CMWKSD -Chapter 58 Ji Yiqing Stands Up for Jiu Yue

Seeing that no one was stepping in to support them, several peasant women instantly began wailing at the top of their lungs, pretending to wipe away tears while slapping their thighs so hard they made loud pa pa sounds.

“Erwa, are you trying to force us to our deaths?!”

“Why is everyone else’s produce being bought except ours? Who do you think you are? Do you really think you can make decisions for Master Wang?!”

The women tried to hoist Ji Yiqing up on a pedestal, hoping Master Wang would see that Ji Yiqing was merely waving a chicken feather as though it were a command arrow—throwing his weight around without real authority.

But the shopkeeper swept a glance over the women and let out a silent, cold chuckle.

Before coming, his master had repeatedly warned him to treat Ji Yiqing and Jiu Yue well. They had plenty of valuable things in their hands, and under no circumstances were they to be offended.

It was just buying sweet potatoes—only a matter of a few hundred copper coins.

Besides, from one Ji Family Village, buying twenty thousand jin of sweet potatoes was only a fraction of the total harvest. If Ji Yiqing hadn’t set quotas for each household from the start, these people would have hauled over thousands of jin each.

Even if they didn’t buy from these few families, there would be plenty of others willing to sell. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t be able to collect enough goods. There was no way the shopkeeper would offend Ji Yiqing over this.

“My master said that everything will be done according to Young Master Ji’s wishes.”

The peasant women fell silent instantly.

They had no idea when Ji Yiqing had managed to establish ties with Master Wang.

Families living closer to the Ji household vaguely guessed the reason. Hadn’t Ji Dahai and Su Ruo mentioned it before? That the bride Ji Yiqing married to ward off bad luck had extraordinary medical skills—and that Young Master Wang seemed to have been cured by her.

Not only was he cured, but the Wang family had also sent an entire cartload of gifts.

If people didn’t curry favor with Jiu Yue, were they supposed to listen to some gossiping peasant woman instead?

Truly absurd.

Many people present secretly felt relieved that they hadn’t joined in spreading rumors about Jiu Yue. Who would’ve thought that Ji Yiqing, who looked like a refined gentleman, was actually so fiercely protective of his wife?

It was true that Ji Yiqing cared about his reputation, but if preserving that reputation meant letting Jiu Yue suffer undeserved harm, that was absolutely unacceptable.

The words those women had spoken were so vulgar that Ji Yiqing didn’t even want to repeat them. Leaving aside whether Jiu Yue worked or not, just the things she had done for the Ji family—curing his and his brother’s legs—were enough to warrant putting her on a pedestal.

Ji Yiqing had plenty of ways to deal with people like them, but while it was easy once or twice, dealing with them repeatedly was as annoying as swatting flies.

He wanted the villagers to understand clearly:

The reason they could sell these sweet potatoes and bring some extra money into their homes was all thanks to Jiu Yue.

Sweet potatoes might have a high yield, but if they couldn’t be sold, then even piled up in a cellar they were still just sweet potatoes—they wouldn’t magically turn into money.

“I won’t hide it from everyone,” Ji Yiqing said calmly. “The reason your sweet potatoes and lotus roots can be sold is entirely because of my wife, Jiu Yue. She specifically asked Master Wang to buy from Ji Family Village first. You all know very well that there are more than a dozen villages in Qingshui County, and every household has plenty of sweet potatoes and lotus roots.”

“Master Wang isn’t some fool with money to waste. If he wanted large quantities, there would be no shortage of people willing to sell to him for less than one copper coin per jin. He’s doing this purely out of respect for Jiu Yue.”

Once he said this, the other villagers immediately understood.

Sweet potatoes were cheap to begin with. One copper coin per jin was already considered decent. Sometimes when they hauled them all the way to the county town, even at one and a half jin per coin they still had to grit their teeth and sell.

Now they didn’t have to travel far, and they could sell at one coin per jin right in the village.

So this was all thanks to Jiu Yue.

And these gossip-loving shrews still dared to badmouth her behind her back. No wonder no one was buying their sweet potatoes.

At once, a perceptive villager called out to Ji Yiqing, “Erwa, help us thank Jiu Yue!”

Ji Yiqing curved his lips slightly. “Of course.”

Everyone started chattering, thanking Jiu Yue one after another. The voices of the peasant women were immediately drowned out. Some people at the back of the line even directly dragged those gossiping women out of the queue.

If they didn’t sell, all the better—others could sell a few dozen jin more. A few dozen jin meant a few dozen copper coins.

This year’s sweet potato harvest was exceptionally abundant, and abundance meant cheaper prices.

With a few dozen copper coins, they could buy some meat or a couple more jin of coarse rice to fill their bellies—wasn’t that better?

Sweet potatoes were cheap, and eating too many made one bloated and prone to choking. Unless absolutely necessary, no one liked relying on them—but there was no choice.

The yield was simply too high.

Which household didn’t harvest several thousand jin?

This incident made everyone understand something clearly: so what if Jiu Yue didn’t do farm work? As long as she could do things for the villagers and benefit them, that was enough.

The shopkeeper hauled away several cartloads of sweet potatoes. Once the morning collection was finished, production could begin in the afternoon. If they worked quickly, they could start selling the very next day.

One extra day of sales meant one extra day of income.

After finishing his work, Ji Yiqing headed straight home. On the way, he saw several gossiping women being dragged by their husbands toward the Ji household.

He frowned and didn’t let them enter the courtyard.

Jiu Yue was broad-minded and didn’t interact much with the villagers, so she had no idea about the rumors being spread about her.

If these people came to apologize, it might seem sincere, but it would only upset Jiu Yue for no reason.

Ji Yiqing coldly looked at them. He didn’t say much, but his meaning was crystal clear: if he heard such talk again, the consequences wouldn’t be limited to simply refusing to buy their sweet potatoes.

The men immediately nodded and agreed repeatedly. This time, their sweet potatoes hadn’t been sold, and once they got home, those women would probably be scolded harshly.

They could only hope for the next opportunity.

In life, one must be careful with words and actions—because you never know when you might offend someone without realizing it.

……

After lunch, Jiu Yue was in the courtyard teaching Ji Chaomian rehabilitation exercises.

Ji Chaomian was sweating profusely, but even so, being able to take one or two steps without crutches was already a tremendous joy for him.

What’s more, Jiu Yue had bought many books for the household. Now, whenever Ji Chaomian and Ji Yiqing had no other tasks, they spent their time reading.

With Jiu Yue watching like a hawk, the two of them unconsciously studied even harder.

As they were talking, the sound of loud crying and wailing came from outside the courtyard. Ji Yiqing and Jiu Yue exchanged a glance.

Jiu Yue helplessly rolled her eyes.

She truly couldn’t understand people who cried and wailed at the slightest provocation. If crying were useful, wouldn’t there be nothing in this world worth feeling sad or conflicted about?

“What’s going on now?” she muttered.

Ji Yiqing set down his book and stood up. “I’ll go take a look.”

Before he even reached the door, someone outside shouted, “Erwa!”

Jiu Yue burst out laughing.

She genuinely found the nickname “Erwa” hilarious—such a tall, well-built young man being called Erwa.

Ji Yiqing turned to look at her, completely puzzled as to what she was laughing about.

After all, just the name “Erwa” alone—if not a hundred people in the village had it, at least fifty did. After all, most households didn’t stop at having just one child.