HLnovel Chapter 84 My heart felt as sweet as if I had eaten candied fruit
Chapter 84 My heart felt as sweet as if I had eaten candied fruit
After Shen Ming entered the room and sat down, he opened his palm and handed the item to her: "Peach Blossom Sister, this is for you."
Zhao Taohua looked into his palm and saw a small, flat, round white porcelain bottle.
She stepped forward, took the item from his hand, and asked curiously, "Brother Shen Ming, what is this?"
"Hand cream can moisturize hands, keep them hydrated, and prevent them from cracking."
After Shen Ming finished speaking, Zhao Taohua happily opened it, and it really was hand cream.
It was in the form of a paste. She scooped out a piece and applied it to herself. Her hands immediately felt much better, especially the areas where her fingers had cracked from binding the straw blanket.
"Thank you, Brother Shen Ming~ I will definitely apply it carefully!"
She's been so busy tying up straw mats lately that she's forgotten to take care of her hands.
There were no gloves in this era, so you could only let your hands suffer.
Seeing Zhao Taohua immediately apply the ointment to her hands, Shen Ming slowly smiled and instructed, "Remember to apply it every day."
Zhao Taohua nodded repeatedly, then asked, "Brother Shen Ming, how much is this? I'll give it to you."
Shen Ming had helped her a lot before, and today he brought her hand cream again.
"It's not worth much, just remember to apply it. I have something to do, so I'll be going now."
After saying that, Shen Ming hurriedly got up and left, as if he was afraid that Zhao Taohua would try to force money on him.
"Hey? Brother Shen Ming, please have some tea before you leave!"
Zhao Taohua walked to the spot where Shen Ming had just sat. The tea in the bowl seemed to be untouched, so she picked it up and drank it all in one gulp.
The durian spirit wanted to remind her, but it was too late: "Sister Zhao, Shen Ming has already drunk that bowl of tea."
In an instant, Zhao Taohua was completely stunned. Had Shen Ming drunk it?
Shen Ming had just stepped out of the main room and was still in the courtyard when he overheard the durian spirit's words, and a smile flashed across his eyes.
He still remembered the four words Zhao Taohua had mentioned for choosing a husband, so he immediately went to the village chief's house to ask him to introduce a few more people to do the work. He wanted them to finish all the work at his house within two days before he could go to Zhao's house to help.
The following afternoon, the two sisters, Jiang Cuier and Jiang Juer, each pushed a wheelbarrow from Heiniu Village.
Jiang Ju'er was overjoyed to see the cart full of bundles of straw blankets:
"Sister, I never thought we could make money by tying straw mats at home!"
They would pay an extra five large coins for delivering the carts to the employer's house, and since she and her sister each pushed a cart, that would be ten large coins.
Jiang Cuier was also happy about this, because earning more money meant more income for the family.
Heiniu Village is not far from Zhao Family Village, but you still have to cross the mountain to get there.
Suddenly, Jiang Ju'er glanced down at the foot of the mountain and exclaimed in surprise, "Sister, the jujube trees in Zhao Family Village didn't freeze to death?"
After saying that, she stopped and leaned the wheelbarrow against the tree trunk, then ran over and picked a handful of jujubes.
After being frosted, the jujubes are as sweet as honey, and children from poor families have to find their own food in the mountains and fields.
After picking one, Jiang Juer couldn't wait to put it in her mouth. It was indeed the taste she remembered, so sweet.
The jujube trees in Heiniu Village were already frostbitten, but the ones in Zhaojia Village were surprisingly fine.
She quickly picked the rest and put them into her bosom.
Jiang Cuier glanced at the sky and urged, "Ju'er, stop picking them. We need to hurry up and deliver the grass blankets to our employer."
"Okay, sis, I'm coming!"
Jiang Juer picked two more jujubes and put them in her mouth. Just as she bit into one, her eyes widened and a look of confusion and curiosity flashed across her face.
Why doesn't it taste as sweet as before?
Her brows furrowed slightly, and a hint of unease flickered in her eyes.
Seeing that she was still standing there slowly, Jiang Cuier urged:
"Ju'er, hurry up!"
Upon hearing the sound, Jiang Ju'er immediately snapped out of her daze and quickly replied, "Sister, I'm coming!"
All jujubes are sweet; she might have been hallucinating just now.
Jiang Ju'er stepped forward and continued pushing the wheelbarrow, but as she walked, her eyes began to glaze over, her gaze wandered, and her cheeks flushed.
Jiang Cuier pushed the wheelbarrow ahead. When she entered Zhao Family Village, she immediately saw rows of neatly arranged blue brick and tile houses.
