Chapter 35: Running Into Idle Gossip While Going Out

After hearing how he earned over two hundred taels of silver, Song Yeqing couldn’t help but give He Yanxin a thumbs-up.

“Bold! You actually dared to trick a county magistrate.”

“How about we leave Qizhou a little earlier?”

Luckily, they already knew what was going to happen in the future. But their strength was far too limited, and with two small children, Song Yeqing believed that avoiding trouble was the wisest option.

After all, she had only been in this world for three days and didn’t feel any strong sense of belonging. She had no desire—and no ability—to play the savior. She just wanted to take care of herself and the people around her.

“Leaving is a must. I don’t know if the magistrate can actually stop that madman Prince Qi, so we…”

Before He Yanxin could finish speaking—

“Mom? Mom! … Dad!”

Their son He Chengze’s voice called out from outside.

They had talked for so long without realizing how time had passed. The two children had already woken up.

“Yes!” Song Yeqing responded naturally, then turned to He Yanxin and said, “We’ll talk later.”

She put everything back into her spatial space. Seeing that he was still holding a plastic water bottle, she reached out and took it from him to store it away.

He Yanxin thought: No matter how many times I see things disappear like that, it’s always kind of magical.

When the door opened, the two boys had just come out of the main room. He Chengze was carefully helping his younger brother Song Chengsi step over the threshold, which was a bit too tall for him. Their movements were adorably clumsy.

“Aiya, you’re so clumsy, little brother! How many times have I told you to step with this foot first—come on…”

Seeing his younger brother struggle with the step, the older boy anxiously reached out and lifted his foot for him.

Meanwhile, the two new and somewhat irresponsible parents didn’t go help at all—because the scene was simply too cute!

Warmth filled Song Yeqing’s eyes, and He Yanxin even burst out laughing. But when their eyes met, they both started feeling a bit awkward.

Two strangers who didn’t even know each other ended up as husband and wife due to a freak accident—plus two kids. Just thinking about it was embarrassing.

Song Yeqing was the first to look away. He Yanxin quickly turned his head too.

“You watch the kids. I’m heading to the edge of the village.”

She wanted to check out the surroundings and collect some river water to purify.

“Oh… okay. Be careful.”

He Yanxin knew she was a Celestial Master and clearly more powerful than him, so he wasn’t too worried about her safety—especially since she wasn’t going far.

So he obediently stayed home to play the babysitting dad.

Song Yeqing left the house feeling excited. She was never the type to sit still in one place, and being stuck at home the past few days had nearly driven her crazy.

Even when she was cultivating in seclusion, she had to sneak out now and then for a little “excursion.”

The river was on the far side of the village, so she had to pass through the village first. As she walked, she surveyed the environment.

Most of the houses here were made of loess, stone, and wood. So everywhere she looked was a mix of grey and yellow. When the wind blew, it would leave people covered in dust.

This was the raw, dry reality of rural life in ancient times.

Pavilions, towers, gardens? That stuff only existed in the cities.

Along the way, she passed several villagers, most of them looking tired and worn from hard labor. Song Yeqing nodded politely as memory told her who they were but didn’t say much.

“Where are you off to, Daughter-in-law of the He family?”

“Yo~ Lady Song, what have you been up to these past few days?”

“Yeah, yeah, we haven’t seen you in a while.”

She soon ran into three women chatting by their doors, idle because there was no work in the fields. After casually greeting them, Song Yeqing quickly made her escape.

She looked exactly like an author running into chatty aunties back in their hometown, fleeing from their endless questions.

“What’s up with her today? She’s not usually like that.”

One slightly stout woman looked both excited and surprised, winking as she spoke.

“Come on, she’s from the city. Think she’d want to talk to us country folk?”

A dark, skinny woman with prominent cheekbones spat a sunflower seed shell in Song Yeqing’s direction and picked up the conversation.

“That’s true. And the He boy still won’t make her work in the fields. Tsk tsk…”

An older woman shook her head disapprovingly.

“Exactly. It’s like he married an ancestor, not a wife. Aside from that face of hers, she’s pretty much useless.”

That was the stout woman again.

“Lucky for her that her mother-in-law died early. Otherwise, someone like her would’ve been nagged to death already!”

The skinny woman sneered, though there was a hint of envy in her voice. Her eyes followed the distant figure of Song Yeqing, who was walking gracefully away.

That figure wore nothing more than a plain blue linen dress, yet somehow still looked out of place—like a traveler who had wandered into the wrong world.

Song Yeqing vaguely heard parts of their conversation but didn’t care and kept walking.

She had been in Anshan Village for five years now, and her relationships with those women were lukewarm at best. It wasn’t that she looked down on them—she simply had nothing in common with them.

Before, she used to socialize mostly with daughters from merchant families, chatting about makeup, fashion, and market prices, or sharing dessert recipes.

In Anshan Village, that kind of talk was useless. The women here spent their days working in the fields, raising kids, and caring for their elders. Talk revolved around chores, children, husbands, and village gossip. Plus, many were uneducated and said crude things.

At first, Song Yeqing tried to fit in. She joined them in sewing and chatting, hoping to integrate.

But she soon realized that when they talked about farm work, she was clueless. She hadn’t had her own child yet, so she couldn’t relate there either. And when they talked about men—oh boy—she was so embarrassed she didn’t know where to look.

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(End of Chapter)