Chapter 3

Under Madam Gong's careful nursing for half a month, Nangong Xi, no, Gong Xiaohua now, her injuries had mostly healed, except for the faint pink scar on her forehead.

She also saw what her body had grown into.

A face full of flesh, a body full of fat, 170 cm tall, weighing about 200 jin probably, the fat almost squeezing her out of shape.

She could truly be called big-armed and thick-waisted, with a face as big as a plate, completely not matching what Madam Gong had said about her being good-looking at all.

The small courtyard where the Gong family lived was not big, with three green brick and tiled houses. The kitchen and woodshed were built on the left and right sides of the small courtyard.

In front of the kitchen grew a pomegranate tree, under which sat a stone table, with four stone stools below.

The family of four usually ate their meals at this table most of the time.

It was early summer now. Gong Xiaohua took advantage of the nice weather today to enjoy a life of leisure she had never enjoyed in her previous life, sitting here.

Dad Gong and her cheap younger brother had gone out to work. Madam Gong had gone out to buy groceries.

Soon, Madam Gong walked in from outside, one hand holding a basket, the other holding a very small bottle.

Seeing Gong Xiaohua sunbathing in the yard again, she very disapprovingly said to Gong Budhua: "Hua'er, I told you not to stay in the yard, otherwise the scar on your forehead will never heal."

Gong Xiaohua's words entered from one ear and exited from the other.

"Mother, you're back."

"Yes, I'm back. I went to Old Man Qi's place to get a bottle of scar removal ointment for you. Try it for a while and see if it works."

"Oh, thank you, mother."

Gong Xiaohua took the ointment from Madam Gong and opened the stopper to smell it. A fragrant scent came out. Hmm, it had the medicinal smell of snow lotus, an ingredient for removing scars, though not very effective.

"Don't be so polite with me. By the way, your grandma sent word that your uncle will be resting in a couple of days and wants us to visit."

"Speaking of your uncle, he's already 19 and still doesn't want to get married. Other boys his age already have several kids. I don't know what he's thinking every day."

Madam Gong's younger brother, four years older than Gong Xiaohua, had become a companion reader for the third young master of the Qin family.

"It's fate, mother. When the time comes, things will happen naturally."

In modern times, 19-year old boys were still studying. They were just little brats.

"You're quite open-minded about this. Since ancient times, it has been the words of the matchmaker that mattered. You're no exception. I've already asked someone to look for a husband for you. Don't learn from your uncle when the time comes."

"Huh? Mother, I'm only 15 years old. Isn't that a bit too early?"

A mother born as a single woman for twenty-six years indicated that she had never even held a man's hand, let alone thought about getting married!

"It's not early at all. You can get engaged first and get married after a couple of years."

She had no plans to marry! If needed, she would ask her unknown uncle what he did to escape the pressure to marry.

"By the way, after visiting your maternal grandparents' place in a couple days, you'll have to start working too." Old Man Lin sent word today that the national wrestling tournament held by the imperial court would start soon. You have to go back early to prepare.

"I told that person about your circumstances to tell Chief Lin. He can then arrange some logistical work for you, which would be easier. You can participate in the tournament if you can, if not just be there for formalities and socialize."

She didn't think her daughter would achieve anything in the wrestling tournament at all.

Speaking of work, when she first came here, she had guessed right that she was indeed a prison guard according to her dad.

Except she didn't guard hell, but rather the dungeons of the Ministry of Justice in the Dayi Dynasty. Moreover, it was the kind of family business inherited from her mother's side.

In this dynasty, seniors could pass on their occupations to any junior in the family, as long as they met the criteria.

And with Gong Xiaohua's looks and build, in her dad's words, she was a natural-born prison guard.

If nothing unexpected happened, her future children would likely inherit this job from her too. Thinking about this made Gong Xiaohua's head hurt badly.

As for Madam Gong's maiden family, the Li family had been prison guards for generations. In the capital city, as long as there were prison departments, there would be people from her family.

Some who did well even had decent positions in front of the ministers. Her dad was a prison chief at the court prison.

Her dad's side, the Gong family, had been land tillers for generations. Only in this generation did Dad Gong get a government position from his father-in-law and improved his family circumstances a bit.

When Madam Gong was engaged to Dad Gong, his uncle was barely two years old, a late-born son to his father-in-law. His father-in-law was old and hoped his son-in-law could protect his daughter and young son in the future.

Dad Gong had initially thought that after his uncle grew up, he would pass on his job to him, so as not to waste his father-in-law's kindness.

Unexpectedly, without telling anyone, his uncle suddenly went to serve in the Qin family. Moreover, it had been quite a few years.

No matter what, going to the Qins as a servant still meant being a servant.

Dad Gong felt very guilty, thinking his uncle was trying to pass on the job to Gong Xiaonan, that's why he went to suffer as a servant at the Qins. So he kept the job for him, for his uncle to inherit when he came back.

His current younger brother Gong Xiaonan was sent by Dad Gong to temporarily serve in the Jingzhao prefect's office to gain experience.

The house they were living in was bought by Dad Gong and Madam Gong two years ago after pooling together all their savings. In the civilian area of this capital city where every inch of land was like gold, they had gritted their teeth to buy it in Wuyi Alley.

Now the family barely had any savings left. Madam Gong was only willing to spend money on her children and husband. Everywhere else, she saved whenever she could.

Her daughter was grown up now so she had to save up a dowry for her.

The four Gong family members comprised a dad who was a prison chief at the court prison, a housewife mother, a mother whose family had extensive connections, a daughter who was a female prison guard at the Ministry of Justice, and a younger brother who was a temporary catcher at the prefect's office. If her uncle didn't come back to inherit the job, her brother would likely take over Dad Gong's position in the future.

Although insignificant in this capital full of nobles, this little family was still enviable among commoners. After all, government workers had stable income no matter what, and often had some grey income on the side too. The whole family could eat their fill and not go hungry.

When natural or man-made disasters happened, the court would also prioritize protecting the interests of its employees first, even a lowly prison guard like her.

Good treatment like this made people desperately try to get these kinds of jobs.

Every year when Dad Gong went back to his ancestral home to pay respects, he was in high spirits.

"It's getting late. I have to go prepare lunch."

Speaking of meals, Gong Xiaohua got a headache. Cooking here mainly relied on clay pots instead of iron woks because iron was controlled by the state.

So the vegetables cooked here were either boiled or stewed.

Apart from oil and salt, there were no other seasonings.

During her whole recuperation period, Gong Xiaohua almost faded out from hunger every day. Whenever she thought about the delicious modern food, her mouth would water.

She swore that once she recovered, she would get a wok and gather all kinds of seasonings to let her family taste what real delicacies were like.