Chapter 38

It wasn't until Pei Mu returned from the mountain that he learned about what had happened over the past few days.

The weather would only get colder, and he couldn't stay on the mountain for too long anymore, so this time he lingered a bit longer than usual.

Fortunately, this trip yielded a good harvest. He had been thinking of making a fur cloak for Zhong Yizhu before winter, and with the pelts from the previous two trips, he was only a few short of having enough.

He couldn't wait to get home, not knowing that Zhong Yizhu had prepared a generous gift for him.

Pei Mu stared at the thin sheet of paper he held—the severance agreement—and remained silent for a long time.

"Do you want me to read it to you?" Zhong Yizhu asked him quietly.

"No need." Pei Mu's voice was a little hoarse. Just as Zhong Yizhu was about to comfort him, Pei Mu grabbed him by the waist and pulled him into his arms.

"Are you an idiot? Cursing yourself like that just to get this document?"

Zhong Yizhu hugged him and gently patted his back, saying softly, "As long as we know it's fake, that's enough. Your fate reading is also fake. Everything is fake."

Zhong Yizhu learned from Mr. Zhu of the neighboring village that the so-called "scourge of lonely star" fate reading was clearly something Tian Shi had deliberately paid for.

She was afraid that the villagers would criticize her for favoritism, and she also dreaded that Pei Mu might start living a good life, so she had the fortune-teller give him this fate reading, thereby solving the problem once and for all.

But Tian Shi probably never imagined that while she thought money could "change someone's fate," others could spend even more money and change hers in return.

And people who have done many wrongdoings tend to believe more in "fate," which is why this trick of spending money to change fate worked so well.

Zhong Yizhu gently patted Pei Mu's back, just like his mother used to comfort him when he was little: "From now on, the world is vast, and you don't have to be tied to them. If you're still not satisfied, we'll get back at them quietly."

Pei Mu swallowed hard. He had never received such care and respect, and Zhong Yizhu had given him all of it. Yet this made him all the more fearful, and he was even more unwilling to let Zhong Yizhu use himself as bait, even if it was just made-up nonsense.

He couldn't even stand the thought of the slightest accident happening to Zhong Yizhu.

Pei Mu reached out and placed his hand over Zhong Yizhu's belly. The flat abdomen under his palm contracted slightly at his touch—so thin that he could span it with one hand.

Because of his action, Zhong Yizhu also thought of the "pregnancy news" in the rumor he had fabricated, and his ears reddened.

"Pei Mu, do you prefer a boy or a girl?" he asked softly.

Pei Mu pressed his waist and drew the person even tighter into his arms: "I don't like any of them. I like you."

Zhong Yizhu thought he didn't understand and was too shy to ask further, but the corners of his eyes curved, and the light in his eyes was like a beautiful lake under the sun.

Pei Mu tilted his head slightly, looked at Zhong Yizhu for a moment, then leaned in to kiss his ear and whispered to discuss with him.

"Zhu Ge'er, how about we don't have a baby for now?"

"Hm?" Zhong Yizhu turned his head in surprise to look at Pei Mu. Hearing this, he finally understood what Pei Mu had meant earlier, and he couldn't help but be puzzled. "Why?"

In Great Yan, all families wished for many children and blessings. A new bride who failed to bear children would be criticized, while getting pregnant quickly was seen as a great blessing. But Pei Mu said he didn't like having children.

Pei Mu leaned back a little, observing Zhong Yizhu's expression. "Zhu Ge'er, do you really want a baby?"

Zhong Yizhu saw that Pei Mu was asking seriously, so he thought about it carefully.

After a moment, he hesitated and shook his head.

Naturally, he was not opposed to having children with Pei Mu, but he didn't feel any urgency about it either.

He already remembered when Third Aunt gave birth to Zhong Youyao; she screamed bloody murder, and he still remembers it to this day. Moreover, he himself still likes to act spoiled with his mother.

Such words cannot be said to others, otherwise he would be labeled as not keeping to a wife’s duty—married but not wanting to give the husband's family kids, only thinking of himself.

But Pei Mu is different; he can tell Pei Mu all his heretical thoughts and bare his heart without restraint.

That said, he was still a bit curious about Pei Mu's thoughts.

Not to mention the village men—no matter which household, they all wish for the new bride to become pregnant early after marriage to add children to the family; the more members, the more prosperous.

After he asked again, Pei Mu frowned and said, "Childbirth is dangerous. You're too frail. I'd be the one to give birth."

Upon hearing this clearly, Zhong Yizhu quickly clapped a hand over his mouth: "What are you saying? How can a man give birth? People will laugh if they hear that."

"Let them laugh, then." Pei Mu leaned in to kiss him, and Zhong Yizhu was too late to pull his hand back, so the lips landed on his own hand.

