Ji Qiuyang’s unconscious question plunged the atmosphere into an awkward silence. Jiang Jingyi was the first to react. Her hand still rested on Ji Qiuyang’s shoulder, her body leaning close to his, the distance between them still minimal. She couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “You’re right, I am a nine-tailed fox. I especially like good-looking, strong men like you. Your essence must be particularly delicious.”
Ji Qiuyang, whose entire body was stiff, felt his face flush crimson. The moment the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake, and sure enough, he was being mocked by this woman.
Ji Qiuyang wanted to get up, but Jiang Jingyi was still so close that he didn’t dare move a muscle while lying there. He tried to ignore the increasingly rapid pounding of his heart in his chest and stammered, “You… get up.”
Jiang Jingyi deliberately refused. She leaned in closer and whispered, “But I’m a nine-tailed fox. There’s no way I’d let you off so easily. I’ll probably have to do all sorts of things with you and suck your essence.”
“Stop talking nonsense.” Seeing her words become increasingly unrestrained, Ji Qiuyang struggled. Jiang Jingyi took the opportunity to move back and lie down on the bed, laughing. “I didn’t expect you to be so interesting.”
Now that she was farther away, Ji Qiuyang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He asked, “So, the place you used to live… were they all as… bold as you?”
“Our place, ah…” Mentioning this filled Jiang Jingyi with longing. “At the very least, men don’t view women as their appendages. Women can go out and do business according to their own wishes, or choose to live a life of their own making without being confined to the family or constrained by men. There, men and women are equal. When having children, girls are even more welcomed than boys. But…”
She couldn’t go back to any of that.
Her words ended with a hint of desolation and nostalgia, causing Ji Qiuyang to frown slightly. How could such a place exist in this world? As far as he knew, such a place was absolutely impossible in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Yet Jiang Jingyi’s description was detailed, and her attitude didn’t seem fake. Thinking back to her previous actions, they all seemed to confirm this fact – it was an era of equality between men and women, which had cultivated a personality like Jiang Jingyi’s.
Having asked only this one question, Ji Qiuyang asked no more. Jiang Jingyi, obviously also thinking about life in her original world, had lost the inclination to continue teasing him. She simply closed her eyes and went to sleep.
That night, Jiang Jingyi slept unusually soundly, barely moving from the position she’d lain down in.
But Ji Qiuyang was awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of soft sobbing. The person crying was Jiang Jingyi.
Ji Qiuyang sat up in the darkness but couldn’t see Jiang Jingyi’s face. Jiang Jingyi was curled up on the bed, crying softly, murmuring low syllables that Ji Qiuyang couldn’t understand.
“Mom?” Ji Qiuyang was puzzled. “What does that mean?”
Seeing that she was still crying, he got up and went to the bedside to investigate. But the room was dark, with only the faint moonlight as a source of light. Ji Qiuyang leaned closer and saw in the darkness that Jiang Jingyi had her eyes closed, tears streaming down her face. She looked so helpless.
Seeing such a word applied to Jiang Jingyi made Ji Qiuyang pause momentarily. To witness such a thing in Jiang Jingyi was truly unbelievable.
Ji Qiuyang softly called out, “Jiang Jingyi?”
The person who had been crying suddenly opened her eyes, the sadness in them quickly fading. “What is it?”
The Jiang Jingyi who feared nothing in the daytime and could even mess with the Jiang family was back.
Ji Qiuyang breathed a sigh of relief, pretending he hadn’t seen her vulnerable state. He shook his head. “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”
Having said that, he returned to his reed mat and lay down.
Jiang Jingyi turned over and lay flat, staring up at the bed canopy. She remembered the dream she’d just had clearly. The tears on her face had already dampened her pillow. Obviously, Ji Qiuyang had heard her crying and that’s why he called out to her.
What now? He’d witnessed her in such a vulnerable state.
Jiang Jingyi tossed and turned in chagrin, burying her face in the blanket, wanting to smother herself.
Hearing her thrashing about on the bed, Ji Qiuyang said, “Settle down.”
The creaking of the bed boards was truly grating.
But Jiang Jingyi suddenly burst out laughing, then rolled around a couple more times, adding mischievously, “Doesn’t this sound a bit like that?”
As a man, even if Ji Qiuyang had no personal experience, he had heard plenty of ribald jokes from his fellow students. The moment Jiang Jingyi spoke, he guessed her meaning, and his expression immediately soured.
Did everyone from her world have such audacity? That was simply too outrageous.
Ji Qiuyang said in a muffled voice, “Shut up.”
There was a hint of gnashing teeth in his tone.
Jiang Jingyi’s melancholy was swept away. She chuckled lightly. “Okay.”
She paused, then asked, “Ji Qiuyang, you know I’m not the original Jiang Jingyi now. Aren’t you afraid of me?”
After a long while, just when Jiang Jingyi thought Ji Qiuyang wouldn’t answer anymore, he suddenly spoke. “Compared to sharing a room with the original Jiang Jingyi, it’s better to…”
He didn’t finish, but Jiang Jingyi understood. The disgust in his tone was just too obvious. Clearly, the original owner’s past actions had genuinely repulsed Ji Qiuyang, to the point where this scholar would rather be husband and wife with a woman of unknown origin than share a room with the original owner.
Every despicable person has their own pitiable aspects. Thinking about the things the original owner had done, Jiang Jingyi couldn’t bring herself to defend her.
