The Exiled Life of the Noble Girl

Chapter 54

In order to make Li Mingwei's return journey less difficult, Wang Dazhuang borrowed a unicycle handcart from a neighbor. She could walk if she could, and if she couldn't, he could help push for a while.

Li Mingwei didn't want to burden them, but her physical strength was limited. She couldn't walk far before her legs started acting up again, so she had to trouble them.

Wang Chunhua helped her sit on the unicycle handcart with a worried expression on her face and said disdainfully, "With your condition, you still want to come back and teach them literacy? I think it's better to forget about it."

Li Mingwei pouted, "I already told them."

Not coming back would mean breaking her promise, and it wouldn't be good to deceive the children.

"Ah, suit yourself."

Wang Chunhua sighed and went ahead to scout the way. Now that her little sister had grown up, she had her own ideas, as long as they weren't doing anything bad, she wouldn't interfere.

With the handcart, they returned to the town quite early. Dong Shan knew they were coming back today, so he cooked some rice and bought a few vegetables outside, ready for a meal when they arrived.

As soon as Li Mingwei sat down at the dining table, Dong Shan told her that Yun Sister was getting married the day after tomorrow. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she threw down her chopsticks and ran to the next room to take a look.

Except for the word "double happiness" pasted on the front door and some red dates, longans, and peanuts arranged in the main hall, there was nothing else to indicate that a wedding ceremony would take place in two days.

Yun Sister could tell from her expression that she was unhappy. Afraid that her parents would think too much, she quickly led Li Mingwei into the room, and her little sister, who was smart enough to understand that they had something to talk about, went out to play.

"Getting married is a happy occasion, why do you have such a serious face?" Yun Sister grabbed a handful of wedding candies for her, then took out her wedding dress and showed it to her, "How about it, does it look good?"

It was just a red dress with a few embroidered flowers, nothing special in Li Mingwei's eyes, but she knew she couldn't say that. She nodded and said, "It looks nice."

Yun Sister smiled instantly. She held up the embroidery on the dress for her to see and said, "You taught me how to embroider this. I'm not as good as you, I was afraid you wouldn't like it."

"It's already very good." Li Mingwei looked at her, unable to tell if she was genuinely happy or just pretending. But she still asked one more time, "If I had a way to let you not marry, would you be willing to give it a try?"

Yun Sister paused for a moment, her fingers caressing the embroidery on the wedding dress, and with a smile on her face, she said, "Hmm, although I haven't learned for long, I think I'm almost there."

She didn't give a direct answer, but she had already answered. Li Mingwei could only respect her choice.

Yun Sister glanced outside secretly, changed into the wedding dress, and gracefully twirled a few times in front of Li Mingwei, like a flower blooming in spring.

She eagerly asked, "Do I look good in this outfit?"

"It looks good." Li Mingwei nodded, feeling a bit perfunctory, but she reaffirmed, "It really looks beautiful."

"That's good," Yun Sister quickly changed her clothes and neatly folded them. She sat next to Li Mingwei, holding her hand, and said shyly, "I heard from the gift-givers that he looks pretty good. If I'm not attractive, others might say I'm not worthy of him."

Knowing that she was comforting herself, Li Mingwei played along and smiled, saying, "You're worthy of anyone. It's his good fortune to marry you."

Yun Sister leaned against her shoulder, smiled sweetly, and suddenly felt a tinge of sadness in her heart. "I'm going to marry him, so it will be difficult for us to see each other often in the future."

"It's okay. If you can't come back, I can go visit you. If you miss me, you can send me a message through someone, but it's best to choose a time when I'm not busy. You know, I still have classes to attend."

"Yeah, I know."

Li Mingwei held back her tears, peeled a candy and put it in her mouth, then gave one to Yun Sister as well. The sweet taste in her mouth instantly made her feel a little happier.

With the candy in her mouth, Yun Sister's eyes flickered mischievously as she gossipingly said, "The day before yesterday, when Mom and I were shopping, we ran into Scholar Liu."

"And then?"

"He asked me why you hadn't come back."

Thinking of what he had done last time they met, Li Mingwei couldn't help but speak with annoyance, "What does it have to do with him whether I come back or not? Just ignore him."

"That's impossible. It's Scholar Liu we're talking about. I can't ignore him, and neither can anyone else in town," she poked Li Mingwei and winked, "I'm telling you, the whole town knows about Scholar Liu's feelings for you. Aren't you even slightly moved?"

Li Mingwei gritted her teeth, "Don't mention him to me. He's annoying!"

Yun Sister covered her chest and clucked her tongue twice, "You're really heartless."

Knowing that Yun Sister's fiancé was ill, which was why he was in such a hurry to marry her, Li Mingwei felt even more sympathetic towards her.

When she got married back then, it was also for the sake of marrying quickly, rushing against time. However, the late emperor had given her many things as compensation and even came personally to attend the wedding, despite his illness. He gave her enough face and dignity.

Yun Sister, on the other hand, had nothing. They sent many gifts over, but the dowry from the Meng family was meager. She took a closer look and felt a chill in her heart. No wonder she was willing to marry into a family like that.

Mother used to say that a woman's dowry is her confidence in her husband's family. The Meng family's dowry was not doing her any favors.

But Li Mingwei had just lent money to Wang Chunhua, and she only had a little over a hundred wen left. She still needed to buy paper and ink to copy books for the children in Apricot Blossom Village. It wouldn't be enough to add something for Yun Sister.

She hesitated outside the school, wondering whether she should go ask Mr. Jin for a little loan. But then she remembered that she had to go to Apricot Blossom Village to teach, and she would need to ask Mr. Jin for a leave of absence when school started. It would be embarrassing to ask for a loan as well.

However, Xiaogang was still waiting at home, so she decided to go inside.

Mr. Jin was preparing his lessons. There were less than ten days left until the start of school, and he had already begun writing his plans.

"You're back?" He glanced at Li Mingwei's leg and asked with concern, "Is your leg not hurting anymore?"

Li Mingwei pouted, "Sir, how did you know my leg was hurting?"

Of course, he heard it from Liu Yizhu. But seeing Li Mingwei's gloomy expression, Mr. Jin didn't dare to say anything. He pointed to the desk by the window and said, "I prepared it for you. You can sit there from now on."

Originally, there was only one set of desk and chairs on the second floor, which belonged to Mr. Jin. Li Mingwei had to use it whenever she needed to do something, which was quite inconvenient. After discussing with Liu Yizhu, they decided to give her a set of her own.

The desk and chairs were not new, but Li Mingwei was still touched. Finally, she had her own place in the school. However, it made her feel even more embarrassed to take such a long leave.

She propped her head up and sat in her designated spot, feeling a bit of a headache. How should she start the conversation?

Seeing her silence and sitting there absentmindedly, Mr. Jin smiled and said, "Did you come to school just to enjoy the view?"

"No," Li Mingwei turned around, feeling embarrassed, and said, "I came to buy some paper."

There was no bookstore in Qingshi Town. If someone needed paper, ink, brush, or inkstone, they either had to go to the county town or come to Mr. Jin's place.

Mr. Jin gestured for her to look in her drawer, where he had prepared some paper for her. "Take a look and see if it's enough."

"Not enough."

"You still need more. What are you planning to do?"

"I'll be copying books."

Li Mingwei explained the background of the matter, and Mr. Jin, feeling helpless, opened the cabinet and gave her another stack of paper and a box of ink.

"You, you're just too soft-hearted."

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