Chapter 32: Who Has Arrived?

“Madam, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve just received a shipment of Cicada Wing Gauze from our main store in Jingcheng—it’s truly as thin as a cicada’s wings! The gauze is exceptionally light and soft, with vibrant colors. It’s the only place in all of Tongcheng that has it. Let me show you a bolt first!” the shop assistant praised enthusiastically.

Wen Nuan Nuan examined the gauze in the shop assistant’s hands and touched it, finding it indeed soft, thin, and tightly woven!

She inquired about the price. As expected of something from the main store in Jingcheng, it matched its quality.

You truly get what you pay for.

The Leng Family’s main hall had four rooms in total, two on each side. The two south-facing rooms were her and Leng Xiao’s bridal chamber and the room for the three little ones.

The other two north-facing rooms were used as a storage room for items, while the other was currently empty.

Calculating the cost, window gauze for four windows would actually require one tael and six mace of silver!

“Sister-in-law, you could just buy the window gauze for your room. It’s not too expensive,” Leng Chen gently advised, noticing Wen Nuan Nuan’s genuine desire for it.

Although he thought it was expensive, his sister-in-law deserved to use such fine things!

If only the room shared by his eldest brother and sister-in-law used Cicada Wing Gauze, it would only cost eight mace. If he worked diligently on handicrafts, he could earn that back in a single winter.

The shop assistant looked over in surprise. Earlier, when he showed the two little ones cotton cloth, they had tugged at their sister-in-law’s sleeve, complaining it was too expensive and suggesting they just buy linen cloth instead.

Now, when it came to buying Cicada Wing Gauze—which even he didn’t consider cheap—to cover the windows, they were actually encouraging her, saying it wasn’t expensive.

These two children, no wonder their sister-in-law brought them along to personally choose the fabric. They were truly worth it.

The shop assistant vaguely guessed that this madam would either not buy at all or buy two sets.

Wen Nuan Nuan turned to the two little ones and said, “During the heavy snows of winter, we’ll be stuck indoors. This gauze is light, soft, fine, and lets light through. When it reflects the snowlight, the room will be bright and comfortable, won’t it? We’ll even save on lamp oil money.”

“Sister-in-law,” the two little ones, realizing what their sister-in-law intended, were about to advise her again when Wen Nuan Nuan raised a hand to stop them.

“Shop Assistant, I’ll take two sets,” Wen Nuan Nuan said softly, making the decision.

“Excellent! Madam, please choose the pattern. We have various floral designs, Auspicious Cloud Pattern, Myriad Blessings Pattern, and Butterfly and Insect Pattern. Which would you like?” the shop assistant asked cheerfully, having anticipated this.

He hadn’t guessed wrong after all.

This family cared for one another. A blessed household like this would surely lead a better and better life!

“One set of Auspicious Cloud Pattern and one set of Myriad Blessings Pattern, along with one bolt of cotton cloth, one bolt of coarse cloth, three feet of single-layer gauze, and seven feet of multi-layer gauze.”

“Right away!” The shop assistant cheerfully went to gather the fabrics.

After paying the silver, Wen Nuan Nuan instructed, “Shop Assistant, please keep the fabrics in your shop for a while. We’ll come back to collect them once our eldest brother’s cart arrives.”

“Of course, Madam. Feel free to browse elsewhere. Your fabrics are safe with us,” the shop assistant said with a beaming smile, bowing as he escorted the three of them to the door.

Wen Nuan Nuan and the others didn’t have much else to browse, mainly because it was almost time for lunch.

Arriving at the agreed-upon large willow tree, the two little ones squatted along the wall to wait.

Wen Nuan Nuan couldn’t care about her image anymore—her legs ached as if they weren’t her own.

Resolving herself, she thought, “Since no one knows me here anyway,” and simply squatted down beside the two little ones.

Just as she caught her breath and took out the braised meat buns to share with the two little ones, preparing to eat—

“Young lady, how can you squat here eating like this?”

Wen Nuan Nuan’s open mouth forgot to close as she looked up.

A slender man dressed in a white long robe, meticulously groomed from head to toe, was swaying a folding fan in an attempt to look suave, even in temperatures where she herself felt like wearing thin cotton clothing.

Wen Nuan Nuan was dumbfounded.

What kind of luck was this?

How could she run into such a weirdo trying to strike up a conversation just by walking down the street?

