In his opinion, this girl was of average appearance, average strength, and average family background. There are countless women in the world, and countless others who want to win the favor of an adult. Why would an adult be interested in an unknown girl?
Shen Zhuo had a headache. The adult's clear likes and dislikes were really... unconventional.
An Xin wiped the blood from the corner of her lips, walked up to Wang Baishi, and opened her palm, saying, "The case is solved, sir, please pay the reward!"
Wang Baishi's facial muscles twitched. Even at this point, this brat still remembered his reward money. A hundred taels of silver was no small sum. He had been eager to solve the case earlier, so he had gritted his teeth and given her a huge reward. Now that the case was solved, it would be very difficult for her to give it back.
Wang Baishi smiled obsequiously, but his eyes held a hidden threat: "As for the reward, we'll talk about it another day. You've been disrespectful in front of the Right Chancellor, so why don't you come forward and apologize?"
An Xin seemed oblivious to the threat in his eyes, rubbing her wrist as she loudly proclaimed, "The Right Prime Minister is here! Why don't you hurry up and pay the reward? We poor commoners are counting on this money to survive. You won't renege on your promise in front of the Right Prime Minister, will you?"
Wang Baishi's lips twitched, then he stiffly gritted his teeth and said, "When did I ever intend to renege on my promise?!"
An Xin rolled her eyes and said, "Your Excellency, the way you look at me is terrifying. I beg the Right Prime Minister to do me justice!"
A soft laugh escaped from behind the sedan curtain, and then Shen Zhuo's expression changed, before he said coldly, "The Right Prime Minister has ordered that Wang Baishi immediately pay the reward silver, and that An Xin be rewarded with another hundred taels of silver for her meritorious service in solving the case!"
Everyone gaped in astonishment. No, really?! As expected of the Right Prime Minister, he truly has money!
Countless envious, jealous, and hateful gazes fell on An Xin, who was also surprised and gave the sedan chair a strange look.
Wang Baishi turned pale. Since the Right Chancellor had said so, if he hesitated any longer, wouldn't he be asking for a beating? He dared not hesitate any longer and hurriedly had someone bring the silver over.
Holding the silver, An Xin finally smiled. Looking at Wang Baishi's liver-colored face, An Xin said, "My lord, the Right Prime Minister is truly discerning!"
Wang Baishi's face immediately turned ashen, as if he had swallowed a fly.
Chapter Twenty-One: Nima
An Xin paused at the pond, where the ripples reflected a young girl's face. Even though she rarely paid attention, she had to admit that the body was almost identical to her own original appearance.
Perhaps this is the real reason that led me to time travel.
An Xin raised her hand to touch her cheek. The abrasion was red and swollen, and it stung painfully when touched. If she went back like this, Xu Ruolan would probably worry again.
"Xin'er?" A clear female voice came from behind. An Xin covered her cheek and turned around to look. It was Jin Qiao.
Lu Zhudao and Jin Qiao were very close friends, but in this life, An Xin and she only met once, so there was inevitably a sense of estrangement.
"Sister Jinqiao." An Xin tried to overcome her awkwardness and smiled slightly. The smile caused her to wipe her cheek, which made her face stiff with pain.
Jinqiao smiled gently and walked over with a bamboo basket on her shoulder: "How did you get hurt on your face? Let me take a look."
An Xin had very few friends in her past life. Compared to her peers, An Xin was eccentric. Many children thought she was a weirdo and would avoid her from a distance whenever they saw her. Jin Qiao's unreserved approach stirred something in An Xin's heart, so she let Jin Qiao scrutinize her with her face.
"It's just a scratch." Jin Qiao breathed a sigh of relief, then grabbed some herbs, chewed them, and spat them out to apply to An Xin's face.
An Xin's lips twitched. Uh, saliva seems to have anti-inflammatory properties...
"Sister Jinqiao, did you come from the back mountain?" An Xin asked, trying to make conversation, as she wasn't very good at communicating with strangers.
Jinqiao's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know?" she asked.
An Xin smiled and said, "Sister Jinqiao's feet are covered with moss and mud, and her bamboo basket is filled with fine-leaved azalea. I heard from my mother that there is a swamp in the back mountain, and these are common swamp plants. It's not surprising that Sister Jinqiao came from the back mountain."
Jinqiao was both surprised and curious, her cheeks flushed as she said, "I haven't been feeling well lately..."
