Outside the Ji family’s small courtyard, villagers had gathered at some point, shouting and causing a commotion.
Only then did Ji Pingping remember the agreement from earlier in the day. If the fool hadn’t done chores at home, she definitely hadn’t done them for Shi Zhenxiang and the others either. Her smug expression instantly vanished, turning deathly pale.
Granny Ji, not knowing what was going on, grew irritated and went out to curse them.
“It’s so late! Are you all trying to die? What are you doing making noise outside my house?!”
Shi Zhenxiang’s mother angrily shouted back, “Your Ji Pingping took our money and promised to do chores for us, but she didn’t do anything at all! What’s wrong with us coming to demand our money back?!”
Granny Ji’s face turned a spectacular mix of green, red, and purple.
Ji Pingping trembled all over in fear. After coming back, she had only focused on being angry at the fool—and completely forgotten about this matter…
Song Zhaoxi came out holding Ji Changlan’s hand and little Chang’an, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed as if watching a show.
“Pingping, why aren’t you following the rules?” she said coolly.
“Rules?” the villagers who came to demand money were confused.
“The Ji family’s rules, of course. In this household, no one is allowed to secretly take money or keep things from Granny Ji. Today I caught a wild chicken and ate it, and look how Changlan and Chang’an were beaten.”
As soon as she said this, the villagers erupted.
“So Granny Ji is this shameless? Ji Yuanchuan isn’t even her biological son, and she still snatches everything even when a fool catches a chicken!”
“It’s bad enough she takes it, but she even beats people? Changlan and Chang’an are just kids—their faces are swollen!”
Seeing the villagers’ reaction, Song Zhaoxi became even more certain of her guess. Granny Ji had two faces: one for the outside world and one at home. She relied on the main branch’s weakness to commit all kinds of abuse behind closed doors. Tonight was the perfect chance to let the whole village know.
With a smile, she added another blow:
“Pingping, you broke your promise to help people work and secretly kept money from Granny Ji—what kind of intentions are those? But actually, I should thank you. If everyone hadn’t come to demand their money back, Changlan and Chang’an might have been beaten to death!”
Without waiting for the enraged Ji family to react, she took Changlan and Chang’an back into the house and closed the door.
Before shutting it, a cold smile appeared on her lips. “By the way, I’m not some ‘fool.’ I have a name—Song Zhaoxi.”
Being called “fool” all the time was truly unpleasant.
Fortunately, no one here knew the original owner’s name, so she wouldn’t need to change it.
Ji Yuanchuan and his wife stared at her in shock. Song Zhaoxi quickly suppressed her smile.
“Eat first. No one will come to snatch food anymore.”
In her past life, Song Zhaoxi had no parents and was used to being strong and independent. If it were before, someone like Ji Yuanchuan—too weak to protect even his wife and children—wouldn’t even be worth her attention. But now that she was living here, and since Yao Shi had treated her fairly well, she would take it as repayment.
Outside, the commotion lasted for a long time. The villagers successfully got their money back, and their spit nearly drowned the Ji family before they finally left.
Inside the courtyard, Ji Pingping’s shrill, pig-like screams continued.
Granny Ji beat and scolded her until her voice went hoarse. Only when Li Shi knelt down crying and begging did she finally stop.
The main branch had already finished eating. Song Zhaoxi walked out holding a bowl of chicken scraps.
Ji Pingping, who hadn’t eaten at all and had already been beaten twice, saw this and immediately shouted, “Stop! Where are you taking those chicken bones?!”
“To feed the pigs. If you’re hungry, go queue at the pigpen.”
Ji Pingping’s eyes rolled back in rage and she fainted on the spot.
Li Shi wanted nothing more than to kill her, but after taking her daughter back to the room, she returned to the main hall.
The five members of the Ji family stared at the table of leftovers, each lost in deep doubt about life.
Third branch Liu Shi broke the silence first.
“Mother, let’s throw that little wretch out.”
“Sounds easy for you to say! Weren’t you the one who persuaded me to bring that Song Zhaoxi into the house to bring bad luck to the main branch? Now you want to kick her out before Ji Changfeng returns—how will the villagers see me?” Granny Ji snapped.
Liu Shi was scolded into silence.
She secretly regretted everything. If she had known, she wouldn’t have bribed that fortune-teller at the village entrance to talk nonsense and bring that fool into the house to disgust the main branch.
As a woman herself, she had always been jealous of Yao Shi’s fair beauty, her capable husband, and her perfect children. Even Ji Changfeng was a famous prodigy in the area. Meanwhile, her own son Ji Xiaohu was lazy and unwilling to study.
Jealousy had twisted her mind. Simply bullying Yao Shi was no longer satisfying, so she had brought in that foolish girl to ruin Ji Changfeng’s reputation and give herself a target to vent her anger on.
She couldn’t understand how the main branch kept getting lucky—how did that fool suddenly change so much?
She could never guess that the “fool” had already been replaced by someone else entirely.
But her instincts told her clearly: if this fool wasn’t eliminated soon, she would be the one in trouble.
Then a vicious idea formed in her mind.
“Mother,” Liu Shi said slowly, “Ji Changfeng isn’t home most of the time. If that girl secretly cheats with another man behind his back… wouldn’t we have a perfect reason to kick her out?”
Granny Ji’s expression turned into a cold smile.
Destroying that little slut’s reputation and making Ji Changfeng lose face in the village—killing two birds with one stone.
Still angry, she glanced at Ji Xiaohu and said coldly, “That bastard Ji Yuanchuan’s family won’t get their food allowance this month. When the county market opens, use that money to buy fabric and make Xiaohu a new outfit.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Liu Shi said smugly.
At least she still had a son. As long as this plan succeeded, her mother-in-law would surely change her attitude toward her.
As for that girl—whether she was a fool or whatever Song Zhaoxi, it didn’t matter.
A worthless life like that deserved to be used.
If she died, she’d even burn some paper money at her grave—how generous of her, she thought with a cold laugh.