Weren’t ancient customs supposed to be simple and honest? Wasn’t it said that men and women should keep their distance?

Yesterday, those fierce-looking people lending Usury Loans were clearly not good people, so she thought she needed to disguise herself. But today, when she went out during broad daylight to stroll around the streets, the three little ones said it was fine and she didn’t need to make herself look ugly, so she didn’t bother.

Hah, what was happening to her now!

Shouldn’t this be the kind of plot reserved for the female lead when the male lead was around?

How could it happen to her!

She was just a cannon fodder supporting character meant to fill up the word count!

Wen Nuan Nuan fumed inwardly, wanting to protest against the heavens.

Over there, Yang Ming, swaying his folding fan, struck a pose he thought was suave and deliberately lowered his voice to ask, “Would this humble scholar have the honor of inviting the young lady to a tavern for a chat?”

After speaking, he didn’t forget to cast a disdainful glance at the steamed bun Wen Nuan Nuan was holding.

It was made of white flour, but since she had been reduced to squatting in a corner to eat it, the filling inside likely contained no meat.

He had been observing this beautiful young lady for quite some time—from the moment she looked up at the cloth shop’s signboard with delight and eagerly went inside, only to emerge a long while later empty-handed, having bought nothing!

And now she was squatting tiredly in a corner, eating a cold steamed bun.

It wasn’t hard to guess why!

“Young lady, are you thinking of buying new clothes? This gentleman can take you to pick some out, how about that?”

Wen Nuan Nuan felt like she had only spaced out for a moment, but the slender man across from her had already rattled off a whole string of words!

In the few days since she had transmigrated here, she had also looked at her reflection in the water. Even in the blurriest of reflections, she could tell her appearance was indeed quite good.

But as the original wife of the male lead in a major male-centric novel, she was naturally meant to embody an elegant and noble demeanor. There was no way she could look like some seductive, coquettish mistress, right?

Wouldn’t that be a slap in the face for the male lead!

But now, why was she, with her elegant and noble aura befitting a proper wife, being hit on by a playboy?

And why was this the kind of plot that should only happen to the female lead?

Wen Nuan Nuan couldn’t understand it and was utterly shocked.

Yang Ming, who hadn’t received a response, shook his head and sighed. Who would have thought such a delicate beauty would turn out to be dim-witted!

No wonder, even with such a naturally gifted appearance, she was living so poorly!

“My sister-in-law will buy clothes if she wants to, no need for you to worry!” Leng Chen was the first to react, stepping in front of Wen Nuan Nuan with a cold expression.

Leng Yun also jumped up, glaring fiercely at Yang Ming!

Yang Ming wasn’t afraid of two half-grown children dressed in rags. His eyes remained fixed on the beauty as he fanned himself, curling one corner of his mouth and saying, “Young lady, don’t be afraid. If you follow me, you can eat delicious, hot meals! And there’s meat too!”

As a modern person who had received years of proper moral education, Wen Nuan Nuan couldn’t tolerate someone who was both ugly and flirtatious!

She immediately jumped up, itching to plant her hands on her hips and point at him while cursing.

But her remaining rationality reminded her to hold back a little, so as not to frighten the two little ones or the flowers and plants around them.

Taking a deep breath, she unleashed a string of insults without a single curse word: “Look at you, like a toad that can’t get over itself, still shamelessly flaunting on the streets! Someone like you could chase me for two blocks, and if I so much as glanced back, I’d consider myself blind! Who gave you the confidence? That big head of yours is like a chamber pot—full of nothing but filth! And that hoarse voice of yours—can’t you speak properly? Will your throat rot if you talk normally? You’re just a toad pretending to be a frog—ugly but full of tricks! A toad crawling on your foot, not biting but disgustingly annoying!”

Damn, he’s eating hot food, and with meat too.

Wasn’t hers hot? Didn’t hers have meat?

She really wanted to smack his pointy-faced, monkey-cheeked face with her steamed bun, but she was afraid of wasting her Braised Pork Steamed Buns.

Taking a fierce bite, Wen Nuan Nuan ate until her mouth was greasy and said indignantly, “Look, look at this! Isn’t this meat? Isn’t this hot?!”

“Hmm.” A low, amused voice came from behind the pointy-faced man.

Unlike the pointy-faced man’s deliberately lowered voice, the newcomer’s simple, soft syllable carried undeniable approval.

And,

a hint of restrained laughter.