A ragged cub at the beginning

The old lady was wearing a dark green brocade skirt with a wide sleeve and a kingfisher headpiece. Although she was old, she could still vaguely see the beauty of her youth. Her brows were slightly frowned, with a hint of sadness on her face. Seeing Tang Xu, she smiled and spoke softly: "This is Miss Tang, right? My husband's surname is Zhou. I am sorry for disturbing you by coming to my house."

"No, no, please come in, Madam Zhou." Tang Xu made way for the door. Her yard was not big, and the sedan chair could not enter. Fortunately, her house was at the innermost part, and would not block the way for other people.

The old nanny held Madam Zhou's arm and walked in with a group of maids. The Tang family only had orphans and widows, so the servants were not able to come in and waited outside.

After the old lady sat down, she looked at Tang Xu with an embarrassed look on her face, "I came here to ask an unreasonable request."

"Please speak." Tang Xu held July and sat on the other side.

"I would like to ask you to paint a portrait of my late husband." When Mrs. Zhou talked about her husband, a look of nostalgia appeared on her face.

"Late husband?" Tang Xu was surprised. How to paint if that person couldn't come?

"Yes, I know it's a bit difficult, but I heard that Miss Tang has superb painting skills, so I still want to give it a try." Madam Zhou sighed, "I have asked people who have seen my late husband to draw some portraits, and even my son has done it, but none of them look like him."

I haven’t even seen the person, let alone draw him. Tang Xu said in embarrassment: “A portrait needs a reference. If I haven’t seen the person, I’m afraid I can’t draw it.”

Seeing her refusal, Madam Zhou suddenly said, "I am willing to pay one hundred taels. Please, Miss Tang, think of a solution."

One hundred taels! Tang Xu was inevitably tempted. In fact, it was not impossible to paint. Since he had children, he could guess their appearance. It was not impossible to paint with the help of the portrait in the old lady's hand, but it would definitely not be better than painting with the real person standing in front of him.

Seeing her deep in thought, Old Lady Zhou asked expectantly, "Miss Tang, do you have any ideas? If you can draw a colorful picture, I'd like to add another hundred taels!"

Two hundred taels! If she hesitated any longer, it would be disrespectful to the two hundred taels. She asked, "May I ask how many children the old lady has?"

Madam Zhou seemed to see hope, and the sadness on her face faded a lot. "Two sons and one daughter."

"I guess the daughter looks like the father?" Tang Xu asked. Generally speaking, daughters will look more like their fathers.

"Yes!" Mrs. Zhou's eyes lit up, "My daughter's eyes and nose are exactly the same as her father's."

"What about your son? Is he similar to his father?" Tang Xu asked again.

"The eldest son looks more like me, but his mouth looks like his father. The second son's eyes and mouth look like his father."

Isn't that the answer? Tang Xu smiled, but he still had to say something ugly, "I can roughly guess what Mr. Zhou looks like based on the appearance of your children. It would be best if you could show me the portrait, but I can't guarantee that the painting will be more like the real person."

"No problem!" Old Madam Zhou stood up excitedly, turned around like a child, and came over to hold her hand. "I have seen your previous portraits. If I can paint 50% or 60% of it, it will be good."

Tang Xu nodded. This old lady must have been well taken care of by her husband and lived a smooth and happy life. She looked a little naive. Her family must be very harmonious, with loving husband and wife and filial children. Only then would her expression be relaxed and without any bitterness.

"Then when is Miss Tang free? Should I ask them to come over?" asked Old Madam Zhou, with a hint of urgency in her tone.

Tang Xu waved her hand to refuse. She didn't know what the neighbors would guess if she came here. If she brought her children with her, it would be too much trouble. He gave so much money, he was a big customer, so naturally he had to come to her house for service. "No, no, if it's convenient, I'll go to her house. There's no need to go through so much trouble. I also want to see the portrait."

Madam Zhou was overjoyed, as if she could see her husband right away. "It's convenient. When is Miss Tang free? I'll ask them to wait at home."

Seeing the old lady so happy, Tang Xu felt the pressure doubled, "Today is too rushed, let's do it tomorrow. I will come to your house after breakfast tomorrow, don't know where your house is?" I won't set up the stall tomorrow, go and earn two hundred taels!

"I'll have someone pick you up tomorrow." Madam Zhou said, looking at the old nanny at the side, "Xueyu."

"Okay, miss. I'll remember that." The old lady responded with a smile.

Who wouldn't like such a client? Tang Xu sent the group away and held Qiyue in his arms and turned around a few times. Qiyue didn't know why his mother was so happy, but it didn't stop him from smiling in the shape of a heart.

"Making money, making money!" Tang Xu shouted excitedly.

When Qiyue was put down, she was still not satisfied. She hugged Tang Xu's legs and wanted to do it again. "It's fun."

"Then try again!" Tang Xu lifted him up again. Qiyue was heavier than before, so it was a bit difficult to lift him up. "Okay, I'll go cook. Let's have pancakes for breakfast."

