Chapter 7.1 - First Impression

Ch. 7 First Impression

Hua Qingxue was excited and anxious during her outing.

First, she went to the Fengle Pavillon and asked the restaurant’s shopkeeper, Shen, to help her exchange the pieces of silver into copper ones.

Originally, this kind of thing should be done in the bank, but she saw that the people who came in and out of the bank were carrying boxes and suitcases. Her broken pieces of silver…nevermind, she will just ask the shopkeeper to help her.

The shopkeeper was fair and weighed the coins for her —— the piece of loose silver wasn’t worth one liang/tael —— but it was close. Finally, he gave Hua Qingxue 936 copper coins.

Hua Qingxue reached out her hand and lifted the coins——

Ooh! …There must be fifteen or sixteen pounds!

Hua Qingxue was so happy.

Big Beard waited outside of the Fengle Pavilion for a little bit, then he saw Hua Qingxue carrying a basket and walking out happily.

He knew in his heart knew that Hua Qingxue was looking for the shopkeeper to exchange her money.

She was also smart, and knew to put a few steamed buns on top of the basket that was half- covered with a cloth. Who would have thought that there were more than ten pounds of copper coins under it?

Big Beard followed her the whole time.

The front of Hua Qingxue was gray and boring from head to toe. She was wrapped tightly without any gaps, her figure unable to be seen properly. The weight on her back caused her whole body to lean forward slightly as if she would fall over at any moment.

"

"

Big Beard felt like this was a weak and little woman, unlike the village women who were used to doing hard labor.

He pursed his lips, thinking to himself: this woman isn’t afraid of being crushed to death by money?

Hua Qingxue exchanged her money, but she wasn’t in a hurry to go back home. Instead, she started shopping.

She first went to the pharmacy to buy a packet of sulfur, and then began to inquire around the streets to find out where quicklime and Glauber’s salt was sold. Finally, someone told her to find the old hunter, who hadn’t hunted in a long time, but he had a good skill of tanning leather. In his house, he stored lime and Glauber’s salt all year round.

Hua Qingxue happily set off, buying lime and Glauber’s salt, and rushed to the grocery store to buy seasonings like sugar, salt, and other condiments. She then bought rice, noodles, oil, and other grains. More than half of the money had already been used up.

Hua Qingxue skipped along the way home, with a full basket behind her, an oil pot in her arms, and a bag of radishes wrapped around her arms. The bag of white rice was being carried by an employee of the grain store.

Big Beard followed her the whole way and did not see her make contact with the Liao soldiers again. His doubts had disappeared a lot. He just thought the prince’s status was special, and where the woman came from couldn’t be found. Even if she wasn’t a Liao spy, she could be from Western Xia…

However, the prince does like her. As long as she couldn’t hurt the prince, it was okay for her to stay.

Big Beard was thinking, his thoughts moved with his feet, and a little stone flew towards Hua Qingxue!——

“Ahh! ——” Hua Qingxue screamed!

She felt like her knees were numb and lost her center of gravity. Her whole body fell to the ground!

My oil!!!

At the last moment of the fall, Hua Qingxue looked at the pot of oil that flew out of her arms without blinking! Thinking that the oil would soon be spilled all over the road, her heart felt like it was gouged out.

The pot flew halfway and stopped! ——

Not only did the pot of oil stop, Hua Qingxue felt like she had stopped. Her whole body seemed to be lifted by a force. Looking up, Hua Qingxue found that there was a man in front of her!

She didn’t see the appearance of the man, because the man was so close, Hua Qingxue could only see a thick and dense beard and a slightly undulating chest.

This man is so tall…

Hua Qingxue was a little dumbfounded. When the man’s hand was released from her, she took two steps back, only to find that the man was still holding her pot of oil in his other hand.

Hua Qingxue couldn’t help laughing when she saw the pot of oil, her eyes bent in a crescent moon shape, and her entire face was bright with joy, “…Great, the pot didn’t fall…”

These were the first words of their meeting.

Even after many years, Big Beard couldn’t forget the appearance of Hua Qingxue at that time. She was wearing messy clothes and wore the simplest braids. She seemed delicate like she could be blown away by the wind, yet she was carrying 30 pounds on her back. When she stood beside him and talked, she had a soft voice and her face was bright and warm with a soft smile. Unfortunately, her eyes weren’t looking at him, instead, she was staring at the pot of oil in his hands.

She said: “Great, the pot didn’t fall…”

Big Beard gave the pot of oil back to Hua Qingxue, and the man, who was next to him, praised him: “This big brother is so good with his hands!”

Hua Qingxue raised her head to look at the beard and saw that he had a very eye-catching beard. His eyes under his sharp eyebrows were long and narrow. His pupils were as dark as the gloomy night sky. He was clad in a big gray-brown cloak that covered his whole body and gave off an unapproachable aura.

Hua Qingxue was stunned and couldn’t help but think that this man’s aura was super unique. This was the first time that she was able to see someone with prestige that even ten thousand men couldn’t beat…

This time, she was dumbstruck for a moment before realizing that she had forgotten to say her thanks. She felt sheepish, a faint blush creeping up on that white and clean face of hers, causing an eye-catching sight.

“Thank…Thank you, big brother.” She didn’t know how people in this dynasty said thanks to others. Hua Qingxue hesitantly said thanks.

She also felt like she was being insincere, after all, the other party saved her full pot of oil.

Hua Qingxue thought hard about her wording, and then stated: “If it wasn’t for this big brother, my oil might have spilled everywhere, um…I have some radishes here. Big brother should take some home to eat…”

Before she finished speaking, Hua Qingxue was upset again!

Send what radishes?! …During this cold day, who doesn’t have dozens of pounds of cabbages and radishes? It was better to not have said anything at all!

Hua Qingxue glanced at the rice bag on the shoulder of the clerk of the grain store. She felt like she was good for nothing. What could be more sincere than giving the bag of rice?

But she had been eating brown rice and random grains the past few days, but now she had finally bought a bag of rice, which she was reluctant to give…

The struggle in her heart made her small face redden.