around. There was a short peak not far away.

“Whose is that?” She pointed at the mountain path.

“Oh, that. It’s not anyone’s. Here, there is more land than people need. Most people don’t want to plant anything near the mountains. Wild boars, hares, and wolves in the mountains tend to get into the fields at night.”

“There’s our fertilizer.”

Qian Sishui was not good at communicating because she spent most of her time tracking down targets. It was not unreasonable to say that assassins died from talking too much.

“How could that be? Do you really think that people would leave it there for us?” Was this girl really stupid?

“We’ll make our own fertilizer.” If this d*mned man hadn’t saved her, she wouldn’t event have uttered a word!

“How?” Was he supposed to squat there and poop there every day?

Shi Jinhua berated himself, Sorry! I should be more cultured!

“Just follow my instructions.”

Qian Sishui didn’t want to bother with this man, especially a man who was a scrooge.

“Wait for me. Why are you going into the mountains alone? What if you meet a wild boar?”

He quickly chased after her with a hoe and a sickle. This girl was used to doing whatever she wanted.

When Shi Jinhua caught up to the foot of the mountain, he saw five hares thrown at Qian Sishui’s feet.

“Why do you have so many rabbits?” She hadn’t even flinched!

Shi Jinhua was in a daze for a while. “We don’t have any hunters here. Wild rabbits run very fast. Ordinary people can’t catch them.”

No one in the village liked rabbits. They always damaged the villagers’ crops.

“Weed the grass here. Then take a bit of soil, and leave it out to dry.”

This was the first time Shi Jinhua had heard Qian Sishui say so much. Her voice was cold and clear, like spring water underground, with a hint of sweetness.