SNT Chapter 17: Huiniang

The next day, late spring drizzle.

Water mist rose from the bluestone street, fine raindrops weaving a hazy curtain under the eaves.

Chen Qing carried two salted fish, stepping on the wet stone road to the Yang family home in Hundred Flowers Lane.

"Knock knock!"

"Who is it?" came a sharp female voice from inside.

The wooden door creaked open, revealing a dark, thin face.

"What are you doing here, boy?!"

Chen Jinhua squinted as she looked Chen Qing up and down, her brow furrowed into a knot.

In the past, when Chen Qing's family came, nothing good happened, mostly they came to borrow money.

Chen Qing said, "Eldest aunt, my mother made two salted fish..."

Upon hearing the words "salted fish," Chen Jinhua's tense expression relaxed somewhat, and she stepped aside to make a narrow opening, "Come in."

Inside the house, Yang Tiezhu was hunched over adding firewood to the stove. Seeing Chen Qing enter, he hurriedly used his sleeve to wipe a wooden bench, "Ah Qing came? Sit for a while."

Compared to Chen Jinhua's harshness and sharpness, Yang Tiezhu was very honest and easy to talk to.

"Come, have some water." Yang Tiezhu picked up a chipped pottery pot from beside the stove.

As Chen Qing took the pottery pot, he noticed bruises on Yang Tiezhu's face and couldn't help asking, "Uncle, your face..."

Yang Tiezhu's expression became evasive as he turned his face away, mumbling, "...fell accidentally not long ago, it's nothing serious."

Those marks were clearly traces left by fists and feet. Chen Qing's heart stirred, could it be that his eldest aunt had done this?

Since Yang Tiezhu was unwilling to discuss it further, Chen Qing naturally didn't pursue the matter and quickly changed the subject, "Isn't Sister Huiniang at home?"

Chen Jinhua snorted, "That girl went to the cloth shop early in the morning. She's busy from dawn to dusk every day, but her wages are..."

She suddenly stopped speaking, her eyes scanning Chen Qing, "Why are you asking about this?"

"Don't think I don't know, last time when she gave you her wages, I found out."

Chen Jinhua sneered, "That girl, her elbow turns outward."

She deliberately emphasized the words "turns outward."

Footsteps came from outside the window, followed by the sound of a wooden basin hitting the ground.

Chen Qing turned his head and saw Yang Huiniang standing in the courtyard, bending down to pick up scattered clothing.

She was thinner than when he last saw her, her wrists so thin that the bones were visible, and water droplets still hung from her hair tips, obviously having just returned from washing and starching.

"Mother, I'm back..."

Yang Huiniang looked up and saw Chen Qing, her eyes brightened, then dimmed again.

She quickly walked into the house, positioning herself between Chen Qing and Chen Jinhua, "Aunt Wang said she wants to borrow our rice sieve..."

Chen Jinhua grabbed Yang Huiniang's arm, "What are you hiding from? He came specifically to see you!"

She glanced at Chen Qing sideways, "Ah Qing, isn't that right?"

Chen Qing said, "Eldest aunt, I just..."

"Just what?" The aunt's voice suddenly rose, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking!"

She grabbed the salted fish from the table, "Two stinking fish are worth how many taels of silver?"

"Mother!" Yang Huiniang suddenly interrupted, her voice trembling, "That was my dowry, I can give it to whoever I want."

"Smack!"

The aunt threw the fish hard on the ground, the salted fish covered with dust.

"You dead girl!" She frowned, "Have you forgotten who raised you all these years?"

Yang Huiniang crouched down to pick them up, but Chen Qing pressed her shoulder.

He slowly bent down, picked up the fish one by one, gently brushing off the dust.

"Eldest aunt," he straightened up, his voice calm, "This fish was made from the fattest carp from Green River mouth. My mother said you love this the most."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jinhua's expression froze.

Chen Qing rewrapped the fish, gently placed them on the stove platform, and then left.

"Ah Qing."

Yang Huiniang hurried to catch up.

