Chapter 10

Since Sun Yi was very quick and nimble in her handling of the water, by the time she had finished cleaning the house, Sun Xiu had already made the dumplings.

One had pork filling, the other, leek and egg.

Sun Xiu was very good at cooking for her young age. She could roll the dumplings skins fast, rolling pin in one hand and a clump of dough in the other. With just a press and a roll, another skin was ready. Sun Ke took them and made them into finished dumplings.

The five-year-old children were quick to wrap the dumplings, and their work was done very neatly. They didn’t even need Sun Yi’s help.

She went to wash the pot and light a fire to boil the dumplings..

As they were boiling in the pot, they became white and plump, letting off a wonderful fragrance.

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The three children’s eyes lit up. They wiped the table, took out bowls and chopsticks, then looked for vinegar.

When Sun Yiming appeared at the kitchen door, the four of them were taken aback. The three children retreated towards the wall, their eyes filling with fear.

As usual, Han Qiao was calm. “Wash your hands and eat.”

She still needed Sun Yiming in order to earn money. She wasn’t going to starve him.

Actually, Sun Yiming was embarrassed.

The thought of running away flashed through his mind.

As he was walking out of the study early, he was about to do it. But then he remembered Han Qiao’s threats. Maybe she’d really go out and spread rumors about him and report him for cheating.

With the one, he would just suffer a tarnished reputation, but for the other, he could be executed.

After Han Qiao tied him up and gave him a nasty beating the previous night, he understood why people said women’s hearts were the most vicious. He wasn’t about to take any chances.

The family of five dined at the table. There were enough dumplings, so this time there was no way Sun Yiming would be monopolizing them. The other four were hungry.

While eating, the three children didn’t say a word or breathe too loudly. And, they didn’t dare to look at Sun Yiming.

Sun Yiming, too, was silent. He stole glances at Han Qiao, seeing that she was eating with a nonplussed look on her face. She no lingered curled her body up in fear as before, and her face was drenched in sorrow.

She had an indescribable charm.

Still, her face was the same as before. She was still Han Qiao.

“How many copies did you make this morning?” Han Qiao blurted out.

Sun Yiming almost choked on his dumpling.

“Five.”

“…”

Han Qiao’s hand froze in midair, still gripping the chopsticks.

In one morning he had written that many books, even given the not-so-motivating circumstances he was in.

“Can you finish the other five books this afternoon?” Han Qiao asked.

“Yes, I can.”

“Then go write them as soon as you finish eating. I want them done as soon as possible.”

Han Qiao acted as though this were the most natural thing in the world. Sun Yiming gnashed his teeth in rage.

He was about to say something, but desisted in the end.

After finishing, he went straight to the study to make more copies of Thousand Character Classic.

Sun Xiu did the dishes while Han Qiao and Sun Yi went to clean up the children’s room.

The room was dirty and covered in dust. Whatever could be moved out, they moved out, then cleaned the room very attentively.

They opened the window to get some air.

Then all four of them washed the clothes in the yard and hung them up to dry.

There was a honey locust tree in the backyard, which had been given to them by Han Qiao’s brother. They could be acquired for free in the mountains. The tree could be boiled to make soap, which Han Qiao did. She used the soap to wash clothes and hair all year round.

Before finishing the clothes, she had boiled a whole jar of soap from the tree.

After all that, the four of them were exhausted.

Han Qiao had the children go rest for a while. Meanwhile she went into the study, where she was met with the sight of Sun Yiming asleep on the table. She was so angry that she picked up the stick and began beating him.

“OW, OW,” Sun Yiming cried out in pain.

He dodged a few of the blows and wanted to fight back, but in the end he just got beaten even more violently.

“Han Qiao, stop it!” Sun Yiming roared.

“I’ve already written them. I’ve already written the five copies.”

Han Qiao stopped beating him for a moment.

She looked at Sun Yiming and blinked. “You’re already finished?”

“I’ve written them.”

Han Qiao stepped forward and flipped through the books. Sure enough, they were all finished.

They were all written quite well.

Both the handwriting and line spacing were done very neatly, which proved that he hadn’t been slacking off.

“If you were finished, you should have come outside and got to work, not slack off in here.”

When Sun Yiming heard this he stomped his feet in anger. “You never told me to go outside and work!”