"Okay, July likes to eat pancakes." July followed Tang Xu like a little tail.

Tang Xu didn't mind that he stumbled and let him pull his clothes to drive the little train.

Fang Zijun was knocking on the door before he finished his breakfast. But he didn't look very happy today, with a wrinkled face.

"Why are you unhappy?" Tang Xu gave him a cake. He took it but didn't eat it with big bites like before.

"I heard Yunniang crying last night, but my mother didn't let me go to find her. I wanted to ask her what was wrong." Fang Zijun pouted and looked back in the direction of the Zhao family.

It turned out to be Zhao Yunniang crying. I wonder how her mother is doing. It was quite quiet this morning. I seemed to have heard a man's roar last night. Thinking of the honest and silent man he occasionally met, Tang Xu was a little curious. But after all, he was not familiar with her, so it was not easy to go to her house.

"You'll know in a few days, don't worry." Tang Xu comforted them. After the three of them finished eating, Du Jiarui arrived.

After class, Tang Xu took Qiyue out and happened to see the door of the Zhao family open. The man from the Zhao family came out, looking very haggard, with dark eyes and frowning eyebrows.

He should have gone to work at this time. According to Dong Wanwan, he worked in a rice store, leaving home early and returning late every day.

When he saw Tang Xu, he nodded as usual, turned around and called Yunniang, then knocked on the door of Fang's house. Dong Wanwan came out, "Brother Zhao, what's going on?"

Zhao Sanping shook his head. "Sister Fang, can you please look after Yunniang? Xiaotao has given birth and I can't take care of her today."

"Okay, let me take care of Xiaotao and the child." Dong Wanwan saw that he looked upset and didn't ask any more questions. Besides, she knew something about his family. Zhao Sanping was an honest man, but his mother was very difficult to deal with. Since the death of old man Zhao, she has become even more unscrupulous. She does nothing all day and scolds her daughter-in-law at the top of her voice. She is also very critical of her granddaughter Yunniang. It's okay if this baby is a grandson, but judging from the noise last night, it's probably a granddaughter.

Dong Wanwan thought of this, sighed, forced a smile and asked, "Where's Yunniang?"

At this time, Zhao Yunniang came out of the house reluctantly, her eyes swollen like walnuts, her little mouth flat, and she looked like she was about to cry but didn't.

"It's just giving birth to a child, and a dead girl. And her husband has to take leave from work to take care of her. Whose precious daughter is she? Bah, I had to go to the fields after giving birth to the child. Why are you pretending to be weak..." The old woman's yelling and cursing came from the room. Zhao Sanping's face was embarrassed and angry. He thanked Dong Wanwan in a low voice, went back to his home and closed the door.

The gate blocked the view but couldn't block the old woman's voice. Hearing her words getting more and more unpleasant, Zhao Sanping yelled, "Mom! Can you please stop talking! If you hadn't asked Xiaotao to sweep the cobwebs on the roof, she wouldn't have fallen! She wouldn't have given birth prematurely! Is there anything that can't be done when I come back?"

"What's wrong with sweeping a spider web? She fell down because of carelessness! What does it have to do with me? I raised you to this age, but now you have a wife and you forget your mother. How could I give birth to such an ungrateful person like you? If the eldest brother were here..." The old woman burst into tears as she spoke, her voice sharp and piercing.

Tang Xu and Dong Wanwan looked at each other. Dong Wanwan sighed and shook her head, then pulled Yunniang into the house, not wanting the child to hear these words.

Tang Xu didn't listen to the story because he was in a hurry to open the stall. The scholar next door didn't come today. Xing Niang from the dessert shop said that his rent for one month was due.

He Xide's business was not good on weekdays. He always looked condescending and looked down on others. When talking to people, he would brag about his status as a student. No one liked him very much.

It's just right that he didn't come, so he wouldn't be annoying. When Tang Xu packed up his things, a customer came. Qiyue can now draw some pictures. Although the lines are crooked, people can still tell what the picture is.

Today a young couple came to visit, both of them looked unhappy. The woman looked dazed, like a puppet, holding a small piece of clothing in her arms.

"Who does the customer want to paint?" Tang Xu asked.

"Draw me and my wife." The man embraced his wife and gently helped her to tidy up her hair.

"Okay, please sit down." Tang Xu looked at the woman twice. Her eye bags were swollen and her eyes were unfocused. She touched her belly from time to time. Could she be pregnant? Why did she look so bad? Did she have a miscarriage? What she was holding in her hand... was it the baby's clothes? Did the baby die after birth?

Tang Xu kept working even though she was making random guesses in her mind. When she was almost done, she looked at the woman's distraught look and asked hesitantly, "Do you want to draw a child?"