Actually, Jiang Jingyi had wanted to ask Ji Qiuyang if he was willing to just live on like this with her, but she gave up. Feelings were something no one could clearly define. She teased Ji Qiuyang because she found it amusing, and of course, there was a hint of fondness—after all, it was hard not to have some feelings for someone so handsome and with such character.
But what if, in the future, Ji Qiuyang found someone he loved, and what if she also met someone she liked? If they were to come together just for the sake of living together, that would truly be a bad thing.
The next morning, when Jiang Jingyi woke up, Ji Qiuyang had already returned to the academy. The Yun couple had finished making the tofu, Ji Linxia and Yingtao had made the tofu skin, the braised meat was packed into jars, and the remaining raw pork had been blanched and set aside. They were all waiting for Jiang Jingyi to get up and start the next batch of braising, which the women at home could then tend to.
She hadn’t expected to be the last one up. Jiang Jingyi felt a bit embarrassed. Actually, at this time, the sky was just beginning to lighten, but for people in business, it was a bit late.
Jiang Jingyi didn’t bother eating. She washed her face, applied some skincare oil, and went to start the braising process. The two girls busied themselves with lighting the fire. Jiang Jingyi gave them instructions and then followed Ji Dongyang to Qingshui County. However, the cart was too slow, and the horse-drawn carriage couldn’t carry much. They were momentarily at a loss.
Lady Yun smiled and suggested, “Why don’t we tie the cart to the back of the carriage and put the tofu on the cart?”
This idea was good and was unanimously approved. But with only one horse pulling so much, there clearly wasn’t room for many people on the carriage. Lady Yun said, “Sister-in-law, you ride. Your brother and I are used to walking. It’s no problem.”
Jiang Jingyi didn’t stand on ceremony and got on the carriage. Then she took out the flatbread that Ji Linxia had stuffed into her hands before they left and started eating.
The flatbread was made that morning by Old Lady Ji with a mix of flour and soybean residue. It was stuffed with an egg, two pieces of braised meat, and a few slices of cucumber. The cucumber cut through the greasiness of the braised meat, and the taste was really quite good. This could practically be called an ancient version of a meat-stuffed bun.
If she opened a shop in the future, she’d have to include this in the breakfast menu. The carriage ride was bumpy and made her dizzy. After finishing her flatbread, Jiang Jingyi got down. “Sister-in-law, you ride for a while.”
Lady Yun kept refusing, but Jiang Jingyi insisted, “You get on. I’ll walk a bit to digest.”
They took turns riding and walking along the way, finally reaching Qingshui County just as the sun was coming out. Jiang Jingyi wasn’t used to traveling so early. Though her bottom hurt from the carriage and her feet hurt from walking, it wasn’t a bad experience.
Qingshui County was different from the smallness of Daqiao Town. Although this county seat was smaller than some other counties, its advantage lay in its prosperity. In Qingshui County, there was a dedicated West Market, mostly filled with shop owners and small vendors. This was where the Ji Dongyang couple usually went to sell.
And of course, thanks to the He family’s help the previous day, no one dared to bother them this time.
The He family were local big shots in Qingshui County. To put it bluntly, even the county magistrate had to show the He family respect and wouldn’t easily provoke them, let alone the petty ruffians protected by the yamen runners.
However, because Jiang Jingyi was good-looking and dressed nicely, quite a few glances fell upon her.
Feeling somewhat uneasy, as if he were failing his own brother, Ji Dongyang said to Jiang Jingyi, “Sister-in-law, why don’t you go to the He family first?”
Jiang Jingyi pretended not to understand his concern and smiled. “No need. I’ll have to do business sooner or later. How can I do business without being seen by people?”
Ji Dongyang opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by Lady Yun, who pulled him to set up the tofu baskets and put the tofu skin aside.
They had also prepared a small stove for kindling. Though the stove wasn’t large, once the pot was placed on it, it could hold three to five catties of braised meat.
While the Ji couple busied themselves, Jiang Jingyi observed the other vendors around. Since it was still early, most sellers were offering breakfast items, vegetables, and meat. The buyers were mostly servants from wealthy families, out at this hour to purchase supplies for their masters’ households.
The small stove was lit. Jiang Jingyi said to Lady Yun, “Sister-in-law, you and Big Brother just manage the tofu stall. I’ll handle the braised meat.”
Lady Yun smiled. “No problem. There aren’t many people at this hour anyway.”
Customers came by one after another to buy tofu, and some tofu skin was sold as well. Perhaps because people knew they had the He family’s backing, quite a few deliberately bought things from their stall while trying to pry for information.
Although Ji Dongyang hadn’t studied, he wasn’t stupid. He knew they were drawn by the He family connection. If someone wanted tofu, he sold them tofu. If they asked about the He family, he played dumb and claimed to know nothing.
Jiang Jingyi couldn’t help but glance at Ji Dongyang, thinking her brother-in-law was doing a pretty thorough job of playing the fool.
Just then, the pot came to a boil. The aroma of the meat inside wafted in all directions with the morning breeze. Many people sniffed the air and asked, “Where’s that meaty smell coming from? How does it smell so good? The Wang family’s braised meat isn’t this fragrant, is it?”
Jiang Jingyi smiled and lifted the lid. The rich, meaty aroma dispersed even more strongly, and many people turned to look.
Lady Yun said excitedly, “They’re all looking this way!”
Jiang Jingyi could almost see coins flying towards her. She smiled. “This is just the beginning.”
**