An Xin thought to herself that it was probably menstrual irregularity, since Du Xiang had the effect of regulating menstruation. Looking at Jin Qiao's slightly yellow complexion and somewhat gloomy expression, her guess was pretty much right.
An Xin smiled and said, "Have some ginger soup, and it would be even better if you had some brown sugar."
Jinqiao looked somewhat awkward and said, "I'd better brew some more sage..." But where would she get the money to buy brown sugar? For poor farmers, brown sugar was a luxury.
An Xin took her hand. Her fingers were covered with thin calluses, and her once fair hands were now covered with scars. An Xin said, "Sister Jinqiao, do handicrafts?"
Jinqiao awkwardly twitched his fingers and said, "I do some woodworking to barely make ends meet."
An Xin's eyes softened. Jin Qiao lived a life of poverty and was called a savage. He was bullied and had no one to rely on, yet he still had to do some handicrafts to make a living. But even though his handicrafts were good, he still needed someone to buy them.
Yi'an County is not large. Although the people live and work in peace and contentment, they are not wealthy enough. Presumably, few people would spend a few coins to buy a handmade item that can only be looked at but not used.
An Xin asked, "Are we going to the county town tomorrow?"
Jinqiao nodded, then said cheerfully, "By the way, I polished a peach wood comb. It's said that peach wood can ward off evil spirits. Would you like to give it to me tomorrow?"
An Xin smiled and said, "I can't accept a gift without doing something. Since Sister Jinqiao is going to give me a peach wood comb, I'll have to go to the county town with you tomorrow."
Jinqiao chuckled and nodded, but her gaze inadvertently fell elsewhere, and her expression suddenly changed. She hurriedly lowered her head and said, "I'll be going now."
An Xin frowned slightly and looked into the distance following her gaze. She saw a group of men and women walking over, with An Xiaoyue and Wang Yihe leading the way.
Looking again, Jinqiao had already hurried away. Dewdrop was right; Jinqiao seemed extremely afraid to meet the villagers, probably because he had been bullied for a long time and thus harbored a deep-seated fear.
An Xin's eyes flickered, and she turned to walk home. She had only taken a few steps when someone called her back.
"Sister Xin'er!"
An Xin slowly stopped in her tracks.
"Sister Xin'er, what a coincidence!" An Xiaoyue ran over and happily grabbed An Xin's hand. An Xin thought to herself, "The village is small, what a coincidence."
"Ah, what happened to your face, sister?" An Xiaoyue exclaimed in surprise. The others who came with her immediately turned their gazes toward her. Recalling the time when An Xin intimidated the village chief, although they felt a pang of sympathy, their contempt for An Xin only increased. After all, how could a once timid girl suddenly trample them underfoot and arrogantly tell them to shut up?
She, An Xin, was nothing more than a lowly, abandoned woman. Why should they obey her every word she uttered?
Seeing that An Xin's face was injured, everyone couldn't help but look at her mockingly.
An Xin withdrew her hand and said calmly, "As you can see."
An Xiaoyue's face stiffened, and just as she was about to say something, An Xin walked away.
Looking at An Xin's indifferent face, Wang Yihe felt a strange turmoil in his heart. He stepped forward and blocked An Xin's path, saying, "Xin'er, I'm hosting a banquet tonight. Let's go together."
An Xin raised her eyelashes and glanced at him indifferently, saying, "Not interested."
Wang Yihe's face suddenly stiffened. He was the center of attention in the village, and even An Xin back then was no exception.
He had thought that after being divorced, she would be even more subservient, but who would have thought she would be so indifferent and completely disregard him!
In fact, Wang Yihe had misunderstood An Xin. First, An Xin genuinely had no interest in this banquet. Second, who was this person?! Didn't her teacher teach her not to talk to strangers?
An Xin's open rejection of Wang Yihe naturally aroused public outrage, and everyone criticized her.
One person said, "An Xin, how dare you refuse Brother Yihe! Do you really think you're so great?!"
One person said, "He's been divorced and he's still so arrogant! If he's so capable, he should cling to the Ling family's coattails so he doesn't get kicked out!"
One person said, "He's down on his luck and still pretending to be high and mighty! Brother Yihe, this kind of person isn't worth your time!"
...
An Xiaoyue stood to one side, a hint of gleeful mockery flashing in her eyes, and then stepped forward and said, "Sister, perhaps you have something difficult to say. After all, your face is injured, and it's inconvenient for you to see people."
