Chapter 1: Prologue

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

The gloomy days lastly cleared up. There was not a lot meals left at house. Ah Wan carried her bamboo basket and went to dig for carrots. She was digging radishes, and a few individuals referred to as them carrots.

The radish wasn’t huge, not whilst huge as Ah Wan’s fist, nevertheless it had skinny pores and skin and had quite a lot of water. If one bit down on it, it will be candy to the guts. If one lower it into skinny slices and combined it with the chili sauce, it will be refreshing and scrumptious.

It was the perfect season to eat radish. When the climate turned colder, the style of the radishes would not be as tender and candy. As an alternative, they’d grow to be a bit of bitter and spicy.

“Ah Wan! Why are you continue to right here? Your husband is right here!” An auntie walked over with a dustpan.

Ah Wan, who was squatting within the floor, blushed. “Auntie, don’t speak nonsense. Who, who’s my husband?”

The auntie jokes, “You’re about to get married. If he’s not your husband, may he be my husband?”

On the opposite aspect of the fields, the farmers who have been choosing greens laughed. Ah Wan’s face reddened. She won’t admit it, however she knew she did have a fiancé. Her fiance’s surname was Zhao, and his title was Zhao Heng. He was the one scholar of their village.

Zhao Heng was not a neighborhood, he had fled to their village when the warfare began. After that, he stayed within the village. Zhao Heng’s father had died within the chaos of warfare, leaving him along with his widowed mom and a youthful sister who was the identical age as Ah Wan. All these years, it was due to Ah Wan’s household’s assist that the household of three lived in concern.

Ah Wan’s household didn’t have a great life both, particularly after Ah Wan’s father was captured to hitch the military. And not using a pillar to assist the household, their spending turned more and more tight. However regardless of how tight they have been, Ah Wan couldn’t bear to see Zhao Heng endure.

Ah Wan put the plucked radish into the small basket and ran house in a great temper. When she handed by a small fish pond, she squatted down and washed the mud off her fingers. Her fingers have been frostbitten and her wounds have been soaked. It was so painful that she gasped!

Then, she untied her hairband, wiped her fingers with water, and combed her hair till it was shiny. She braided her hair into a ravishing four-strand braid beside her ears and punctiliously took out the purple headband she was solely prepared to put on through the New 12 months. She tied it little by little.

After she was performed, she used her freezing fingers to scrub her face with a handful of chilly, fishy water.

“It’s so chilly!” Ah Wan cried out.

Alternatively, Zhao Heng had been loitering outdoors Ah Wan’s home for a very long time however didn’t see Ah Wan for a very long time, and he’d determined to return again one other day. Unexpectedly, when he handed by the fish pond, he coincidentally noticed Ah Wan who was squatting by the shore and washing her face.

Zhao Heng frowned. Might the water right here be used to scrub faces? The fishy scent was so sturdy.

Ah Wan additionally noticed Zhao Heng, and she or he scrambled to her toes. It had solely been half a month since they final met, however Zhao Heng had grown taller once more. Though he was three years older than Ah Wan, he was even smaller than Ah Wan when he first got here to the village. Ah Wan was glad to see that he had recovered.

“Ah Heng!” Ah Wan walked over with a smile.

The younger woman was sporting a particularly bloated cotton-padded jacket with patches on her knees and elbows. She regarded so shabby that she was a bit of embarrassed. Nevertheless, her face was extraordinarily lovely, and there was no different woman on the earth who was extra lovely than her.

As soon as upon a time, Zhao Heng had additionally thought that Ah Wan was probably the most lovely woman he had ever seen. However ever since he had seen these metropolis’s noble younger girls, when he checked out Ah Wan once more, he felt that she’s rustic and tacky.