Yang Tiezhu said quietly, "Ah Qing is a good child. Though he doesn't have much ability, he's very obedient and filial..."

"Do you think I'm obsessed with money?"

Chen Jinhua's eyes suddenly reddened, her voice like it had been ground by sandpaper, "You think I'm greedy for those few taels of silver?"

She grabbed Huiniang's coarse cloth clothes hanging on the rope, the fabric already washed until it was white.

"Sigh!"

Yang Tiezhu's hunched back seemed to bend even more. He silently picked up the fire tongs that had fallen to the ground, the dying charcoal fire in the stove reflecting mottled shadows across his face.

...

Outside the alley.

Yang Huiniang grabbed Chen Qing's arm, her fingertips slightly cool but her voice urgent, "Ah Qing, those things my mother said were just nonsense spoken in anger, don't take them to heart..."

Chen Qing turned his face, the corner of his mouth pulling into a faint smile, "Don't worry, I didn't take it to heart."

Chen Jinhua obviously thought he had cheated Yang Huiniang of her silver.

Yang Huiniang looked up at him, her brow still furrowed, "Really?"

"Really."

He nodded, his tone calm.

Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief, the corners of her eyes curving, "That's good then."

Chen Qing's gaze moved downward, falling on her clasped hands. Her knuckles were red and swollen, the fine cracks like dried riverbeds, some still seeping with blood.

His brow furrowed, "Are your hands better?"

Yang Huiniang instinctively pulled her hands into her sleeves, smiling, "Much better. When spring comes and it gets warm, they'll naturally heal."

"I have some silver here." Chen Qing took out some broken silver from his chest, pressing it into her palm without allowing refusal.

"Ah Qing!" She hurriedly tried to refuse, "You'll need money for many things in the future, how can I take yours?"

But Chen Qing pressed her wrist, his strength not allowing refusal, "I said I would pay you back with interest."

Her nose tingled slightly as she clutched the silver tightly, saying quietly, "...The interest isn't that high. I'll keep it for you first, and when you need money for marriage someday, I'll give it back to you."

Chen Qing was silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled softly, "Alright."

"Ah Qing, there's still work at home, I need to go back and get busy."

Yang Huiniang said softly, "It's a bit cold at night, remember to wear more clothes."

Having said that, she quickly walked back toward home.

Chen Qing took a deep breath and walked toward Green River dock.

As he just stepped into the back courtyard of the River Office, cheers were coming from the training ground.

Following the sound, he saw more than ten patrol guards forming a semicircle, with two figures moving and dodging in the center, stirring up clouds of dust with their boxing winds and leg shadows.

Cheng Ming stood with arms folded, watching with great interest.

"Chief!"

Chen Qing walked over, "What's going on here?"

"These two are competing, I'm watching the excitement."

Cheng Ming smiled, "The one on the left is Wang Cheng, a patrol guard from the first squad. He previously studied martial arts at a training hall and practices Twelve-Route Seven Star Kicks. The one on the right practicing Severing Sea Boxing is Zhu Ming, who learned family martial arts and previously worked as a guard at the Li family for a while. Later he offended his master and came to the River Office to make a living."

Chen Qing focused his attention to watch closely, seeing that both men's techniques were extremely fierce, making dull collision sounds when their fists and feet met.

This was different from the restrained sparring among disciples at Zhou's courtyard. These two men's every move carried the ruthlessness of real combat, obviously both having experienced real battles.

Suddenly a muffled sound erupted from the field as Zhu Ming's "Angry Waves Strike Shore" found Wang Cheng's opening, forcing him back several steps.

The watching patrol guards immediately burst into cheers.

Cheng Ming nodded slightly, "Worthy of being a guard who came from the Li mansion, this Severing Sea Boxing already has some skill."

A young patrol guard at the side whispered, "I heard the monthly wages at Li mansion are more than five times that of ordinary guards..."

"But you need real ability. Last year when the Li family recruited guards, they only selected two out of more than thirty people..."

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