Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

Xu Jingxi didn't go to the shop today, and Liu Ruxue was a little disappointed when she didn't see him. Then she shook her head and felt relieved. He was a scholar; why would he come to a place like this so often?

Qingye came to pick her up that evening. After returning to the house, Liu Ruxue took a bath and changed into clean clothes. "April, when are we going to the lantern festival?"

"I'll go right away; Sister Wang said she wants to come along."

"Sister Liu, can we go now?"

"Okay, we haven't had dinner yet, we're just waiting to go out and eat some delicious food."

"Xi'er and I didn't eat much either; we just went out to try some local food."

"By the way, where's your husband, Lao Xu? We haven't seen him anywhere."

"He wasn't home. He went to the capital on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. The main branch of his family is in the capital, while we are just a collateral branch. People from the main branch hold official positions in the capital. One of his uncles works in the Ministry of Revenue as the Left Vice Minister."

Every year, each branch of the family must travel to the capital to pay respects to the head of the family and offer him some silver in exchange for his protection.

"Doesn't that mean you people from the collateral branches are supporting the people of the capital?"

"Yes! But what can we do? Without protection, this business simply can't be done."

"Won't the people in the capital have their eyes on our business? What if they want our recipe and ask you for it?"

"I won't let their family interfere with my business. I won't give them the recipe. Besides, that recipe belongs to you, not me."

"It's good that you know what you're doing. I don't want our things to be taken away by others."

Liu Siyue told everyone in the house to get ready so they could go see the lanterns together. Everyone was very happy that their mistress could take them to see the lanterns. Ningxiang stepped forward and said, "The mistress's house can't be left unattended. I'll stay and look after the house."

Jing'an stepped forward. "Master, Steward Ning, I don't want to go check on the lights. I'll stay and watch the house. You may go."

"Since you don't want to go, then stay here. Eat whatever snacks you like at home, and I'll bring you something delicious when you come back."

"Thank you, Master."

Ningxiang thought Jin'an was very perceptive, taking the initiative to stay and look after the house, and hoped he would take good care of him in the future.

The group chatted and laughed as they walked down the street, where they unexpectedly ran into Madam Tang, Yan Yufang. "What a coincidence! I didn't expect to run into you all later. Madam Liu, you've come all the way to the county town, yet you don't even visit my residence. You're so distant with me."

"Madam Tang, you misunderstand. I have only just arrived in the county and I have many things to do. I really can't spare the time. I hope Madam Tang will not take it to heart."

"Alright, I know you're busy, so I won't hold it against you. The magistrate instructed us to make sure the lantern festival goes well, and the performance is about to start, so let's go."

As soon as you step onto the main street, the crowds surge and you can't move at all. A gong sounds, and a plume of fireworks rises and explodes into the sky. The sounds of drums and gongs, boom boom boom, boom boom boom... keep going. Ten large lions lead the way, leaping and bounding. Then comes a long dragon dance team. A giant dragon soars up and down in the air, and fire occasionally spews from its mouth.

The crowd automatically stepped back to make way for the performance troupe. The street was filled with the cheers of children. The troupe crossed the main street and went onto another street, which was also crowded with people.

After the performance group passed, Liu Siyue and the others slowly began to appreciate the lanterns hanging on the street. Xu Jingxi slowly approached Liu Ruxue, who had already figured it out and didn't want him to get close to her anymore. She thought it best to give up on this idea as soon as possible.

Xu Jingxi tried to approach her several times, but Liu Ruxue skillfully avoided him. He sensed that Liu Ruxue was avoiding him and wondered what he had done wrong. Feeling a little down, he followed behind the crowd.

The group arrived at a stall where people could win lanterns by solving riddles. Liu Siyue was immediately drawn to the lanterns on display: lotus lanterns, tangerine lanterns, pumpkin lanterns, carriage lanterns...

Liu Siyue called out, "Nephew, win that pumpkin lantern."

"Okay, Auntie."

"Boss, how can I win this pumpkin lantern?"

