Wine-scented Beauty

Chapter 54: A Dramatic Change in Attitude

After listening to them chatter on and on about a lot of useless things, someone finally got to the point.

“I heard that Madam Ji is looking for help these days. Do you think my Ah Liang is up to the task?”

"And my Er Gouzi."

"..."

Ji Meiqing was tired of hearing this. She rubbed her ears and listened to them finish before slowly saying, "Although I understand what you all said, I have also considered what you have said. But after careful consideration, I still feel that it is not appropriate."

"What?"

“Some things don’t need me to say. I will repay those who are good to me. But if it’s like what you’re doing, how is that any different from killing someone and then coming to apologize? I’ve already seen what Li is like, so you shouldn’t say anything more. I’m not at ease.”

She directly exposed their thoughts. The previous incident had indeed left a lot of impact, and Ji Meiqing dared not use the people in this village anymore.

“What you’re saying, Madam Ji…” one of the women chuckled dryly. “We can fix your house.”

"No need," Ji Meiqing refused directly. "The princess has already sent someone to arrange the housing. So you don't need to bother. Also, please take the things you brought back with you."

She very politely asked them to leave, then closed the door and leaned against the doorframe.

Lu Yu came out of the room and walked straight over. "What are they doing?"

"It's nothing, I just came to apologize."

Lu Yu nodded. "Open the door."

"Oh." She made way for them, and the door opened as well; the people standing outside were gone.

Ji Meiqing raised an eyebrow, watching the scene with great interest. Everyone had left. Impressive.

"I'm going out for a bit, you just stay home and rest."

"Okay." She nodded gently and saw him off. Ji Meiqing watched him leave, then returned to her room. She hadn't even looked at the things the princess had sent yesterday.

Now that she has some free time, she can take a look at all those things.

Halfway through the day, Li Shi also arrived. These past few days, to avoid implicating Li Shi and her son, they had been given a few days off. But now, they've come again.

She opened the door for them and brought them tea, saying, "What's wrong? Why did you come today?"

"I'm fine, I've just figured some things out." She said slowly, looking at the teacup. Ji Meiqing looked at her with a half-smile.

"What have you figured out?"

"I have decided to leave the Li family and revert to my own surname."

"That's not bad."

Li hesitated for a moment, seemingly still struggling and unsure. Ji Meiqing put the cup back on the table, the sound of which startled Li.

"I think I won't hesitate this time. I finally understand what kind of family the Li family is."

Ji Meiqing neither agreed nor disagreed. She had no right to interfere in other people's family affairs; she only needed to live her own life.

"These days have caused too much delay. I'm thinking about when to catch up. Also, there's my mother in the red-light district. We can't back out on the business deal we've agreed on."

She got straight to business. Li was taken aback for a moment, then understood. "I understand. I'll come over tomorrow."

"Well, you should go back and get some rest." Without saying more, she directly dismissed him. Li hesitated for a moment, but still left.

She left the Lu family directly and returned to the Li family, where she had previously lived. Her sister-in-law was already waiting for her there, and upon seeing her return, she immediately rushed to her side, anxiously asking, "How did it go? What did Miss Ji say?"

“I didn’t say that,” Li said calmly.

Upon hearing this answer, the sister-in-law almost flew into a rage. "What! You didn't say anything? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why should I say it?" She was a little timid, but she still forced herself to retort forcefully.

The sister-in-law was taken aback, wondering what had caused such a drastic change in her. But then she heard her continue, "I have no grudge against you, and besides, I didn't say anything about what you did to my son and me last time, so don't think I'll pretend it never happened."

"You, surnamed Wu! What did you say? How dare you say that?" The sister-in-law also became angry. "Don't forget how we've helped you since your husband died!"

"Help?" Madam Li looked up, her eyes still brimming with tears as she gazed at her. "Leftovers are considered help? If that's the case, then let's calculate why you replaced the allocated land with barren land that can't be cultivated at all? And clothes, you brought over those clothes worn by the dead and gave them to my Ming'er, is that what you call help?"

"I..." The younger sister-in-law stammered, her eyes darting around in a panic. Li wanted to say more, but hesitated to continue for the sake of saving face.

"I won't pursue this with you today. You can leave. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other."

The younger sister-in-law looked up in surprise, "You're kicking us when we've served our purpose... After all, if we hadn't helped you, you and Li Ming would have been reduced to ashes in this desolate wilderness long ago."

"Yes, thank you for taking care of us. My son and I have survived to this day, so we don't want to ruin things today."

Upon hearing this, the younger sister-in-law's knees buckled, and she almost knelt on the ground. But looking at Li's back, she turned and left.

Li Ming stood in the back doorway, quietly listening to their conversation. A mix of emotions welled up inside him; he didn't know what to do.

But Li acted as if nothing had happened, wiped away her tears, composed herself, and went to the kitchen to cook.

The younger sister-in-law, who had come from the Li family, went directly to Old Man Wang and told him everything that had happened.

"Are you telling the truth?" Qiu asked in surprise. "This Li woman is just a bully who thinks she's become a phoenix just because she got a little bit of the princess's favor by Ji Meiqing. Little does she know, once a phoenix falls to the ground, it's not even as good as a pheasant."

"Yes, but their arrogance now is all because of that Princess Xunhua."

Both of them sighed when the princess was mentioned, as they were not as lucky as her.

"Everyone in the village is trying to curry favor with her now, but I heard she's turned them all down. Look at her arrogant attitude; she's not even on the same level yet!"

The two women were criticizing Ji Meiqing, but fell silent when Old Man Wang came in. They changed the subject.

"Old Wang is back. Are you tired or not?" Qiu greeted him with a smile and took off his outer clothes.

Old Wang didn't say anything, he just slowly drank a few sips of tea and then went back to his room.

After watching her husband's retreating figure, Qiu returned to her sister-in-law's side.