Chapter 16: Secretly Holding Hands

Chu Xiaoqi looked at the silver notes and scattered silver in her hands, grinning so widely her eyes nearly disappeared.

“That wild boar meat is gamey and tough—what’s so good about it?
It’s just that city folks don’t often get wild game, so they find it novel.
Now that we’ve got money, can’t we buy some good, tender domestic pork instead?”

“Now go wash up. Time to eat.”

Although the Ji family still had their doubts, they didn’t question her. Everyone obediently went to wash their hands for dinner.

At the dinner table, the braised intestines were way more popular than the pork bones—so much so that the family practically wanted to drink the leftover sauce.

After dinner, Chu Xiaoqi bathed and sat in the courtyard, waiting for her hair to dry. The rest of the Ji family gradually carried small stools over and sat around her.

Ji Mother finally spoke up awkwardly.
“Xiaoqi, I’m sorry. I caused the family trouble today.”

Ji Father followed up, “It’s my fault for being so useless…”

Chu Xiaoqi looked at the middle-aged couple in front of her. No matter whether she was truly Ji Jingxuan’s wife or not, these two were still elders.

The original body had been ignorant, but she, a modern woman with a university education, had no excuse to act the same way.

She flipped over on her rickety lounge chair, sat cross-legged, and propped her chin on her hand as she looked at Ji Father and Ji Mother.

“Do they have some kind of scandalous dirt on you two or what?”

The couple shook their heads repeatedly.
“No, no…”

“Then what are you so afraid of?”

“…Afraid people will gossip, say we don’t respect our elder brother and sister-in-law, accuse us of being unfilial…” Ji Father and Ji Mother didn’t say anything else, but Ji Jingze chimed in from the side.

“They’re already trying to drive you to death, and you’re still worried about being respectful?
If they don’t even respect you, why should you respect them?
Next time they come here to bully you, just fight back. Worst case, it’s mutual destruction—what’s to be scared of?
That Ji Yanyang’s nothing but a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong.
Against people like that, you have to be worse than them to shut them up.
The more you avoid him, the worse he’ll treat you.”

The Ji family fell silent after hearing Chu Xiaoqi’s words.
They weren’t sure if she was right or wrong—but somehow, it just felt like the right thing to do.

—

After Chu Xiaoqi left Ji Da’s house earlier, the old aunt threw a huge tantrum at Ji Da, scolding him until he didn’t even get to eat dinner.

Afterward, she wandered over to the big banyan tree at the village entrance to catch up on gossip—only to hear that Chu Xiaoqi had killed a wild boar on Yama Mountain and even distributed the meat to pay back debts. She’d even given two extra portions to thank the villagers who helped.

Fuming, she stormed home, stomped into Ji Yanyang’s room, and slammed her palm down hard on the brick bed’s small table.

“Infuriating! Absolutely infuriating! Ji Lao’er’s family got a whole wild boar today, and not even a single scrap was sent to honor me, their elder!”

Ji Yanyang, who had been lying back with his legs crossed, turned to ask,
“A wild boar? How’d Second Uncle’s family get that?”

“Word is that little slut Chu Xiaoqi killed it herself on Yama Mountain!”

Ji Yanyang thought back to how Chu Xiaoqi had stood in their courtyard at dusk, covered in blood, wielding a machete like a death god. A cold chill crept from his toes up to his scalp, and he shivered uncontrollably.

That woman dared to kill a wild boar…
Would she actually dare to kill a person too?

“Son, let’s go—let’s demand some meat!” Aunt Ji smacked her son’s butt and stood up.

Ji Yanyang rolled off the brick bed and roared,
“If you want to die, go by yourself! Stop dragging me along every time!
You got amnesia or what?!
Just an hour ago, that crazy woman almost slit my throat—and I’m still sore all over!
Would it kill you not to eat a little pork for once?!”

The moment he entered the room, he lay straight down and pulled the blanket over his head.

The eldest aunt was stunned by Ji Yanyang’s shouting, frozen for a while before she finally reacted and began sobbing and complaining as she wiped away her tears.

“I was just thinking of getting you some meat to eat. Wasn’t I doing it all for you?
And now it’s all my fault? Oh, how miserable my life is…”

Though Ji Yanyang was a rough and careless person, he was still filial toward his mother.

He sat up and pushed the blanket aside. “Mom, that Chu Xiaoqi is not someone to mess with.
That crazy woman beat me yesterday—every blow landed on a vital spot.
If her strength had been a bit stronger, I would’ve died right there yesterday.
She really knows martial arts!
The village is so big. Can we stop fixating on Second Uncle’s family, alright?”

The eldest aunt slapped the table furiously.

She was practically fuming!

The doormat they had bullied and oppressed for over thirty years had suddenly turned the tables on them.

She was angry that Ji Yanyang was so useless he couldn’t even handle a weak woman.
But she didn’t dare to go confront Chu Xiaoqi herself either. She felt so stifled—she just couldn’t swallow her pride.

“If we can’t win in the open, we’ll go about it in secret…”

Ji Yanyang raised an eyebrow and asked in confusion, “Go about what in secret?”

The eldest aunt mysteriously beckoned him over, and whispered in his ear for a long while.

Meanwhile, everyone in Ji’s second household had finished washing up and gone back to their rooms to rest.

Ji Jingxuan would usually read a bit before bed, and the kerosene lamp was still lit.

Chu Xiaoqi sat cross-legged on the kang bed, opened her money box, took out all her belongings, and looked through them again and again, counting them over and over, grinning with delight.

She now had a total of 19 taels of silver. Based on local market value, one tael of silver was roughly equivalent to 1,200 yuan—so 19 taels was close to 20,000 yuan.