Pei Mu placed a gentle kiss on his palm.

"I only need you."

Zhong Yizhu's lashes fluttered, burn-bitten by that feather-light kiss. He withdrew his hand and buried himself in Pei Mu's arms, his palm and heart both on fire.

......

Two days later, at the big market fair, Zhong Yizhu and Pei Mu appeared again in the crowd of the West Market.

Before leaving last time, Zhong Yizhu had found the clerk to inquire about their original stall, and the result, as expected, was that it had already been rented long-term by the other party. Zhong Yizhu then rented their current stall, paying a full month’s rent in one go, totaling two hundred wen.

Now they were walking toward their own stall.

Going from the entrance of the West Market, they would pass by the original stall and Gong Laosi's jewelry stall. On the other side of Gong Laosi was exactly a fork, and there were no other empty stalls nearby. It was precisely because of this that the other guy's scheme to pull a switcheroo with the stall had succeeded so well.

When Zhong Yizhu and Pei Mu passed by, that man was still sitting behind the already set-up incense ball stall. Zhong Yizhu casually glanced at him—the man looked decent but had a slick expression, wearing a sapphire-blue robe, appearing to be only twenty-five or six. The stall was still the same as last market day, almost a complete replica of their setup.

Seeing Zhong Yizhu and the other pass by, he gave them a provoking look and deliberately shouted the contents of their signboard, as if worried he wouldn't get under their skin.

Zhong Yizhu withdrew his gaze, greeted Gong Laosi, then went to his own stall and began to take out things to set up.

Gong Laosi walked over from his spot and handed a money pouch to the two: "All the incense balls have been sold. Here's the money. Count it."

Zhong Yizhu opened the pouch, poured the money into his cash box, and then returned the empty pouch to him: "Brother Gong, saying that makes it sound like we're strangers; we naturally trust you."

Gong Laosi took the pouch and put it away, smiled, then leaned closer and whispered: "I asked around. That bastard's name is Qian Jinbao. He used to be a hoodlum over in Songyun County. Then the boss he ran with got beaten to death by casino thugs, so he didn't dare keep up the thug life. He squeezed some silver out of his parents and came to the West Market to do some small business."

"He has no real skills and doesn't take the right path. A few days ago, he got chummy with another incense ball vendor here in the West Market. I'm guessing they teamed up to target your stall and pull some dirty tricks to steal your customers."

Zhong Yizhu and Pei Mu exchanged a glance and nodded: "Thank you, Brother Gong, for taking the trouble to inquire. Have they been setting up shop every day lately?"

"Exactly. Last time when you were here, that young man was hired by him. He hired him for another two days afterward, just to pretend to be you and deceive people. Once he'd fooled enough people, he sent that young man packing. These days it's been him alone. But he can only fool new customers; your regulars who remember you keep asking when you'll be back."

Gong Laosi said that to reassure Zhong Yizhu. Regulars just can't keep up with a steady stream of new customers. He himself couldn't help but feel upset watching the neighboring stall's thriving business these past few days, let alone Zhong Yizhu.

Strictly speaking, no matter who ran the neighboring stall, as long as business was good, it benefited him too, so he didn't have to side with Zhong Yizhu. But Gong Laosi was a righteous man, and people have their preferences.

Qian Jinbao held a grudge against him over the earlier stall-grabbing incident, and later Gong Laosi also helped Zhong Yizhu sell leftover incense balls, poaching his customers. So the two of them just didn't get along.

Gong Laosi looked at the incense balls Zhong Yizhu had set out and was about to say that if they couldn't sell them all, he could help handle the leftovers, but he caught himself, realizing how bad that sounded, and swallowed his words.

Zhong Yizhu had obviously put a lot of thought into it. He'd redone the stall again, swapping the tablecloth for a deep navy blue one, and there were several cloth flowers of various colors on the table, as well as two or three bamboo racks about a foot high.

Gong Laosi sighed inwardly. This fellow Zhong has the determination to start over, but the new customers have been mostly drawn away by that Qian Jinbao. No matter how fancy he arranges these incense pellets, they probably won't achieve the same effect as before.

After sharing what he had found out, he was about to take his leave when his peripheral vision caught Zhong Yizhu pulling out several ceramic jars from his bag with one hand.

As the lids were lifted, a faint fragrance wafted over.

Gong Laosi couldn't help asking, "Zhu Ge'er, what's this?"

Zhong Yizhu placed the ceramic jars on the bamboo shelf and looked up with a smile. "It's scented balm. A new incense product for our stall."

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Author's note: Thanks for the nutrient fluids and thunder mines~ A heads-up: this novel probably won't have an epilogue in the main text, but there might be some in the extras~