Chapter 93: Manuscript 1/3

In the eyes of the villagers, Jin Xiaoye’s appearance was not bad, but she wasn’t a beauty.

People have ingrained perceptions. Since childhood, Jin Xiaoye has been running around the village, dark and skinny, often fighting with boys, so naturally, no one thought she was pretty.

Moreover, there was always Jin Moli by her side for comparison.

Two girls of the same age but completely opposite in existence.

When Jin Xiaoye cut her hair short, went barefoot to cut grass in the fields, and went to the river to catch snails, looking rough and tough, what was Jin Moli doing? She wore brightly colored dresses, and her hair was tied up with bright red ribbons.

Whether it was the elders or the boys in the village, when Jin Moli was young, they all thought she was the prettiest girl in Miaoqian Village, and as she grew up, they naturally continued to think so.

But in Li Qingzhi’s eyes, purely in terms of facial features, Jin Xiaoye was even more beautiful than Jin Moli; it’s just that Jin Moli had fair skin, knew how to dress up, and loved to dress up, as for Jin Xiaoye…

During the busy days recently, she couldn’t even be bothered to wash her face in the morning!

Speaking of which… the original owner came to Miaoqian Village with the intention to settle down here, wanting to marry a Miaoqian Village girl. At that time, he singled out Jin Xiaoye at a glance because among the village girls, she was considered decent looking.

Of course, that was just considered decent among the village girls. The original owner’s mother was a great beauty, even more beautiful than Fang Jinniang. The original owner’s sister and the original owner’s younger sister were also born beautiful, and compared to them, Jin Xiaoye couldn’t be considered much.

But in Li Qingzhi’s eyes, Jin Xiaoye was the most beautiful. The vitality she exuded made it hard for him to look away.

“Xiaoye, didn’t Sister Wang give you rouge and powder? Shall I put some makeup on for you?” Li Qingzhi suggested.

At the end of the year, Jin Xiaoye distributed money to the women in the embroidery workshop.

Sister Wang and her daughter worked together, and plus the rent from their house, they received the most money.

She was a little reluctant for Jin Xiaoye to move elsewhere, but their house had always been occupied by fabrics, which was not ideal… Her daughter was about to get married!

Ultimately, Sister Wang put aside her concerns and bought rouge and powder for her daughter, and also bought a set for Jin Xiaoye.

It was said that this was strongly supported by Qu Yunqing, and even the money used was from Qu Yunqing. Even the rouge and powder bought for Jin Xiaoye were carefully selected by Qu Yunqing.

These days, there are many types of powder used for makeup, some made from grain starch, while others from lead. The latter could cause problems if used for a long time, so most people preferred the former.

The box Sister Wang gave was locally known as pearl powder, costing one hundred wen per box.

Of course, there were no pearls inside it. The rouge shops in the city perennially bought river clam shells. Li Qingzhi thought this powder was made from clam shells ground into powder with added rice flour and spices.

After Sister Wang gave her the powder, Li Qingzhi opened it and smelled a faint fragrance.

They didn’t have a mirror at home, so Jin Xiaoye didn’t know how Li Qingzhi had styled her hair. At the moment, she was feeling around her head and heard Li Qingzhi’s words: “Forget it; my skin is dark, and putting on makeup might look strange.”

Jin Xiaoye had never bought rouge and powder before, except on the day of her marriage, when Aunt Jin gave her a bit of her own rouge to apply to her lips.

But she had seen others put on makeup.

Jin Moli had fair skin, and applying powder made her look better. But there was once a girl in the village as dark as her who applied a thick layer of powder to her face on her wedding day, and she looked very strange.

Anyway, she didn’t think it looked good at all.

“No, let’s use a little less. Let me try it,” Li Qingzhi said.

“Okay!” Jin Xiaoye agreed. If Li Qingzhi made such a small request, she would definitely comply.

Seeing Jin Xiaoye sitting there, letting herself be made up, Li Qingzhi couldn’t help but smile and kissed her lips.

Jin Xiaoye: “…” Wasn’t she supposed to be putting on makeup?

Of course, makeup had to be applied.

Zhu Qianlu had sent Li Qingzhi some things, including a set of brushes.

In this set of brushes, there was also a pig hair brush.

The so-called pig hair brush was made from pig hair. The tip of this kind of brush was spread out and couldn’t be used to write calligraphy, but it could be used for painting. For example, when stippling stones, some people liked to use pig hair.

Li Qingzhi tried the pig hair brush and found that the hair on it wasn’t hard. He used it to brush the egg-shaped powder and then brushed it onto Jin Xiaoye’s face.

People with fair skin had less melanin on their faces. Excessive sun exposure could easily cause freckles and sunspots. But people with naturally dark skin were different; excessive sun exposure would only darken their entire face, but they were less likely to develop spots.

Jin Xiaoye didn’t have any spots on her face, and the slight acne scars she had were also eliminated by Li Qingzhi’s ability.

Li Qingzhi didn’t apply too much powder, just a little, and then began to apply rouge to her lips.

Because Jin Xiaoye’s skin was dark, the color of her lips wasn’t much different from her skin tone, so they didn’t stand out much. But now, with the rouge applied, her complexion looked very good, and she suddenly appeared beautiful.

“Done,” said Li Qingzhi.

Jin Xiaoye breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Qingzhi had only used a brush to lightly apply powder to her, so she shouldn’t be left with a strange, pale face, right?

“Xiaoye, wear this.” Li Qingzhi suddenly pulled out a small box from his body and opened it.

Jin Xiaoye glanced at it and found a pair of gold earrings and a gold ring inside.

The pair of gold earrings weren’t large, but they had several small gold leaves hanging from them, each about the size of a grain of rice, making them look particularly delicate.

The gold ring was also different from ordinary ones; the band resembled a tree branch with some golden leaves growing on it.

These earrings and the ring were crafted by artisans based on designs drawn by Li Qingzhi, and for this, he had spent an extra silver or two.

But he felt it was worth it. Jin Xiaoye should have something different from others—a unique piece of jewelry.

Jin Xiaoye asked, “When did you buy these? How much did they cost?”

“I bought them a month ago, and they didn’t cost much,” Li Qingzhi laughed. Just as he finished speaking, Jin Xiaoye hugged his face, and then kissed him twice.

Hmm, the rouge on Jin Xiaoye’s lips needed to be reapplied.

Jin Xiaoye waited for Li Qingzhi to touch up her rouge and put on the earrings before she left.

In the past, she wouldn’t have wanted to stand out in Miaoqian Village for fear of jealousy.

Most people in the village were simple, but there were also some narrow-minded individuals who, seeing her wealth, might cause trouble behind her back.