With this money, if they spent wisely, the whole family wouldn’t go hungry for almost a whole year.

She gleefully hugged the silver notes and rolled back and forth on the bed. Ji Jingxuan, seeing her eyes light up at the sight of money, couldn’t help but smile faintly at the corners of his lips.

Chu Xiaoqi rolled twice more, but then her eyes landed on a palm-sized crack in the wall, and her smile froze instantly.

Was she celebrating too early?

This was the northern frontier—Liguo’s northernmost area, equivalent to the modern-day Northeast China. Winters here were brutally cold.

Snow would begin to fall as early as mid-September, and by mid-October at the latest, the temperature outside could drop to minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius.

It was already early September now, and the weather was starting to cool after the rice harvest. Mid-September wasn’t far off, yet their house was still in disrepair.
The family had no proper winter clothes or bedding, and they hadn’t stocked up any food.

Ahhh…

Was the heavens still trying to kill her?

If they didn’t starve, were they going to freeze?

No, no—The revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still need to keep working hard!

Make money. Make money…

Ji Jingxuan saw her mood shift from childlike glee to heavy sighing in just a second.

He got up and sat by the kang, gently brushing the stray hairs from Chu Xiaoqi’s forehead.

“What’s wrong? You were so happy just now, and now you’re sighing like that.”

Chu Xiaoqi stared blankly at the thatched roof and replied in despair, “You wouldn’t understand…”

“If you don’t say anything, how would I know I don’t understand?”

“Forget it, forget it… After you pass the Autumn Imperial Exam, when do you plan to take the next one?” Chu Xiaoqi quickly changed the subject.

Ji Jingxuan thought for a moment and said, “If I pass the Autumn Exam, then I’ll need to go to the capital to take the Metropolitan Exam next February or March.”

Chu Xiaoqi nodded and started doing calculations in her head.

It was written in the novel that Ji Jingxuan would pass all three levels of the imperial exam and become the top-ranking scholar. If everything went smoothly, wouldn’t that mean in less than half a year, they could officially divorce?

Once Ji Jingxuan became the zhuangyuan (top scholar), as long as she didn’t go with him to the capital, she could avoid meeting the novel’s female lead—and also avoid being thrown into prison and dying a tragic death.

After the divorce, she’d head south.

Find a warm city and live a carefree life as a happy little couch potato.

“I noticed you got back pretty early today. Didn’t you have class at the academy this afternoon?” she asked.

Ji Jingxuan nodded. “The teacher stopped lecturing before the autumn harvest. Students who live nearby can choose to go or not. Those who go usually just write essays for the teacher to review and provide feedback.

Also, with the Autumn Examination approaching, many candidates didn’t receive notice of any postponement, so they went to Mangzhou early to get familiar with the environment.”

“Are you planning to head over early too? After all, you’ll be staying there for about half a month.”

“I will, but going three to five days early to find lodging is enough. No need to go a whole month ahead and suffer.”

Chu Xiaoqi thought about it and nodded. That made sense. They hadn’t prepared anything for him, so going too early would just be asking for trouble.

“It’s getting late. You should sleep early. Reading under the oil lamp isn’t good for your eyes. Get up early tomorrow and review your materials.

I still have to go to Yama Mountain in the morning to gather chestnuts and dig up more herbs. I plan to head to the county town in a few days to see if any medical clinics are buying.”

Ji Jingxuan frowned slightly, concern written all over his face. “Didn’t we make enough from selling the pig? Why are you still going to Yama Mountain? It’s too dangerous. Can’t you stop going?

I’ll work hard copying books to make money too.”

Chu Xiaoqi let out a deep sigh. “Do you think that little bit of silver is gold? Enough to feed us for ten years?

Snow’s coming soon, and the house is falling apart with no repairs. No one in the family has winter coats or bedding yet, and we haven’t stocked up on any food.

When you go to take the exam, don’t you need money for food, lodging, and everything else?

Besides, how much can you earn slaving away copying books all month? And it eats into your study time.

Just focus on studying for the Autumn Exam. Don’t worry about the money—I’ll handle it.

And don’t worry about my safety either. You saw it yourself today—even a wild boar couldn’t hurt me.

Unless it’s a tiger, what animal could possibly harm me?

Alright, alright, sleep now…”

She put away the silver notes, lay down, pulled the blanket over herself, and closed her eyes to sleep.

Under the dim yellow lamplight, Ji Jingxuan looked at Chu Xiaoqi’s soft and delicate face, overwhelmed with guilt.

He was a grown man, yet still relied on his wife to earn money and support the family.

If he ever succeeded in the exams, he swore he would never let her down.

Chu Xiaoqi kept feeling a burning gaze on her, making her squirm with discomfort. She opened her eyes and immediately met Ji Jingxuan’s gentle, emotion-filled eyes.

She gave a visible shiver. “What the heck? Why aren’t you asleep yet? Sitting there like a statue?”

Ji Jingxuan snapped back to reality, mumbled “Oh…” in response, and began quietly undressing and climbing into bed.

After the light was out, Chu Xiaoqi remembered Ji Jingxuan’s look just now and started to panic.

That look in his eyes just now—why did it feel so… suggestive?

Could it be that he…

No, no, absolutely not.

The male lead belongs to the female lead—don’t you dare go looking for death!

Sleep. Just sleep!

Chu Xiaoqi had exhausted herself today, and before long, she was sound asleep.

Ji Jingxuan turned his head to quietly look at her and softly whispered, “Xiaoqi… Xiaoqi…”

Seeing that she didn’t respond, he gently shifted closer to her, quietly reached out, and took her small hand in his—then finally closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.