Chapter 120: Jin Cuicui 1/2

Although it seemed like these girls had undergone significant changes in just two months, in reality, they hadn’t changed that much.

But while they were in the village, they inevitably got sunburnt, making them relatively darker. After spending two months in the embroidery workshop, their skin had lightened considerably.

Then there was their attire.

Jin Xiaoye owned the embroidery workshop, so naturally, she wouldn’t have the girls wear ugly clothes.

Although the material of the dresses these girls wore wasn’t very good, the colors were bright, and the styles were innovative.

People in Miaoqian Village always felt that as long as clothes were wearable, it was fine. They would even choose the cheapest and most durable fabrics, resulting in clothes that looked like sacks. They were as ugly as can be, yet some people didn’t even have clothes without patches.

If it were a great beauty, perhaps anything would look good on her, but these girls were not beauties.

Now, they had become fairer and plumper, wearing new clothes as they returned to the village. With rouge applied to their lips, they gave off a different vibe.

“Axiu, you look so pretty all of a sudden.”

“Hong’er, Uncle almost didn’t recognize you!”

“Xiao Cao, let me take a look!”

…

The villagers surrounded the girls, chatting non-stop. Some noticed that not all the girls had returned and asked Jin Xiaoshu where the others were.

Jin Xiaoshu replied, “I couldn’t fit everyone on one boat, so the others will come back tomorrow.” Actually, it was because those girls didn’t want to come back, but he didn’t say that.

“Oh, I see! Why did they suddenly come back?” someone else asked.

“My brother-in-law ranked first again in the imperial examination in the capital, and my sister is coming back to organize a feast in the village, so she had them come back too,” Jin Xiaoshu said proudly.

He had known about Li Qingzhi’s success in the imperial examination yesterday.

But when he came back yesterday, it was already late, and he hadn’t run into anyone on his way home… Jin Xiaoshu wasn’t the type to boast to others like Li Laogen, so he only mentioned it to his parents.

But just because he didn’t boast to others didn’t mean he didn’t want to.

With his brother-in-law being so amazing, he definitely wanted to brag about it.

“The results of the provincial examination are out?”

“Li Qingzhi ranked first again?”

“Oh my god, he went to the capital for the examination, and he ranked first again!”

“Li Qingzhi is truly incredible!”

“Your sister is hosting a feast?”

…

The villagers surrounded Jin Xiaoshu and bombarded him with questions.

Jin Xiaoshu answered each question with pride.

The villagers were also proud. Someone from their village had ranked first in the provincial examination. How impressive! They felt a sense of pride when they went out and chatted with others.

“They say Li Qingzhi is like the incarnation of Wenquxing, and it turns out to be true.”

“Why is Li Laogen so lucky!”

“Xiaoshu, you received the news yesterday; why didn’t you tell us at the time?”

“Your mother is really something. She spent the whole day in the village today and didn’t say a word.”

…

After asking about Li Qingzhi’s situation, they went on to ask the girls who worked at Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop about their experiences there.

Some villagers had indeed visited them in the county town before, but the workshop was quite busy, so they didn’t want to stay long and left after chatting with their daughters for a while.

They hadn’t heard from those people that the girls had new clothes to wear!

People always like to be noticed and appreciated, and these girls were no exception. They immediately talked about their experiences over the past two months.

“We have rice porridge and eggs every morning.”

“We can have meat for lunch and dinner, and the rice is white rice.”

“Shopkeeper Jin even had beds made for us.”

…

The villagers were extremely envious, and someone couldn’t help but ask, “Does Shopkeeper Jin still need more people to marry?” She wanted to join too!

That’s unknown! You should ask Jin Xiaoye.

The news from the riverbank spread quickly. Before long, everyone in the village knew about Li Qingzhi passing the provincial examination and Jin Xiaoye’s plan to host a feast.

Since no one was at the Li family’s house, everyone gathered at Jin Xiaoshu’s house to chat.

Jin’s mother was at a loss and could only quietly boil water. Fortunately, Jin Xiaoshu was eloquent. He chatted with the villagers with a smile. After realizing that everyone he wanted to invite had arrived, he also mentioned tomorrow’s feast at the Li family’s house to them.

