Chapter 13: Getting Beaten

The cheap husband poured a cup of hot water in the kitchen, passed by her, and went straight back to the room.

Liu Changning glanced at his straight back as it gradually disappeared into the distance, the corners of her lips curling deeper. She thought he must be furious at being forced to cook and empty the chamber pot.

After a few days of living together, he differed somewhat from the description in the novel. Though beautiful and scheming, he could bend and stretch, enduring what ordinary people could not. However, he was indeed arrogant.

Liu Changning shrugged and turned back to the woodshed. She meditated in the room for half an hour. When she went to sleep, the candle was still lit in the next room.

The original owner’s family was poor and couldn’t afford candles. But the cheap husband was well-off, and the luxurious items in his room were at odds with the earth-built house of the original owner. As for that silver… it was most likely payment he got from fooling around with people all day.

Although Liu Changning didn’t mind eating the food he brought back, it would truly be immoral to use the silver he obtained through money and color transactions.

Poverty is not scary, but the dignity of being human cannot be lost.

Liu Changning squinted, lying on the hard bed, the bed board digging into her bones.

She lay on her side, pressing the bedding under her body, which made it a bit more comfortable.

Tomorrow after selling the herbs in town, she would definitely buy several more sets of bedding for the house. After all, she couldn’t wrongly mistreat herself for nothing.

—

Summer days are long and nights are short. Just after the Yin hour, the sky showed a fish-belly white.

Liu Changning opened her eyes, got dressed, and finished washing up.

Then she picked up the herbs from the kitchen and went out.

All the way out of Xiqiao Village, because it was still early, except for the sounds of crowing roosters and barking dogs, she didn’t encounter a single villager.

Xiqiao Village was not far from Huashi Town, only half an hour’s walk.

Liu Changning carried the basket on her back, walking forward according to the original owner’s memory.

In the modern world, with regular schedules and daily morning jogs for exercise, she was already accustomed to it. Walking for an hour now was relatively easy for her.

The original owner’s body originally couldn’t withstand long journeys, but after soaking in the medicinal bath yesterday, most of the toxins in her body had been eliminated, so she didn’t feel tired walking all the way.

Liu Changning wasn’t tired now, so she recalled the original owner’s memories about the customs of the Jin Feng Dynasty.

This place was similar to ancient China, with human and cultural environments roughly the same. But because it was a world of reversed yin and yang, the only difference was in the physiological structure of men and women.

The physical appearance of men and women was not much different from the modern world, but their physiques were different.

The women here had relatively better physical strength and carried a female hormone that could secrete a scent to seduce men. Especially when women emitted a special smell, they could lure young men without self-control to the point where their bodies became soft.

This was why the current female-dominant male-submissive social system existed. However, it’s worth mentioning that although men’s social status was relatively low, there were still a very small number of men who could resist the scent emitted by women.

Such men often had strong minds, and although few in number, almost every one of them had great achievements.

For this female-dominant male-submissive social system, the tolerance for men was considered extremely high.

Liu Changning’s footsteps didn’t stop as she recalled the original owner’s memories, carefully recalling the mode of interaction between men and women in this world, before striding into the town.

Songhua Town was located south of Langhuan County. Although far from the main city, due to its special geographical location at the junction of Langhuan County and Yongchuan County, there were many carriages coming and going in the town every day.

All the way, the market was bustling, with a hubbub of voices.

The sounds of hawking and calling out continued endlessly.

As it was her first time observing a town in this world, Liu Changning walked very slowly.

Women still dominated the streets, with few men showing their faces. Passing carriages came one after another, kicking up dust, not lingering long, but adding some liveliness to the town.

Walking out of the market, the sun rose overhead, shining directly on her face, causing a burning, stinging sensation.

Liu Changning frowned, no longer lingering. She quickened her pace and went straight to West Street.

West Street was the main street of Songhua Town, surrounded by shops. At noon, there were relatively few passersby.

Following the original owner’s memory, Liu Changning entered Jishi Hall.

Jishi Hall was the largest pharmacy in Songhua Town. It was said that due to the owner’s deep background, there was a pharmacy named “Jishi Hall” in every large and small town of the Jin Feng Dynasty.

The shopkeeper was an old woman with a head full of silver hair. She walked out from the inner hall where she was seeing patients, her cloudy eyes shrewd and wise.

Liu Changning wore a coarse short outfit, with patched clothes. She had thought that entering the pharmacy, she would be driven out. But fortunately, neither the apprentices nor the shopkeeper showed any trace of disdain.

Liu Changning’s eyes settled slightly, and she bowed to the old woman who had walked out, saying, “This humble one has come to sell medicine. May I have a word with the shopkeeper?”

The shopkeeper’s cloudy eyes flashed with brilliance. She didn’t respond, only carefully examining Liu Changning in secret.

Although the farm girl before her appeared poor, her expression was calm, her demeanor extraordinary, and her every move was polite and proper, unlike an ordinary farm girl.

Ordinarily, when farm households came to sell medicine, Shopkeeper Li wouldn’t personally attend to them.

It was usually handled by the pharmacy apprentices, but today she happened to catch a glimpse and saw this person.

Her cloudy eyes looked past her to the basket on her back. The bamboo basket was covered with a tattered cloth shirt, concealing the contents inside.

Shopkeeper Li nodded, her eyes revealing a smile.

It should be known that although farm women occasionally came to sell medicinal herbs, because they didn’t know how to handle mountain herbs, they would expose them to the sun. Herbs couldn’t withstand direct sunlight, and many would lose their medicinal properties as a result.