Ah Wan noticed Zhao Heng’s fingers. They have been scholarly fingers, lengthy fingers, clear and delicate. Ah Wan secretly tucked her small swollen fingers that had frostbite on them into her sleeves and requested him with a smile, “Why are you right here? It’s the center of the month right now, and it’s not the time to pay the tutoring charge but… Have you ever spent all the cash you could have? I’ll go get it for you.” Really, there wasn’t a lot left. There have been just a few silver ingots left. The New 12 months items hadn’t been purchased but, however Zhao Heng’s research have been vital. She thought that her mom wouldn’t blame her.

“Ah Wan,” Zhao Heng referred to as after her.

Ah Wan circled, a candy smile on her purple face. “Hm?”

“You don’t have to present me any extra silver,” stated Zhao Heng.

“Why? Don’t you research anymore?” Ah Wan requested, stunned.

Zhao Heng paused. “No…”

Ah Wan thought that he was nervous about his future tuition charges, so she hurriedly patted her chest and stated, “Don’t fear, I’ve cash! I… I can earn cash! When spring comes, I’ll go choose wild greens! I may also chop wooden! I can farm…”

“Ah Wan, the place did you get the silver?” Zhao Heng interrupted her.

Ah Wan froze.

Zhao Heng stated with a dark expression, “You don’t have to cover it from me. I already know that your silver didn’t come from correct strategies… Two years in the past, you truly didn’t go to your cousin-in-law’s home. You… you entered a brothel!”

A bolt from the blue struck Ah Wan’s head! Ah Wan swayed and the basket on her again fell to the ground. The purple radishes rolled everywhere in the flooring.

Ah Wan checked out Zhao Heng with a pale face. “Who? Who informed you that?”

Zhao Heng clenched his fists tightly and stated, “You don’t care who informed me, simply say sure or no! Did you enter a brothel?”

Ah Wan’s eyes turned purple. She grabbed Zhao Heng’s arm. “Ah Heng…”

Zhao Heng was caught off guard when he noticed this pair of swollen fingers lined in frostbite. He was so frightened that he pulled his arm again!

Ah Wan felt his disdain and didn’t dare to the touch him along with her hand once more. She solely sobbed much more and stated, “I… I didn’t enter a brothel! Ah Heng, imagine me, my cash is clear! I exchanged it with a jade pendant!”

Zhao Heng checked out her coldly. “The place did you get the jade pendant from?”

“I picked it up!” Ah Wan stated.

Zhao Heng ridiculed, “Can a random jade pendant be exchanged for a lot silver?” He had as soon as naively thought that his costly tuition charges have been all earned by Ah-Wan from farming and chopping wooden, however who would have thought… she truly traded her physique for it! How shameless was she?! She was already engaged to him, but she nonetheless went to do unspeakable issues with one other man! Why was she so soiled?!

“Ah Heng, imagine me, I didn’t enter a brothel, I can swear!” Ah Wan cried till her coronary heart was about to interrupt. She actually didn’t enter a brothel, actually didn’t…

The 2 of them grew up collectively as childhood sweethearts. For a really very long time, Zhao Heng and his youthful sister ate at Ah Wan’s home and lived at Ah Wan’s home. He nonetheless remembered the times when your entire village was in famine. It was Ah Wan who saved her meals and fed it to him little by little. If not for Ah Wan, he might need starved to dying. He nonetheless had some emotions for Ah Wan.

“Don’t fear, on account that we all know one another, I gained’t inform anybody about this. It’s simply that I can’t marry you anymore,” he stated kindly. Zhao Heng thought that he had already performed his greatest. In spite of everything, to a lady, there was nothing extra vital than her fame. Since he was prepared to guard her fame, she ought to be content material.

Zhao Heng stated righteously, “I’m a scholar. Trainer stated that with my expertise, I’ll undoubtedly be capable of grow to be a authorities official sooner or later. I can’t marry an indecent girl… I’ll go to your home to cancel the wedding. Don’t come searching for me anymore.” As quickly as he completed talking, Zhao Heng didn’t dare have a look at Ah Wan’s heartbroken face and fled.

However he had solely taken a couple of steps when a loud splash got here from the fish pond behind him.

“Ah Wan—”