“Well, before you used to hit me without telling me, didn’t you?” Han Qiao retorted.

“…”

“…”

The two of them stared at each other.

That had left Sun Yiming speechless.

He swallowed his saliva and said softly, “I don’t even know how to do housework.”

“Go get some water and fill up the tank.”

Having said that, Han Qiao started to pack up books Sun Yiming had copied.

Then, she took them out of the room.

She called Sun Xiu over and said, “Xiu, you and Yi take these to the bookstore and give them to Shopkeeper Xie. Then, bring back some Xuan paper and enough ink for twenty books.”

“What about the money?” Sun Xiu asked in a low voice.

At a hundred cash coins per book, ten books should be worth a tael of silver.

“If Shopkeeper Xie wants to pay you now, ask him to give you a hundred copper coins. If he doesn’t give them to you today, I’ll go collect the money tomorrow,” Han Qiao told Sun Xiu in a dull tone.

She couldn’t let Sun Yiming hear these words.

She would let him know eventually, but for now, at least, it was a secret.

Sun Xiu nodded and left with Sun Yi.

Han Qiao got to preparing dinner.

She had dumplings for lunch and was going to make pumpkin porridge for dinner.

Sun Ke lit her a fire.

The two busied themselves in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Sun Yiming was sneaking towards the front door.

No sooner had his hand touched the front door than Han Qiao yanked the back of his collar and threw him to the floor.

“Ouch!” Sun Yiming yelled.

This time, Han Qiao didn’t hold back. She went straight for the face, using her fists and feet. She beat him without a shred of mercy.

There was no end to Sun Yiming’s screaming but he didn’t stand a chance against Han Qiao.

All he could do was scream, but it changed nothing. Soon, his flesh had turned black and blue.

Han Qiao stood up and put her hands on her hips. “If you dare to show off with that face of yours, I’ll respect you as a man.”

Did Sun Yiming dare?

Of course not. He couldn’t afford to lose face.

He opened his mouth to scold Han Qiao, but Han Qiao raised her hand to hit him. He was so scared that he shrank back.

“Coward,” Han Qiao swore under her breath.

She left to go flip the straw mat drying in the sun.

It was a scorching July, so it didn’t take long for all the clothes she had washed earlier to dry.

Sun Yiming crawled back into the study and sat on the chair. His eyes drifted towards the hemp rope still hanging from the roof beam. He couldn’t help but tremble.

He rushed over there and pulled the rope down to the floor. Raging uncontrollably, he stomped it into the ground.

“Haha.” Han Qiao sneered at him through the door.

Sun Yiming’s body turned to stone. He turned his head and looked over at her. “I, I…”

“Pick it up and hang it back up for me,” Han Qiao shouted..

Sun Yiming was shocked. He hurriedly picked up the rope and threw it back onto the roof beam.

He wasn’t even able to get it above his shoulders. His strength was completely sapped.

He continued to whine, exerting what little of his strength still remained. His face was all red.

Ignoring him, Han Qiao went back to the kitchen.

Sun Yiming shook a few times in the study and sat dejectedly onto the chair. His butt hurt, his face hurt, his whole body hurt.

He didn’t know what had happened to Han Qiao. How could she get so cruel and hateful when she hit him. She obviously couldn’t care less whether or not they had a happy marriage.

He would divorce her one of these days.

Meanwhile at the bookstore, Shopkeeper Xie saw Sun Xiu enter the bookstore. Surprised, he said, “You’ve finished the copies already?”

“We sure have!” Sun Xiu opened the bundle and handed over a stack of paper.

They hadn’t been bound yet, so the pages floated out across the table.

Shopkeeper Xie looked through them one by one. Except for the first book, which was a little rusty, the other nine were of extremely good quality. No mistakes, either.

“I’ll give you the money here and now.”

“My mother said she wants 100 copper coins. She also wants another 20 sheets of Xuan paper and some more ink,” Sun Xiu said softly.

“Coming right up.”

He was looking forward to making a killing. With these ten copies of Thousand Character Classic, he could easily sell them for a few taels of silver.

He quickly took out the money, then gave Sun Xiu the paper and ink. “Careful on the road.”

“Thank you.”

Sun Xiu left the bookstore with Sun Yi. Not stopping for a single moment, they went straight home.