Yao Shi quickly invited the village’s local folk doctor, who prescribed a few inexpensive herbal medicines. After sending the doctor off, Granny Ji impatiently stood outside cursing, urging Yao Shi to go back to the fields to work.
“Fool, I’ll talk to your mother. You stay home and rest,” Yao Shi said.
After Yao Shi left with Ji Changlan and the rest of the Ji family to work in the fields, Song Zhaoxi was starving. After coaxing little Chang’an to sleep, she got up and went to the kitchen.
Granny Ji had always feared the main branch might take even the slightest advantage, so she forcibly split the Ji household into two separate kitchens—a big one and a small one. The main branch had its own kitchen.
But all the game Ji Yuanchuan used to hunt had already been taken by Granny Ji. In the small kitchen, only a few rock-hard cold corn buns and a jar of dark pickled vegetables remained.
Song Zhaoxi sighed. Just as she was about to leave the kitchen to find something to eat, she was blocked at the door by Ji Pingping and several girls from the village.
Song Zhaoxi raised an eyebrow with a hint of mockery. “Ji Pingping, still looking for trouble? Aren’t you afraid your next set of clothes will be gone too?”
Ji Pingping’s face twisted in anger. After losing so much face today, she wasn’t about to let it go. So she came up with a rotten idea: she made her usual friends help her finish chores at home, promising each of them a copper coin as payment to cover the cost of her “new clothes.”
Naturally, she wasn’t going to do the work herself.
“You little wretch, go wash clothes, chop firewood, and do all the chores for my friends too. If you don’t, we’ll beat you to death today!” Ji Pingping threatened viciously.
Song Zhaoxi glanced at them and suppressed the cold smile in her eyes. “Help you do chores? Sure.”
Ji Pingping secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She thought the fool had gotten capable—turns out she was still just trash.
“Pingping, isn’t this fool your elder brother’s wife? How dare you order her around?” said Shi Zhenxiang, Ji Pingping’s best friend, her voice dripping with sour jealousy.
Ji Pingping proudly replied, “This fool is just a dog in my house. My brother doesn’t even like her—I treat her like a servant. Right, you little wretch?”
Song Zhaoxi ignored her and walked over to the firewood pile, picking up an axe. Shi Zhenxiang watched with a flash of jealousy and said hypocritically, “I’m so jealous you have a servant. Unlike me, my mother never lets me work in the fields, but at home there’s no one to help me either.”
The others chimed in, and Ji Pingping became even more pleased with herself.
“From now on, if you have chores, just find this little wretch. Don’t be polite!” she boasted.
Then she left happily with the group of girls.
Song Zhaoxi sneered, tossed aside the firewood, and refused to do any unpaid work. If she was being used, there would be a price to pay.
She took the axe and went up the mountain instead. As a former food blogger, she had experience with a “rural retreat” content style—growing vegetables, setting traps, and hunting game were all within her skill set.
On the mountain, she cut bamboo and quickly made a simple trap. While waiting, she also dug wild mushrooms and greens.
As dusk fell, she returned to the Ji household carrying wild mushrooms and two wild chickens.
Ji Pingping still hadn’t returned. Looks like she was having a great time.
Song Zhaoxi sneered and began preparing dinner. With limited ingredients and seasoning, she relied on the natural flavor of the wild chicken and mushrooms—and a satisfying meal was guaranteed.
Soon after, Ji Pingping returned humming a tune. But when she saw the unwashed clothes and untouched firewood in the yard, she was stunned.
That wretch dared to ignore her?!
Furious, she was about to storm off and confront Song Zhaoxi when the Ji family returned from the fields. Seeing that nothing had been done, Granny Ji, exhausted from a full day of work, exploded instantly. She grabbed a hoe and struck Ji Pingping hard.
“You good-for-nothing! I left you at home to enjoy yourself?!”
Ji Pingping screamed in pain. “Those chores were always done by the fool before! She didn’t do them, not me!”
Granny Ji hit harder. “Chores are yours to do! Do you want the villagers to think we abuse that fool? You’re just lazy—I’ll beat you to death!”
After being beaten, Ji Pingping was forbidden from eating dinner.
Starving, she cursed Song Zhaoxi in her room. Then she suddenly smelled a rich meaty aroma drifting in from outside.
Her stomach immediately growled.
Granny Ji was notoriously stingy; any game caught was sold for money. Meat was only eaten during festivals.
Following the smell, Ji Pingping went to the small kitchen and peeked in through the window—her eyes instantly widened.
That wretch was actually stewing chicken soup.
How dare she secretly eat behind Grandma’s back—she was dead for sure!
Ji Pingping rushed to the main house and reported it.
As expected, Granny Ji flew into a rage.
By the time Song Zhaoxi brought out a bowl of chicken soup and turned back to the kitchen, the Ji family had already stormed in.
“Big brother, how dare you secretly eat behind Mother’s back?” they shouted.
Ji Yuanchuan’s face turned red instantly. “I—I don’t know what’s going on, Mother, let me explain…”
“Explain nothing! Get out of the way!” Granny Ji cursed as she reached out to snatch it. The golden chicken soup was steaming hot, and her mouth was practically watering.
“Mother, this wild chicken wasn’t ours,” Yao Shi tried to stop them, but she was held back tightly.
Third branch woman Liu Shi even grabbed her hair. “Sister-in-law, you’ve got guts now, huh?”
Chaos erupted in the room.
Ji Changlan cried out, “Father, what are you waiting for?!”
But before anything could be done, Ji Pingping slapped Ji Changlan hard, and Little Tiger from the third branch pushed little Chang’an to the ground. The room turned into complete chaos.
Ji Yuanchuan, though strong, didn’t dare defy Granny Ji and could only beg weakly, “Mother, just take the soup, please stop hitting us…”
Granny Ji finally seemed satisfied and reached to leave with the soup—
But at that moment, Song Zhaoxi appeared.
She stood coldly at the entrance, holding a bloody kitchen knife she hadn’t yet washed. Without a word, she slammed it into the table.
The blade, still stained with chicken blood, whistled past Granny Ji’s hand. She nearly lost a few fingers and yanked her hand back in shock.
“You want to die, you fool?!” she yelled.
“This chicken is mine. Who dares take it?”
Song Zhaoxi’s gaze was icy and terrifying, the knife still in her hand. Anyone who dared reach forward looked like they would lose a hand.
Even Granny Ji, usually domineering, trembled with anger but didn’t dare step forward.
Ji Pingping snarled, “You live in our house, anything you catch belongs to the family!”
Song Zhaoxi let out a cold laugh. “I came here to marry into the family for good luck. So I have to give everything I catch to you? Isn’t that a bit too much bullying? Besides, even if I give it up, you wouldn’t be the ones eating it anyway.”
Her words hit Ji Pingping’s sore spot.
Enraged, Ji Pingping reached out to grab it, refusing to believe the fool would really dare cut her.
“Fool, don’t you know the rules? No one in this house is allowed to secretly hide money or cook extra food behind Grandma’s back!”
Just then, noisy voices came from outside the courtyard.
“Ji Pingping! Get out here—pay up!”