Wine-scented Beauty

Chapter Twenty-Four: Pick One Get One Free

Looking at herself in the bronze mirror, Ji Meiqing had no choice but to cover her face with a veil. The black veil perfectly concealed the marks on her face.

She came out of the room and bumped into Lu Yu. She subconsciously lowered her head and hurried past him.

"How...how could you?" Lu Yu looked at her in surprise. Ji Meiqing paused, then immediately ran away.

Widow Li and her son also happened to come to work, and Ji Meiqing mingled among them, following them to the brewing room.

"What's wrong with Miss Ji?" Widow Li looked at the black cloth covering her face, somewhat puzzled. It was so dark and unsightly. But she dared not tell the truth.

When asked, Ji Meiqing's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. "It's nothing."

“She has dark spots on her face,” Li Ming suddenly interjected, startling both of them, especially Ji Meiqing, who instinctively covered her face and stared at him in surprise.

"how do you know!"

"You can see it."

Ji Meiqing immediately covered her face, looking at them awkwardly, "I accidentally got ink on my face last night, and I can't wash it off now."

Is this ink difficult to wash off?

She nodded. "My face has been peeled off several layers of skin, and it's still not healed."

Widow Li looked at her with pity until Ji Meiqing couldn't bear it any longer and pushed them into the house while she went off to figure out how to remove the ink from her face.

However, she didn't find a way to remove the ink, but she did learn something else. After getting some porcelain clay from the village, she hurriedly rushed back.

As soon as she got home, she went to find Li Ming. They were making wine. Ji Meiqing went straight up to him and said with a kind smile, "Can you come out for a moment now?"

Li Ming glanced at her twice, wiped his hands, and followed her out.

She took out the grayish-white porcelain clay from her arms, and his eyes lit up. He exclaimed in surprise, "This is porcelain clay?"

Ji Meiqing nodded. "I heard you like tinkering with things, so could you make something for me?"

Upon hearing this, he immediately became interested. "What is it?"

"Come with me." The drawings she had worked on overnight were still in the room, so she led her there.

Ji Meiqing took out a stack of papers from behind the table and showed them to him.

"Make one of these for me."

It took Li Ming a while to process what she said. "You just want me to do this?"

She nodded. "Yes, this is it."

"This is too easy." He tossed the blueprint back dismissively, and Ji Meiqing's face darkened. "You don't want to do it?"

"This is too easy, there's no difficulty at all."

"Who said this is simple? This is only part of it. Take a look at the rest." She opened all the remaining drawings, which were filled with cup shapes of all kinds.

Li Ming then became serious. "That's more like it."

After reaching an agreement with him, Ji Meiqing handed him the porcelain clay and said, "Tell me what tools you need or describe them to me. If it's convenient, I can find them for you. However, if I find out that you are deliberately making things difficult for me, then you will have to do it by hand yourself."

"Alright, the first thing in making porcelain is the mold. You have this mold, right?"

Ji Meiqing shook her head, looking at him innocently. She only had the raw materials; she had nothing else. Li Ming glanced at her, put the paper away, and silently left.

How could he believe that this woman would be so good-tempered?

The two of them came out of her room one after the other. Lu Yu was also in a daze when the three of them bumped into each other. Ji Meiqing greeted him without noticing, "Good morning, Brother Lu!"

Lu Yu looked rather unwell, his expression tense. Li Ming looked at him, puzzled, and asked, "Brother Lu, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," he said curtly, his tone carrying a hint of murderous intent.

Ji Meiqing patted Li Ming on the shoulder, which Lu Yu noticed. His pupils contracted, but she didn't notice and simply said, "You go ahead and do it. I'll come and check on the tools and stuff in a few days."

Li Ming glanced at Lu Yu, then left.

"What do you want to eat for lunch?" Ji Meiqing asked him excitedly. "Can you bring back some meat? If you have chicken, I can make some other things too."

"Hmm." He walked inside, his expression growing increasingly grim. Ji Meiqing watched his retreating figure with a puzzled look, unable to understand what was wrong with him.

No one told her what was wrong with him.

Ji Meiqing returned to her room somewhat bewildered to pack her things.

Li Ming returned to the brewing place, his face beaming with joy. Widow Li looked at him, then glanced at the doorway, before asking, "What did Miss Ji want with you?"

"fine."

"Are you really alright?" Widow Li looked at her son with suspicion, and after a long while, she still said with some unease, "Although Miss Ji has us working here, who knows what she's really up to? You have to be careful. Look at your brother Lu now, he's completely bewitched by her. You have to be careful with me, don't let her bewitch you."

"Mother!" He frowned, not understanding why she would think that way. She had provided him with work and food, and he was still talking badly about her behind her back.

“I will keep an eye on this matter. But you are the one who is being talked about behind their backs, even though they have offered you a good wage. How are you any different from those heinous villains?”

Looking at her son's dissatisfied expression, Widow Li sighed softly; it was too late after all.

"Don't overthink it. Miss Ji just asked me to make something. She heard that her son is quite skilled, so she specifically asked me to do it." As he spoke, he took out a drawing from his pocket. The drawing only showed the shapes of cups, but the patterns on it were exquisite and detailed, making one want to imagine what it would look like when it was made.

Widow Li glanced at it, and Li Ming immediately put it away. Looking at his mother, he said quietly, "What we become in the future probably depends on her. But if you continue to judge us with your petty mind, then we deserve to suffer."

"I know, I know. I won't do it again." When she thought of the consequences Li Ming mentioned, she felt a wave of fear, afraid that she would go back to being the way she was before, being bullied by others.

The two continued working until lunchtime. Ji Meiqing came out of the kitchen and put the dishes on the table. She went to look for Lu Yu to come over for lunch, but she couldn't find him anywhere.

She went out to check on the spot where he usually liked to fish, but there wasn't a single person in sight along the vast riverbank.

Ji Meiqing called out twice, but there was still no response. She took two steps forward, and after confirming that he wasn't there, she planned to go back and leave his food there.