An Xin's cheek wasn't so badly injured that she couldn't be seen in public. Everyone hadn't noticed it at first, but after An Xiaoyue mentioned it, all eyes immediately turned to An Xin's face.
One person said, "Brother Yihe, she's so ugly, and you still want to take her? Don't you feel ashamed? We do!"
One person said, "That's right, she has short legs and a thick waist, and her face is so pale it looks like a ghost."
One person said, "She's so rude, even daring to threaten the village chief. Where is the modesty a young woman should have?!"
...
An Xin couldn't help but look at her long, slender legs and slim waist, thinking to herself, "Damn it, I finally understand what it means to lie through your teeth!"
People are all like this: they belittle others' shortcomings to gain psychological satisfaction. If there is nothing to belittle, they will make up one to satisfy the burning jealousy in their hearts, as if this will bring them some psychological balance. In the end, it only hurts others and themselves!
Wang Yihe's feelings were complicated. Being humiliated by An Xin was something no one would be happy about. He sighed and said softly, "Xin'er, I know you can't let go of the humiliation in your heart. Since being divorced is a fact, don't pretend to be strong anymore. Sometimes, it's not so bad to be an ordinary person."
An Xiaoyue comforted her, saying, "Yes, Sister Xin'er, it's not bad to live an ordinary life and marry an honest man in the future. After all, the Ling family is not a family that poor people can aspire to."
An Xin raised her eyelashes and said calmly, "Are you done? If you're done, I'm leaving."
The crowd looked rather grim, as if their powerful punches had landed on cotton. But then they heard An Xin's voice drift over casually. When they heard what An Xin was saying, their faces turned ashen.
She said, "A bunch of idiots."
Chapter Twenty-Two: Character Divination
As expected, as soon as An Xin stepped into the house, Xu Ruolan rushed over, anxiously asking, "Xin'er, what happened to your face? Did someone bully you again? Does it hurt?"
Dewdrop exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly went to find medicine, while An Youwei said with a guilty expression, "It's all my fault, it's all my fault..."
Parents' love for their children is essentially the same; they just express it differently. Thinking of her own biological parents, An Xin was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.
Her relationship with her father was like that of close friends. Because of her father's status, she spent more time with him than with her mother from a young age. However, her mother's love for her was no less than that of her father. Anxin thought that although her childhood was lonely, she did not go astray on the road to adulthood because she could always feel her parents' meticulous care.
In this life, she is so fortunate to receive a different kind of care once again; Heaven has not been unkind to her.
"Don't worry, Mom, I'm fine." An Xin made up a reason. For a reasoning genius like her, it was incredibly easy to fabricate a flawless lie.
Xu Ruolan was relieved and pulled An Xin over, saying, "Let's eat quickly, the food is getting cold."
An Xin pursed her lips as she looked at the meager boiled cabbage and thin porridge on the table. If she rashly took out the reward money, her parents would definitely interrogate her endlessly. After all, several hundred taels of silver was no small sum for a poor family. She had to think of a way to deal with it...
Xu Ruolan stuffed the only white membrane into An Xin's hand, while An Youwei and Xu Ruolan only drank the remaining soup. An Xin held the white membrane and remained silent for a long time before taking a bite.
The white mask tasted terrible; it was hard and rough, like eating bran when you bit into it. But for An Youwei now, the white mask was a luxury.
An Xin felt no hunger at all. She forced down the white membrane in big gulps, took a sip of soup, and then happily exclaimed, "I'm so full! I'm going out for a walk!"
Xu Ruolan said kindly, "It's getting late, don't go too far, let the dew keep you company."
An Xin nodded, then turned and walked out.
Business was not An Xin's forte, but if she didn't do business, how could the money rightfully end up in An Youwei's hands?
After walking around outside, An Xin went straight back to her room and lay on the hard bed, unable to fall asleep for a long time. Lu Zhu tiptoed over to cover An Xin with a blanket, so An Xin had no choice but to close her eyes and pretend to sleep. As soon as she closed her eyes, she actually fell asleep.
That night, An Xin dreamed of her parents, her eyes filled with tears. When she opened her eyes again, it was already the next morning. An Xin patted her face, got out of bed, ate breakfast in a hurry, and ran out in a flash.
Today is market day in Yi'an County, and the market is bustling with activity, with many more people than usual.
Jinqiao and Anxin set up a small shop in a corner, displaying their handmade products. The handmade items were very small, lifelike, and extremely cute. There were also some wooden combs and hairpins that were very exquisite.