Chapter 55: Miss Fang Jinniang 1/3

“That damned Zhang Chouqian!” Jin Xiaoye was furious to see the rented boat reek.

Sister Wang had followed Jin Xiaoye over, feeling extremely guilty. “Xiaoye, I’m really sorry.”

“Sister Wang, this isn’t your fault. It’s that Zhang Chouqian who’s gone too far,” Jin Xiaoye said, then turned to Jin Xiaoshu. “Xiaoshu, get up quickly. The water is cold.”

It was already October, and the water was indeed very cold. Jin Xiaoshu hadn’t realized it in his anger and haste earlier, but now, climbing out of the water, he shivered from the cold.

However, he tried to stand up straight, not letting himself tremble. He didn’t want to lose his face in front of such a beautiful girl.

Jin Xiaoshu stole a glance at the girl, who still looked at him gently, making his heart swell with joy.

But Miss Fang just stayed where she was because she heard Jin Xiaoye’s voice.

“Xiaoshu, go to Auntie’s house and change your clothes,” Sister Wang said, seeing Jin Xiaoshu’s face turning pale from the cold, feeling even more guilty.

If it weren’t for her inability to handle the chamber pot herself and asking Jin Xiaoye for help, Jin Xiaoshu wouldn’t have been kicked into the water, and the boat… Sister Wang didn’t know what to do with the boat, and the smell made her feel nauseous.

“Would it be inappropriate?” Jin Xiaoye asked. Ordinary families didn’t have so many rules; it wouldn’t be a big deal for someone to visit and change clothes. But it might not be proper for Jin Xiaoshu to go to someone else’s house to change clothes…

“It’s okay. I have some of my husband’s old clothes at home. Let Xiaoshu change into them so he doesn’t catch a cold,” Sister Wang said.

Jin Xiaoye also feared Jin Xiaoshu would catch a cold, so she hurriedly took him to Sister Wang’s house.

As for the boat… the rope hadn’t been untied yet, and it still smelled so bad that it couldn’t be abandoned.

Sister Wang took Jin Xiaoshu to the cooking room and brought him a set of her husband’s clothes to change into.

Jin Xiaoshu quickly changed into the clothes and came out with the wet ones.

Sister Wang’s husband was a strong middle-aged man, but Jin Xiaoshu was a slender young man. The clothes didn’t fit him very well, but as long as he wore them, it was fine. Jin Xiaoshu didn’t mind.

Seeing him come out, Jin Xiaoye gave him two silver coins. “Xiaoshu, don’t row the boat today. Find someone to wash it instead.”

Today’s incident was because of her, so she wanted to compensate Jin Xiaoshu.

Jin Xiaoye knew Jin Xiaoshu probably wouldn’t ask someone else to wash the boat. He wouldn’t want to spend the money. These two silver coins were actually for Jin Xiaoshu.

“Sis, no need!” Jin Xiaoshu refused to take it. Today’s incident wasn’t his sister’s fault. As for losing a day’s worth of business… he had been eating meals at his sister’s house every day, eating who knows how much good food. Missing out on a day’s business wouldn’t matter much.

“Take it!” Jin Xiaoye insisted, forcefully stuffing the money into Jin Xiaoshu’s hand. “I still have things to attend to. Clean up the boat yourself.”

 She had wasted a lot of time this morning and had many things to attend to, so she couldn’t help Jin Xiaoshu wash the boat.

“Mm,” Jin Xiaoshu replied, taking the money, then leaving.

Actually, for someone who works in agriculture, dealing with manure isn’t a big deal. In the countryside, it’s something valuable that farmers pay money to buy for fertilizing their fields.

Although he was young, Jin Xiaoshu had worked in the fields before and had even gone with his father to buy manure. He had done all kinds of dirty work.

But today, he still felt very aggrieved.

His boat was now smelly!

Jin Xiaoshu gritted his teeth, remembering a line from Zhu Qian’s autobiography: “A gentleman takes revenge ten years later.”

He would definitely get revenge sooner or later!

Thinking like this, Jin Xiaoshu suddenly saw the girl standing not far away, her eyes dark and clear, misty. She was looking at him.

Not only that, she even smiled at him, a particularly beautiful smile.

His hair was still wet, and he was wearing ill-fitting clothes. He must have looked very ugly… Jin Xiaoshu blushed and ran away quickly.

Jin Xiaoye felt something was off, but she didn’t dwell on it. She was about to continue her chores when Miss Fang walked up to her and asked softly, “Shopkeeper Jin, I’d like to do some work.”

Jin Xiaoye wasn’t someone who would lash out at people for no reason, so she simply said, “Miss Fang, don’t you know your mother and I have had conflicts?”

Miss Fang was stunned for a moment before saying, “I didn’t know.”

Jin Xiaoye’s anger inexplicably dissipated a bit. “Miss Fang, your mother pointed fingers at me and said things before. She even said she wouldn’t come here for work anymore. Now you’re here again… Isn’t that inappropriate?”

Miss Fang said, “Shopkeeper Jin, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know about this…”

“Let it go. It’s not your fault… Miss Fang, you’re not young anymore. Stop listening to your mother and take care of yourself,” Jin Xiaoye felt that Miss Fang was too obedient, which led to her being exploited all the time.

If it were her… She wouldn’t listen to her grandparents if her parents told her to do something.

Miss Fang was stunned for a moment before saying, “Shopkeeper Jin, I also want to take care of myself… Shopkeeper Jin, can I work here? I can take only half of the wages. This wage, I want to keep it from my mother.”

Miss Fang’s name was Fang Jinniang. Her father was a scholar and doted on her, his firstborn. So when she was young, she not only learned how to read but also apprenticed to a skilled embroiderer, learning the craft of embroidery.

Before her father passed away, her life could be said to be carefree. At most, her mother would occasionally feel that her father spoiled her and her younger sister too much and would complain occasionally.

But that wasn’t a big deal; she knew her mother was just feeling uncomfortable. Her mother had a difficult youth, and seeing her and her sister living well must have been hard for her.

Unexpectedly, ten years ago, her father suddenly fell ill and passed away after lingering on the sickbed for a while.

Their family had spent a lot of money to treat her father’s illness, even incurring debts. After her father’s death, their family faced some difficulties, and she could only work hard doing embroidery to earn money to pay off debts and support the family.

Of course, her mother and sister also worked hard, but she was the best at embroidery, so she did the most.

After working day and night for two years, her eyesight deteriorated further. Fortunately, the debts were paid off.

At that time, her mother wanted to send her brother to school… and she agreed.

When her father passed away, her brother was only six or seven years old. Losing his father at such a young age made her feel sorry for him.

She could only continue doing embroidery, and two more years passed. Her eyesight got worse, and when doing embroidery, she had to get very close to see the stitches clearly.

At the same time, she turned eighteen and was of marriageable age.

In the area of Chongcheng County, daughters from wealthy families were engaged relatively early. For ordinary families, parents would start looking for potential spouses for their daughters around the age of fifteen or sixteen, and they would get married at seventeen or eighteen, sometimes even later.