“What are you looking at, Qiuyang?”
Ji Qiuyang didn’t need to turn around to know it was Wang Cheng’en. Thinking of the bad blood between them, his gaze tightened slightly. “Nothing.”
With that, Ji Qiuyang said no more and headed straight into the restaurant.
Ji Qiuyang’s attitude wasn’t friendly, but Wang Cheng’en didn’t seem to mind. The corner of his mouth twitched into a faint, mocking smile. He followed Ji Qiuyang’s previous gaze, but saw nothing.
Jiang Jingyi didn’t mention seeing Ji Qiuyang to Ji Dongyang. They bumped along the road all the way home. From a distance, she could see quite a few people gathered outside their courtyard, each holding a bowl.
Had they come to buy more meat?
It was beyond Jiang Jingyi’s expectations. It seemed the heavenly gift of cooking skills was a bigger advantage than she’d realized.
As they approached, someone called out, “Oh, Qiuyang’s wife, you’re finally back!”
“Exactly. Since you weren’t here, your sister-in-law wouldn’t sell us any meat.”
Jiang Jingyi smiled. “Maybe it wasn’t fully cooked yet, so she wouldn’t sell it. Of course, if you all want to buy, you can.”
Jiang Jingyi and the others entered the house, unloading the small stove, baskets, and other items. Ji Linxia and Old Mrs. Ji also came out. Ji Linxia came over to look inside the clay pot and, seeing it was empty, exclaimed in surprise, “You sold it all?”
Jiang Jingyi nodded. “One hundred wen per catty. All sold out.”
Excluding the bones, they had brought about fifty or sixty catties today. Selling all of that was no small sum of money.
Ji Linxia and Old Mrs. Ji were both overjoyed. Someone at the door remarked with a hint of sourness, “Elder sister, no wonder your family looked down on our Cuihua. You’ve married a goddess of wealth.”
Jiang Jingyi looked up. Oh, it was an acquaintance—Yu Cuihua’s mother, Old Mrs. Yu. Jiang Jingyi smiled and said, “Unless someone is blind, they’ll definitely choose the right person.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the crowd burst into laughter. Old Mrs. Yu’s face turned red, and she immediately began cursing, “You shameless little hussy! Not only did you steal my Cuihua’s man, but you also slander her like this? Do you think people don’t know about the filthy things you and your husband did in broad daylight that day?”
Old Mrs. Yu’s words were harsh, and Jiang Jingyi’s face immediately turned cold. Mrs. Yun and Old Mrs. Ji weren’t the type to trade insults; they were so angry their faces flushed red. Mrs. Yun looked uneasily at Jiang Jingyi, afraid she might get into another fight.
Sure enough, Jiang Jingyi was never one to take things lying down. Her eyes spotted a small pebble on the ground. She bent down, picked it up, and with a snap, flung it at Old Mrs. Yu.
Old Mrs. Yu never expected her to strike without a word and was hit square on. With a cry of “Ow! That hurts!” she clutched her mouth.
She spat, and a tooth came out.
“Assault!” Old Mrs. Yu opened her mouth to keep screaming.
“Try cursing me again,” Jiang Jingyi said. Somehow, she had already reached Old Mrs. Yu’s side. The onlookers fell silent, staring at Jiang Jingyi in shock.
Most people had only heard of Jiang Jingyi’s reputation. Aside from the day she overturned the table at her wedding, they had never really witnessed her temper.
In people’s minds, women depended on men to survive. No matter how fierce a woman was, once she arrived in a strange place, she would rein in her temper—at least put on a decent front.
But Jiang Jingyi had just crossed over into this world and was already full of anxiety. How could she tolerate being cursed at? Not just in this life—if anyone dared to curse her in her previous life, she would slap them in the mouth and teach them what civilized language was.
Everyone in Daqiao Village knew what kind of person Old Mrs. Yu was—a thick-skinned, shameless troublemaker. Now that she had suffered a loss at Jiang Jingyi’s hands, not a single person was willing to speak up for her.
Besides, everyone knew how Yu Cuihua had relentlessly pursued Ji Qiuyang back then. Ji Qiuyang was the only young scholar in the village who wasn’t married yet, so naturally, many people had their eyes on him. But most felt the gap was too wide—even if Ji Qiuyang failed the provincial exams, the fact that his land was tax-exempt was already tempting enough. While everyone else held back, Yu Cuihua’s family tried to marry into his, earning plenty of resentment.
Seeing that she had lost a tooth, Old Mrs. Yu wanted to curse but didn’t dare. Looking at Jiang Jingyi’s beautiful face, she actually felt a flicker of fear. She opened her mouth, then burst into loud wails.
Jiang Jingyi frowned. “Too noisy.”
Old Mrs. Yu abruptly stopped, watching Jiang Jingyi rub her wrist as she unconsciously stepped back.
Jiang Jingyi ignored her, turned around, and went back into the yard, telling Ji Linxia to weigh out the braised meat for the customers.
The villagers weren’t well-off, so buying a second time was already a stretch. Jiang Jingyi had Ji Linxia add an extra ladle of broth to each portion, which helped ease the fear that Jiang Jingyi’s earlier actions had caused.
After the villagers had all left, Jiang Jingyi tasted the braised meat made that day and smiled. “The heat was controlled just right.”
Ji Linxia and Yingtao were both delighted, their eyes shining. Yingtao said happily, “Miss, it’s hot out. I’ve heated some water for you to wash up and change clothes.”
Jiang Jingyi was pleased with her thoughtfulness and went to bathe.
