The Exiled Life of the Noble Girl

The winter days were all long and boring. Li Mingwei learned from Wang Chunhua's style, tucked her hands in, and the two of them stared at each other with big eyes. She had finished copying the book, and now there was nothing to do.

Dong Shan took some sweet potatoes and potatoes from the cellar and put them into the remaining fire in the stove. He came over and sat down next to them, using the stove to warm his hands.

"I've put the sweet potatoes and potatoes in, you guys remember to check them from time to time, don't let them get burnt."

"Ok." Wang Chunhua glanced at the yard. It had stopped snowing, but the cold wind was still bitterly cold: "I wonder if little Lei is cold or not in the school."

Li Mingwei added a few more coals to the stove with tongs, and also looked outside: "It's probably a bit cold, but it's okay. They will be on winter break soon, it will be better when they stay at home."

"It's earlier than last year."

Although Dong Lei had not gone to school last year, she remembered that it should have been a little later.

"About the same time. Mr. Jin said it was too cold this year and the children had no spirit to take classes, so he brought forward the break by a few days. If it gets warmer earlier next spring, they can start school earlier to make up for these days."

"That makes sense. The county released even earlier, scholar Liu has been back for more than half a month."

Li Mingwei really didn't want to hear the name Liu Yizhu at this moment. Sister Yun said that the news that she was making advances towards scholar Liu had spread all over Qingshi Town. Even with her toes, she knew what those people would say about her.

Daydreaming, a toad lusting after a swan's meat. In any case, there would be no good words.

Wang Chunhua didn't get a reply for a long time and looked up at Li Mingwei in puzzlement. Why wasn't she talking?

Dong Shan coughed lightly and Wang Chunhua reacted immediately, hurriedly covering her mouth. She shouldn't have mentioned scholar Liu.

"It is colder than last year!"

"Yes, yes, cold!" Wang Chunhua nodded and changed the subject following Dong Shan's words: "Shall we eat something warm tonight?"

Li Mingwei had just got the money back from copying books recently, and she still gave her half of it. Now she was quite well off and it was a good chance to make something nice to cheer up her sister.

"Warm food? How about we drink some wine, drinking wine is the warmest."

"Good idea. What wine do we have here?"

What Wang Chunhua actually meant was whether they should cook mutton soup, but seeing Li Mingwei was still a little interested in wine, she shut her mouth.

Dong Shan got up excitedly, took out the vintage wine he had treasured for a long time, and grabbed a handful of peanuts: "This one, sorghum liquor. I got it early this year when we gave Lei gifts for the teacher before he went to school. I kept asking for a long time before she was willing to give it."

The wine was expensive. Wang Chunhua had only bought him such a small bottle. He would secretly pour himself a small cup to sip when he craved it, so there was still quite a lot left.

He took a few teacups and poured a little for each person.

Li Mingwei leaned over to smell it, quite fragrant. She used to drink too, but mostly the kind of fruit wine suitable for young ladies, so she couldn't tell whether this wine was good or bad.

Dong Shan took a sip and threw a few peanut kernels into his mouth. He looked at her with a smile: "Try it."

She saw that Wang Chunhua had also taken a small sip without any reaction before she dared to carefully bring the teacup to her mouth. The wine didn't taste much at the beginning, there was a hint of sweetness, but after a few seconds it turned spicy, as if her entire throat was on fire.

She spat twice: "So spicy, so spicy!"

Wang Chunhua laughed at her: "Just now when you talked about drinking wine, your eyes lit up for a moment, I thought you had great alcohol tolerance. And you find it spicy already?"

She peeled the peanuts and stuffed them into Li Mingwei's mouth: "Help relieve the spiciness."

Li Mingwei was unwilling to admit defeat: "My alcohol tolerance is fine, I'm just not used to this kind of wine."

"Then what kind of wine do you usually drink?"

"Mostly fruit wines, peach blossom wine and the like."

It sounded like they were not very strong compared to his sorghum liquor. Dong Shan snorted, drained the wine in his own cup in one gulp, and poured some more: "Comfortable!"

Wang Chunhua didn't stop him either. He was used to running around in the mountains. Staying at home for too long made him feel useless from time to time, so it was good to let him vent.

She drank a few more cups with Dong Shan, and Li Mingwei couldn't help but join in when she saw that.

Dong Lei walked back alone stomping on the snow. Seeing the three adults so happy, he was instantly unhappy. They were all free and yet no one came to pick him up.

He walked up to the three of them and heavily put down his school bag, stomping his feet: "Humph!"

Wang Chunhua glanced at him and casually said, "You're back. Come and warm yourself by the fire, and do your homework after warming up."

"There's no homework today!"

"Oh?"

Li Mingwei smiled: "These days they just go to Mr. Jin's place one by one to recite texts to check how much of this year's textbooks they can remember."

The older batch of children who had learned interpretation were going to take exams.

She hugged Dong Lei and gently coaxed: "Why so angry as soon as you got back? Did Mr. Jin test the parts you didn't know well?"

"No, I recited very well!" Dong Lei said angrily, "Auntie didn't come to pick me up today."

"I didn't have classes today, I'll pick you up when I have classes."

"School break starts tomorrow, no more classes!"

Wang Chunhua slapped her son on the head directly and scolded: "Why so loud?! You're grown up now, it's just a short way and you still want someone to pick you up, aren't you embarrassed? You walked back yourself when nobody picked you up, didn't you?"

Dong Lei was hit and it hurt, but he didn't dare to cry out. His two cheeks were round like a little frog. Li Mingwei poked his slightly chapped little face that was frozen. Children's faces were tender and couldn't stand the wind.

She hugged him and coaxed gently: "Alright, don't be angry. Peanut?"

Dong Lei didn't want to eat, but his favorite auntie was feeding him, so he reluctantly opened his mouth.

"By the way, auntie, Mr. Jin asked you go to the school when you have time, he has something to discuss with you."

"What is it about?"

"Seems like copying books."

Copying books? That would be about earning money. Li Mingwei saw it was still early outside, tidied her clothes and said: "Then I'll go over and come back soon."

"Okay." Wang Chunhua also stood up, "I'm going to start making dinner too. I forgot about it after drinking just now."

Li Mingwei walked out of the yard. The piercing cold wind instantly cleared her head that was a little dizzy from the wine. She shivered and walked quickly towards the school.

At this time Mr. Jin was still grading test papers for the students on the second floor. When Li Mingwei came up, he noticed her slightly flushed cheeks: "So you drink too?"

"A little."

Mr. Jin stroked his beard and laughed: "A little is fine too. Let me know when you have time to drink with me, I'm too lonely drinking alone."

"Sure." Li Mingwei agreed: "Little Lei said you were looking for me?"

"Oh right!" Mr. Jin took out some papers and two books for her: "There will be more children next year, copy the books they will need when you have time."

"Okay, congratulations Mr. Jin! Your school is thriving!"

Mr. Jin laughed loudly: "It’s mostly thanks to Yizhu. After he passed the county exam and became a scholar, more people have been willing to send their children to school."

Li Mingwei...

This guy just had to show up everywhere. She was speechless.