Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 109.1

As the autumn imperial examination approached, Lu Sheng, having finished her business in Binhe County, took her child to Qingzhou. Before leaving, she entrusted Qi Nan with looking after Liu Yun.

“All done,” Qi Nan said, smiling at Liu Yun as she put the wooden lid back on the water vat.

“Thank you for your trouble,” Liu Yun replied with a gentle smile.

Her health had been much weaker since her miscarriage. A few days ago, while fetching water, she nearly fell into the well. Qi Nan, who had come to find her for something, happened to see and grabbed her, preventing her from falling.

From then on, every morning after delivering wine, Qi Nan would go to the back courtyard to help her draw water from the well and fill the water vat.

“Sister Yun, please don’t be so polite,” Qi Nan waved her hand.

Liu Yun turned and took two prepared sugar buns from the stove, handing them to her. “I don’t know if you’ve eaten breakfast yet. These two sugar buns are for you, take them.”

“Thank you, Sister Yun,” Qi Nan had already eaten breakfast, but knowing that Liu Yun wanted to thank her, she didn’t refuse and accepted the sugar buns.

“Just a moment ago you said there was no need to be polite, and now you are being polite,” Liu Yun replied with a smile.

Qi Nan embarrassedly rubbed her head. Her eyes glanced toward the stove behind Liu Yun and saw only a few scattered pieces of firewood in the corner.

The winery still had things to do, so Qi Nan left the wine shop after helping out and drove the ox cart back to Lu’er Village.

The sugar buns in her arms were warm the whole way. Upon returning to the winery, she couldn’t resist eating one.

The sugar bun was soft, fluffy, and sweet, tasting better than any sugar bun sold on the street.

“What are you eating? It smells so good!”

Da Shan, one of the winery’s workers, reached out to grab the sugar bun from Qi Nan’s hand as he spoke. Qi Nan quickly dodged him.

“Hey!” Da Shan saw the sugar bun in her hand and said, half-disbelievingly and half-jokingly, “You’re guarding a sugar bun so closely. Qi Nan, why are you so stingy?”

“If you want a sugar bun, I’ll bring you one tomorrow,” Qi Nan swallowed her sugar bun and tucked the remaining one back into her embrace.

For some reason, Qi Nan simply didn’t want to share the sugar bun Liu Yun had given her with anyone else.

“Oh, I see,” Da Shan’s eyes darted around. He leaned close to her and teased, “What? Is it a sugar bun from your sweetheart?”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Qi Nan waved her hand to push him away, then took her rake and headed to the drying field.

The next day.

Besides the wine needed for the shop, Qi Nan also brought a bundle of firewood for Liu Yun.

“I noticed you didn’t have much firewood, so I brought some over,” Qi Nan said, carrying the firewood and walking towards the back courtyard.

“Thank you so much, Qi Nan,” Liu Yun said gratefully.

The family was running low on firewood. She had been planning to buy some these past few days, but Qi Nan unexpectedly delivered it ahead of time.

Qi Nan looked tall and strong, yet she was unexpectedly thoughtful.

“This should last for a while. I’ll bring you some more later,” Qi Nan neatly stacked the firewood in the corner of the kitchen and dusted her hands.

Liu Yun took a ladle and scooped some water to help Qi Nan wash her hands. “This is too much trouble for you. I can buy it myself from now on.”

“It’s no trouble,” Qi Nan shook the water off her hands and smiled, “There’s firewood everywhere on the mountain behind us. No need to waste money on it.”

She went up the mountain to chop firewood often anyway, so it would be easy to bring some back for Liu Yun at the same time.

Hearing her words, Liu Yun paused.

There were no mountains in the county town. If common people wanted firewood, they either had to go outside the county to the nearby mountains to collect it themselves or buy it from woodcutters—ten copper coins a bundle, which could last about ten days.

When she first settled in the county town, Liu Yun was reluctant to spend money on firewood and would collect it herself from the nearby mountains outside the county.

Later, when things improved, Lu Yu disliked her going to the mountains to gather firewood, saying that since they could afford to buy it, there was no need to go to the mountain.

At that time, she had replied to Lu Yu with the same words: “Firewood is everywhere on the mountain. Why waste money buying it?” But Lu Yu disagreed. The next day, he specifically called a woodcutter and bought more than ten bundles of firewood. Liu Yun never went to the mountains to collect firewood again.

“Sister Yun?” Qi Nan’s words interrupted Liu Yun’s thoughts. She snapped back to reality and saw Qi Nan waving her hand in front of her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Liu Yun said.

Qi Nan lowered her sleeve and said to her, “Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

Liu Yun hadn’t realized that in the moment she was spacing out, Qi Nan had already finished drawing the water. She quickly called out to her.

“Take this to eat,” Liu Yun went back to the kitchen and took two large baked flatbreads from the table, handing them to Qi Nan.

“Did Sister Yun make these too?” Qi Nan was delighted as she took the flatbreads.

The sugar buns Liu Yun had given her yesterday were so delicious that she had deliberately skipped breakfast today, thinking of buying two more sugar buns on the street to satisfy her craving.

