The Perfect Life in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 19

"Crunch," a metallic taste filled Mu Qing's mouth. She slowly raised her head, and in a small pool of blood on the ground lay a small, white front tooth.

Mu Qing inwardly groaned: Heavens! I can't keep a secret, but I'm about to let it slip!

Chapter Forty-Three: An Eye for an Eye

Mu Qing was caught off guard. The boy who had snatched the dumplings stood there dumbfounded, clearly not expecting that the one who had tripped him up was the little girl whose food he had stolen.

"Kid, trying to run away!" Chen Xun shouted, reaching out and grabbing the boy by the back of his shirt.

The boy then came to his senses and struggled fiercely, shouting, "Let go! Let go!"

"You made my sister fall, and you're so arrogant!" Chen Xun swept the boy under his arm.

Mu Qing got up from the ground, took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood off her mouth, bent down and picked up the little white front tooth that had fallen into the "pool of blood", placed it on the handkerchief, and thought with great resentment, "Does this mean that the season for losing teeth has come early?"

She turned around and sized up the culprit wriggling in Chen Xun's arms. He looked about eight or nine years old, with messy hair, a thin and frail body, and clothes tattered like a little beggar. The boy noticed Mu Qing had gotten up and looked up at her. His dirty, cat-like face obscured his expression, but his wide, fiery eyes shone brightly.

Having been caught by Chen Xun, they had wasted time, and the people who had been chasing the boy had already arrived. They angrily began to list the boy's crimes, which were basically that he had stolen things from someone selling goods. From his cloth bag, they emptied out all sorts of food, such as candied fruit, soup noodles, and dumplings, along with a bottle of wine.

"Put the wine down, and take everything else!" The boy shouted, stopping the waiter from taking the wine back. In his haste, he grabbed Chen Xun's arm, and while Chen Xun was still in shock, he spun around, somersaulted, and landed in front of Chen Xun, stepping forward to grab the wine bottle.

"I haven't even settled accounts with you yet, and you're already acting like a big shot? You've ruined all this food, how can you even sell it? Want some wine? Pay up!" The waiter grabbed the wine jug and said matter-of-factly.

After being rebuked by the waiter, the boy knew he was in the wrong and didn't argue back. He lowered his head, not daring to look at the waiter, but still held on tightly. After considering for a moment, the boy straightened his neck again and promised, "I urgently need this wine today, I absolutely must have it. Can you give it to me on credit, brother? I will definitely pay you back in three days!"

"No way! Who are you? Why should I believe you!" The waiter forcefully pulled the bottle toward himself.

As the two were sawing at each other, several food stall owners nearby started jeering and demanding that the boy pay them compensation.

"Qing'er, are you alright? Are you hurt?" Chen Xun asked Mu Qing as he saw the boy surrounded by the crowd and unable to escape.

"Third Brother, it's alright! It's just that I lost a tooth, so my speech is a little lisp..." Mu Qing quickly shut her mouth after saying this, comforting herself, "It's nothing, it's a normal stage for children. I'll start being a lady today, I'll just smile without showing my teeth!"

Chen Xun was surprised by Mu Qing's composure. Normally, if a little girl fell and knocked out a tooth, and bled, she would have been crying her eyes out. He remembered that when he was little, even the fifth boy cried buckets when he accidentally knocked out a tooth, but this little sister of hers was completely unfazed, acting as if nothing had happened. How strange!

Mu Qing was unaware of Chen Xun's thoughts. She carefully wrapped up the small front tooth that had caused the bloodshed and put it in her bosom. Sigh, she still had to make up a reason to keep this and give the old lady and her mother an explanation.

"No way! We're going to hand you over to the authorities today, you little thief!" A group of people shouted, interrupting Mu Qing's thoughts.

The boy had already snatched the bottle and was clutching it to his chest, looking like he was ready to fight anyone who tried to take it from him, while the owners of the bottle were already rolling up their sleeves, ready to beat him up.

"Wait! I've paid the money he owes you!" After saying that, Mu Qing felt annoyed. This was a slip of the tongue; her words had lost half their force and sounded like she was slurring her words.

