Chapter: Her Journey
The old man was dressed in rags, his clothes not fit for the cold. His lips had turned purple from the cold weather, but he still untied his clothes and wrapped Wen Qing inside them. He warmed Wen Qing with his body temperature.
The old man's body odor was unbearable but Wen Qing was very grateful. He had nothing to eat nor wear yet he still picked her up, who would just be a burden to him. She sighed in her heart: There are still many good people in the world.
She took out two golden beans from the space and held them in her hand. She let the old man ‘inadvertently’ see them for basic necessities. Before she came, she chose the Apocalyptic Dimension golden finger, which came in handy. This Dimension golden finger was for the hostess. It was filled with a large number of materials collected in the last world, which was just what she needed at the moment.
The old man held the baby in his arms. Instead of staying outside, he went back to his home with her— a ruined temple.
He placed Wen Qing on a haystack and started a fire in the middle of the temple. All sides of the broken temple gradually warmed up. The old man burned some hot water with a damaged bowl and fed it to Wen Qing.
"Baby, drink some and fill your belly first. Grandpa will ask for some rice gruel to feed you later.”
The old man surnamed Qi neither had a wife nor a child. He was a lonely man. He picked up a baby from the street. Although it was a female infant, he wanted to love it dearly as his granddaughter.
Wen Qing took two sips from the broken bowl and stopped drinking, for if she drank too much, she would urinate. She didn't think it was possible to change her clothes now, and wearing wet clothes in winter would kill her.
Old man Qi muttered to himself, "This kid is obedient. She doesn’t cry or make trouble. Why did your parents act cruelly and threw you away?" He said as he touched Wen Qing's swaddling clothes. "This material is also something that the rich would use. They couldn't afford to raise you? Could it be that a big household had fallen into trouble and had to put you there?”
Wen Qing took advantage of her swaddled clothes. She showed her little hand while turning over, and when she spread it out, golden beans were exposed.
"Huh? This is...” Old man Qi froze in shock. He hurriedly put away the golden beans and looked around. He released a sigh of relief after confirming that he was the only one who saw it.
"Looking at it this way, you are indeed a child of a victim family. Your parents must have taken the trouble to leave you with money so that you wouldn’t be thrown away. Let it be, it is also fate that we met. This old man ought to take good care of you, and maybe your parents would be able to identify you in the future..."
The fire was warm as the old man rambled, so Wen Qing couldn't stay awake and gradually fell asleep.
When she woke up again, Wen Qing found that she was no longer in the broken temple, but a farmhouse. Old man Qi had also replaced his patch-covered shirt with a brand-new blue coat and was standing in front of a stove, cooking.
The air was thoroughly filled with the sweet smell of rice that Wen Qing could not help but swallow her saliva. Old man Qi saw that she had woken up and cheerfully smiled. "Baby woke up? Grandpa cooked porridge for you to eat.”
Well, it was porridge. In the end, Wen Qing only drank rice gruel. She was too young to eat porridge. But just drinking rice gruel was not enough, so after a few days, Old man Qi brought back a goat and gave her boiled goat's milk to drink. Although goat's milk had a peculiar smell, there was no other way. In order to survive, she drank it with a bold face[1].
Under the care of Old man Qi, Wen Qing gradually grew up. The old man also took her to the village scholar's house to give her a name, which was Wenqing but with the old man's surname, Qi; Qi Wenqing.
Old man Qi had been famished for many years, and his health has long deteriorated. Without Wen Qing's two golden beans to improve his life, he would not have survived that winter. But even so, old man Qi did not live too long, when Wen Qing was two years old, he died.
Before his death, he handed Wen Qing to the scholar family. He also gave them the rest of the money from the golden beans. He knew that the family consisted of good people and that they would not treat Wen Qing badly, so he felt at ease.
However, Wen Qing didn't stay at the scholar's house. She had a plan, but she was too young to leave her grandfather alone, so she didn't leave then. Now, her only concern had passed away. Therefore, Wen Qing left Xinghua Village after Old man Qi's funeral.
Because her dimension could also carry people, she secretly climbed into a bullock cart going to the city and then went into the space. When the bullock cart moved, she moved with it as well. After she arrived in the city, she got into a carriage and was taken to the dock. To Guangzhou...
Wen Qing promised Xu Wenqing to change the status of women in the world, this was easier said than done. How could the male domination and female subordination[2] tradition established for thousands of years be changed so easily?
Overthrowing feudalism and the establishment of a modern state of equality between men and women would be the most fundamental approach. It was simple and crude, but it was simply unrealistic to do so. The economic base determines the superstructure, and the people of the Qing Dynasty were still in an era of small-scale peasant economy depending on how the wind blew, which can't be overthrown all at once but could only be infiltrated and changed step by step.
Therefore, it was a good way to emulate Wu Zetian[3] as a female emperor. During the Wu Zetian period, although there was no fundamental change in women's status, it was much better than other dynasties. Women could make public appearances, enter the palace as officials, and even raise their heads and keep male concubines… Women could do what men do; the emperor was a woman, who dares to say anything?
However, the atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty was relatively open, and Wu Zetian had worked hard to become emperor. In the Qing Dynasty, where people’s thoughts were more conservative, it was more difficult for her to become emperor. But even if it was difficult, how do you know you won’t succeed if you don't try?
Her trip to Guangzhou this time was not the ultimate goal. Her ultimate goal was to go overseas and travel around the world in preparation for a rebellion- oh scratch that, to find a reasonable excuse for reformation.
Therefore, Wen Qing didn't stop at Guangzhou, but instead boarded a ship to Nanyang and started her journey overseas.
She had her space so she didn’t have anything to worry about, including eating and clothing. Everywhere she went, she searched for local specialties, such as jadeite and jade in Southeast Asia, gems and crops in America, machinery and steam engines in Europe, and so on. In any case, her space was infinite.
She spent fifteen years, almost all over the earth. During this period, she got filthy rich. The most valuable thing to her, however, was her acquired significant growth in knowledge and experience, this intangible harvest.
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TL Note:
[1]: 硬着头皮: toughen one's scalp—brace oneself； summon up courage； put a bold face on
[2]: 男尊女卑 male domination and female subordination； treatment of females as inferior to males；male superiority
[3]: Wu Zetian, alternatively named Wu Zhao, Wu Hou, and during the later Tang dynasty as Tian Hou, was the de facto ruler of China, first through her husband the Emperor Gaozong, and then through her sons the Emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong, from 665 to 690. She subsequently became empress regnant of the Zhou dynasty (周) of China, ruling from 690 to 705. She was notable for being the only female monarch in the history of China.