Hearing about the child, the woman suddenly raised her head and widened her eyes, "Child, where is my child? Husband, where is our child? We need to take her to see a doctor. She keeps crying. She must be sick. She is sick. It's all my fault. I don't know how to take care of the child. She is sick, sick... She is crying. She is in so much pain..."

The woman muttered to herself, and after a while she saw the clothes in her hands, and gently rocked them while humming a little tune, as if she had a baby in her arms who needed to be coaxed to sleep.

"Xiao Cui, wake up." The man's tone revealed weakness, and his face showed sadness, heartache and regret.

"Oh, is this crazy?"

"Kid...so?"

"It must be the first one. The ones that come after that won't be like this."

"You are still young, why don't you just have another one? Don't be so pretentious."

There was a lot of discussion around, and the man was still whispering to his wife. Although it was useless, he was not impatient. Tang Xu's heart was in a knot, and he took the initiative to add a baby to the portrait. The facial features have inherited the advantages of both parents. It is generally difficult to tell the gender of such a young child, so there is no need to ask specifically. "Brother, can you come and take a look? Don't want me to draw another one." She was afraid of irritating the woman, so she only asked the man to come and see.

She didn't know whether her unnecessary action would offend others, so she decided to just draw another one if it didn't work.

The man comforted his wife and came over. The moment he saw the painting, tears welled up in his eyes. He was sad because his child was gone. The first child always carries the most expectations from parents, and his wife couldn't bear the blow and became abnormal.

The child in this painting directly awakened his repressed emotions. He reached out and touched the little hand, and could still recall the feeling of the soft little hand wrapping around his fingers.

"Oh, why are you crying?"

"What's the painting? Is it bad?"

"Miss Tang, let me take a look too."

"How can a seven-foot-tall man cry so easily?"

"Ouch, I drew a child!"

The man seemed to finally come to his senses, and walked quickly to his wife with the painting in his hand, "Xiao Cui, look, it's Dabao!"

"Dabao?" The woman's eyes slowly focused, and she burst into tears as she looked at the child in the painting. "Dabao, my Dabao!"

The cry was shrill and desperate, but also had a hint of joy. Some of the onlookers with weak tear glands had already started to wipe away their tears, sighing pitifully. Among them was Tang Xu, who sighed and turned her head, not wanting anyone to see her tearful eyes.

"Mom..." July walked up to her and hugged her worriedly.

"It's okay." Tang Xu shook his head and listened to the man coaxing his wife away.

“It’s my turn, it’s my turn!”

There was a girl in Shuxiang Street who was very good at painting. She could even draw a child's appearance out of thin air. Many people came here because of her reputation, which made Shuxiang Street crowded every day. Other stall owners were very happy. Although these people came for Tang Xu, they might take something else away. With more people, business would be better.

He Xide didn't get any of this bonus. His rent was due, and his sister-in-law was making a scene at home, refusing to let his mother pay for the renewal. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law quarreled at home, and He Xide was so annoyed that he couldn't concentrate on his studies. He simply went out and went out to drink with his classmates.

They were talking about who wrote the best essays in the academy and who wrote worthless poems. He Xide was kicked out of the academy years ago because of his poor grades. Now he was sitting awkwardly on the sidelines, not knowing how the topic suddenly turned to Book Street.

Speaking of Shuxiang Street, we have to talk about Miss Tang, who has extraordinary painting skills. The person who mentioned her seemed to have a good impression of her and praised her in his words.

He Xide said disdainfully: "That girl is not like what you see, she is so young and has a child, and we don't know where it came from." He initially thought that the child was just from the family, but later he heard him calling her mother. But the Tang girl didn't wear her hair in a bun, so she had sex with a man before marriage? She even dared to keep the child, which was simply shameless. If this happened in their village, she would be thrown into a pig cage.

"Is it true?" asked another person.

He Xide's face was full of confidence. He still remembered what happened last time. At first, he was guilty and didn't dare to hit anyone for several days. These days, he came to his senses and was fearless again. But the grudge was made. He said to others, "Of course it's true. Her child looks three or four years old and keeps calling her mother. She is shameless and has no matchmaker, and dares to show off with the child. Don't you think it's dirty to have such a person draw your portrait?"

"An unmarried woman showing up in public with a bastard and even daring to give someone a portrait of her is immoral!"

"Is what you said, Brother He? It's too much to ruin a woman's reputation like this." Another person who admired Tang Xu's painting skills accused.

"I heard it with my own eyes. The child just called her mother." He Xide said.

"Brother He, what you saw with your own eyes, how could it be false? I think you guys should not go looking for someone to draw your portrait. What if you get entangled... hehe."

Seeing that the topic was turning to something dirty, two people couldn't stand it anymore and left angrily.

The remaining few people didn't care, thinking that the two people who left were hypocritical. He Xide felt proud of having avenged a great vengeance. What's wrong with a woman who has read a little and can paint?

The conversation of several scholars was overheard by a waiter in the restaurant. He seemed to have learned a big secret and told the matter to the other waiters in vivid detail.