In the village.
There are a row of wooden houses. They look a little old from the outside, but they are quite spacious inside and the wooden windows are quite strong.
Song Jinyin took the baggage handed over by the coachman and put it aside, declining the intention of the visitor to clean up the house for her.
She was still not used to being served by others, so she only felt at ease when she did things herself.
However, she did not unpack the baggage one by one, but placed it beside the bed where she could reach it at any time. After a brief tidying up, she went to the kitchen.
A fire had been lit in the kitchen, and white smoke was coming out. When the coachman saw her coming, he seemed relieved and scratched his head.
"Miss Jinyin is here."
"Brother Wang."
Song Jinyin saw him looking down and smiling awkwardly, and subconsciously followed his gaze to the earthen stove.
There was an empty large pot with some rice noodles and dried vegetables beside it. They were things taken from the carriage.
Only then did she realize that the person in front of her was only good at fighting and driving, and was not very good at eating other than making barbecue.
"I'll do it, Brother Wang."
Song Jinyin smiled and touched her hungry belly, "I just didn't see Miss Wanqing when I first came out. Did she go straight to work?"
"Thank you for your hard work, Miss Jinyin."
The driver hurriedly gave up his seat, just wanting to get out of this troublesome place as quickly as possible.
"Our girl should be wandering around the village, inquiring about the news about this place. The girl will be busy here first, and I will go find some dry firewood and come back. Then the two of you will not be too cold when you sleep at night."
Song Jinyin nodded.
After the people left, she worked quietly, lighting the fire on both sides of the stove, baking rice and flour pancakes, and boiling water.
She was obviously very busy, but Song Jinyin seemed to have some leisure. She didn't even care about the soreness in her back from the journey, and kept smiling with the corners of her lips raised.
She loved days like this very much.
The importance in others' eyes, the glory and wealth that others expected, and the so-called grace of being able to be by the prince's side, in her opinion, were not as warm as this simple kitchen, let alone a piece of cake steaming from the pot.
Song Jinyin half lowered her head, her black hair blown away by the wind, and occasionally a few strands fell and stuck to her cheeks, making her thin face whiter and more delicate.
At this time, two women passed by outside the fence. One was wearing a gray coat and couldn't help but poke her head in to take a look. The other was wearing a dark blue thick coat and was protecting the eggs in the basket without stopping.
"Why are you still looking around? If I don't go back and cook for your family, I won't be able to do anything else!"
"Let me take a look at this girl inside. How have we ever seen such a cool girl like this!"
The woman in the gray coat looked a little fierce, and the ends of her eyes were droopy. When she smiled, her eyes narrowed into slits, revealing calculations.
"They say that Dr. Li came to collect the goods and brought a pretty girl with him. It turns out that it is true at first glance, but judging from the neatness of this girl's work, I guess she was not born into a wealthy family."
"Come on, I don't know you yet."
The woman in the blue coat was a little impatient due to the wind, but she still tolerated it on her face.
"Don't you just want to give your little son a wife? But I advise you, just pick the ones from the next village. This girl will work again, and her skin will be tender and tender. I'm afraid of your little son. , can’t ask for it.”
"Hey, if you're capable, you can still come to the village and help others make fires and cook?"
The woman withdrew her scrutinizing eyes, and finally walked back to the trail with the man, but her mouth never stopped.
"My daughter is tall and big, and she really wants a wife. Our family is not willing to have a girl like her who is thin, and we don't know if we will be able to have one..."
Song Jinyin heard some noise outside as early as the beginning.
It's just that this village is too unfamiliar to her, and it only lasts a few days. She doesn't need to deliberately make friends with people, so she doesn't leave her work behind and go to meet it.
Later, she heard a few words intermittently. She burst into laughter and didn't want to pay attention to them.
It wasn't until the pancake was pasted in a circle and the dried vegetables were soaked in water that Song Jinyin wiped her hands and stopped.
Li Wanqing still didn't see her figure, and the coachman hadn't found much dry firewood yet. She simply sat by the stove, feeling the most direct heat.
But before she could sit there for long, the fence moved and the wooden door was pushed open.
Song Jinyin had to get up and look out, and found that it was the woman in the gray coat just now.
