Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 201 - 200 Vermilion Mole

Chapter 201: Chapter 200 Vermilion Mole

On the evening of the 24th, Mrs. Wang prepared Chen Ming’s belongings for his trip to Dingzhou and handed a silver note to Chen Afu, representing the funds for purchasing a share in the wine shop.

Chen Afu did not accept the offer, nor did Chen Ming want him to.

Chen Ming said, "My name is on the shares, and the 250 taels of silver I accepted from Afu was a respectful gift from my daughter. As for how I use that silver, it’s another matter."

Mrs. Wang’s eyes welled up as she said, "If you think I shouldn’t have taken that silver, I could return it."

Chen Ming had always believed that Chen Afu should not have convinced Wang to accept the silver, but he never made this explicit as he did not want to upset her. But half-heartedly, he tried to comfort her, "I am not upset with you. Think of this money as your dowry, use it as you wish. My daughter’s gift to me is enough."

Mrs. Wang retorted, "Life would be much simpler without those coins, how could I possibly use them?"

Chen Afu interjected, "Mother, if father doesn’t want to spend the money, it’s fine. In future, you could use that silver to buy some property. It could be left to my younger brother, after all, a mother’s dowry is supposed to be passed on to their son."

Mrs. Wang gave in and kept the silver note. After Chen Ming left, she murmured to Chen Afu, "I still think I shouldn’t have taken that money. I have no use for it and your father doesn’t want to use it, he might even resent me for it."

Chen Afu replied softly, "If you refuse to take the money, he might feel indebted to you and try to make up for his inefficiency, who knows to what end? This would only upset father even more."

She did not mention that one always yearns for what they cannot have which in this case the basis is a romantic relationship. Even if Chen Shiying was truly with Mrs. Wang, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they would be well-suited for each other or that their relationship would always be blissful.

They had separated at a time when their relationship was at its best because of interference from others. Mrs. Wang had suffered great hardship and even bore his child in humiliation... Undeniably, Mrs. Wang had become the vermilion mole in Chen Shiying’s chest.

Chen Shiying must have cared deeply for Mrs. Wang, hoping that she would lead a good life and hoping he could make up for his actions somehow. If Mrs. Wang were to deny him, Chen Shiying would only be more determined to redeem himself, causing undue distress. This might even destabilize two families and eventually Mrs. Wang would be the one to suffer.

Having accepted the money and fooling themselves into believing they are half-siblings, wishing each other happiness... that would be best.

Mrs. Wang sat by the window, heaving a sigh while looking at the pale green window paper. Perhaps, she was reminiscing about the past again.

Chen Afu felt that her intervention in their relationship by asking Mrs. Wang to accept the money was the right decision. Once money is involved in any matter, it no longer remains pure. Especially when it comes to genuine sentiments, it can distort them and make them worldly.

They needed more of these worldly complications between them, and less of their stubborn clinging.

After all, everyone lives in the mundane world, which is far more real than the ethereal moonlight outside the window. That patch of moonlight is pure and beautiful, inspiring countless scholars and lovers to write poetry about their sorrows. Yet, apart from evoking feelings of sadness and nostalgia, it serves no real purpose.

Chen Afu was particularly displeased with an incident from her past life where an individual was forced by his mother to divorce his cousin, Tang Wan. Instead of accepting it and moving on with their lives, he wrote her a poem titled "Hairpin Phoenix", leading to Tang Wan’s depression and death within half a year.

If he cared about her so much, why didn’t he keep his feelings to himself and let her live her life?

...

Early on the 25th, Chen Ming, Manager Luo and the whole first family rode on a carriage from Tang Garden and a cart from the Chen family to Dingzhou.

Zeng Shuang also accompanied Chen Ming because he had previously worked as the second head of the Foreign Affairs Department in the Senator’s Mansion, where he had many acquaintances and built relationships, which would help attract customers for the inn.

Chen Afu asked Manager Luo to deliver to the Nirvana Embroidery Workshop the clothing and toys Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Gao had made, as well as forty clothing racks. She informed Mr. Luo that she was currently too busy and did not wish to design clothes and accessories for the time being.

With so much money at her disposal and a harvest on the horizon, Mrs. Wang no longer needed to work to earn money or help Mrs. Gao find work since she now owned a ten percent share of the property.

The cutting-edge clothes racks, which were not only light but also space-saving, were a gift from her to Mr. Luo.

Having seen off their guests, Chen Afu paid her first visit to the Fu Garden. It was well maintained, the furniture was in place, and Auntie Zeng had been leading Xia Yue and Qiu Yue in tasks such as dusting the furniture and pasting window paper, with only a few finishing touches left for the children’s playground. Moreover, Xue Dagui and Chu Xiaoniu have already started residing there.

Chen Afu had chosen to move in on the 29th of the month, an auspicious day, and Chen Ming had promised to make it back in time.

Mr. Zeng led Shan Zi to start tilling land between the Lu and Fu Gardens. This piece of land, along with a small field at the back of the Lu Garden, was earmarked by Chen Afu for watermelon planting. Watermelons don’t thrive well in crop rotation; it’s recommended to plant vegetables instead in the following year.

She had already diluted the Yan Poop in water and had people watering it on those five acres earmarked for watermelon farming. She saved a little, intending to water the smaller pieces of land with this preparation.

After the tour and providing a few suggestions, she took Dabao to the Tang Garden.

That evening, once Dabao was asleep, Chen Afu entered her space. As midnight passed, Jin Yanzi was finally able to leave the space.

As soon as she entered, she saw Jin Yanzi fluttering excitedly around the agarwood tree again and again, too preoccupied to greet her. Chen Afu had wanted to be with it during this exciting moment, but seeing it couldn’t calm down, she left the space and went back to bed.

Chen Afu was sleeping soundly when she felt a gentle scratch on her face. She woke up with a start and saw Jin Yanzi perched on her pillow, scratching her face gently with its wing and smiling at her with squinted eyes.

Delighted, she sat up, cradled it in her hands and whispered, "Jin Bao’er, congratulations, you are finally out to see the world."

Jin Yanzi chirped happily, "Indeed. I want to go around the forest first, then I’ll come back to play with stinky Dabao and my little sister Yan’er."

Having said that, it flew straight to the door, opened it with its beak, and flew towards the southern room. There was an immediate uproar in the southern room as Qi Qi and Hui Hui began calling "Jin Bao, Jin Bao". Zhui Feng also began to howl. Then, all of them flew out of the window of the southern room together, and Zhui Feng jumped out after them.

Once they reached the courtyard, Jin Yanzi also kindly opened the courtyard door for Zhui Feng, and then the trio of birds and the dog headed west. Wang Cai, hearing the commotion, also began to cry out loud.

By the time Mr. Zeng heard the noise and stepped out of his room, Chen Afu had already closed the door. Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang were also awakened by the noise and asked, "What happened?"

Chen Afu quickly replied, "Nothing serious. For some reason, Qi Qi, Hui Hui, and Zhui Feng have all gone out to play in the middle of the night."

She returned to her room to find that Dabao, miraculously, hadn’t been roused by the commotion. He was sound asleep.

Unable to sleep, Chen Afu lay in bed, knowing that life would become even more colorful with Jin Yanzi’s presence.