C81 (2/2)

Jin Xiaolou leaned on the stove while napping, and fell into a deep sleep.

When she woke up on the second day, the flames in the furnace had just extinguished. Jin Xiaolou picked up her spoon and stirred the pot. The milk had already been broken down into a half clear whey and a condensed form. She took the salt from the side and sprinkled it in, gently mixing it.

Outside the window, Zhou Shuli was walking towards them with a small cloth bag on his back.

Gui Zhi was holding onto Lin'er as he stood at the door, but Zhou Shuli did not mind Gui Zhi's' plague '. He walked straight in, not saying a word, and only passed over the cloth bag on his back.

Jin Xiaolou lowered her head and stopped looking at them. She picked up the gauze that had been boiled in boiling water and spread it in a large wooden basin. Then, she picked up the pot and poured all the milk in.

The fragrance of the milk assaulted her nostrils, and while it was still warm, Jin Xiaolou picked up a cloth to filter out the cake like substance.

He then placed it under a clean whetstone and pressed it tightly. This would take another eight hours.

Zhou Shuli had brought a new long robe made of cotton for Gui Zhi. The color of the lake was embroidered with flowers, the inside was spun with thin cotton, making it warm and sturdy to the touch.

Gui Qi said that the gown was made by the widow Zhou after she had bought some materials from the city.

”Zhou Shuli is such a petty person, there are three of us here, he only gave us one, but you are too warm, pitiful me and Lin'er, no one will hurt you, no one will love you.” Jin Xiaolou said jokingly.

Gui Zhi's face reddened. ”I …” ”I already said I don't want it, but he forced it on me …”

Jin Xiaolou pursed her lips and laughed, then said: ”Quickly go and change into my clothes, it's a pity that Zhou Shuli sent such beautiful clothes for such a beautiful person to wear, only Lin'er and I can look at it!”

Gui Zhi didn't move and instead frowned. ”I won't trade. My mother taught me since I was young to be ungrateful. He abandoned me and ran away. I don't have time to return it to him. I'll be able to leave in a few days. I must return it.”

Jin Xiaolou sat down again, looked at Gui Qi and said seriously: ”Although Zhou Shuli is a bit stiff, he has a good heart. It is obvious at a glance what he thinks of you, Gui Qi, what exactly do you think?”

Gui Qi's ears buzzed. Suddenly, the image of a man appeared in his mind. However, the image became fainter and fainter until it became a small mole in his mind.

”I... I've already married and I don't deserve to think about anything. ” Gui Zhi held onto the mole in his heart and gave a frustrated sigh.

Jin Xiaolou's eyes moistened. ”Gui Zhi, you are no longer the daughter-in-law of Jin Family. After you and Jin Dacheng left each other, you are now able to bear witness to the fact that from now on, you are free to pursue the life that you want to live. If you meet someone you like, you can also stay with him and grow old together. ”

Gui Qi blinked. ”The life you've lived? ”Lou, people like us can only live on with our lives. How could we have the qualification to choose the life we want to live?”

Jin Xiaolou was startled, but then she heard Gui Zhi continue: ”I led a good life, and was a master. I used to be a cloud in the sky, and was waited upon by a group of servants and nuns, but that is not what I deserve. That wasn't what I wanted, either. I never had a choice. My father said that girls had to go from one to the other, so I learned to be a lady, and read Women's Law and the Sermon. When I was five years old, my mother promised me to the governor's second son. No one will ask me what I want or what I am not allowed to want. ”

”Later on, the family fell to the ground, and Yun Lu made mud. From then on, he struggled in the mud, and was even more unable to control himself. They came to the Wellhead Village in distress and followed the arrangements at home to marry Jin Dacheng, a man whose name I had never even heard before. Once we reach Jin Family, you should know that we won't even be able to drink an extra mouthful of soup, let alone anything else. I am already very satisfied to be able to leave Jin Dacheng, but I do not dare to ask for too much, because I am afraid that the Heavens will take back even what they have right now. ”

Jin Xiaolou's heart ached. For someone like her who had come from the 21st century, fighting for one's own freedom seemed to be born for her.

Everyone worked hard to live the life they wanted to live, whether it was success or failure, it was a natural thing to do.

It had never occurred to her that the idea of a woman living the life she wanted to live in this patriarchal age already required a great deal of courage.

To do so was to create a new path within the mountain full of thorns and thorns.

”Gui Zhi.” Jin Xiaolou held Huang Guizhi's hand, ”If you can choose on your own, if you can, what would you like to do the most? What kind of life do you want for the rest of your life? ”

Huang Guizhi opened her eyes and thought for a while. Then, she laughed, ”When I was young, I dreamt that there was a huge sparkling water surface, and on the surface of the water, there was a glass platform. I stood on the stage and danced a dance over and over again. The water ripples and the luster from the glass hit my body. I am of every color, like a fairy from the ninth heaven. Everyone who sees me on the shore is stunned … ”

Gui Qi paused before replying with a smile, ”Actually, I always loved to dance. When I was young, I stayed in the big house in Huzhou and was obsessed with the Mid-Autumn Festival. There was a year when I remember that I was no more than seven years old, and I held a dancer who had just left the stage and begged her to teach me how to dance. ”

”Lou, you have no idea. That dancer praised me for my good figure and was a good dancer.” Gui Qi sighed. ”It's just that my mother said that only lowly girls learn how to dance and sing. Not only did she punish me, causing me to copy the virtue of the song a hundred times, but she also chased the dancer out of the house.”

”If I could choose, I would like to be a dancer and follow the crew as they wander around the world for their livelihood. I would like to perform the best dance, causing the audience to stare with wide eyes and mouths, regardless of what others say!”

Jin Xiaolou's eyes shone brightly, ”Gui Qi, do you believe that hundreds of years from now, in this same land, regardless of whether it is a man, woman, elderly person or child, they all have the right to pursue life? Women don't have to marry early. They can read, they can work, they can sing and dance, they can choose their own lives. So you have to be brave, and even if it's not hundreds of years from now, we can still live the life we want. ”

Gui Zhi's palms began to sweat. ”I …”

She didn't have enough time to think, so she asked, ”Little Lou, how do you know what will happen in a few hundred years …”

Jin Xiaolou looked at Gui Qi's eyes and said without blinking, ”Because I came from that place.”