In June, as the weather grew hotter, Wufu had been in this alternate world for over a month now.
And during this month, day after day upon awakening, her eyes would fall on the dilapidated house and her young body, and she had come to accept a reality, that she could never return to the world she once knew.
"Mother, I’m going to the town. Do you need anything? I’ll bring it back." Wufu shouldered a small pack, one that she had asked Madam Zhou to make for her, inside which she placed the jade ornaments she had carved during these days.
Indeed, after days of continuous hard work, she had finally carved the jade Old Man Shen had given her. Besides the hairpin for Madam Zhou, she had split it into several other pieces, the largest one being a jadeite bracelet, followed by a small hairpin, two small rings, and two jade pendants the size of coins. There was nothing left.
In fact, there were some small fragments left from these pieces, which she planned to polish into beads when she had time, and see if she could carve some flowers or characters on them with more effort.
But that was a task for later, what was urgent now was to sell the finished carvings; after all, Old Man Shen was entitled to a share of the proceedings.
"Going to town?" Madam Zhou emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, donning the hairpin Wufu had given her on her head.
Ever since the day she had wept over receiving the Plum Girl Hairpin, Madam Zhou seemed to have accepted reality too, no longer acting petulant with Wufu and continuing to treat her as her own daughter, as if those days of bickering were nothing but a distant dream.
"Yes, I have some jade ornaments to sell at Hundred Treasures Silver Building." Wufu patted the backpack behind her.
Madam Zhou glanced at the cloth bag on Wufu’s back which she had made; an oddity in shape, but once completed and worn, it turned out to be more convenient than the tied-up cloth bundle.
"Then could you bring back two lengths of fine fabric?" Madam Zhou said, "Wait a moment, I will go and count some silver for you."
"There’s no need, I have a little silver, and if I trade these jade ornaments, I will get some money," Wufu smiled, stopping her: "If there’s nothing else, shall I go now?"
"Alright then, just be careful," Madam Zhou saw her out the door.
Wufu walked away quickly, and only then did Madam Zhou stroke the hairpin on her head, turn around to close the door, and suddenly thinking of something, she rushed to the doorway, but the young girl was already far away.
"Never mind, there was no word from Mother’s side, no harm buying it later, and that girl probably doesn’t know how to choose properly," Madam Zhou muttered to herself, her gaze fixing on a spot in the village, her expression growing somewhat somber.
She was thinking about Zhou Xueli’s upcoming wedding, set for the twelfth of June, just a few days away, yet there had been no word from her family asking her to come to the celebration.
Were they not planning to tell her? Did they consider her bad luck?
That thought made Madam Zhou’s countenance grow darker still.
Meanwhile, at the Old Zhou family, Zhou Xueli, who was soon to be a groom, was also discussing the matter that Madam Zhou was pondering with Old Lady Zhou.
"Mother, she is still my sister, my only sister. I’m getting married, and if she doesn’t come, what will people think?" Zhou Xueli was trying to persuade Old Lady Zhou.
"Are you daft? What is she? If she comes, she won’t bring you honor; she will only disgrace you and bring bad luck!" Old Lady Zhou had never considered inviting Madam Zhou to the wedding, wanting to avoid jeopardizing her son’s happiness.
Zhou Xueli became silent for a moment, then said, "But Mother, if Sister doesn’t come, others might think us heartless. When the Liang family comes and sees this, won’t they think the son cold and ruthless, getting married without inviting his legitimate sister?"
Old Lady Zhou’s brow furrowed, her lips, always set in a severe line, pursed even tighter.