The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 684 - 671: Slapping the Transmigrator (Part 26)

The weather was getting colder by the day, and soon winter set in.

This year’s winter was a bit colder than usual, and not long after the onset of winter, large goose feather-like snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

The snow came silently, and by dawn, when the door was pushed open, a thick layer of snow had already accumulated on the ground.

Anning woke up early to the chirping sounds of the maids outside.

She sat up, and Moli was already waiting with a basin of water brought by a little maid.

Anning smiled and asked, "What’s going on outside?"

Moli smiled and said, "It started snowing at midnight. Now there’s a thick layer of snow outside. The little maids love to play and have only allowed the old women to sweep a small path; they left the rest of the snow untouched, and right now, they are busy making a snowman."

Anning put on her clothes and got out of bed, and took a look outside through the window; indeed, it was a heavy snowfall, and everything outside was covered in a blanket of white.

"Has the snow in the Old Madam’s courtyard been cleared? It doesn’t matter much in other places, but no one is allowed to play in the Old Madam’s area."

Anning was concerned because Ms. Ping was not as agile as when she was younger. If the snow in her courtyard was not cleared and she happened to fall, what would happen?

"It’s already been swept."

Moli brought over the basin for Anning to wash her face.

Anning first brushed her teeth with green salt, then washed her hands and face, got dressed, and without letting Moli comb her hair, she sat at the desk with her hair loose and started to write.

In recent days, she had been pretending to learn characters with Xiao Yuan, so Moli and the other maids were no longer surprised to see her writing.

After writing a piece, Anning washed her hands, loosely tied her hair, put on a thick cloak, and went to the front yard to greet Ms. Ping.

As she stepped out of the room, she saw Liu Youjia hurriedly approaching.

"Madam, a letter has arrived from the Aunt who married into the Tang Family in Jinling."

Anning turned back and entered the room, with Liu Youjia following.

She presented the letter, and Anning took it, opening it to read.

The letter was personally written by Second Aunt Ji, who married into the Tang Family in Jinling. Before she left her maiden home, she was not very literate, but after marriage, she learned to write a few characters. She could write, though her handwriting was not pleasant to look at.

Seeing the scrawly handwriting, Anning couldn’t help but laugh: "Indeed, it’s from Second Aunt Ji herself. Just look at this..."

She continued reading the letter, which mentioned several matters concerning the Tang Family. She wrote that Anning’s cousins were doing well, though the cousin had developed a cough since the onset of winter. She also mentioned the liuli ornaments.

Xiao Yuan had recently made some liuli ornaments and also a few clocks, thinking of selling them in Jiangnan.

Jiangnan has always been a land of wealth and prosperity, and these items were likely to fetch a higher price there than in the Capital.

Since the Tang Family had been operating in Jiangnan for many years and was a dominant force in Jinling, naturally, the matter went through their hands.

Thus, Anning wrote a letter and had Liu Shu take some people to transport those items to Jiangnan.

Second Aunt Ji mentioned in her letter that the liuli ornaments were exquisitely beautiful and sold out in just a few days from her shop, fetching a very high price. She asked if Anning had more, and if so, to send them over.

She also mentioned that she wouldn’t send the money now but would wait until next time to send it all together to Anning.

That didn’t bother Anning much; the Tang Family were imperial merchants, incredibly wealthy, and wouldn’t care much for the small amount of money.

Second Aunt Ji probably felt the amount wasn’t significant enough to bother sending.

After reading the letter, Anning took pen and paper to write a reply to Second Aunt Ji.

However, considering the snowy weather and the difficulty of the journey, Anning didn’t urge anyone to immediately travel to Jiangnan but thought to send the letter later.

By the time Anning finished writing the letter and went to greet Ms. Ping, it was already a bit late.

However, after sitting with Ms. Ping for a while, they had lunch together, and as they chatted, Anning saw that the snow outside showed no signs of stopping and was getting thicker, which made her a bit worried.

Ms. Ping had been quite comfortable staying at home during this time. Xiao Yuan had installed a heating system in the house; once the weather turned cold, the system was activated, and the house was as warm as spring. In previous winters, Ms. Ping always suffered badly from the cold, but this winter, not only was she not freezing, but also attended to by maids and old women, she felt quite blessed.

