Leading the roe deer down the mountain, Song Zhaoxi saw a crowd gathered halfway down the slope.
It was the busy farming season. What were all these people doing here?
As she approached, she discovered that the village head’s family had bought an ox cart, and the villagers had gathered around to admire it, their eyes filled with envy.
Farmers depended on their fields to make a living. Having an ox to plow the land made the work twice as efficient and saved a great deal of labor.
But an old yellow ox cost around ten taels of silver. Very few families in the village had that much money to spare. No household in the village had ever owned an ox cart before, yet the village head’s family had bought one just like that. They were truly wealthy.
Ji Xue basked in the villagers’ envious gazes, feeling rather proud.
A man named Lin Daqiang scratched his head and asked shyly,
“Xiaoxue, does this mean that when we go to the county town in the future, we can ride your family’s cart?”
“That depends on my father. I don’t get to decide.”
Ji Xue smiled sweetly.
Lin Daqiang’s face immediately turned red. He scratched his head and grinned foolishly.
“Little Sister Xue, you’re really beautiful.”
The other unmarried men in the village were unwilling to let Lin Daqiang monopolize her attention, so they quickly crowded around and tried to curry favor with her as well.
Ji Xue enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded and admired, but inwardly she sneered.
A bunch of poor freeloaders! This ox cart certainly wasn’t bought to give them rides.
Originally, her family had planned to sell the autumn harvest and buy an ox next spring for plowing.
But Ji Changfeng would be returning soon. With this ox cart, she could personally take Brother Ji to and from the county in the future. Just imagining herself sitting beside that handsome young man with his refined features, traveling down country roads together, made her heart race.
To make this happen, Ji Xue had pestered her parents for half a month before they finally agreed to buy the cart.
As Ji Xue was feeling pleased with herself, her gaze swept toward the mountain path and landed on Song Zhaoxi, who was coming down with a strange four-legged creature, each of its legs seemingly moving in a different direction.
Her smugness deepened.
Yet when Song Zhaoxi passed by, she didn’t even glance at the yellow ox and simply walked past the crowd.
Shi Zhenxiang, standing beside Ji Xue, spoke sourly.
“Well, if it isn’t Brother Ji’s wife. What on earth did you catch?”
“It’s not ‘a thing.’ It’s called a roe deer.”
The roe deer, which had never been down the mountain before, hid fearfully behind Song Zhaoxi.
Seeing Song Zhaoxi solemnly introducing the silly creature, Shi Zhenxiang snorted.
“Tch, it’s just a stupid animal, just as stupid as you! Xiaoxue’s family bought an ox cart, you know.”
Song Zhaoxi replied flatly,
“Oh.”
Having grown accustomed to all kinds of transportation in her previous life, she had no interest in primitive vehicles like ox carts and horse carts.
Little did she know that her indifferent attitude appeared to certain people as fake arrogance.
Shi Zhenxiang spat on the ground and glanced at Ji Xue before saying maliciously,
“Now that Xiaoxue’s family has an ox cart, when Brother Ji goes to the county in the future, Xiaoxue can take him along.”
“Don’t talk nonsense!” Ji Xue scolded her, though a strange excitement rose in her heart. “Song Zhaoxi is still Brother Ji’s wife. What if she misunderstands?”
Ji Xue glanced at Song Zhaoxi, her cheeks flushing.
“Zhaoxi, Brother Ji really will be coming back soon, won’t he?”
Originally, Song Zhaoxi didn’t care who had feelings for Ji Changfeng. It had nothing to do with her.
But Ji Xue’s words were clearly meant to provoke her.
Song Zhaoxi said coldly,
“What does my husband’s return have to do with you? And why are you blushing?”
“W-Who says I’m blushing?”
Having been mercilessly exposed, the hypocritical Ji Xue’s face turned the color of pig liver.
“Song Zhaoxi, do you really think you’re Brother Ji’s wife?”
“I’ve never thought that,” Song Zhaoxi said with a laugh. “You’re the one who just said I’m still Brother Ji’s wife. Since you know he’s a married man and still can’t forget him… don’t tell me you want to marry into the family as a concubine?”
Ignoring Ji Xue’s darkened expression, she continued,
“I don’t mind, but I wonder whether Brother Ji would even take a fancy to you.”
After saying that, Song Zhaoxi led the silly roe deer away.
Ji Xue stood there in a daze for a long while before being so angry that she laughed.
Without exaggeration, she had never considered Song Zhaoxi worthy of notice. She had never even bullied her like the other village children had.
After all, she was the village head’s daughter. In this tiny village, she was practically a princess.
Song Zhaoxi wasn’t even worthy of dirtying her hands.
Yet this wretched woman had stolen her Brother Ji and repeatedly provoked her.
She simply couldn’t swallow this insult.
Suddenly, Ji Xue remembered the conversation she had with Old Madam Ji when she visited the Ji family.
It was obvious that the Ji family despised Song Zhaoxi to the extreme. Now all they were waiting for was Brother Ji’s return so that he could hand her a divorce letter.
A sinister look gradually appeared in Ji Xue’s eyes.
Then she realized that the village men were still watching her. She quickly put on her sweet smile again and blinked innocently, making the men around her itch with infatuation.