Ji Pingping didn’t know when she had woken up. After Song Zhaoxi bathed Changlan and Changan in hot water, heart-wrenching sobs came from the second branch’s room.
“Today, Zhou Feng carried me home! So many people saw it! My reputation is ruined! I don’t want to live anymore! Waaaah!”
Li Shi cursed along with her.
“That damned Zhou Feng! He’s just a poor nobody, yet he dares look down on us? Your mother will definitely find you a better marriage!”
“It’s all that bitch Song Zhaoxi’s fault! She did it on purpose!”
The mother and daughter were cursing away when the door was suddenly kicked open.
Song Zhaoxi stood in the doorway, her face cold.
“Shut up.”
“Y-You…”
Li Shi was just about to lose her temper when her eyes landed on the axe in Song Zhaoxi’s hand. Instantly, all her arrogance vanished.
Mother and daughter huddled together, trembling.
In the eyes of the Ji family, Song Zhaoxi was now a crazy woman with monstrous strength. No one dared provoke her.
Once the room fell silent, Song Zhaoxi turned around and returned to her own room. Taking out the bamboo she had split during the day, she began weaving the fan frames.
Making round fans was delicate work. Weaving the frame itself was easy, but sewing the silk onto it and embroidering patterns required patience and meticulous craftsmanship.
Song Zhaoxi wasn’t in a hurry. After this lesson, Ji Pingping wouldn’t dare follow her again anytime soon, which suited her just fine.
Besides, she no longer had to carry things down the mountain herself.
She had gained a magical beast—Daitou.
Daitou wasn’t nearly as stupid as the legendary silly roe deer. At least, when it came to currying favor with Song Zhaoxi, it was remarkably intelligent.
Every day, it happily helped her carry bamboo, wild vegetables, and other things.
As a result, Song Zhaoxi couldn’t bear to sell it anymore.
One day, Song Zhaoxi caught two more pheasants and took Daitou to the county town, where she exchanged them for some silver.
On the way back, she bought a slab of pork ribs, two carp, and a bag of fruit.
Unfortunately, her luck wasn’t very good this time.
Someone in the village saw her.
When the villagers noticed Song Zhaoxi carrying all that food home, they assumed the Ji family had struck it rich and immediately went to tell Old Madam Ji.
At that moment, Old Madam Ji and the rest of the Ji family were sitting beneath a tree, chewing on dry corn buns and washing them down with cold water.
When she heard that Song Zhaoxi had bought ribs, fish, and fruit, she froze.
The Ji family suddenly realized that the members of the eldest branch seemed to have gained quite a bit of weight recently—
while they themselves were still gnawing on cold, dry buns!
“Boss! What’s going on here?!”
Ji Yuanchuan didn’t dare speak.
“Mother… that silver was all earned by Song Zhaoxi herself.”
“Bullshit!”
Old Madam Ji exploded.
“What money could Song Zhaoxi possibly earn?!”
Having bullied the eldest branch for so many years, Old Madam Ji nearly split her liver with rage upon learning that they had dared to eat good food behind her back.
“These damned brats! They’re trying to rebel!”
Supporting her aching old legs, Old Madam Ji shakily stood up, grabbed a stick, and stormed home.
She didn’t care who had earned the money.
Anything in her house belonged to her!
Having suffered several losses already, Li Shi hurriedly stopped Old Madam Ji and whispered something in her ear.
But Old Madam Ji shoved her aside and continued charging home.
It was noon, and some villagers were returning from the fields for lunch. Others, hearing that there was a commotion, eagerly followed along to watch the excitement.
Soon, the courtyard outside the Ji family’s house was packed with people.
At that moment, Song Zhaoxi was in the kitchen stewing fish soup.
Old Madam Ji shoved open the kitchen door, and the rich aroma of the soup instantly drifted outside.
The villagers who had come to watch couldn’t help swallowing.
Old Madam Ji raised a trembling hand and pointed at her.
“Y-You dare eat good food all by yourselves?!”
Since she had been discovered, Song Zhaoxi wasn’t particularly surprised.
Paper could never wrap fire forever.
She calmly stirred the tender fish soup in the pot and smiled.
“What? Are you here to snatch it again?”
Her smile made Old Madam Ji’s scalp tingle.
The family had suffered too many losses at Song Zhaoxi’s hands lately, and for a moment, Old Madam Ji didn’t dare act rashly.
Liu Shi tugged at Old Madam Ji and said coldly,
“We don’t care what you’re cooking. But where did this money come from?”
Hearing that, Old Madam Ji immediately understood.
She pointed at Song Zhaoxi and shouted,
“No wonder money has been going missing from the house lately! So it was you!”
Her old eyes were fixed on Song Zhaoxi as if she wanted to eat her flesh and gnaw on her bones.
No one in the village would believe that a skinny little girl like Song Zhaoxi could earn money.
As long as she insisted that Song Zhaoxi had stolen her money to buy food, then even if Song Zhaoxi had eight mouths, she wouldn’t be able to explain herself.
When she’d brought this little bitch home, it had been to use her as a servant.
How could Old Madam Ji tolerate Song Zhaoxi repeatedly encouraging the eldest branch to challenge her authority?
Trying to fight her?
This little bitch was still too green.
Song Zhaoxi glanced at the fish soup, then leisurely reduced the fire beneath the stove before stepping out of the kitchen.
She chuckled softly.
“Oh? So you’ve changed tactics?”