The woman came in with two eggs in her hand and a smile.
When he saw Song Jinyin, his appraising eyes were not concealed, and he circled around her again and again.
Song Jinyin was a little unhappy, and the look on her face became colder. She only maintained the simplest etiquette, "Are you busy, ma'am?"
"Nothing, nothing. I heard that you came here with Dr. Li, so I came here to take a look."
The woman stretched out her hand to pull Song Jinyin, but she avoided her calmly, "That's a coincidence. Doctor Li is not in the room, otherwise Auntie will come back later."
"No, I'm here to see you, girl. I'm looking at you with a new face. Is this your first time here? But don't be afraid. I'll give you two eggs to try. We don't lack anything at home. What do you want to eat? , come to my aunt’s house to get it!”
"Thank you, ma'am. I don't need the eggs. We brought food."
Song Jinyin took another half step back while speaking.
She vaguely guessed what the visitor meant, but she was alone at the moment and didn't want to cause a conflict, so she didn't say goodbye directly.
"You can't be polite to the aunt!"
Seeing that she refused to accept it, the visitor turned around and put the eggs in his hands on the stove, and then asked: "The girl looks at Shui Ling. She has a pair of skillful hands and works well. I wonder if she is getting married? Is there anyone else in the family?" "
The woman's triangular-shaped eyes were now extremely round and overly enthusiastic, which made people uncomfortable.
"I'm afraid the girl is about sixteen or seventeen, right? At this age, it's hard to keep working hard all the time. You have to find a good family. By then, in a year or two, no one will be willing to tell the girl about the marriage! Besides, the girl looks a little thin, so she still needs to take care of herself to have a good child!"
Song Jinyin couldn't help but frown.
When she was still in Anyuan County when she was a child, she heard her sister next door talking about getting married. The matchmaker was beaming with joy when she said it, and when she left, there were people who scattered candies. She always felt that talking about getting married was a happy thing.
Later she entered the Duke's Mansion.
Ever since she went to Pei Yanzhou's side, she had woken up little by little and understood that the word kiss would probably never happen to her. Gradually, she lost her mind and just wanted to leave.
Even life may not be saved, let alone other things.
Later, she gave up little by little due to Pei Yanzhou's indifference.
She thought that even if she was lucky enough to have a new life in the future, probably no one would want her, and she didn't want to trap herself because of another person.
Until now, she has her child and her most important thing.
Not to mention that she didn't care at all about whether there was a man or not. Even if she didn't resist, it would be demeaning to speak like this, and she didn't even want to listen to another word.
She never felt that women should be forced to the backyard.
Daxia is no longer the previous dynasty, and marriage is not the only way out for women.
After thinking about it, Song Jinyin raised her hand to touch her lower abdomen. Although there was not much enthusiasm in her eyes, she curved her lips and smiled wider.
"Thank you, aunt, for reminding me. I am indeed sixteen or seventeen years old, and there is only one person by my side at home."
When the visitor saw her reply, he suddenly became more interested.
There is only one person left in the family, presumably only one of the parents, and this girl is willing to follow him to work in the countryside. She should be the maid of Dr. Li, and the family is not wealthy.
If she could really marry her and be her son's daughter-in-law, she would be able to handle her at will.
As for whether she could have a son, the woman thought about it in her heart. If it didn't work out, she would just divorce her when the time came.
Thinking of this, the woman smiled again and took a few steps closer to Song Jinyin.
"It sounds like life is difficult for you to be alone alone. The girl should be old enough to talk about marriage now. Why don't you find someone to marry, with multiple helpers, and you are not afraid of hard times. What do you think, girl?"
After a pause, the woman continued: "But this girl's family is married out, so she can't take care of much of her mother's family affairs... I wonder what the girl's family left behind?"
Not far away was Li Wanqing, who was returning with something. Seeing someone in the courtyard, she walked faster.
Song Jinyin tilted her head and chuckled.
The sunlight then fell into her almond-shaped eyes, which were so bright and shiny that people couldn't help but fall into that clarity.
But even though the little girl looked soft and weak, she opened her mouth and gave the woman a hard blow.
"It's hard to say. The one who stays by my side is my son, or it may be my daughter."
