Wine-scented Beauty

Chapter Thirty-Five: Reconciliation

After all that commotion, Ji Meiqing finally felt a little better. She made a show of talking for a while before happily carrying her things back to her room.

She tried on the clothes, turned around in front of the bronze mirror, and finally nodded honestly: It looks pretty good.

Lu Yu's taste was indeed excellent; the light blue dress swayed gently with her movements, resembling the surface of water constantly floating.

Ji Meiqing suppressed the urge to wear it out for them to see, and finally forced herself to take the clothes off.

She changed back into her previous coarse linen clothes and then changed her hairstyle.

This outfit is better. She looked at herself in the mirror; it was simple and inconspicuous, which was quite nice.

After leaving the room, she returned to the winery to continue making wine with them.

Li Ming returned from outside, his feet covered in dirt, followed by a young boy of about his age. Ji Meiqing glanced at him and continued with her work. Li Ming suddenly approached her, "Sister Ji, could you hire a few more people? The orchard needs fertilizing and watering every few days, and we also need to make wine. We really can't manage it all."

"Do you still have anyone else?" Ji Meiqing thought for a moment, realized that this was indeed the case, and asked in return.

“You can ask Uncle Wang next door to help look after his orchard.”

"So..." Ji Meiqing narrowed her eyes, "you came prepared?"

Li Ming rubbed his hands together, looking rather embarrassed. "Uncle Wang used to take care of our family. Now that there's a job like this, how could I not recommend him?"

"That's true. You can go and tell them yourself. If they're willing, their wages will be the same as yours. What do you think?"

Li Ming nodded quickly, then led his team back to their positions, their enthusiasm returning.

The next day, Ji Meiqing suddenly remembered this matter and went to find Li Ming. Seeing his dejected face, she was puzzled. "Uncle Wang doesn't want to come?"

"No." Li Ming smiled weakly.

Ji Meiqing pressed further, "Then what happened?"

Li Ming didn't say anything more. He continued doing his own thing, but his expression was still not very good.

Seeing that he had no answer, Ji Meiqing went directly to find Widow Li, but Widow Li was not there. Ji Meiqing left the Lu family and headed towards the village.

As soon as she arrived at Widow Li's door, she heard a few arguments. She went over to take a look and saw Widow Li standing in front of another woman with her head down, looking pitiful and humble.

"You little slut, don't think you can seduce men just because you're pretty. My husband only took you in out of pity, don't be so shameless as to try and climb up the social ladder. A widow is a widow, she can't stand being alone and wants any man." After saying a few angry words, he spat at her viciously, and not satisfied, he slapped her a few times. No one around stopped him.

Ji Meiqing watched them make a scene and understood something from their words, but this forced one woman into a corner.

She went inside and called for a stop just as she was about to continue hitting Widow Li.

"What are you doing?" Ji Meiqing stepped in front of her. "You want to hit her?"

"Oh, isn't this the child bride the Lu family took in? What brings you here to meddle in other people's business today?" Uncle Wang's wife, Qiu, said with a smile. "I advise you to mind your own business; it's not good for you anyway."

“Aunt Li is my person, why can’t I care? If she delays my construction schedule because of you, who am I supposed to complain to? You or your husband?” Ji Meiqing glanced at her coldly. “Besides, you’re so old and faded, you can’t attract your husband’s attention, so you’re blaming others. As a woman, don’t you have any shame?”

When Qiu was mocked for being old, she was about to fly into a rage when Ji Meiqing suddenly poured cold water on her, drenching her heart.

"I guarantee that if you lay a hand on me again today, your whole family will be in jail tomorrow. You can try me if you don't believe me."

"You...you shameless hussy. How could you...how could you..." She was so angry that she covered her chest, her finger trembling as she pointed at her.

Ji Meiqing didn't care. "If you don't mind, then we'll have to see if you can beat me. After all... you're not young anymore."

The older one gets, the stronger their outbursts become. Especially for someone like her who is going through menopause, Qiu fainted from anger in an instant, and the people around her hurriedly lifted her up.

Faced with the pointing fingers and whispers, Ji Meiqing pulled Widow Li away from there. After returning to the tavern, she calmed down and slowly said, "If you encounter something like this in the future, don't be afraid, and don't let others bully you. If someone bullies you once, they will do it again. If you don't fight back, you will be the one who suffers in the end."

"Yes, I understand." She looked at her timidly, with a hint of grievance in her eyes. Ji Meiqing knew from her expression that she still didn't understand, but she didn't say anything more and directly asked for the reason.

Widow Li recounted everything before staring intently at her. Ji Meiqing quickly understood as well, "So, Qiu Shi acted this way because she suspected her husband of cheating on her with you?"

"almost……"

"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore, and don't get involved. The Qiu family will probably be making a lot of moves behind the scenes during this time. Don't worry, things will get better in a while." She patted her shoulder to comfort her, but she had some doubts in her heart.

These things wouldn't have blown up so much if they hadn't been deliberately spread as rumors, especially since it happened right when she needed help. She suspected someone had sabotaged things.

However, Widow Li's personality made it impossible for her to confront them directly, which was a major headache for Ji Meiqing.

On a fine day, Ji Meiqing went to see Uncle Wang by herself. He was sitting on a chair in front of his house, looking lazy, as if he was sunbathing.

"You must be Uncle Wang. I'm Ji Meiqing." Ji Meiqing said directly, "I've come today to ask you to help me take care of the orchard. The salary is the same as Li's. I wonder if you'd be willing."

Uncle Wang didn't speak, but his wife, who had heard Widow Li's name from inside the house, suddenly rushed out. Upon seeing Ji Meiqing, she immediately protected her behind her like an eagle protecting its chick, while looking at her warily: "What do you want to do!"

"I don't want to do anything," Ji Meiqing smiled. "I just wanted to ask Uncle Wang if he would be willing to come and help me take care of the orchard."

"Hmph, you would be so kind?" The woman looked incredulous. She knew what kind of pay she received for working for Ji Meiqing, but she didn't believe Ji Meiqing would be so kind as to offer her work.