Life Is Quite Beautiful
Harold Wei asked, "Does Young Lord Leonard plan to return to the capital soon?"
Leonard Li shook his head with a carefree grin. "No rush, no rush. I'll head back once I've had my fun. Let my father worry about it."
Harold Wei couldn't help but smile wryly. Leonard Li was truly a worry-free young master, spoiled by his family. But who could blame them? The Prince of Huainan treasured his only son, granting him the title of Young Lord from childhood. A life of luxury naturally breeds such a pampered temperament.
For some reason, Harold Wei suddenly recalled the familiar figure he’d glimpsed at the restaurant, and a sense of worry for the nation crept in. He asked Leonard Li, "When you were in the capital, did you ever meet General Alexander Hayes, the heir of Marquis Weiyuan? I heard General Hayes achieved great feats defeating the enemy and was seriously wounded, so the Emperor ordered him to recover in the palace. Now the enemy stirs again, and war may break out. At present, only General Hayes can lead our forces—do you know if he’s recovered?"
"General Hayes? Which General Hayes?" Leonard Li strolled along the street, sounding utterly unconcerned, as if he neither knew nor cared about any General Hayes.
Harold Wei could only smile bitterly and shake his head. Why had he bothered asking this young lord who cared nothing for state affairs and only knew how to eat, drink, and play? Sadly, Harold’s low rank meant he wasn’t qualified to visit General Hayes. Truth be told, Harold had only caught a distant, blurry glimpse of Alexander Hayes three years ago when he joined the officials seeing him off to war.
Harold Wei sighed. His worries were pointless anyway—General Hayes was being cared for by the best imperial physicians in the palace. What business did a minor official like him have fretting about such things?
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Lily Evans and Lucky spent the whole day wandering around the city, eating their fill and buying a big bag of goods, spending a total of twenty taels of silver. By afternoon, they headed to the city gate to catch Mr. Carter’s ox cart home.
The cart was already crowded with passengers, and Helen Parker was sitting with a bag in her arms.
Helen Parker had bought some meat, a few pastries, some salt, and a bolt of cloth—planning to make a new robe for Samuel Evans when she got home.
Helen Parker had been in high spirits, as the silver she’d gotten was hard-won through her own theatrics. But when she saw the bulging sack Lucky carried on his back, jealousy instantly flared up.
"Wow, Lily, you bought so much stuff!" Mr. Carter glanced at the full cart, cheerfully tapping his pipe as he prepared to drive.
Lily greeted everyone with a smile. Lucky helped her onto the cart and made sure she was seated before hopping up to sit beside her.
Mr. Carter looked at the bulging sack Lily’s family had, then at Helen Parker’s flat bag. Remembering how smug Helen Parker had been earlier, he couldn’t resist teasing, "Helen Parker, you brought such a big bag and said you’d trade it for lots of silver. So, what did you get? That bag of yours looks pretty empty—did you swap your treasures for a little gold nugget?"
The villagers burst into laughter, joking with Helen Parker, "Come on, show us your gold nugget!"
Helen Parker shot everyone a glare and opened a corner of her bag, deliberately revealing only the meat inside. She shouted, "Look, look! What are you staring at? Haven’t you ever seen meat before? My bag’s full of meat, so what? Who else can buy this much meat at once?"
As she spoke, Helen Parker patted her bag as if it really were stuffed with meat.
The crowd burst into laughter again as Mr. Carter leisurely drove the cart back toward the village.
The ox cart rolled slowly through the fields beneath the sunset. Surrounded by lush crops, Lily leaned gently against Lucky, gazing at her handsome husband, feeling the breeze and watching the setting sun. With a sack full of goodies behind her and three hundred taels in her pocket, she suddenly felt that this time-travel life was actually pretty sweet.