Everyone, including Chen Xun and the boy who was clinging to the wine bottle, was stunned.

"Little sister, what's wrong with you...?"

"Third Brother, could you pay these uncles and elders for me first? I'll pay you back when I get home!"

Mu Qing ignored Chen Xun's questioning gaze; she had her own ideas.

She accepted her bad luck at being robbed and bumped into, but the young man who bumped into her seemed so concerned about that bottle of wine; there must be a reason. She helped him out, not out of pity, but because he was so agile and nimble, she couldn't help but wonder about his background. Could he be one of those legendary figures from the martial arts world?

Chen Xun did as instructed, asked the price, and paid. The crowd then dispersed.

"We have no relation to each other, why are you helping me? Aren't you afraid I'll run away and not pay you back?" The boy still didn't understand why the little girl in front of him was helping her. Judging from her and the young man's clothes, he knew they were from wealthy families. They were just strangers who had met by chance, and he had even caused her to fall. Why was she suddenly going to pay for him?

The boy held the bottle of wine, a look of confusion in his eyes, as if to say, "You're being unusually helpful; there's no smoke without fire."

Seeing his expression, Mu Qing chuckled mischievously, her little mouth involuntarily widening into a grin: "I don't want you to pay me back, I want you to pay me back!" Mu Qing quickly shut her mouth after saying that, her little face tense, the feeling of the wind rushing into her mouth was unpleasant!

"Teeth?" the boy and Chen Xun asked in unison. They glanced at each other, then, remembering their antagonistic relationship, consciously moved away.

"Do you expect me to knock out one of my front teeth?" the boy said angrily. This rich girl looked cute and adorable, but how could she be so arrogant and domineering? Was she trying to use money to make such a despicable demand?

Mu Qing couldn't see his expression, but she could tell from his voice that the little brat was angry. "Hmph, you little punk, you're judging me by your own petty standards! I don't want your broken teeth, hehe, I want something else..."

Mu Qing wanted to settle the score with this kid alone, rather than getting into a fight with him among a group. Others had lost their things but were unharmed, but she had lost her front tooth and her "former self"—she was hurt both physically and emotionally. She needed time to heal her wounds…

Mu Qing blinked her eyes, and Chen Xun suddenly had a bad feeling. He remembered that when Shu Hong was humiliated last time, his little sister also blinked her eyes. Although blinking was cute, who knew if someone was going to be unlucky.

"Little brother, how could you say that to Qing'er? Even if you knocked out a tooth for Qing'er, it wouldn't be of any use!"

"Then what do you mean?" the boy continued, puzzled.

"Hmm! If we really count, brother owes Qing'er a lot of money. First, Qing'er fell down today because of you, lost a front tooth and bled, brother should pay for the medicine; second, Qing'er was frightened because you snatched the dumplings, brother should pay for emotional distress; third, Qing'er fell and got her clothes dirty, brother should pay for my laundry. And... never mind, there's no point in talking about these things, Qing'er doesn't want any of them!"

Mu Qing counted on her fingers one by one, leaving Chen Xun speechless. He couldn't help but feel secretly relieved that this time it wasn't him who directly caused Mu Qing to lose that tooth.

Although some of the words sounded strange, the meaning was clear. The boy was a little angry and asked irritably, "So what do you want?"

"Here's a solution. Qing'er paid your bill earlier, so how about you work for Qing'er for a year? Room and board are included, but I won't pay you. Of course, you can also just take the bottle and leave, ignoring Qing'er. If Qing'er doesn't look for you, she can't drag you back."

The boy scoffed at Mu Qing's words, glancing at her dismissively before turning his head away: "Am I, Bai Yu, the kind of person who goes back on his word!"

There's hope! Just as I expected, he's trustworthy and has the air of a江湖人 (jianghu person, someone from the martial arts world)!

Mu Qing smiled even more inwardly, but said aloud, "Yes! I saw Brother Bai Yu say he would make up the money later, and I know he is a responsible person! Qing'er admires him greatly! Then, Brother, take the wine and go do your business!"

Bai Yu nodded and asked, "Where do you live?"

