Time passed in the blink of an eye, and Hua Wanxi had finally finished her postpartum confinement period. She could finally go out!
Other women, after finishing their confinement, would usually take a proper bath, but Hua Wanxi didn’t need to. She bathed every day in her own bathroom, so she wasn’t dirty at all—in fact, she was always fresh and clean.
During this period, by selling soap every day, she had already saved nearly three thousand taels of silver. In the village, she was now one of the richest families. However, apart from the Jiang family, no one knew she was secretly so wealthy.
After nearly a month of persuasion—and Jiang Wenwan’s tearful, dramatic performances—the Jiang family had gradually begun to believe her claim that there would be a natural disaster next year. They had already started subconsciously stockpiling grain, and would also bring back extra food for Hua Wanxi to store.
However, the matter was too absurd, so they still hadn’t made up their minds to persuade the village chief.
Still, it probably wouldn’t last much longer. Jiang Wenwan gave her daily updates, and the Jiang family was already softening; within a few days, they should be fully convinced.
The female lead really is amazing! Hua Wanxi silently gave Jiang Wenwan a thumbs-up in her heart.
After finally persuading Madam Wang, from today on, she would no longer come over to cook for her. Hua Wanxi could finally start cooking some food herself and store it in the bathroom space.
But she had something more important to do now—she needed to go to town to stock up!
There were too many things missing at home, and she needed to buy them in bulk. She couldn’t tell anyone about her storage space, so she had to go to town herself.
She brought her two children to the Jiang family and asked Jiang’s mother to help take care of them, even leaving some silver behind. Jiang’s mother naturally refused, but Hua Wanxi hated such back-and-forth refusals—it wasted time.
So she just ran off.
Jiang’s mother chased her to the gate, but seeing she didn’t even look back, she could only grumble as she returned.
“This Hua family woman! She’s way too generous! She even gives silver just for me looking after my own grandkids—she really doesn’t know how to manage money!”
But her cold expression melted the moment she saw the two chubby, smiling babies on the bed.
“Oh my little grandbabies! Come let grandma take a look—have you gotten chubbier?”
The three-year-old Jiang Wenqiang saw his younger siblings for the first time. He clumsily climbed onto the bed, his short legs struggling, and shouted:
“Grandma! I want to see! Let me look! I want to see my little brother and sister!”
“Alright, alright, be careful. You can only look—don’t touch them too hard!” Grandma Jiang reminded him gently, guiding his hand as he reached out.
“Okay, Grandma!” Jiang Wenqiang obediently followed instructions and gently touched the babies. Everything was new and fascinating to him. He kept leaning over, peering at one and then the other.
Meanwhile, Hua Wanxi returned home and started preparing for her trip to town.
Actually, there wasn’t much to prepare—she would have to change again later anyway.
She simply put on plain cotton clothes, carried a basket on her back, and headed out after locking the door.
The ox cart belonged to the village chief’s family. The morning cart that Jiang’s father and others had taken had already left. She didn’t plan to go with them, because she intended to disguise herself later, and traveling together would risk exposure.
The village chief’s eldest son, Jiang Fugui, was already waiting. They had agreed the day before that he would only take her to town and not bring her back. Since she was the only passenger, she paid him one-tenth of a tael of silver.
They weren’t familiar with each other, so they didn’t talk much along the way. The ox cart swayed slowly, making Hua Wanxi drowsy until they finally reached town.
Jiang Fugui dropped her off in front of a tailor shop and left.
The shop was neither large nor small, filled with ready-made clothes and various fabrics.
Hua Wanxi’s main goal now was to quickly disguise herself, so she didn’t pay much attention to the shop itself.
The shopkeeper looked her over as she entered. Although her clothes were simple, they were clean and new without patches, suggesting she was from a decent household. The shopkeeper immediately put on a smile.
“Welcome, customer. What would you like to buy? We have ready-made clothes and fabrics, and we also do tailoring.”
Hua Wanxi walked around the shop and pointed at a set of women’s clothing.
“How much is this set?”
It was one of the higher-end items in the shop, made of fine cotton with decorative trim on the cuffs and collar, clearly more refined than ordinary clothes.
Hua Wanxi planned to disguise herself as a manager’s wife from a wealthy household. This identity would prevent others from looking down on her, and it would also make large-scale purchases less suspicious.
She didn’t intend to keep a low profile like protagonists in other stories. Instead, she deliberately chose the opposite approach—acting arrogant and commanding.
In this world, people often bullied the weak and feared the strong. If she acted timid, she would only be taken advantage of.
In ancient times, a single woman carrying silver and making large purchases was like walking through a market holding treasure—she would basically be inviting robbery.
The shopkeeper, seeing her upright posture and composed attitude, didn’t dare to trick her and gave a fair price.
“This cotton outfit is made of fine cloth, and the trimming is done by skilled seamstresses. It costs one tael and two qian of silver per set.”
“And the one next to it?” Hua Wanxi asked.
“It’s the same price—one tael and two qian.”
Hua Wanxi had previously received clothes from the original owner’s uncle and knew the price was fair, though there was still room for bargaining.
She didn’t want to buy fabric and make clothes herself—she had neither the skill nor the time.
She continued asking about several other outfits, both adult and baby clothes. In the end, she bought:
After some bargaining, the total came to 6 taels of silver.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to buy more—her basket could only hold that much, and it was already overflowing.
But that was fine. Once she finished her disguise, she would buy a cart and could be more free in her purchases.
The shopkeeper happily saw her out. Although she bargained hard, she bought a lot and paid quickly—one transaction was worth more than ten ordinary customers.
Hua Wanxi carried her basket and wandered until she found a secluded alley. After looking around to confirm no one was there, she slipped into her “bathroom space.”
She changed into one of the newly bought high-end cotton outfits and threw some clothes into the washing machine. Then she went to the sink and began applying makeup.
Her cosmetics were extremely complete compared to this world.
First, she mixed foundation to slightly darken her skin tone, remembering to apply it to her neck and hands as well—something beginners often forget, which makes the face and neck mismatched.
Then she thickened her eyebrows, shaping them into the style of most middle-aged women she had seen on the street.
She didn’t bother with eye makeup or eyelashes, but added blush and a bold red lip. Finally, she used eyeliner to draw a few freckles on her face.
She tied her hair up with a black claw clip and inserted the silver hairpin from her marriage into her bun.
In an instant, the image of a strong, sharp middle-aged woman was complete.