Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Fortunately, no one stayed unlucky forever.
Posing as a grandmother and her two granddaughters, the three of us made it to Lingzhou without incident.
It wasn’t that I necessarily owed them my gratitude, but if I had been traveling alone with so much money on me, the journey probably wouldn’t have gone nearly as smoothly.
So I decided that until my little sister and I were settled, I might as well continue pretending to be family with the Old Madam and Jiang Suisui.
We arrived in Lingzhou early one morning.
The morning mist had yet to lift, shrouding the ash-gray town in a milky haze.
Lingzhou was a city of bridges. Dark green moss seeped between the bluestone slabs, and houses lined both banks, nestled against the canals. From the distance came the rhythmic thump of laundry paddles, mingled with the clear calls of boatwomen selling their wares at the morning market.
The Capital prized grandeur. Lingzhou cherished the bustle of everyday life.
If we wanted to put down roots here, we would need everything from food and clothing to shelter and transportation.
The Old Madam slipped the jade thumb ring from her hand and told me to find an elegant residence.
I accepted the ring, but all I asked the broker to find was the simplest courtyard he could along the canal.
Naturally, she was displeased.
“Jinque, this really isn’t right…”
I dug an old shirt out from the bottom of our bundle, one so ragged it could barely cover anyone, and tore off a scrap for Jiang Suisui to play with. Only then did I smile at the Old Madam.
“Old Madam, don’t forget that the three of us don’t have legal papers.
“The sort of residence you want is handled by licensed property agents. Without travel permits, being denied a lease would be the least of our problems. If they reported us to the authorities, we’d be in real trouble. These brokers deal with people from every walk of life. As long as they’re paid, they don’t care about anything else.”
The Old Madam paused, then surveyed the little courtyard, which had only two small rooms and a kitchen.
“I’m practically one foot in the grave. There’s nowhere I can’t live. It’s just that Suisui has never suffered this kind of hardship…”
I turned sideways and nodded toward the room. “She seems to be adjusting just fine.”
The Old Madam followed my gaze and saw Jiang Suisui with her sleeves rolled up, vigorously wiping down a stool.
As if sensing someone watching her, Jiang Suisui looked up.
The moment her eyes met the Old Madam’s, she hurried over in delight and pulled her grandmother onto the stool.
“Grandmother, isn’t Suisui amazing? Look how clean I got it!”
The Old Madam brushed the dust from her backside and finally gave a helpless laugh.
“Thank goodness it was you I brought with me.”
As I watched them, warmth surged through my heart. Almost unconsciously, I reached for the banknotes worth thirty taels tucked inside my robe.
Now that I had finally reached Lingzhou, I truly couldn’t bear to wait another moment.
But even if I couldn’t bear it, I had to wait.
I wasn’t a fool. I had only just arrived in a place where I knew neither the people nor the streets. If I suddenly produced thirty taels to redeem someone, it would be stranger if no one took notice.
Suppressing my agitation, I discussed it with the Old Madam and found myself a job.
I still intended to save the jewelry we had brought from the Duke’s Manor for Jiang Suisui. I could have pocketed one or two pieces, but we couldn’t simply sit around and exhaust what little we had.
And so I became a mending seamstress.
Ordinary households could patch common fabrics themselves.
Fine fabrics, however, had to be repaired by a skilled embroiderer. I had seen my share of luxury during my time at the Duke’s Manor. I was more than capable of mending clothes for Lingzhou’s wealthy merchants and comfortably well-off families.
For that, I had Jiang Suisui to thank.
The Duke’s Manor was rich and powerful. No matter how expensive a garment was, if a thread snagged, it was simply discarded. No one would have it repaired and wear it again.
But Jiang Suisui was different. She had a child’s temperament. If she liked an outfit, she insisted on wearing it over and over again.
I had often mended her clothes. Later, I also began patching some of Jiang Zhuye’s training outfits.
By the time I had learned all there was to know about our neighbors, two months had passed.
Only after living together for those two months did I learn that the Old Madam was not originally from the Capital. Before her family rose to prominence, she had endured her fair share of hardship as a child.
Whenever I was busy, she lit the stove and cooked.
She made an extraordinarily fresh and flavorful fish soup.
She even joked that after living an entire lifetime, she had somehow ended up right back where she started.
I hadn’t expected that, upon receiving my first payment for mending, I would instinctively buy the Old Madam a packet of tea dust and bring Jiang Suisui the osmanthus candy she had been longing for.
When Jiang Suisui cradled the candy and cheered, “Thank you, Sis!” my heart still clenched instinctively.
I knew I couldn’t wait any longer.
I chose a day with fine weather and cheerfully told the Old Madam that I had had a chicken slaughtered at the western market that morning. Someone would be coming home with me later, so she should prepare enough food for one more person.
The Old Madam had long known that I had come to Lingzhou for my little sister.
She waved a hand.
“I’ll ask Mrs. Wang at the entrance to the alley whether there was any fish at the market today. I imagine your sister’s tastes are similar to yours, so she should like it.”
Before I left, she slipped a bracelet into my hands.
“You may be poor at home, but you need money on the road. If those people raise the price at the last minute, don’t argue with them. Just pay whatever they ask.”
But when I returned, the Old Madam looked behind me.
There was no one there. Not a single soul.
“They wouldn’t release her?”
I had forced myself to hold on the entire way back. Before I could answer, I collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.