If they asked for my address, then they're probably not just joking around, but really going. Hmm! Xiao Baiyu is a pretty good person. Mu Qing thought to herself as she replied, "The Chen family outside Qianhu Gate. When you go, just tell the gatekeeper you're looking for the Third Young Master, Chen Xun."

After hearing this, Bai Yu turned and left, clutching the wine bottle.

Mu Qing called out again at his retreating figure, "Qing'er is waiting for you at home for three days? Only a dog would cheat like that!"

"Okay!" Bai Yu responded from afar and then disappeared into the crowd.

"Qing'er, aren't you afraid he'll break his promise and not come? Wouldn't that be a waste of money?" Chen Xun asked, puzzled.

Mu Qing pouted: "Then we can only assume that Qing'er misjudged him! If he doesn't come, he doesn't come! Let's just consider it a day when it's not auspicious for brother and Qing'er to go out, and that we'll just lose money to avoid disaster!"

"Um……"

While Chen Xun was filled with endless doubt, he heard Mu Qing behind him bite his tongue and shout again, "Grandpa, I didn't get enough of the dumplings, another serving! Third Brother, remember to pay for the last one too!"

Chen Xun's lips twitched. "Scratching the ground, huh!"

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Bai Yu: I've already given my life in return, so don't forget to tip and recommend me!

Chapter Forty-Four: Heartbeat

Mu Qing and her third brother ate the delicious dumplings and felt they wanted more, but her third brother said they couldn't eat any more, saying, "It's not good to eat too much at once and get stuffed. You won't want to eat it when you see it again. That's the principle of not eating too much of delicious food."

Mu Qing probably understood that her third brother, who was so cautious in his actions, was afraid that she would have trouble explaining herself if she ate something wrong. However, she had only eaten about six or seven tenths full. The delicious taste of the filling of the dumplings was still lingering in her mouth and nose, making her feel that the dumplings were extraordinary. As a result, she became a little unhappy.

Seeing Mu Qing pouting and looking somewhat unhappy, Chen Xun suddenly clapped his hands and said, "It's not easy for my little sister to come out like this, so let's go shopping together and buy some other snacks, shall we?"

Mu Qing was overjoyed. She hadn't seen enough sightseeing to begin with, so she smiled broadly and pulled Chen Xun to praise her, "Third brother is the best! Let's go then, hehe."

Chen Xun shook his head helplessly, bought some snacks and fruits with Mu Qing, strolled around for a while, and then took Mu Qing back home after checking the time.

Mu Qing knew that it wouldn't be good if she was discovered after being out for a long time, so she didn't say anything more and obediently got into the car to go home with her third brother.

However, sitting in the car, I couldn't calm down as I recalled the shops and alleys I had just seen.

Having tasted many delicacies in her previous life, she didn't find anything particularly special about living in the Chen residence, as she was still adjusting to life there.

The shops along the street reminded her of the commercial streets of later generations, which were far more prosperous than this place. This was partly due to the architecture; here, shops were mostly single-story houses facing the street, with very few two-story buildings and even fewer three-story ones.

There's also the factor of population; after all, the population density on Earth in later generations is no joke. However, the goods and food available on the market are incomparable to those in later generations.

However, when it comes to desserts, although many of the fancy varieties are not found in later generations, the sheer variety of desserts in this era is simply incomparable to that of later generations. Not only in terms of the number of varieties, but also in terms of regional characteristics, they are more distinct.

In this era, due to underdeveloped transportation and relatively low population mobility, the regional characteristics of goods were more pronounced. Goods that flowed into the local area from other places were priced several times higher than local goods due to high transportation costs.

Take, for example, pastries. Because southerners love to eat rice, many pastries are made from rice flour. This is obviously different from the various pastries and noodles of later generations, most of which are made from wheat flour.

Rice flour is naturally less sticky than wheat flour, so its use is somewhat limited. For example, the fried dough sticks we just ate need to be wrapped in thin, coin-sized dough sheets and cooked. If you use plain rice flour, it obviously won't work. So the old man's stall also uses dough sheets made from wheat flour.

The old man said he came from Beijing, which clearly shows that he brought with him the characteristics of northern cuisine, and he likes to eat noodles.

