Translator: 549690339
She bought rice from Sunâs Rice Shop and was told to have the quilt covers and sheets delivered there the following day. She then rushed to another store to buy several seasonings such as soy sauce, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and star anise, and twenty jin of white sugar. Carrying all of these items, she went again to buy five beds of well fluffed cotton padding and five covering waddings.
Without the cotton wadding, the sheets and quilt covers bought from Lady Li would have been useless. It was necessary to buy everything.
Only then did she go to where Wang Crippled awaited customers, and she asked him to drive the cowâs car to the shop that sold cotton wadding. She loaded up the ten beds of wadding along with all the other goods she had bought and took the cowâs car back to the village.
Su Qingyue sat in the cowâs car, and just as they were about to leave the town, she saw roadside stalls selling umbrellas, and heard customers bargaining. She looked up at the scorching sun, and said, âGrandpa Wang, please stop. Iâm going to buy a couple of umbrellas.â
âOkay.â Wang Crippled stopped the car.
Su Qingyue headed towards the umbrella stall. The woman who had been looking at the umbrellas screamed in fright when she saw her.
Hearing the scream, all the nearby passersby and vendors looked in their direction. When they saw Su Qingyueâs appearance, they all gasped in horror.
âLookâ¦lookâ¦that woman is so ugly!â someone pointed at her.
âSheâs so horrendous, Iâve never seen such an ugly woman in all my life.â
âMy god, sheâs so ugly⦠she must be sick or something.â
Crowds of people pointed and gawked at Su Qingyue, and even those who didnât speak looked down on her.
Su Qingyue had a strong heart. No matter where she went, she faced other peopleâs pointing and gossiping. She still smiled and said, âDonât be afraid, everyone. Itâs not my choice to be ugly. Who would want to be ugly? Especially for a woman, who doesnât want to be as beautiful as a fairy? Rest assured, Iâm not infected with any disease. Itâs just pus sores on my skin and itâs not contagious.â
Upon hearing her words, everyone slowly stopped pointing. A well-dressed woman snorted, âJust because you say itâs not contagious, itâs not?â
âYes, itâs not contagious because I say itâs not.â Su Qingyue turned to a middle-aged man in the crowd and said, âHello, older brother!â Although this man was old enough to be her father, calling him younger was more pleasing. No one liked being called âoldâ.
The middle-aged man recognized Su Qingyue because her âuniqueâ ugliness, âOh, itâs you. The one who was selling stir-fried tasty fern at the vegetable market this morning.â
âYes, thatâs me.â Su Qingyue nodded and saluted everyone, âFellow villagers, I am Su Qingyue. I have been selling stir-fried fern at the vegetable market for the past few days, and Iâve had many customers. Look at this uncleâ¦â she pointed towards the middle-aged man, âHe has bought stir-fried fern from me. Look how healthy he is, any sores on his face? He even looks more robust than a few days ago! In our town, no one who has had contact with me has any pus sores. It means itâs really not contagious.â
Being praised by a young woman, even though she was ugly, made the middle-aged man very happy, âSheâs right. Nobody wants to be ugly. Letâs not make it hard for a young woman.â
âMakes senseâ¦sheâs right. Which woman doesnât want to be as beautiful as a flower and as pure as jade.â
âSheâs already pitiful enough for being so uglyâ¦â
âThatâs true, look how young she is, I wonder if sheâs engaged or not, if sheâs not, with this kind of appearance, she definitely canât get marriedâ¦â some kind-hearted people even started to worry about Su Qingyueâs marriage situation.