Chapter 38: Ji Family’s Little Lucky Star

Yang Dahui and the others looked at Hu Zhaodi with faces full of terror, wanting to speak but unable to suppress their violent coughing.

One of the gossiping women pointed at Hu Zhaodi, trying to say something, but she was bent over, coughing so hard she couldn’t straighten up.

Hu Zhaodi smiled coldly and said, “You all think it over carefully. If you truly realize your mistakes and sincerely repent, then come kneel outside the Ji family courtyard. When I’m in a good mood, maybe I’ll reward you with an antidote.”

After saying this, Hu Zhaodi helped Mr. Ji and strode away.

Behind them, the sound of coughing continued, but Hu Zhaodi paid no attention.

Mr. Ji gave a thumbs up, “Zhaodi, well done! I’ve wanted to deal with those gossiping women for a long time. They go around stirring up trouble, always talking about others family. And then there are those Yang Dahui and his wife; they’ve been taking advantage of the villagers as the village head for years, and everyone is too scared to speak up. They need a good lesson!”

Hu Zhaodi nodded with a smile, “Yes, sir. Actually, I heard yesterday that Yang Dahui planned to drug me today so his disabled son could force me into a situation. Then they would pocket my silver and make me serve their family. That’s why I asked Brother Han to help me. I didn’t expect that the county magistrate is his uncle by marriage. I didn’t even have to find the magistrate myself; he directly removed Yang Dahui from the village head position and replaced him with you.”

“Now it makes sense! I was wondering why you suggested I become the village head yesterday, and today the county magistrate showed up. Turns out it was thanks to the owner of the Fumanlou,” Mr. Ji said.

“Indeed! Next time I go, I’ll teach his chef a couple of new dishes; this fellow can be a good friend to have,” Hu Zhaodi replied.

The two chatted as they walked and soon returned to the Ji family courtyard.

The other members of the Ji family were still busy making vegetable cake.

Making the cake batter required physical labor, so the speed of making the cakes was naturally not very fast.

Aunt Ji was in the kitchen preparing dinner, and Hu Zhaodi went in to help.

Seeing Hu Zhaodi enter the kitchen, Aunt Ji immediately said, “Zhaodi, get out of here; it’s too smoky in the kitchen!”

“It’s fine, Aunt. I’m here to cook with you. Since today your husband has become the village head, let’s stir-fry a couple more dishes to celebrate,” Hu Zhaodi replied.

“Alright, now you’re the backbone of our family; you say what goes,” Aunt Ji said.

Hu Zhaodi smiled shyly, “Aunt, what are you saying? How could I be the pillar of the family?”

Aunt Ji laughed heartily, “Aunt isn’t foolish. Don’t think I don’t know; he become the village head is all because of you. It’s all thanks to you good child, our Ji family is truly blessed to have you!”

Hu Zhaodi grinned, “Hehe, I’m a little lucky star; whoever treats me well will strike it rich! Hahaha…”

“You really are our Ji family’s little lucky star. Now, go out and rest; I’ll handle the cooking,” Aunt Ji said, directly pushing Hu Zhaodi out of the kitchen.

Hu Zhaodi was pushed out and had no choice but to join her sisters-in-law in making the cakes.

During dinner, the entire family sat together to eat.

The eldest son of the Ji family spoke up, “Zhaodi, you bought land today; when do you plan to build the house?”

Hu Zhaodi thought for a moment, “After the autumn harvest! In a little over a month, it’ll be time to gather the grain, and everyone will be busy. The house-building plans will have to be postponed. If we start construction after the harvest, we can find more people to help, and it won’t take long to build the house.”

In fact, this was just an excuse Hu Zhaodi found; she didn’t want to deal with the gossip of the villagers right away.

After breaking ties with the Hu family for over half a month, Hu Zhaodi had already become the envy of the entire village. Many people even suspected the legitimacy of the silver she had earned.

Although Hu Zhaodi didn’t care about others’ opinions, living in the Ji family meant she had to consider their feelings.

The eldest son of the Ji family nodded, “That makes sense. When the time comes, my brother will help you find people. However, in the meantime, when we go into the mountains, we can also chop some wood to bring back.”

The Third Brother and Fifth Brother agreed with nods.

Old Mr. Ji said, “It’s a good idea to prepare the wood in advance. When you go into the mountains, I’ll drive the ox cart to the foot of the mountain to wait for you. Once you chop the wood, I’ll handle bringing it back.”

Hu Zhaodi felt deeply touched; the Ji family truly cared for her and didn’t treat her as just a temporary guest.

Of course, ever since the three Ji brothers began hunting and gathering medicinal herbs with Hu Zhaodi, they had earned more silver than they had in an entire year of hard work.

Now that their lives were gradually improving, they sincerely thanked Hu Zhaodi and treated her like family.

After dinner, the three daughters-in-law of the Ji family began to clean up the bowls and chopsticks.

Hu Zhaodi got up and went into the house, retrieving seventy taels of silver from her space.

She returned to the dining table and distributed twenty taels to each of the three Ji brothers and ten taels to Old Mr. Ji.

The four men stared wide-eyed at the silver in front of them, utterly incredulous.

In the past, after a year of hard work in the fields, they had never seen so much silver at once.

Simply relying on the grain they harvested was hardly enough to eat, let alone sell for silver.

They had also gone hunting and gathering herbs before, but they only dared to stay near the edges where people often moved, never daring to venture deep into the mountains.

With so many people hunting and gathering herbs, how could they expect to have a good harvest?

Even if they occasionally caught some meat, it wasn’t worth the long trek to sell it in the county town.

After all, they barely had a few meals of meat throughout the year; it was better to save it for family feasts.

But Hu Zhaodi was different. Although she didn’t have much inner strength yet, she had the ability to protect herself.

Even alone, she dared to venture into the deep mountains.

The real treasures were hidden deep within the mountains, and she never returned empty-handed after every trip.

The eldest son of the Ji family was the first to come back to his senses from the shock, “Zhaodi, you’ve given us so much silver; what about your share?”

The Fifth Brother echoed, “Yeah! If you give all the silver to us, how will you build your house?”

Hu Zhaodi smiled, “I already put away my share. This is all for you.”

Third Brother frowned, “That’s impossible! The herbs we gathered couldn’t possibly sell for that much silver. Zhaodi, I know you want us all to have a good life, but you can’t take a loss on this. In our hearts, you’re just like our own sister. As brothers, we should take care of you, not the other way around!”

Fifth Brother added, “Exactly, Zhaodi! The silver can’t be divided like this. We should split the seventy taels equally among the four of us, and we should honor our father together.”

Hu Zhaodi shook her head, “I’m really not lying to you; I’ve set aside my share, and it’s even more than yours. If I give all the silver to you, how will I build my house?”

Old Mr. Ji directly pushed the ten taels of silver back toward Hu Zhaodi, saying, “Zhaodi, I can’t take this silver. You keep it for yourself and use it for building your house.”