"Young master, choose any 20 riddles to guess. If you guess 15 correctly, you win and can take one of these lanterns with you. If you don't guess any of them, each riddle will cost you 2 coins."

Xu Jingxi picked out a riddle from a lantern: A flower on its head, a brush at its feet, and a golden baby around its waist. (Guess a crop grown in the fields)

Xu Jingxi hadn't expected that the first riddle would stump him. He wasn't familiar with the crops in the fields, and knowing he couldn't guess it, he immediately gave up and moved on to the second riddle: "No dog barks when entering the gate (guess a Chinese character)." After a moment's thought, Xu Jingxi immediately answered, "The character '问' (wen, meaning 'ask')."

Next, Xu Jingxi solved all 20 riddles. He couldn't answer any of the ones about crops in the field, but he answered the others quickly. He got 16 right, barely winning one lantern.

He was a little embarrassed and handed the pumpkin lantern to Liu Siyue, saying, "Auntie, I'm sorry you had to see this."

"You just lost because you weren't good at something. In the future, pay more attention to people's livelihoods and don't just study books blindly."

"My aunt is right."

Liu Ruxue went up to look at the lotus lantern and asked, "Boss, is this lantern for sale?"

"Young lady, these lanterns aren't for sale. If you want one, you can solve a riddle."

Seeing his chance had come, Xu Jingxi said, "If Miss Ruxue likes it, I'll help you win it back."

"Boss, can I guess again?"

"Sure, you can guess as many times as you like, young master."

Xu Jingxi guessed 18 questions in a row and won the lotus lantern. The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Young master, you are very talented. You have presented the lantern to the beautiful lady."

The Lantern Festival is a day for young men and women to gather. The shopkeeper could see that the young man guessing the riddles was obviously interested in the girl, so he casually mentioned it, hoping to bring the two of them closer.

Xu Jingxi handed the lotus lantern to Liu Ruxue, saying, "Miss Ruxue, this lantern is for you."

Liu Ruxue didn't take it, and Liu Siyue said, "Since you like it, just take it. We're all acquaintances, there's nothing to be shy about."

Liu Ruxue took the lamp. "Thank you, Young Master Xu."

"Miss Ruxue, there's no need for such formalities."

"Xi'er, be careful how you address her. Don't call her by her maiden name, Ruxue. Just call her Miss Liu."

Xu Jingxi quickly apologized, "Miss Liu, I was very rude, please forgive me!"

Liu Siyue genuinely found it troublesome. It was just a form of address, yet so many rules had to be followed. Wasn't it exhausting? "Sister Wang, what's wrong with calling someone by their name? Isn't the point of having a name to be called?"

"How can you be so careless about your reputation? Xi'er is a boy. Calling an unmarried girl like that will damage her reputation."

"If calling someone by name can damage one's reputation, then if they hold hands, wouldn't they be tied together?"

"You're right. If a man and a woman have physical intimacy, it means the woman has lost her chastity, and the man must marry her and take responsibility for her."

"That's unreasonable. If a woman falls into the water and a man on the shore has a family, should he save her or not?"

"If he doesn't save her, no one will blame him. But if he does save her, he'll have to take responsibility for the woman, and his family will likely be in turmoil."

Even if the woman doesn't make him take responsibility, she won't be able to marry well in the future. People will say that she has already had physical intimacy with someone else and that her body is not clean. Even if she does get married, her life will probably not be easy. If she does something slightly wrong, people will say that she is promiscuous.

If the man doesn't save the person, he'll probably feel uneasy, after all, it's a human life at stake. It's up to the man to choose.

"That's a bit too much. With a life at stake, who cares about so many other things? Of course, saving lives is the priority!"

"Oh, let's not talk about these annoying things anymore. I'm getting a little hungry. Let's find something good to eat and fill our stomachs first."

"Mother, Aunt, the poetry gathering over there has already started. You can enjoy your meal here. I'm going to Zuixianlou to watch the poetry gathering."

"Okay, go ahead, we'll come find you later."

"Qingzhu, take good care of your young master."