She put down the palm-leaf fan in her hand, wearing a kind smile on her face, and led the other party into the inner hall.

After the apprentice served tea, Liu Changning didn’t act coy. With the shopkeeper’s permission, she picked up the porcelain cup and drank the tea in one gulp.

She put down the teacup in her hand, took off the bamboo basket from her back, lifted the tattered cloth shirt, and the lingzhi inside was revealed.

The old shopkeeper’s eyes, which were originally squinting, suddenly widened. She quickly walked to the bamboo basket, crouched down, and placed her rough, dry hand on the roots of the lingzhi.

The look of surprise on her face couldn’t be suppressed.

After a while, she raised her head and asked, “Miss, are you selling lingzhi?”

Liu Changning raised her hand, tucking the fallen strands of hair behind her ear, and smiled, “Shopkeeper, all the herbs in this basket are for sale. The roots are all well-preserved. You’re in the trade, you certainly understand their medicinal value better than I do!”

Shopkeeper Li’s gaze followed her fingertips to the bamboo basket. Good heavens, besides lingzhi, there were also several rare medicinal herbs.

Originally, the shop was short of precious herbs, but now so many herbs were brought by such an ordinary-looking woman. Her excitement was evident.

Shopkeeper Li’s eyes sparkled, and she straightened up. Her gaze towards Liu Changning became even more benevolent. She took an abacus from the counter and replied straightforwardly, “Jishi Hall will take all your herbs. Miss, please name your price!”

Liu Changning’s delicate hand tapped on the table. Her face remained calm, her round eyes fixed on the shopkeeper who was fiddling with the abacus in front of the table. She said slowly, “I live in the back mountain, and will surely have more herbs to sell to you in the future. So, shopkeeper, you set the price. If it’s reasonable, all future herbs will be supplied to Jishi Hall. What do you think?”

The smile on Shopkeeper Li’s lips deepened, and the look of satisfaction in her sunken eyes grew even stronger. The woman before her was well-mannered and knew how to be accommodating to others. In the long run, she was certainly not an ordinary person. After all, maintaining a good relationship with such a person might bring unexpected returns in the future.

“Since the niece is so modest, this old woman won’t decline anymore. Most of the herbs you brought today are well-preserved, and several of them are rare. Plus a precious black lingzhi. How about this old woman buys this basket of herbs for twenty taels of silver?”

Liu Changning pondered briefly, then nodded and said, “Alright.”

She actually didn’t understand the prices of herbs very well, but according to the silver conversion standard of this era, one tael of silver had the purchasing power equivalent to about a thousand in the future. So, twenty taels of silver shouldn’t be considered a loss, although that black lingzhi was valuable, the purchase price wouldn’t be too high.

Now this old woman’s eyes were bright, and her speech showed some wisdom. She didn’t seem to be someone with a short-sighted view.

Liu Changning’s quick response made Shopkeeper Li even more satisfied. When she sent her out of the pharmacy door, she specially gave her a packet of honeysuckle, said to be good for quenching thirst and generating fluids when made into tea.

With business done, the sun outside was blazing. Liu Changning raised her hand to shield her eyes.

Looking into the distance, a restaurant came into view not far away.

That was Fugui Tower, one of the most famous restaurants in Songhua Town. It was said that the owner’s ancestor had been an imperial chef in Jinling City, and the cooking skills had been passed down from generation to generation, so it was certainly not ordinary.

Liu Changning had never liked to mistreat herself. Now that she had money, she wouldn’t mistreat herself by going home hungry under the sun.

Since coming to ancient times, she had hardly had a proper meal of dishes. Now that the opportunity had come, she planned to enter the restaurant and have a meal.

Fugui Tower was separated from Jishi Hall by an alley. Liu Changning avoided the blazing sun and walked to the entrance of the alley.

Just as she was about to step out, her foot stopped in mid-air, and she froze on the spot.

At the end of the alley, backlit, stood two people.

The woman was fat-headed and big-eared, with colorful gold hairpins stuck in her hair. As she shook her head, the hairpins jingled, looking somewhat ridiculous.

She blocked the exit, giggling, her small narrow eyes revealing a sense of urgent desire.

The man she was blocking leaned against the wall, his fine eyebrows furrowed, his thin lips pale, his red clothes fluttering, making his entire face frighteningly white.

He covered his chest with one hand, and when he looked down at the fat woman, his dark eyes were filled with cold stars.

“Get lost!”

The woman didn’t seem to mind. She shook her fat body and moved closer, about to pin him against the wall, but was kicked down by him.

The woman got up, clutching her stomach, her fat-creased face revealing a fierce look.

She spat out the blood from between her teeth, spat at the man, and cursed, “You little slut, why are you pretending? Dressed up so flashy, batting your eyes, isn’t it just to make us women love you? Now that the sword is on the string, how come you’re unwilling?”

After saying this, she took off her outer garment, made to approach again, and said as she came close, “Let you taste the flavor on this mother’s body.”

As she finished speaking, a foul odor emanated from her body. Pei Yuanshao’s lips were tightly pressed together, one hand covering the blood seeping from his chest, the other supporting himself against the wall, raising his foot to kick her again.

However, unexpectedly, a group of people suddenly appeared at the entrance of the alley.

The middle-aged man leading them was fierce-looking. He quickly walked up, glared fiercely at the dazed fat woman, then turned back and slapped Pei Yuanshao across the face.

***

When he discovers Jiang Yang has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…

(Female-dominant)

One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.

Synopsis

During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.

Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.

Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”

Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.

Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”

With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.

Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?

He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”

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