Time flies like water, and soon the spring of the second year arrives.
On a clear and sunny day, Shen Xiu followed the people from the escort agency and embarked on the journey to Pengcheng.
In fact, Yang did not agree with her going on this trip. She also wanted Wei Yan to persuade Shen Xiu, but Wei Yan respected Shen Xiu's decision. He knew Shen Xiu's dream and supported her to study in Pengcheng.
art.
Mrs. Yang was quite sad. Wei Yan's son had already lived in Fucheng for a long time, and she would not be able to see him until the end of the year. And on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Wei Yan would leave again.
The days when the whole family gets together are becoming fewer and fewer.
Even Shen Xiu is going to Pengcheng now, and there's no telling how long it will take.
Father Wei had no choice but to persuade Yang in private, saying that it was a good thing for the children to make progress. Moreover, Wei Yan also supported Shen Xiu's trip to Pengcheng, so why did they come out to stop it.
Yang had no choice but to put away her sadness and cherish this rare reunion.
After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Wei Yan went to Fucheng. The reason why he left so early was because the college exam was coming soon, and he had to go to the provincial capital to take the exam.
In order to reach the provincial capital as early as possible, Wei Yan prepared to leave a month in advance.
After Wei Yan left, Yang was lost for several days.
Shen Xiu understood her mood, so she stayed at home for a few more days, waiting until the weather got warmer in February before leaving.
This time when she went to Pengcheng, Shen Xiu asked the escort agency in Fucheng. For the convenience of the journey, Shen Xiu specifically asked Madam Cen to accompany her.
It happened that Mrs. Cen and several other escorts were going south, and Pengcheng happened to be on their way, so Shen Xiu went on the road with them.
There are both water and land routes from Fucheng to Pengcheng.
When Shen Xiu took a boat for the first time, Mrs. Cen was worried that she would get seasick, so she asked the boat lady for seasickness medicine.
However, the seasickness medicine was not used because Shen Xiu felt no discomfort and was even in the mood to go to the bow of the ship to enjoy the scenery.
Halfway through the boat trip, Shen Xiu also met Yu Shuya and Tao Siqian who were heading south.
When the boat stopped at a pier that day, Shen Xiu was watching the scenery on the bow of the boat. She happened to be seen by Yu Shuya who was pushing the window, and the two exchanged a few words.
Yu Shuya married into the Tao family a few months ago and is in the honeymoon period with Tao Siqian.
When Shen Xiu asked Yu Shuya why she went south, Yu Shuya explained: "The Tao family's old residence is over there in Pengcheng. Last winter, the steward there wrote a letter saying that the snow in Pengcheng was a bit heavy last year and there were many old residences.
Because the houses were in disrepair for a long time, many of them were crushed."
"After my father-in-law heard about this, he took the initiative to ask for help and went back to watch the stewards repair the house. My father-in-law was considerate of our newlyweds, so he asked me to go with him."
Hearing that the couple was also going to Pengcheng, Shen Xiu smiled and said, "What a coincidence, I'm going to Pengcheng too."
"What are you doing in Pengcheng?" Yu Shuya asked.
Shen Xiu then told her about hair embroidery, "There is an embroiderer in Pengcheng who is good at hair embroidery. I went there this time because I wanted to learn hair embroidery from her."
"Since you are also going to Pengcheng, why not come with us and we will take care of you." Yu Shuya said, "Besides, my husband is very familiar with Pengcheng and should be able to help you find someone as soon as possible."
Shen Xiu thought the same thing. Since everyone's goal was Pengcheng, they could go together.
She went back and talked to the people at the escort agency, but they didn't have any objections.
The waterway here is said to be safe, but there is no guarantee that there will be water bandits. If a few more people go on the road together, everyone will be taken care of.
Therefore, when they set off again the next day, the escort's boat and the Tao family's boat set off towards Pengcheng one after the other.
In the early morning, Shen Xiu walked on the planks of the two ships to the cabin where Yu Shuya was staying.
The boat hired by the Tao family was twice as big as the escort agency's, and the cabin was also more spacious.
The cabin where Yu Shuya stayed had both a bedroom and a clean and tidy living room.
Shen Xiu glanced at the furnishings here and knew that Yu Shuya was living a very comfortable life.
Yu Shuya's face was also full of smiles. When talking about Tao Siqian, she spoke openly and silently, obviously she had a good relationship with Tao Siqian.
"After my husband heard that you were also going to Pengcheng, he asked me to invite you to live in our old house." Yu Shuya said, "There are many houses in the old house. Just clean a few of them and it will be enough for us to live in."
"My husband often mentions Mr. Wei to me, saying that he is knowledgeable and humble. This time when you come to Pengcheng, my husband feels that I must entertain you well."
