HCB Chapter 95 Zeng Sanniang
Chapter 95 Zeng Sanniang
Xia Li and the others first went to check the location of the shops and found that it was at a crossroads. The five adjacent shops formed a rectangle, and everything inside had been cleared out.
This location is simply... amazing!
"We currently have two goals: first, to win first place in the clothing competition; second, to open Jinyumantang."
Next, Xia Li methodically assigned tasks to everyone: "Tao Yao, you're meticulous. Find some people and renovate this place according to the layout of the capital. Bing Ying, I need you to find suppliers to cooperate with during the costume competition. Remember, you're my chosen manager. Bing Yang, receive the special products sent from the capital; they must be completely undamaged. Tao Qi, get some large pieces of cloth, write the opening and recruitment information on them, and hang them up so everyone can see them. Tao Zhi, you're very clever; you'll work with me to design the costumes for the competition three days from now."
The group immediately split up to get dressed, as Xia Li had envisioned, aiming to win first place in the costume competition.
Now that she has suddenly appeared as a dark horse, many people will definitely be dissatisfied, so she needs to put in some effort to win people's favor.
"Since the local people worship the Snow God so much, let's go and see what the Snow God is like."
Having made up her mind, Xia Li took Tao Zhi and began to visit the streets and alleys. However, Duzhou City really rejected the two of them. They could barely exchange a few words, and after learning that they were from out of town, they were unwilling to talk to each other much.
"We can't find any clues here. Let's go to the Snow God Temple and look at the statue of the Snow God."
The Snow God Temple was built halfway up the mountain, and when Xia Li and the others went there, they found that it was always packed with people.
"Since we're already here, let's go and pay our respects to the Snow God."
When Xia Li and her companion went to worship the Snow Goddess, they knelt on the prayer mat and observed her for a long time, memorizing almost every single hair on the Snow Goddess's head before they devoutly bowed and donated one hundred taels of silver as incense money. Instantly, they made a lasting impression on everyone around them. The story spread like wildfire, and soon their background was completely exposed. Rumors circulated in Duzhou City that "two outsiders knelt devoutly before the goddess for half an hour and donated one hundred taels of silver as incense money." After all, two taels of silver was enough for a poor family to eat for a year, so their donation was an astronomical figure. Therefore, in everyone's eyes, these two outsiders were very devout believers in the Snow Goddess. They also learned that the two were honored guests of the City Lord's Mansion, which made them even more willing to accept them. Being invited as honored guests by the City Lord meant that their character was naturally good.
In an instant, everyone's goodwill towards Xia Li and the others soared.
The people of Duzhou City weren't blindly xenophobic; it's just that most outsiders who came to Duzhou City tended to break local taboos and showed utter contempt for the Snow God. But the Snow God was the locals' faith, and they couldn't allow anyone to offend him. Over time, the locals became increasingly xenophobic.
Unbeknownst to Ali, the story of her worshipping the Snow Goddess in order to remember her appearance had been spread in a version that was completely different from the truth.
Fortunately, precisely because of this, the people of Duzhou, who are usually xenophobic, were exceptionally tolerant of them, which made Jin Yumantang's subsequent journey smooth.
Of course, Xia Li and her companion were unaware of the rumors circulating in the city; they were currently captivated by a woman in her early twenties standing before them.
The woman was pale and thin, dressed in coarse linen clothes, clearly a poor rural peasant. She knelt at the door with her hands clasped together, while the five-year-old child in her arms had a purplish face, closed eyes, and remained motionless, like a living dead.
Alas, the hearts of parents are all the same. Xia Li stepped forward, took out a small purse, and handed it to the lady: "Sister, the child is already in this state. Please take him to a nearby clinic. Here is 50 taels of silver, just in case."
“It’s no use, my son has a terminal illness, and the doctors in the city can’t cure him. I’m praying here for the Snow God to appear and save my son.” The lady couldn’t help but cry as she spoke, lovingly stroking her child’s hair and face.
Xia Li thought for a moment and said, "The Snow Goddess is a deity, she is very busy and may not be able to hear your voice. If you trust me, let me give it a try?"
A light flashed in the lady's eyes, and she immediately turned around and knelt down before Xia Li, kowtowing repeatedly: "Please, Miss, save my son."
“Sigh…” Xia Li quickly helped her up. “I can only say I’ll try my best. As for whether he can wake up, I can’t guarantee it.”
The light in the lady's eyes dimmed instantly, but she quickly raised her head again: "It's alright, it's alright. As long as there's a glimmer of hope, I'm willing to try."
"Shall we take the child to rest on that soft couch over there?"
With the lady's permission, Xia Li found a side room and placed the child on the bed.
With her back to the lady, she first fed the child a pill, then flicked her sleeve to cover the child's arm, secretly transmitting the power of the element of light from her sleeve. After a while, the child's face became flushed and his breathing gradually became steady, and Xia Li withdrew her arm.
The woman was overjoyed when she saw that her child had regained his normal complexion: "That's wonderful! My son... there should be hope for him, right?"
Sure enough, after a short while, the child let out a soft moan and slowly opened his eyes.
The lady wept with joy: "My child, you're alright! You're finally alright! Come quickly and meet your benefactor; it was this benefactor who saved you..."
The woman turned around and noticed that Xia Li was pale. Of course, her son had an incurable disease. How could a single pill cure him? This young lady must have secretly put in a lot of effort to save him.
It must be said that the lady's guess was pretty much accurate. The pill Xia Li fed her was merely for strengthening the body; she was using it to conceal her use of the Light element. But the woman had inadvertently guessed the gist of it.
The woman was filled with mixed emotions and knelt deeply on the ground: "Miss, thank you so much for saving my life. I have no way to repay you, and I am willing to serve you like a cow or a horse."
The child on the bed also knelt on the bed, just like his mother.
"Get up quickly. This is a pill I obtained by chance, and it just so happens to be the right medicine for your condition. You're lucky."
The lady did not expose her, but remained kneeling on the ground: "My name is Zeng San Niang, and my son's name is Li Er Zhu. I kneel to thank you for saving my life, Miss. I am willing to serve you like a cow or a horse to repay you."
"That's not necessary... By the way, my shop is short of workers. What skills do you have?"
Xia Li didn't expect anything in return, but thinking that Zeng San Niang was kneeling alone with her child outside the Snow God Temple, clearly without any money, she thought of giving the two of them some work to help them make a living.
Everyone is having a tough time these days, so we should help each other out if we can.
Little did he know that this act of kindness would bring him great rewards in the future.
At that moment, Zeng San Niang immediately raised her head: "This young woman knows how to embroider."