In previous years, the sight of snow worried her, thinking about what to do if it fell too heavily.

This year, however, she was in good spirits, even chatting and laughing with the maids.

Seeing Anning frowning, Ms. Ping asked her, "What’s the matter? Is there any difficulty?"

Anning turned and chuckled lightly: "I was just looking at how heavy the snowfall is outside. Who knows how many houses have been crushed? Poor families probably died from the cold."

Ms. Ping, having experienced suffering herself, found her heart stirred upon hearing Anning’s words.

"It’s indeed so, every winter is terribly hard for the poor families. Many families don’t know if they’ll see tomorrow after today."

"I want to go out for a walk in a little while."

Anning spoke softly to Ms. Ping, "I want to see the situation outside."

"Then be careful."

Ms. Ping didn’t restrict Anning from going out. She herself usually went out freely and never thought to confine her daughter-in-law.

Anning rested with Ms. Ping for a while longer, then left her place.

She had a carriage readied, and she and Moli, wrapped up warmly, sat in it, wanting to check on the condition of the poor district.

The journey from the east side to the south side of the city was not far, but due to the snow, it was particularly difficult to navigate.

The east side was still manageable, after all, the roads were wide and paved with bluestone, and were usually clean. Even with snowfall, as long as they were careful, it wasn’t too hard to travel.

But the south side was a different story.

Most roads here were dirt paths, filled with potholes. There was a lot of garbage and excrement along the roadsides; traveling here was genuinely difficult.

Once they reached the south side, Anning got out of the carriage and walked.

Moli and the others followed, all drawing their hands in due to the cold.

The houses in the east side were all intact; none had collapsed. However, in the south, many mud houses had succumbed; some families’ roofs were broken, and the occupants were repairing them, while others had their homes completely collapsed.

As soon as Anning arrived in the south, she saw such a family.

Their home was a mud and thatch hut that had collapsed before dawn. An elderly couple and a child had been trapped inside. Now, a young couple was beside them, crying and digging, looking utterly miserable.

Anning had Moli take out some copper coins and approached several robust-looking men passing by: "This is the silver offered by our Madame. Please show some compassion and help this family. If you manage to rescue them, it’ll be a good deed."

The men, seeing that there was money to be made and that it was for a good cause, agreed to help.

Watching people start to assist, Anning quickly saw the people dug out and went over to take a look.

The elderly couple had likely woken up during the collapse. They had shielded the child with their bodies; the child was unharmed, but the elderly had suffered – one had a broken leg, while the other was barely breathing.

Seeing the distressed couple trying to soothe the frightened child and attempting to find a doctor, with the young wife worrying about not having money and continuously crying, Anning handed some loose silver coins to the young wife: "Elder sister-in-law, take this to find a good doctor, buy something warm for the child to eat, and warm up well."

The young wife kept thanking her as she accepted the money.

Anning waved her hand: "It’s nothing, please hurry to get a doctor."

After speaking, Anning continued walking forward with her maid.

The situation ahead was not good either; there were many households with collapsed houses, and even those whose houses had not collapsed suffered from cold because they couldn’t afford coal.

Moli felt terribly heartbroken seeing all this.

Chuntao also sighed: "This snow seems beautiful to us, and the young girls almost went crazy playing in it, yet it’s hard to believe that even here in the Capital, some have lost their lives because of this snow."

Anning didn’t say anything; she walked on a bit further before heading back.

They hadn’t gone far when suddenly Moli exclaimed in shock.

Anning looked towards Moli: "What’s wrong?"

Moli pointed to a pile of snow beside them: "There, there seems to be someone."

Anning told a house servant to check, and in a moment, the servant was carrying a person over.

It was a little beggar, his clothes tattered, frozen to the brink of his last breath.

Moli, seeing the little beggar, began to cry: "Madam, let’s help him."

Moli wasn’t born into the Ji family; she had sold herself to them. Anning had heard from Moli that when she was little, she had a brother who died from the cold one snowy year because their family couldn’t afford to heat their home.

Now seeing this little beggar, Moli was likely reminded of her own brother.

Anning nodded and instructed the servant: "First put him in the carriage to warm up, we’ll go there in a moment.