To Be the Male Lead's Deceased First Wife in a Historical Chinese Exam-focused Novel - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Eighty! Eighty!

Wen Ying lowered her head and ate the coarse grain and vegetable porridge in her bowl, trying her best not to let Yan An see the expression on her face.

Yan An didn’t see it. After she had two bowls of porridge and felt full, she washed her own bowl and chopsticks. After that, she was left to worry about how she was going to live in the future.

In this ancient world, her only way out seemed to be through studying. As long as she could achieve success in her studies, she would at least live a better life than most people, and scholars also had a high social status in ancient society.

But… the original owner was a child prodigy who became a xiucai at fifteen, and she still hadn’t passed the higher exams after all these years. Could she really do better than the original owner?

And…

Yan An looked at the simple and poor state of the Yan family. She remembered that scholars in ancient times were supposed to receive a stipend of money and grain, so why were they living so poorly?

With this thought, Yan An asked her question.

“Wen Ying, don’t scholars get money and grain? When can we go and get it?”

Wen Ying, who had already composed herself and finished her lunch, heard this question and her brows instantly furrowed. Her gaze, sharp as a knife, landed on Yan An.

“You said you had amnesia. How do you know about these things?”

Yan An: “…” Don’t be so observant.

“Although I’ve lost my memory and don’t remember many people or events, I still know some common sense things.” Yan An forced an explanation, and whether Wen Ying believed it or not was beyond her control.

Wen Ying gave her a long, deep look, then said calmly, “By rights, there is money and grain issued, but what can you do when the government can’t afford to issue it?”

After she married into the family, Yan An had received a subsidy once, but the paper and ink she used for her studies were also not cheap, so all the money was spent on those things.

Hearing her say this, Yan An fell silent. Well, she had nothing more to say.

After Wen Ying washed her dishes and chopsticks, she found a few old pieces of cloth and said to Yan An, “Wrap these around your palms. It will feel much better.”

Yan An looked at the pieces of old cloth, torn from who knows what old clothes, and immediately extended her hands to Wen Ying, asking her to wrap them for her.

Wen Ying obediently lowered her head and wrapped the cloth around her palms. After tying the knot, she said, “You can rest at home for a while first. We can go back to the fields later.”

A scholar’s body like Yan An’s couldn’t handle a full day of labor.

Yan An looked at her in shock, not expecting that this person had no intention of resting at all. Was she a machine?

“No! I’m going with you!” Yan An gritted her teeth, refusing to give in.

Wen Ying frowned. “You don’t have to be like this. Your body is more important.”

“I’m feeling much better,” Yan An insisted.

Seeing her persistence, Wen Ying didn’t say much more. She went to fill two water pouches and brought them with her, then left with Yan An.

This time, they didn’t go straight to the fields but went to Aunt Zhao’s house to get a wooden bucket for hulling and a hemp sack to store the grains. Only then did they head to the fields.

Yan An observed all of this. It was mid-October, and while the nights were starting to get a little cool, the sun was still strong during the day, making people’s heads feel a little foggy. Especially right after lunch, a person would feel lazy and want to take a nap.

But… she couldn’t afford to rest.

Yan An followed Wen Ying back to the fields with a bitter feeling in her heart. Wen Ying said, “You can just collect the stalks that have already been cut and put them in one place.”

She didn’t want Yan An to keep cutting. Even though her hands were wrapped in cloth strips, the blisters she had pricked in the morning would be very painful. If she kept cutting, Yan An probably wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Hearing her say this, Yan An looked at the rice stalks scattered all over the field and didn’t refuse. After all, collecting them was also a task, and she wouldn’t be slacking off.

With that thought, as Wen Ying quickly continued to cut the rice, Yan An began to collect the stalks that had been cut in the morning and gather them in a more open area. But no matter how fast she was at collecting, it couldn’t keep up with Wen Ying’s cutting speed.

“Wen Ying, can you teach me how to hull the grains?” Yan An said, looking at the wooden bucket they had brought with them.

Wen Ying straightened up and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She looked at Yan An’s serious expression and said, “Hulling is not an easy task either.”

“Oh, but it has to be done,” Yan An said, not fully understanding.

Was she implying that they wouldn’t do it just because it was difficult? Yan An was not a lazy person!

Hearing her say this, Wen Ying didn’t say much more. She walked to the wooden bucket, first put the hemp sack over an opening on the bucket, then took a handful of rice stalks and began to beat them against the bucket. As she beat them, the heavy grains fell off and dropped into the sack below.