She exclaimed, "Zhao Family Village is truly amazing; they've built brick and tile houses all in such a short time."
Jiang Cuier stopped Zhou Shi, who was passing by, and asked, "Auntie, could you tell me how to get to Shen Ming's house?"
Zhou glanced at the straw blankets piled on the two sisters' wheelbarrow and said, "Are you delivering straw blankets to the Shen Ming family?"
He's not home right now; you can just take it to his herb garden.
As Zhou spoke, she pointed out the direction to the two sisters.
Before long, Jiang Cuier and her sister found Shen Ming's field in the direction Zhou had indicated.
"Excuse me, is Mr. Shen Ming here? We're here to deliver a straw blanket."
Jiang Cuier stood on the edge of the field and called out to the medicinal herb field.
There were many people standing in the Shen family's medicinal herb field, far more than the workers hired by others. Many of them were unfamiliar faces, and Jiang Cuier couldn't recognize who Shen Ming was at all.
Upon hearing the voice, Shen Ming straightened up, turned around, and walked towards them, replying, "That's me. How many meters of straw mat did you tie up?"
A grass mat that is one meter long and one meter wide costs a lot of money; a typical grass mat is six meters long.
“Thirty meters, my sister and I each tied thirty meters of straw mats.”
After Jiang Cuier finished explaining, she untied the rope from the wheelbarrow and let Shen Ming inspect it.
Jiang Ju'er stared intently at Shen Ming's well-defined features: a pair of sword-like eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and thin lips slightly pursed, making him both handsome and masculine.
She reached out to Shen Ming, her movements hurried and somewhat unsteady, as she touched him, murmuring, "You're so handsome..."
Her voice carried a hint of coquettishness, yet also an irrepressible excitement.
Shen Ming was inspecting the grass carpet when he suddenly felt Jiang Ju'er's hand about to touch him. He frowned, quickly took a big step back, and looked disgusted.
Jiang Ju'er missed her target and leaned forward. If it weren't for the straw mat on the wheelbarrow, she would have fallen.
Jiang Cuier noticed Jiang Juer's unusual behavior, frowned, and scolded her:
"Sister, what are you doing?"
This is Employer Shen. If we anger him, he won't want the straw carpets they worked so hard to bring!
However, Jiang Juer seemed not to listen to her at all, and even moved closer to Shen Ming again, her eyes filled with a determination to achieve her goal.
Shen Ming retreated with a look of disgust, as if trying to avoid it at all costs, and said coldly:
"Don't come near me!"
Jiang Ju'er looked at Shen Ming with eyes full of longing, as if she wanted to devour him alive, which made Shen Ming feel disgusted.
At this moment, Jiang Cuier realized that something was wrong with Jiang Juer; her breathing was rapid and her cheeks were flushed.
She reached out and touched Jiang Cuier's forehead, exclaiming in surprise, "Oh dear, why is it so hot?"
She touched Jiang Juer's face and hands again carefully, and they were burning hot!
She quickly apologized to Shen Ming, saying, "Employer Shen, I'm sorry, my sister didn't mean it. I think she might have a fever and be delirious."
That's why I acted inappropriately towards you just now.
Shen Ming was too lazy to argue with them, since he hadn't let Jiang Ju'er touch him just now.
He checked both carts of straw mats and found no problems, so he paid them the full amount.
Jiang Cuier thanked him repeatedly after receiving the money, but Jiang Juer's cheeks remained flushed, and her eyes were fixed on Shen Ming, which seemed very abnormal.
"Mr. Shen, could you tell me where your village doctor is? I'd like to ask him to take a look at my sister."
Although Shen Ming disliked the rude Jiang Ju'er, he still led the sisters the way.
Shen Ming was walking in front, with Jiang Cuier supporting Jiang Juer behind him. However, Jiang Juer's hands kept moving around, trying to touch Shen Ming.
Jiang Cuier frowned, puzzled as to how her sister could have become like this after having a fever.
God knows how difficult it was for her to support her restless younger sister all by herself.
Being unfamiliar with Zhao Family Village and with the younger sister being disobedient, if they delayed any longer, the sisters wouldn't be able to get home before dark that night.
Jiang Ju'er continued to reach out towards Shen Ming's back, her mouth slightly open, as if she wanted to say something to him.
"Hey, what are you doing!"
Just as she was about to touch Shen Ming's back, a voice suddenly stopped her from behind, startling Jiang Ju'er.
Zhao Taohua immediately reminded Shen Ming, "Brother Shen Ming, she just reached out to touch you. You absolutely mustn't let her touch you."
Shen Ming hummed in agreement, his eyes full of smiles, his heart as sweet as if he had eaten candied fruit.