The Prime Minister’s Little Wife

Chapter 22: Buying a Mountain

The village chief also felt that he might have asked for too much and said, “Then I’ll go discuss it with the village elders.”

Xu Zhizhi was stunned. She thought to herself, No way! Can it really be cheaper? I was just casually saying that!

“Thank you so much, Grandpa Village Chief. Here, take some more mung bean cakes back for your grandchildren to try,” Xu Zhizhi said sincerely.

She was so happy that she even cut a piece of wild boar meat for the village chief. She cheerfully walked the village chief back, dropping hints along the way about hoping he could speed up the process of securing the mountain for her.

Once she was sure she could get the mountain, she planned to plant fruit trees. In her hands, the wasteland wouldn’t remain a wasteland. With a little help from her spiritual spring water, fruit trees and vegetables would thrive.

The village chief was also pleased. He had seen Xu Zhizhi cut a large piece of wild boar meat for him. Besides, turning the village’s wasteland into silver would benefit everyone in the village. What could be better?

“Xu girl, do you have the silver ready? Once we finalize the deal, I’ll come to collect the silver, draft the contract, and then we’ll go to the government office to stamp it,” the village chief said.

“Don’t worry, Grandpa Village Chief. Our family has the silver ready. We’re just waiting for you to settle things for us,” Xu Zhizhi replied cheerfully.

When they reached the village chief’s house, Xu Zhizhi handed him the basket and said, “We won’t come in. We still have things to do at home.” Then she turned and left.

Xu Zhizhi held her younger brother’s hand and walked back happily. After a while, she saw Wang Shishi and her maid walking toward them from the opposite direction. There was no reason for them to take this path unless they were deliberately looking for her.

On the first day Xu Zhizhi had transmigrated, the original host had just died. She was exhausted and hungry, and after absorbing all of the original host’s memories, she was filled with rage. At the time, she only wanted to get rid of the scumbag fiancé and didn’t have the time or energy to pay attention to this white lotus.

Now, she had time. When they were about ten steps apart, she took a closer look:

Wang Shishi was wearing a blue chiffon dress with a green pleated skirt, draped in a light blue gauze shawl. Her shoulders were delicate, her waist slender, her skin as smooth as jade, and her aura as serene as an orchid.

She walked with graceful steps, her wrists peeking out from the gauze sleeves. Her eyes, like spring water, shimmered with a gentle glow. Her hair was styled in a high bun, adorned with a hollow gold hairpin dotted with purple jade. The tassels of the hairpin cascaded down her black hair. Her delicate face was more beautiful than flowers, her fingers as slender as scallions, and her lips as red as cinnabar. Every smile and frown was captivating.

Good heavens, she’s like a bright spot in this remote, desolate place! Xu Zhizhi thought. No wonder the scumbag fell for her. Even I find her pleasing to look at. Staring at her might even prolong my life!

Digging into the original host’s memories, Xu Zhizhi realized that Wang Shishi was only indirectly related to the original host’s death.

The original host had been managing household chores since she was young, eating little and working hard, which left her physically weak. When the scumbag saw such a beauty in the village, he started chasing after her, acting like a lovesick fool. Wang Shishi, skilled in the art of playing hard to get, often chatted with him. The original host, heartbroken, spread rumors about Wang Shishi. When the scumbag found out, he forced the original host to kneel and apologize, which ultimately led to her death from sheer anger.

“What are you doing back here?” Qingzi, Wang Shishi’s maid, asked rudely.

“I’m talking to you! Are you pretending not to hear me?” Qingzi shouted.

“Oh, were you talking to us? I thought it was just some stray cat or dog barking,” Xu Zhizhi said, brushing off nonexistent dust from her sleeves and slowly turning to look at the master and servant. “What do you want?”

Qingzi was too focused on her mission to care about Xu Zhizhi’s attitude. “What did your family discuss with the village chief?”

“We’re buying a plot of land to build a house. What’s it to you? Does your young lady, who’s known for breaking up relationships, also want to stop people from building houses?” Xu Zhizhi raised her chin, looking utterly smug.

“Isn’t it because you know that Scholar Jin is going to take the provincial exam in Longchang County…” Wang Shishi deliberately left her sentence hanging.

Hah! This ancient girl is trying to trick me? Xu Zhizhi thought. I consider myself the queen of trickery! Now that she knew their purpose, she was inwardly delighted.

“Know what? What provincial exam? Please stay away from me. I’m afraid I’ll have bad luck if I get too close to you,” Xu Zhizhi said, taking a step back in disgust.

“Yeah, stay away from my sister,” Xu Xiaowu said, stepping forward like a little adult to block the master and servant.

The child’s face clearly showed his thoughts: You’re bad people.

Even Wang Shishi, with her strong mental fortitude, couldn’t help but darken her expression.

What nonsense! She’s just a stupid country bumpkin. How dare she look down on me!

But she forced herself to remain calm and said, “You don’t know yet, do you? Jin Zijun passed the provincial exam and is now a provincial scholar…”

“Know what? If you have nothing else to say, move aside. We need to go home and work to earn money. We’re going to make our yard beautiful. I’m warning you, don’t get any funny ideas, or I won’t let you off easy,” Xu Zhizhi said, rolling her eyes and putting on the act of a vicious village girl.

Wang Shishi, seeing her like this, thought the village girl was too stupid. Why wasn’t she taking the bait? She had already hinted so clearly. Did she need to spell it out even more plainly?

Of course, Xu Zhizhi understood Wang Shishi’s meaning. She wanted to tell her that Jin Zijun was about to become a provincial scholar and then an official, hoping to trick Xu Zhizhi into continuing to slave away for Jin Zijun. This woman was no saintly white lotus—she was a full-blown black-hearted lotus.

Xu Zhizhi was doing this on purpose, to infuriate the black-hearted lotus. After all, it wasn’t a crime to anger her.

“Xu Zhizhi, you should go find Brother Jin! You’ve really misunderstood me. I was just talking to him, and you started spreading rumors about me. Brother Jin only got angry because of that. I never intended to break you two up. This time, I rejected Jin Zijun’s marriage proposal to prove that I’m upright and have nothing to hide,” Wang Shishi said, finally laying her cards on the table.

She was afraid the stupid country girl wouldn’t understand.

“Miss Wang, you should just accept Jin Zijun! Didn’t you say he’s about to become a provincial scholar and then a top scholar? As a young lady from a wealthy family, if you endure hardship with him now, he’ll definitely not dare to mistreat you when he becomes a high-ranking official. He won’t even dare to take a concubine. He’ll dote on you exclusively, especially since you’re so beautiful…”

Xu Zhizhi, as the self-proclaimed queen of trickery, played her role to perfection. A scumbag paired with a black-hearted lotus was a match made in heaven.

After saying this, Xu Zhizhi left with her brother, feeling exceptionally pleased.

Wang Shishi was dumbfounded. This country bumpkin had actually hit the nail on the head with half of what she said!

She didn’t want to endure hardship with someone. She wanted to find someone who could provide her with a comfortable life from the start.

Sigh, this country girl still doesn’t understand my heart…

Wang Shishi was filled with melancholy. She could only give Jin Zijun some silver to help him take the provincial exam next month…

Xu Zhizhi returned home with her brother and prepared to clean the wild boar intestines. She planned to make a pork belly soup for dinner. She would wash the intestines, blanch them in boiling water, rub them with salt, smoke them dry, and save them for later. She also decided to cure some bacon.

(End of Chapter)