"I wouldn't want you to spend the money. If you came to the city with me, I'd make you noodle dishes every day."
"I appreciate the thought." The old woman smiled kindly. "When are you heading back to the city?"
"Before the end of the lunar month." Cecilia wasn't in a hurry. She still wanted to dig up some fo-ti root to make a hair growth cream. But Ian seemed very concerned about when they would leave, and he had been acting much stranger than usual during the first few days of the month.
'I'm worried that leaving late will upset him.'
'I don't want to make him unhappy.'
The old woman flipped through a calendar.
Cecilia asked, "But I thought you couldn't see it?"
The old woman chuckled. "It's only the nineteenth today. There are still about ten days until the end of the month, so there's plenty of time. But the end of the month is near the Qingming Festival. Ian, you're accommodating Cecilia by staying here, but don't you have to pay respects to your ancestors back home?"