Tao Siqian was determined to make Wei Yan a good friend, so naturally he would not miss this opportunity.
But Shen Xiu didn't want to live with them. "You newlyweds are just getting married. I'm afraid I'll disturb you if I go there."
Yu Shuya blushed and said, "No, we don't get together every day."
"Then I can't go even more." Shen Xiu joked: "If I delay your relationship, my sin will be even greater."
Yu Shuya's face turned redder, but she no longer forced herself.
Later, when Tao Siqian found out about this, he personally invited Shen Xiu again.
Of course, Shen Xiu couldn't use what she said to deal with Yu Shuya to deal with him. She just said that she went to Pengcheng to find someone. If she found someone, she would live in the other person's house.
When Tao Siqian heard this, he didn't say anything more, but just asked Shen Xiu to ask him for help when he was in trouble.
Shen Xiu responded politely.
After Tao Siqian left, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. To be honest, since she knew Tao Siqian's true face, Shen Xiu always felt a little uncomfortable when facing him again.
And she didn't want the other party to notice it, so every time she dealt with the other party, she had to be careful and act as normal as possible.
In this way, meeting Tao Siqian once was almost like acting in a play, so she would naturally feel tired.
Fortunately, Tao Siqian knew how to behave and avoided suspicion, so he easily avoided appearing in front of Shen Xiu.
After three days of sailing, everyone abandoned the ship and landed, taking carriages instead.
After Tao Siqian landed, he was going to visit a local friend, but the people from the escort agency did not intend to stay here, so the two groups parted ways.
On the way, Mrs. Cen said about Tao Siqian, "When I was in Fucheng, I heard about Mr. Tao's reputation. He is indeed a humble gentleman, and he is not worthy of his reputation."
Shen Xiu only smiled slightly.
Mrs. Cen said: "I think Mr. Tao is very polite to you. Are you related?"
Shen Xiu shook his head and said: "No. It's just that he is fairly familiar with my husband, so he is more polite to me."
"So that's it." Mrs. Cen said, "Since your husband-in-law is familiar with him, you can ask him for help when you go to Pengcheng to find someone."
After Mrs. Cen finished speaking, she said, "I knew we should stay one more day and go with them. But it's not too late now. If you're sorry, I'll go talk to the bodyguard."
"No need." Shen Xiu pressed Madam Cen's right hand, "My husband-in-law and Mr. Tao are not close friends. I don't want to trouble him too much. After all, he is the son of a big family and we are just a small family."
Mrs. Cen said: "I think you are too modest. Mr. Tao treats you well, and obviously he doesn't care about status."
Tao Siqian left a very good impression on Mrs. Cen, so she kept saying good things about him. However, Shen Xiu was unable to tell Tao Siqian's true face, so she could only endure it, feeling extremely aggrieved.
Fortunately, the carriage stopped at this time.
It turned out that it was noon, and the people from the escort agency were going to have something to eat at a roadside teahouse before leaving.
When Shen Xiu got off the carriage, Madam Cen had already occupied a seat for her.
This roadside teahouse is very ordinary, only hot buns and rice porridge.
Shen Xiu ordered two drawers of plain steamed buns. When she and Lady Cen were on the road for the first time, she once wanted to order meat buns, but Lady Cen stopped her.
Mrs. Cen told her that in general, roadside teahouses and restaurants, you should never order meat buns because you don’t know what kind of meat the meat buns you eat are made of.
After saying this, Shen Xiu had a deep psychological shadow. From then on, she returned to the county seat and did not eat meat buns very much.
The plain steamed buns came out very quickly.
Shen Xiu took one casually, and as soon as he took a bite, a little beggar came to the table.
"Sister, please give me something to eat!"
Mrs. Cen was no longer surprised by this situation, so she picked up a bun and handed it to the little beggar, "Let's go!"
The little beggar took the bun and put a smile on his face. He was about to turn around and leave when he heard a voice from behind, "Wait, don't leave."
The speaker was Shen Xiu. She watched the little beggar turn around, pointed to a purse on his waist and said, "Can you show me that purse?"
The little beggar instinctively took a step back, thinking that Shen Xiu was going to take something from him.
Shen Xiu took out a piece of broken silver directly from his arms, "As long as you let me see the purse, this piece of silver will be yours."
The little beggar was in a daze. He didn't understand why his purse caught Shen Xiu's attention. But the money was in front of him, so he took it off and handed it to Shen Xiu.
When the purse was handed over, it actually smelled a bit unpleasant because it was contaminated with the body odor of the little beggar.
But Shen Xiu didn't care at all. Her fingertips rubbed the purse for a while, and finally confirmed that the embroidery on the purse was indeed the lost hair embroidery.