Wine-scented Beauty

Chapter Twenty-One: Recruiting

"I don't know what Ji Meiqing fed Lu Yu, but now she not only occupies the Ji family's old house, but even Lu Yu has become her errand boy, running around all day for her."

Passerby B chimed in, "I think that Ji Meiqing is a vixen, always bewitching people. A few days ago, some of the older guys who went to the city with me saw Ji Meiqing at a brothel."

"Looks like I'll have to be more careful in the future. Otherwise, if she bewitches me, I'm afraid I won't be able to get her back."

"What are you ladies talking about? Could you please tell Meiqing?" She appeared before them with a smile, her eyes crinkling, yet her expression sent a chill down their spines.

The women glanced at her and then hurried away. Ji Meiqing watched them leave, and the smile on her face faded.

It turned out that she had already dragged Brother Lu down. She lowered her head slightly and kicked a pebble at her feet.

"What's wrong with you?" Lu Yu had returned at some point. He was standing behind Ji Meiqing, holding a fish in his hand, his face beaming with joy. He waved the fish in his hand and said with a smile, "We're in for a treat tonight. Uncle Lin from next door gave us two fish. Let's make fish soup tonight."

"Okay." She smiled deeply, reached out and took the two fish, then took them to the kitchen to start preparing them.

Lu Yu walked to her side, pursed his lips, and looked at her back. He didn't say anything for a long time until she turned around and saw Lu Yu staring blankly.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Brother Lu?" she asked with a smile.

"You don't need to care what others say about you, just do what you want to do."

She paused for a moment, then smiled even more brightly: "It's okay, I know how to handle it."

"If there's anything wrong, you can tell me directly."

"I understand. You should go and get some rest. You've been busy all day."

Lu Yu hesitated, wanting to say something but then left. The sizzling sound from the iron pot was quite crisp. She reached in and threw the fish in, and white smoke immediately rose from the pot.

The fish was fresh, so she made fish soup and served it out. The rest was fried into fish pieces to save for later.

During dinner, he didn't say anything, and Ji Meiqing didn't ask anything either.

The next morning, Ji Meiqing helped Lu Yu brew wine. There were a lot of wine jars piled up, and only a few tools in front of them.

After working all morning, only two jars were ready. Ji Meiqing was somewhat dissatisfied. If it were just brewing wine to pass the time on ordinary days, that would be fine, but this was work. At the current pace, it was absolutely unacceptable.

"How long does it take you to make a jar of wine at most?" she suddenly asked.

"About two hours."

"It's too slow, this won't do." Ji Meiqing shook her head. "I'll go out and ask. You rest first, and we'll do it when I get back."

Before Lu Yu could speak, she had already left.

Ji Meiqing went directly to the village chief's house and saw the village chief's wife sitting in the yard, so she quickly called out to her.

"Is the village chief here?"

When the village chief's wife saw that it was Ji Meiqing, she immediately turned pale, remembering what she had heard about her that day. Without opening the door for her, she asked through the courtyard gate, "What do you want?"

"I've come to ask the village chief if there are any idle people in the village. I'd like to find a few people to do some work."

"Li Datou, come out here." She called out to the village chief, who came out shortly after. When he saw Ji Meiqing, he immediately smiled, a completely different expression from that of his wife behind him.

"village head."

"What do you want from me?" he asked with a kind smile, his face crinkling into wrinkles.

Ji Meiqing smiled and explained her purpose for coming, then looked at him quietly, "I wonder if the village chief has any good people to recommend?"

“Well…” He thought for a moment before saying, “You can go and take a look at the widow’s place.”

"Thank you very much then." She nodded and went to look for the person as he had instructed.

Seeing her husband's appearance, the village chief's wife couldn't help but spit out, "Shameless little bitch!"

Ji Meiqing, who hadn't gone far, paused for a moment, then continued walking forward, pretending she hadn't heard anything. She wasn't going to stoop to their level.

Before even reaching Widow Li's house, Ji Meiqing heard several voices arguing.

“We’re all relatives, why is helping out involving money? Don’t forget, if it weren’t for our family helping you and your son, you probably wouldn’t be alive today.”

"Yes, we were indebted to you in the past, but now, as you can see, we are facing difficulties at home..."

"What ungrateful bastards! They won't even help with something this small." She looked at them with disdain. "Really."

Ji Meiqing went inside and finally saw the faces of the people in the room clearly. The one who looked haggard and was somewhat thin was probably Widow Li, and the one next to her, who was plump and well-off, was probably their sister-in-law.

"Who are you?" The younger sister-in-law looked down at the person who came in. Whoever she was, judging from her clothes, she was probably not a rich person.

Ji Meiqing glanced at her and walked straight up to Widow Li. "I am Ji Meiqing from the front. I have a job for you. The price is two taels of silver a month, and I can increase it tenfold when things get better."

Widow Li was startled. She glanced uneasily at her sister-in-law. Ji Meiqing raised an eyebrow: "If you are unwilling, then I will find someone else."

She turned to leave, but stopped abruptly at the door. "It would be a real shame to give up an opportunity because of someone like that. And don't even think about having a good life with someone who only cares about petty gains."

"Wait a minute." Widow Li finally wavered. "What do you want us to do?"

"As for the specifics of brewing, you can come to the Lu family to find me. I will discuss it with you in detail."

She left and saw the person under the window next to her as she came out. However, as soon as the person saw that Ji Meiqing had noticed him, he immediately dodged away, and the window frame was knocked down.

Ji Meiqing glanced at it, then went back.

Once home, Ji Meiqing stretched.

Lu Yu was no longer home. She wandered around but couldn't find him, so she went to the backyard. Behind Lu Yu's house was a plot of ancestral land, but because nothing had been planted on it for a long time, it was overgrown with weeds, some reaching halfway up. This kind of land was perfect for growing plants.

When Lu Yu returns, she will discuss with him about planting some fruit trees.

After wandering around for a while, she returned to the house, where Widow Li was already waiting for her. Ji Meiqing poured her a cup of tea and placed it in front of her.

"Have you made up your mind?"