Song Zhaoxi let out a cold laugh.
“The person came out of your room. The village head and all the neighbors were invited here by Ji Xiaohu. Third Aunt, why are you saying I harmed you? Or is it that you mother and son have already decided that Zhang Laizi came for me, which is why you’re saying this?”
Under her cold, piercing gaze, Liu-shi and her son trembled uncontrollably.
If they insisted it was Song Zhaoxi’s doing, then why Zhang Laizi had climbed into the house in the middle of the night would become deeply suspicious. Liu-shi not only lost her reputation but would also be labeled as someone who harmed others.
At this moment, Liu-shi was furious, but she had no choice but to swallow it down.
Seeing that Liu-shi had quieted down, Song Zhaoxi turned to Ji Xiaohu and smiled.
“What were you saying just now? That only filthy women and cheap sluts would steal men? Third Aunt did something improper, yes—but how can you talk about your own mother like that?”
Ji Xiaohu’s face flushed red. He suddenly lunged at Song Zhaoxi.
“You must be the one who harmed my mother! I’ll kill you!”
Song Zhaoxi easily grabbed him, pinning him so he couldn’t move. She chuckled lightly.
“Naughty child. Your third aunt has been a widow for many years—it’s normal for her to want a man. Zhang Laizi isn’t married either, so they’re quite a match. In the future, don’t let any random man slip into the house and assume he’s here for me. Maybe… he’s your stepfather.”
Nearby, Zhang Laizi snorted and added fuel to the fire.
“How could I possibly marry a widow? Liu-shi paid me silver and begged me to sleep with her. Marry her? She’s dreaming!”
“You, Zhang Laizi, take a good look at yourself!” Liu-shi, who had always been proud of herself, trembled with rage after being insulted and rejected after sleeping with a man.
But Zhang Laizi spat at her and swaggered away. The village head and the villagers looked at each other awkwardly.
After all, this was the Ji family’s private matter. The village head coughed and said,
“Your third brother has been dead for many years. If Liu-shi and Zhang Laizi have that kind of relationship, it’s not really a big deal. This is your family matter—we won’t interfere.”
What a mess this was!
After everyone left, Old Lady Ji’s vision went dark. She grabbed a broom from the yard and beat Liu-shi relentlessly until she fainted.
Then she turned her gloomy gaze toward Song Zhaoxi. Although angry, she also understood that Liu-shi would not have done something so foolish as to shoot herself in the foot—this must have something to do with that fool.
Daring to disgrace her dead youngest son—she would not let this go!
However, after this incident, Old Lady Ji did not dare to act rashly for the time being.
The Ji family and Song Zhaoxi maintained a fragile outward peace. Song Zhaoxi temporarily stayed in Ji Changfeng’s room.
Old Lady Ji and Li-shi privately discussed matters. The school would be on break in a little over a month. Ji Changfeng hated it most when others touched his things, and he already disliked that fool. By then, they would have him divorce her—Ji Changfeng would likely be more than willing.
Once that fool became homeless again like before, she would be at their mercy.
No matter what the Ji family was secretly planning, Song Zhaoxi didn’t take them seriously. One day, while hunting in the mountains, she had unusually good luck and found two wild lingzhi mushrooms.
She faintly felt something was off. Villagers often came up the mountain—how could such rare mushrooms still be here untouched?
Looking around, she realized the mountain path felt strangely familiar, very similar to the terrain she had seen in her past life when she used to do livestreaming in the mountains. Back then, she had indeed bought two lingzhi in advance and buried them to attract attention. Could it be…
Song Zhaoxi found it absurd and quickly tucked the mushrooms away before heading down the mountain.
On the day of the county market, because of the Third Branch incident, Li-shi took advantage of the situation and used the excuse that Ji Pingping was of marriageable age to take the money originally meant for Ji Xiaohu’s clothes. At dawn, mother and daughter left the house happily.
Since the village had no ox carts, villagers going to the market gathered at the village entrance and walked together to the county town.
Yao-shi carried several bamboo baskets she had woven. When Song Zhaoxi followed her, Li-shi sneered:
“Big sister-in-law, still taking those worthless scraps to the city again? I’m going today to buy cloth for Pingping’s new clothes.”
Yao-shi ignored her. She was mild-tempered and rarely got angry, simply pulling Song Zhaoxi to walk behind the crowd.
It was late summer. The rice fields along the country path emitted a faint fragrance. A rare sense of ease filled Song Zhaoxi’s lips with a faint smile.
Seeing that they were ignored, Li-shi grew annoyed and began gossiping loudly with the villagers, bragging about how much silver Old Lady Ji had given them. But since neither Yao-shi nor Song Zhaoxi reacted, the mother and daughter only ended up talking to themselves and grew increasingly frustrated.
Ji Pingping finally couldn’t hold back.
“Hey! Why are you ignoring us?”
Nearby, Shi Zhenxiang chimed in sourly, “What, you think marrying into the Ji family makes you so great?”
“My big brother will definitely divorce her when he comes back! He was supposed to marry Xiao Xue in the first place,” Ji Pingping said, then hurried over to a pretty girl and flattered her.
“Xiao Xue is pretty and educated. She’s clearly the best match for my brother.”
Ji Xue was the village head’s only daughter. Unlike other village girls, she had been raised like a treasure. Her clothes were made of fine fabric, making her stand out among the sun-darkened girls.
Hearing the flattery, Ji Xue glanced at Song Zhaoxi with disdain and turned away.
A mere fool like her wasn’t even worth comparing.
After arriving in the county town, Yao-shi and Li-shi agreed to meet in the east of the city in the afternoon to return home together.
After Li-shi left with her daughter, Yao-shi went to sell her baskets.
The county town was not large, but on market days it was crowded with people from surrounding villages. Stalls were everywhere. Most passersby only glanced at her baskets before walking away.
Yao-shi sighed. Each basket cost only ten to twenty copper coins, and it wasn’t certain she could sell them all.
Song Zhaoxi told Yao-shi she would leave for a while, then went to a pharmacy to ask about lingzhi prices. Ordinary lingzhi cost about three to four taels of silver each.
After estimating the value of her two well-formed wild mushrooms, she went to the largest pharmacy in the county—Deji Hall.
The shopkeeper saw a young girl coming alone to sell lingzhi and smiled.
“These are decent quality. I’ll give you eight taels for both.”
“Are you trying to send a beggar away?” she said.
The shopkeeper frowned. “Aren’t you just a little beggar? I’m only offering you this much out of pity. You won’t get a better price anywhere else. Don’t be ungrateful!”
Song Zhaoxi: “……”