Cuicui sat barefoot on the cliff, letting the breeze catch her. Her smooth, jade-like feet rested horizontally, their graceful arches swaying back and forth in a delightful manner.
Watching an older girl from the village, who had always been kind to her, finally get married today, Cuicui felt her heart unsettled for a long time. She too had once fantasized about leaving this place one day, but until now, not a single person had ever stirred any strange or unfamiliar feelings deep within her.
Cuicui was the granddaughter of the old ferryman in the place called Chadong. Her grandfather was the local ferryman appointed by the authorities, responsible for using his boat to ferry passing merchants across to both banks of the river. Every month, they paid her grandfather seven hundred *wen* in wages, along with some extra money, and allowances for rice, grain, oil, and leaf tobacco.
Chapter 125