“Yes,” Seeing her smile so happily, Liu Yun’s mood also brightened.

“Delicious,” Qi Nan immediately held the flatbreads and took a big bite.

The sesame and sugar-filled flatbread was full of rich sesame aroma and sweetness with every bite.

Having eaten both flatbreads in one go, Qi Nan couldn’t help but praise, “Sister Yun, your cooking is amazing. Both the sugar buns and the flatbreads you make are so good.”

Qi Nan lived with her older sister, Qi Bei, but neither of them was good at cooking, so she genuinely admired people who cooked well.

“If you like it, then come here for breakfast from now on,” Liu Yun offered.

Her health wouldn’t recover for a while, and since she kept bothering Qi Nan to help with fetching water and chopping firewood, she felt she should definitely show her appreciation somehow.

“Oh, I’d feel so awkward about that,” Qi Nan waved her hand.

Brewing wine was physically demanding work, so she ate a lot. Her appetite was huge, and she truly felt too embarrassed to freeload on Liu Yun’s meals every day.

“There’s no need to feel awkward. You’ve helped me so much, I don’t know how to thank you,” Liu Yun persuaded her.

“These are all small things,” Qi Nan quickly explained.

Whether she was helping Liu Yun fetch water or chop firewood, it was partly because Lu Sheng had asked her to, and partly because she knew what Liu Yun had been through, felt that her life was too difficult, and sincerely wanted to help.

“Making one extra portion of breakfast is just a matter of course,” Liu Yun looked at her and smiled faintly. “Do you like tofu buns?”

Liu Yun had a gentle appearance, and when she smiled, she looked even more delicate. This made Qi Nan unable to refuse any longer, and she just nodded傻傻 (foolishly/simply).

In the blink of an eye, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Liu Yun finished her dinner and was sitting under a tree in the courtyard, watching the moon. She could faintly hear the noise from the street.

The Mid-Autumn Festival lantern fair was held on the street in front of the wine shop, but since the wine shop was at the end of the street, there were fewer visitors.

The moon in the sky was big and round, but no matter how Liu Yun looked at it, she felt the moonlight tonight was somewhat cold.

Last Mid-Autumn Festival, she was still with Lu Yu, spending it in the courtyard of Lu’er Village. The two of them shared a mooncake that Lu Yu had brought back from an eatery.

At that time, Lu Yu hadn’t expressed her feelings, and she only regarded Lu Yu as a younger sister. Although their life wasn’t wealthy, it was simple and happy.

To this day, if Liu Yun were asked about her biggest regret, it would be that when she discovered Lu Yu secretly kissing her, she should have sternly stopped her and not chosen to forgive her because of her soft pleading.

If she had another chance, Liu Yun would never choose to be with Lu Yu again.

Liu Yun didn’t regret what she had experienced for her own sake, but she regretted that by agreeing to Lu Yu, she caused her to be driven out of Lu’er Village and lose her job as a servant because of her, which led her to take a dangerous path.

Part of the responsibility for Lu Yu ending up in her current predicament rested with her.

Dong, dong, dong.

The sound of knocking on the door pulled her drifting thoughts back. Liu Yun suddenly sat up straight, anxiously looking toward the small door.

The Lu Sheng family was in Qingzhou, and she was the only one living in the wine shop’s back courtyard. Although Binhe County’s public order was generally good, she didn’t dare to answer easily.

“Sister Yun? Sister Yun, are you there?”

It was Qi Nan’s voice.

Liu Yun’s tense body relaxed. She answered, “Yes, wait a moment.”

As soon as she opened the door, Qi Nan stood against the light outside, with the brightly lit street behind her.

“Sister Yun, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!” Qi Nan raised the mooncake in her hand and presented it to Liu Yun, exclaiming happily.

“Why are you here?”

It was a rare feeling for someone other than Lu Yu to remember her on this day, and Liu Yun felt a slight warm current flow through her heart.

“My sister brought Xiao Huan to see the lantern fair.”

Liu Yun took the straw rope on the paper bag from Qi Nan’s hand, moved aside to let her in, and asked, “Did you buy this mooncake?”

They had eaten breakfast together for several days, and Liu Yun knew Qi Nan wasn’t good at cooking, so she assumed she had bought the mooncake.

“My master’s wife made some very delicious mooncakes. I thought I’d bring some for you to try,” Qi Nan said as she stepped over the threshold.

Lu Hualin had invited them for a reunion dinner. After the meal, her niece said she wanted to see the lantern fair, and Qi Nan thought it would be a good chance to visit Liu Yun.

She didn’t know why, but the thought of Liu Yun being alone on such a holiday made her feel a little sad for her.

“I always eat the breakfast you make. Today, let me return the favor,” Qi Nan didn’t dare to mention family reunion, which might make Liu Yun emotional, so she found a plausible reason.

“Mhm,” Liu Yun responded with a smile.

“This one is store-bought.”

After Liu Yun closed the door, Qi Nan smiled and produced a small, delicate rabbit lantern from behind her back.

Support