“It’s like this. When you get tired, stop and rest,” Wen Ying said and then went back to her own work. There were five mu of rice. If they didn’t hurry, it would take them at least three to five days to finish cutting.

Yan An wasn’t so slow as to not learn after watching once. She also picked up some rice stalks and started to beat them against the bucket, creating a little tune in her head to amuse herself.

Eighty! Eighty! Eighty!

If only it were really eighty!

Yan An took a deep breath and beat down hard. One mu of land, including both cutting and hulling, was only worth 27 coins!

27 coins seemed like a lot, but the prices here seemed to be high too!

When they first arrived, it seemed the other villagers were still taking their lunch break. The two of them were the only ones busy in the vast field. As time passed, more and more people came out, and they were very curious to see them working.

Mainly, they were curious about Yan An. They had already noticed her in the fields helping to cut the rice in the morning but hadn’t dared to approach. Over the course of the morning, the news of Yan An’s amnesia had spread throughout South Cliff Village. Now, seeing her busy in the fields in the afternoon, some people came over to chat.

“Scholar Yan, have you really lost your memory?” a woman in her forties asked, curiously examining Yan An.

Compared to the coarse linen clothes of the others, Yan An was wearing a cotton gown, still looking like a scholar. Her fair appearance made her look nothing like someone who worked in the fields.

Yan An was truly tired, especially her arms, which were incredibly sore. It was a good time to stop and rest.

“Yes, I have. May I ask your name?” Yan An said with an embarrassed smile, her attitude very friendly.

Seeing this, the people who had come with her were also surprised. In the past, Yan An would greet them politely, but she would never be as friendly and approachable as she was now.

“My name is Yang. Just call me Aunt Yang,” said the woman who had first spoken to Yan An.

“Okay, Aunt Yang. You can just call me Yan An; you don’t need to call me ‘Scholar’ all the time.” Yan An smiled shyly at them. It was hard to say if she could even follow in the original owner’s footsteps, so it felt awkward to be called a scholar.

“Alright, alright. You’re so pretty,” the women said with beaming smiles. They stared at Yan An’s face for a long time. Yan An’s parents had doted on her and given her everything, so she was naturally very refined and beautiful.

From the corner of their eyes, they glanced at Wen Ying, who was still busy cutting the rice stalks not far away. A look of pity appeared in their eyes.

What a shame. She married a woman, and Wen Ying was also a pity for marrying a woman. Now, both of them were living such a hard life.

Yan An was a bit embarrassed by the compliments. She didn’t know how to respond to such things, so she could only smile and get back to work, hoping they would see her situation and leave.

She had so much rice to hull; she didn’t have time to chat with them!

“Hey, Yan An, you’re not hulling it right. Pay attention to your force, or your arms will get incredibly sore,” the women around her said, quickly pointing out her mistakes and teaching her how to do it more easily.

Yan An adjusted her technique according to what they said, and a genuine smile appeared on her face. “Thank you, aunts. I’ve learned a lot.”

Seeing her like this, the women’s smiles grew wider. They waved to her and went back to their own fields.

Yan An looked at them. Although they were a bit nosy, they were very kind. They even taught her things!

She went back to hulling the grains for a while, but then a water pouch was suddenly offered to her. Yan An paused and looked up.

“Drink some water. Don’t overdo it,” Wen Ying said.

After several hours of labor and the scorching sun, both of their faces were red. Sweat was pouring down as if it were free, and the backs of their clothes were soaked.

“Thank you.” Yan An took the water pouch and gave her a bright smile.

Wen Ying quickly looked away and walked toward the hemp sacks as if to check on the hulled grains. She looked at them but didn’t say anything. She tied up the sack that was almost full and put a new one in its place.

Yan An saw her do this and couldn’t help but say, “You also need to take breaks from time to time. Don’t exhaust yourself.”

This person really took too few breaks. Yan An was afraid that this kind of intense labor would cause some hidden injuries in the future.

“Mmm,” Wen Ying responded flatly. She also untied her own water pouch and took a drink. She looked at the people working in the distance and said in a low voice, “What were they talking to you about earlier?”

Although she had a rough idea of what those people were like after spending some time with them, she also knew how Yan An used to treat them. She was a little worried that they might have said something hurtful to Yan An.

“They didn’t say anything. Oh, they said I wasn’t using the right technique and taught me how to hull the grains more easily,” Yan An said.

So, this person had made a special trip just to bring her water and ask her that?

Wen Ying was silent for a moment. Her gaze fell on Yan An’s face, and she probably understood why those people’s attitude toward Yan An was so good.