The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

49. The Drawing

Translator: Iris Guo

Today, A’Chou had to go to the market to look for some seeds to plant vegetables so that she wouldn’t need to go downhill often or waste money on low-quality vegetables. Moreover, she had already removed the weeds in the courtyard.

A’Chou spent five to six liang of silver ingots last time in the market, and there was only less than five liang of silver ingots left. She had to buy food for Zhong Mingwei and herself, as well as find someone to build a heated bed and reinforce the house structure. She had no idea how much that would cost.

Ah! A’Chou couldn’t stand it when she kept paying money but made no earnings, so she planned to find a job.

A’Chou did laundry well. However, unlike the capital, there weren’t many rich families in NingGuTa, and few of them could afford a maid. Besides, she would worry if she left Zhong Mingwei alone. It would be nice if she could get a job nearby so that she didn’t have to go out frequently.

A’Chou had been thinking about working all the way, and before she knew it, she already reached the foot of the mountain. After walking for a long time, she felt thirsty. Then, she saw a courtyard with a fence, thought for a moment, and walked to the fence.

“Hello?” asked A’Chou while knocking at the door.

The door creaked open, and there came the tall and thin young man A’Chou met before.

“Miss, nice to see you again.” greeted Chen Qingxuan with a smile.

“Same here. I was about to go to the market for more rice,” A’Chou also smiled, “I walked for too long and got so thirsty. I’m wondering if it’s okay to have some water.”

“Sure! Please come in.” Chen Qingxuan hastened to invite A’Chou in, helped her take the big bamboo basket off her back, put it near the door, and seated her. While he was about to pour tea from a white porcelain teapot, he suddenly remembered something, looked at her and asked: “Is jasmine okay?”

A’Chou was stunned: “Jazz…What?”

“It’s tea,” Chen Qingxuan smiled gently, “Jasmine it is. This tea smells really good. You should like it.”

A’Chou understood and rubbed her hands in embarrassment: “I know nothing about tea. I usually drink water, so…Yes, I’ll take whatever you have.”

“Try then,” Chen Qingxuan put a cup in front of A’Chou and laughed, “Next time we’ll have BiLuoChun Tea.”

“That’s okay! I don’t know how to enjoy it, and I don’t want to waste your good tea.” A’Chou was so flattered that she responded hurriedly while checking the blue and white porcelain cup in front of her.

A’Chou had never seen such an exquisite teacup before. She was just a humble maid in the Imperial Palace, and never got the chance to wait on royal members, so she had never seen such a nice thing and couldn’t look away.

Chen Qingxuan saw A’Chou staring at his teacup, and supposed that there was something wrong with it. He waited for a while, but she was still silent, so he had no choice but to ask: “Miss, is there something wrong with the cup?”

“No,” A’Chou was back to earth and scratched her head in embarrassment, “It’s just beautiful, especially the drawing of three fishes on it, so I just couldn’t help it. Please don’t laugh at me.”

Chen Qingxuan looked at A’Chou’s lovely face and found her interesting and genial. Then, he took another identical cup from the tray and said: “You have a good taste. The drawing means that although the Ruo River is three thousand li (li, an ancient unit of length, 1 li approximately equals 400 to 600 meters) long, one only drinks one ladle of water from it. The implied meaning is that there are so many potential lovers to choose from, but you only pick one.”