After that day, following the big quarrel, Song Zhaoxi no longer bothered hiding what she cooked in the small kitchen from the Ji family.
One day it was fish soup; the next day, braised ribs. The little courtyard of the Ji family was often filled with the aroma of meat.
The smell tormented little Ji Xiaohu so much that he cried every day, demanding meat to eat, making the entire Ji family miserable. They hated Song Zhaoxi so much they wished they could skin her alive.
By the end of the month, Song Zhaoxi had finished making clothes for the two children.
For Ji Changlan, she made a peach-pink cross-collar jacket and an apricot-colored pleated cotton skirt. With the leftover scraps of fabric, she even made peach blossom-shaped hair ties.
For Chang’an, she made a gray-blue long robe and paired it with an adorable steamed-bun-shaped little hat.
Originally, Song Zhaoxi had wanted to make two beautiful outfits for the children. However, considering that they lived in the countryside, she felt that making them too eye-catching would be inappropriate. So, the clothes she made were of the simplest styles possible. In terms of design, she hadn’t even displayed half of her true skill.
Still, both outfits were made of fine cotton, comfortable and warm to wear. For Changlan and Chang’an, who hadn’t worn new clothes in a very long time, these garments were already wonderful beyond compare.
After all, in the entire family, only their eldest brother owned a fine cotton robe. Their mother had scrimped and saved for a whole year and secretly made it for him because a scholar needed at least one respectable outfit.
Changlan and Chang’an had never dared imagine that they themselves would one day wear such fine clothes.
They carefully touched the garments over and over again, reluctant even to put them on. Their eyes sparkled as they looked at Song Zhaoxi, their gratitude and admiration written all over their faces.
Seeing this, Song Zhaoxi felt a little heartbroken.
But then she remembered the wealth and prosperity this family would enjoy in the future. What fine silks and luxurious fabrics wouldn’t they have then?
Compared to them, perhaps she should save her sympathy for herself!
After finishing the clothes, Song Zhaoxi calculated the days. Her cheap, never-before-seen husband, Ji Changfeng, was probably about to return.
She had already made her intentions clear, and she likely wouldn’t be staying in this household much longer.
Although she still had quite a bit of silver left, it only looked like a lot. Once she left the Ji family, she’d need money for food, rent, and all her future living expenses.
She had no intention of living in poverty. This little bit of silver wouldn’t last long.
She needed to earn money and survive in this unfamiliar era. She didn’t seek great wealth or glory—she only wished for a life free from worries about food and clothing.
So, Song Zhaoxi began working day and night on making round silk fans.
The first fan had a white silk base and was embroidered using double-sided embroidery techniques. On it was a lifelike begonia flower, dotted with tiny dewdrops.
It took her nearly ten days to finish.
Holding the fan in her hands, Song Zhaoxi admired it with satisfaction. Yet she felt that something was missing from the fan’s surface.
If only there were some calligraphy on it, it would appear even more elegant and refined.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t recognize a single character from this era’s writing system. She was, in every sense of the word, illiterate.
Sighing, Song Zhaoxi carefully placed the fan into a box and wondered whether she should ask Ji Changfeng for help after he returned.
As the empire’s future Grand Secretary and the only person to achieve the highest honors in all three levels of the imperial examinations, his handwriting surely couldn’t be bad.
If he were to inscribe some words on the fan, perhaps it could even sell for a higher price.
But would Ji Changfeng help her with such a thing?
She had occupied his room for so long while he was away. There was no way she could keep that from him.
Sigh…
At first, Song Zhaoxi had fearlessly moved into his room.
But now that Ji Changfeng’s return was imminent, she suddenly lost her nerve.
With a sigh, she flopped onto the bed and tried hard to recall the few lines in the novel that described the original owner of this body, attempting to guess what kind of relationship she and Ji Changfeng had shared.
“Plain and unremarkable in appearance, quiet and dull in temperament…”
That was how the novel had described the original owner.
Putting aside the matter of being forcibly brought in to bring good fortune to the male lead, the woman herself had been foolish and numb, traits that Ji Changfeng disliked.
Later, when the female lead became jealous and mentioned the male lead’s foolish former wife, Ji Changfeng couldn’t even remember what the pitiful woman had looked like.
He had only said that she was a pitiable person.
Song Zhaoxi sighed.
One step at a time, then.
If Ji Changfeng refused to help her, she could always go to the county town and find a scholar with good handwriting to write on the fan.
For now, the most urgent matter was to sign a divorce agreement with Ji Changfeng. Once that was done, she would have nothing more to do with this bizarre family.
At this point, it wasn’t only Song Zhaoxi who wanted Ji Changfeng to return.
The Ji family wanted him back more than anyone.
That day, Lin Daqiang, who had gone to the county to sell wild rabbits, brought back some news:
There were only three days left before the academy’s holiday, and Ji Changfeng would soon be coming home!
Both Song Zhaoxi and the Ji family let out sighs of relief at the same time.
Finally…