Jin Xiaoshu even said, “My sister didn’t invite many people, mainly because there are too many people and not enough space. But when the time comes, as long as they’re from our village, everyone can take a bowl of food back with them as a token of good luck.”

The villagers were overjoyed to hear this.

Of course, some people weren’t happy.

Yao Zhenfu was quite unhappy. Li Qingzhi had already topped the county examination, and now he had also topped the provincial examination!

Why him?

However, amidst his anger, Yao Zhenfu also felt a sense of relief.

Li Qingzhi was so outstanding that it was normal for him not to compare. It wasn’t that embarrassing, right?

Yao Zhenfu had been hiding at home for a long time, but he couldn’t hide forever.

However, he definitely wouldn’t attend the feast at the Li family’s house tomorrow!

Yao Zhenfu was actually quite lucky. When County Magistrate Yan investigated the case, he found that although Yao Zhenfu had questioned it, he had no connection with Hong Hui, nor had he taken money like Fang Zijian… He was taken in for questioning but was not convicted.

Nevertheless, Yao Zhenfu still felt quite annoyed. He couldn’t help but keep muttering to himself, “He’s just showing off. He’s actually hosting a feast…”

Mr. Yao couldn’t help but say, “I told you before that when you passed the county examination, you should host a feast, but you didn’t object!”

Yao Zhenfu remained silent.

Mr. Yao continued, “You didn’t work in the fields during the busy farming period. Next time, you must work in the fields during the busy season…”

Yao Zhenfu agreed, but whether he would actually do it was unknown.

When Jin Moli returned home and heard Mr. Yao and Yao Zhenfu’s conversation, her face turned ugly.

After the county examination, Yao Shaogong had said that Yao Zhenfu should work in the fields, but whenever Yao Zhenfu pretended to have a headache or fever, Mr. Yao would relent.

During the busy farming period, Yao Shaogong and his wife both worked in the fields, but Yao Zhenfu stayed at home and did nothing.

She needed to prepare a lot when selling meals in the county town. Originally, Mr. Yao and his wife would help her, but during the busy farming period, they both went to the fields, and Yao Zhenfu didn’t even want to start a fire. She had to do everything by herself, which made her busy and dizzy.

Why did she choose such a man?

No wonder Jin Xiaoye despised him in her past life and even fought with him at the beginning.

Jin Moli had thought about separating from Yao Zhenfu. She received advances from other men while selling meals outside. 

However, those men who expressed interest in her had no house or land. How could she be with them?

After blaming Yao Zhenfu for a while, Jin Moli looked at her hands, which had become rougher and darker, feeling even more uncomfortable.

Selling meals in the county town was much harder than she had imagined.

She had to wake up before dawn every day to cook, then take the food to the county town to sell. After selling all day and returning home, she still had to prepare ingredients for the next day.

Day after day, she couldn’t rest for a moment. In the end, she did make money, but not much.

And they could only make money because they brought grains and vegetables from home to sell. If they had to buy them, she and Jin Liusu would probably only earn fifty or sixty wen after a day of hard work.

Jin Moli had never done such hard work before. She was exhausted during this time. If she hadn’t thought about Jin Xiaoye selling meals for several years in her past life, she would definitely not have been able to persist.

She wondered where the recipe that made Jin Xiaoye earn a lot of money came from.

She had thought before that Jin Xiaoye had figured it out herself. During this time, she specifically studied it and even discussed it with her father.

She had made the dish several times, and her family said it tasted good.

But only ignorant country folks would think it was delicious! The dish she made couldn’t even compare to what Jin Xiaoye used to sell, let alone what was sold in the county town now!

Jin Xiaoye couldn’t possibly have figured out such a good recipe on her own. She never told anyone the origin of that braised meat recipe. Could it be that she lied or stole it?

Jin Moli gnashed her teeth inwardly. Hearing the stories from the girls who worked at Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop about how Li Qingzhi could cook and take care of children, her heart felt sour, as if soaked in vinegar.