During the evening meal, Jiang Jingyi laid out her plan. Ji Dongyang and his wife had already agreed to hire help for the wheat harvest, so they didn’t say anything this time, instead waiting for Old Mrs. Ji to make the decision.
Old Mrs. Ji thought for a moment and said, “If you go selling during the wheat harvest, I’m afraid there won’t be as many buyers, since everyone will be busy with the harvest.”
Jiang Jingyi paused, understanding her concern, and smiled. “I plan to sell directly in the county. Unlike the town, where foot traffic mostly depends on villagers, the county has many more residents. If we can’t sell everything in Qingshui County, we can go to our own Qinghe County to sell. We have one horse-drawn cart and one mule cart. At worst, we can split into two vehicles. Dehong can take one cart with me to Qinghe County, while my brother and sister-in-law go to Qingshui County. You, Linxia, and Yingtao can stay home to take care of making the braised meat. It won’t interfere with anything.”
Today, half of the braised meat had sold out completely. Old Mrs. Ji saw it with her own eyes and was delighted. Having money at home would ease Qiuyang’s expenses while he studied away. Growing crops provided food, but it didn’t bring in much money year-round. So, she nodded. “Then we’ll do as you say.”
With that, Old Mrs. Ji said to Ji Dongyang, “After you eat, take a catty of braised meat to Butcher Zhao’s place and ask if he can give us a discount if we buy pork from him every day.”
Jiang Jingyi smiled. “If possible, we’ll take one whole pig per day. He can also sell us the offal.”
Few people were willing to eat offal in this era, so its price was relatively lower.
Ji Dongyang agreed. He finished his meal quickly and left with the meat. Before long, he returned. “I talked to him. From now on, he’ll slaughter one pig for us every day. He was quite happy about it. He even said that if we need more in the future, he’ll raise a few more pigs himself.”
Jiang Jingyi didn’t care where Butcher Zhao got his pigs, but his suggestion was good. She nodded. “Once the shop is on track, we’ll definitely need a steady supply of pork. Having a fixed supplier would be ideal.”
With that settled, everyone went to bed early. The next day, they took the braised meat made that day to Qingshui County to sell. Perhaps because it had sold well the day before and everyone who tried it found it delicious, there were even more buyers that day. Many were repeat customers from the previous day. By the time they arrived, people were already waiting.
After the braised meat sold out, Jiang Jingyi spotted Mrs. Miao from the Wang family’s braised meat shop again. Mrs. Miao glared at them, grinding her teeth in resentment.
Jiang Jingyi smiled and ignored her. She packed up their things and prepared to head back.
Halfway there, Ji Dongyang suddenly stopped the cart. Jiang Jingyi lifted the carriage curtain and saw three large men standing in the middle of the road, gripping wooden clubs, their faces fierce and menacing as they glared at them.
Jiang Jingyi exchanged a glance with Mrs. Yun. They both instantly understood who had sent these men. They hadn’t provoked anyone in Qingshui County—the only conflict was that their braised meat had unwittingly become competition for the Wang family’s shop.
So, it was obvious who had arranged for these three.
The three men spotted the pretty young woman inside the carriage, and their eyes lit up. They leered at Jiang Jingyi, the filth in their gaze repulsive.
Ji Dongyang grabbed his horsewhip and said to Jiang Jingyi, “Get back in the carriage.”
He was planning to take on the three men by himself.
But although Ji Dongyang was strong, he was no match for three opponents. Jiang Jingyi didn’t listen. She lifted the carriage curtain and stepped down. Mrs. Yun grabbed her arm in panic. “Sister-in-law, don’t go down there.”
Jiang Jingyi wasn’t the type to sit around and wait to be beaten, nor did she ever go into a fight unprepared. She gave Mrs. Yun a reassuring look. “Don’t be afraid, sister-in-law. I’m going down to help brother.”
With that, she jumped off the cart.
The three men clearly hadn’t expected a woman to dare step out. They leered. “Leave the little lady here, and you can go.”
Ji Dongyang was furious. “In your dreams!”
The three men laughed loudly. “If you know what’s good for you, leave now. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being rude. And from now on, don’t come to Qingshui County again. Every time you show up, you’ll get a beating.”
Jiang Jingyi curled her lip. She walked slowly to the back cart, pulled out the tofu knife and concealed it in her sleeve, then picked up a stick that had been used to weigh down the tofu and walked to the front.
When Ji Dongyang saw her coming, he said urgently, “Get back in the carriage. I’ll protect you.”
Jiang Jingyi shook her head. She looked at the three men across from them. “Did the Wang family send you?”
The men didn’t answer, but they didn’t deny it either. Their eyes roamed over Jiang Jingyi without restraint.
Jiang Jingyi frowned slightly. “If I don’t agree, you’ll use force?”
One of them leered. “If the little lady behaves and listens, we won’t have to use force.”
“But I want to use force,” Jiang Jingyi said with a smile.
“What?” The man was startled. Seeing that she wasn’t joking, he exchanged glances with the other two. Then he said, “Looks like the little lady needs to learn a lesson.”
These men had been paid, so they had no intention of letting them off easily. Even if Jiang Jingyi cooperated, they still had orders to break her husband’s leg.
The three exchanged looks, raised their clubs, and charged.
Ji Dongyang had never faced such a situation before, but his instinct was to step in front of Jiang Jingyi.
Instead, Jiang Jingyi raised her stick and charged at the three men with even more ferocity.
“Looking for trouble!”
**