Transmigration: A Farm Girl’s Brocade
Chapter 133 - 127: Drawn_1

Chapter 133: Chapter 127: Drawn_1

After the elderly lady got better, Qian Sangui wanted his parents to live with the third branch of the family, but Qian Dagui and his wife disagreed. Qian Dagui said he was afraid that others would criticize him for pushing the burden of his ailing parents onto the third branch and question his human decency. Lady Wang also virtuously expressed her willingness to continue housing the elderly couple in the main branch, stating that it was their duty to care for them.

While Eldest Qian spoke his sincere thoughts, Lady Wang still had some selfish motives. She figured that no matter whether the third or fourth branch prospered in the future, they would show filial piety to the elders, which would be the same as showing piety to the main branch.

The elderly lady had been taken back just a few days earlier, and Qian Sangui even had Huang Tie specially purchase a servant in the county to take care of her. Since Lady Wang did not accept the servant’s indenture contract, this servant — Auntie Lu — was still considered part of the third branch, which was responsible for providing her monthly salary and food expenses.

This point caused some dissatisfaction from Lady Wu. She argued that since the households were not lacking money, the cost of hiring someone and the food expenses should be shared by all branches.

Qian Sangui waved his hand and said, "They could’ve completely declined the servant, taking turns to tend to mother at the main branch would have sufficed."

Lady Wu said angrily, "As lazy as Lady Tang is, can she actually take good care of her mother-in-law?"

Qian Sangui replied, "Since you know what she’s like, why still let my mother suffer? My mother has toiled for her children all her life, especially fretting over me and Jinwa. I hope she can enjoy our prosperity."

Lady Wu listened and said nothing more. Afterwards, at the beginning of each month, she would proactively give Auntie Lu two hundred wen as monthly salary and also pay Lady Wang fifty wen for food expenses.

Both Qian Dagui and Lady Wang said it wasn’t necessary, but Lady Wu thought since the bulk of the money had already been given, there was no need to let others gossip over such a trivial difference and insisted on giving it to them.

These days, everyone in the family was busy, including Dashan and Monkey Brother, who went up the mountain daily, and White Wolf, who occasionally came down from the mountain. Only Yixiu and Benben, along with Tiaotiao, seemed to have nothing to do to the point of boredom.

The family no longer feared White Wolf; each time it arrived, it would receive a warm welcome. They invited it to eat meat and drink water. White Wolf, proud and aloof, only favored its mate and offspring and the monkeys but allowed only Qian Yeejin and his siblings to approach. The Badger Skin it had brought was passed on by Shopkeeper Cui to the Master County Magistrate, in thanks for his help.

The villagers, when hearing the wolf’s call, were no longer as fearful. Many spoke of the close bond between White Wolf and Qian Sangui’s children, with a sigh of amazement. It turns out wolves not only held grudges but also gratitude.

Having nothing to do, Yixiu started thinking about the Cave Sky Pool again. The troop of Fierce Red Monkeys had already left the area. Her health was barely passable, and with Monkey Brother as an added strength, not only could he guide and embolden her, but he could also help her retrieve things. She harbored one luxury hope: if White Wolf could join them, not only would their safety be assured, but they could also bring back more goods.

However, the best season to visit there had already passed.

Measured in a straight line, Cave Sky Pool wasn’t too far from their place, but it was extremely secluded, surrounded by several steep and towering rock peaks.

If one wanted to go there, they would have to cross many precipitous cliffs. This route was not only much longer but also very perilous, with a slip potentially leading to a fatal plunge. As such, no one could pass through this way unless they had a helicopter from a previous life.

However, due to special circumstances, having been a ghost for several years, she crawled around and found a second way to reach Cave Sky Pool. This route mainly involved crawling through rock caves, skirting around a rock peak, breaking through what seemed like an impasse but was actually just a thin layer of stone, and then traversing several more caves and inner chambers to reach it.

This route sounded easier, but it was actually more dangerous than climbing over cliffs. If not for her careful exploration and memorization of the route, with clearly identified landmarks, one wrong turn would render the way out unfindable, leaving the wanderer trapped and doomed inside the mountain.

After crossing over, fearing she would forget the path over time, she secretly recorded the directions on a piece of old paper left by her ’little father’, using charcoal. She noted the number of turns to take, which cave to enter, and which rock faced the only wall that led forward. To avoid recognition, she used Pinyin and Arabic numerals. Just to be safe, she also made a copy of the notes on one of her small articles of clothing.

As soon as her little brother started attending school, she stealthily used his brush to copy the instructions onto paper, since charcoal marks easily rubbed off.

May and June were the seasons for eating peaches, during which the troop of Fierce Red Monkeys would stay at Cave Sky Pool. September and October were the seasons for eating lotus roots, and the monkeys would also be there.

During these two times, she not only dared not compete with them for food, but she also could not allow the New Monkey King to see Monkey Brother, the "Crown Prince of the Previous Dynasty".