As for noodles, Mu Qing could almost name dozens or even hundreds of kinds in one breath. The guodou that she just ate was actually the prototype of wontons in later generations. In her previous life, Mu Qing had eaten almost twenty or thirty kinds of fillings in chain stores that specialized in wontons. But to be honest, the fillings prepared by the old man today were no worse than those in later generations. On the contrary, because no chemical products were added to the meat fillings, the food was even more delicious.

The dough has a stronger wheat aroma, and the filling has a more natural meaty flavor, which is absolutely incomparable to meat fillings made from fast-grown livestock.

Pure, natural, and pollution-free green snacks, tsk tsk, Mu Qing thought of junk food like KFC, which she seemed to enjoy eating back then.

Thinking of KFC, an idea suddenly flashed through Mu Qing's mind, but she couldn't quite grasp it, so she frowned and pondered.

Chen Xun found it quite amusing. This little Qing'er, at such a young age, not only sat in a very serious posture, but even her expressions—sometimes frowning, sometimes smiling, sometimes thinking—were as solemn as a little adult. It was quite amusing.

He then smiled and said, "What are you thinking about, little sister? Look at how furrowed your brows are, like two little tadpoles fighting. Why don't you tell your brother?"

Mu Qing was a little annoyed that he had interrupted her train of thought: "Hmph, if you bring me to eat kueh again tomorrow, I'll tell you."

Chen Xun laughed even harder: "Haha, so that's what it is. Don't worry, I'll buy some for Qing'er as soon as Third Brother comes out, okay?"

"What's the point of buying it and eating it? Once the food gets cold, the taste changes. It's only good when it's freshly made and eaten."

Chen Xun didn't take it to heart and waved his hand, "It's alright, I'll buy you some raw ones next time. We can have Auntie cook them for you when we get home. As long as you like them, it's nothing."

Mu Qing's eyes suddenly lit up. That's right, she could buy them and cook them herself. How could she have forgotten about that? It seemed that in her previous life, she could always buy food and cook it herself, not to mention the dazzling array of frozen foods in the supermarket. Wait... I've got it!

When Chen Xun saw Mu Qing's face light up, he was secretly pleased. See? Kids are so easy to fool. If he can't handle a little kid, all that studying will have been for nothing.

Mu Qing was delighted and clapped her hands, laughing, "Third Brother is so smart, Third Brother is the smartest! Tomorrow, Qing'er wants to eat that sweet dumpling, is that okay?" She then looked at Chen Xun with her big eyes expectantly.

Chen Xun's excitement was immediately dampened. Uh... this was too fast! But since he had already said it, he said somewhat awkwardly, "Third Brother might not be able to come out tomorrow. How about this, little sister? I'll definitely find a way to come out and buy you a big bag to take back these next few days." Let you eat your fill at once. This little girl is really hard to fool.

Mu Qing nodded: "Then Qing'er thanks Third Brother in advance. Qing'er is looking forward to eating the dumplings that Third Brother bought, hehe..." Her eyes were particularly bright as she looked at Chen Xun.

Looking at Mu Qing's bright smiling face, Chen Xun was also delighted: "It's good that my little sister likes it." A sense of responsibility and pride as an older brother welled up within him.

Taking this opportunity, she decided to make some plans. People in ancient times married young, so she should take action. Even if she didn't earn enough for a dowry, at least she would have money in hand so she wouldn't feel anxious.

Otherwise, when she grows up, she will rely entirely on the Chen family. Regardless of the Chen family's situation at that time, she is just a girl who grew up in a large, secluded mansion. She has seen all kinds of things and has no money. She will probably be at the mercy of others.

Even if you go to your husband's family, you might not be well received. Since God has given you this opportunity, wouldn't it be fair to God and yourself to live a more comfortable life?

Moreover, it seems that my parents have settled here for a while now, and probably not for a short time. They might live here for the rest of their lives. Jiangnan is a land of fish and rice, and a famous cultural city. There's nothing wrong with it. Besides, it's so prosperous. We can't waste these resources.

So Mu Qing's budding ambitions finally came to fruition.

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