USWHC -Chapter 36 Sweet Words That Could Fool Someone to Death (Part 6)

This time it was Zhu Jie who was stunned.

She deliberately smiled as brightly as a blooming flower and leaned close to Ji Yi, sweetly asking, “Husband, do you think I’m beautiful?”

Ji Yi finally gave her a careful look, then calmly replied, “Not bad.”

Not bad?

Zhu Jie’s jaw nearly dropped. No way! With beauty so stunning it could shake heaven and earth, all she got was a “not bad”? Could it be that this man had poor eyesight? Back when she first looked in the mirror, even she had been stunned by this face. And all he could say was not bad?

“Husband, do you know what ‘beauty that eclipses the moon and shames the flowers, sinks the fish and startles the wild geese’ means?” Zhu Jie asked in surprise.

Ji Yi replied seriously, “I don’t know that one, but I have heard of ‘a beautiful woman being a disaster that brings ruin to nations.’”

As he spoke, he even looked Zhu Jie up and down without any politeness. The more he looked, the more he shook his head.

Well then—turns out his eyes were fine. It was his brain that had the problem.

“I’ll just take that as you praising my beauty,” Zhu Jie said bluntly.

Ji Yi didn’t answer. He only let out a heavy sigh and deliberately looked away from her.

Fine then. Handsome and thick-skinned—what an unbeatable combination.

Their conversation inside the room was completely visible to the people outside.

Ji Mei suddenly sneered and said sarcastically, “Father, you must have misjudged. What respectable young lady would shamelessly ask someone whether she’s pretty? Only women from brothels would do something like that. I’ve heard that many famous courtesans in Jiangnan are incredibly beautiful—like Su Xiaoxiao or Li Shishi. Aren’t they always mentioned in opera stories?”

At that moment, Zhu Jie’s angry voice suddenly came through the wall.

“All you know how to do is eat, eat, eat! Am I not even as good as a sweet potato? Hey—don’t eat all the sweet potatoes! We still need them for meals!”

Her shout instantly reminded everyone about the food.

Life had been so hard lately, surviving on sweet potatoes, and everyone was already starving to the point their chests were sticking to their backs. The moment they heard this, no one cared about “beauty being a feast for the eyes” anymore. They rushed in like a swarm of crows, all heading straight for the sweet potatoes.

“Hey—wait!”

Just as everyone was scrambling to eat, Old Madam Ji suddenly raised her voice to stop them.

Everyone froze with sweet potatoes in their hands and looked up at her.

She swept her gaze across the room like a hawk. When she saw the largest sweet potato that Elder Brother Ji had just grabbed, she immediately glared at him unhappily and snatched it away.

“And you think you deserve to eat this?”

Elder Brother Ji jumped in fright but didn’t dare resist. He could only mumble, “Mother…”

Old Madam Ji didn’t even look at him. Instead, she turned to Zhu Jie with unusual gentleness and said, “A sweet potato this good should be eaten by our Erhan’s wife first!”

Everyone in the room was stunned.

No one expected Old Madam Ji to snatch the sweet potato only to give it—not to herself, and not to her precious Ji Mei—but to the newly arrived Zhu Jie.

Had Old Madam Ji suddenly developed a new favorite?

Ji Mei immediately became unhappy. Pouting in protest, she complained half coquettishly and half angrily, “Mother, why are you being biased?”

Everyone instantly rolled their eyes at her.

Anyone could say that—except her. When had Old Madam Ji ever not given the best things to her?

Seeing that her most beloved daughter seemed upset, Old Madam Ji gave an awkward smile.

“Well… she just arrived.”

Then she turned to Zhu Jie and said seriously, “You’ve been wronged. Our family is just like this.”

As she spoke, she picked out three more bigger sweet potatoes and kindly placed them into Zhu Jie’s bowl.

“Eat more. Don’t be shy.”

Although they were only sweet potatoes, when everyone else only got two, giving Zhu Jie four was an enormous privilege in this household.

Unfortunately, Zhu Jie accepted them very calmly, as if it were completely natural.

“Alright. Thank you, Mother.”

And she actually started eating.

Old Madam Ji had originally expected Zhu Jie to decline politely a couple of times. But Zhu Jie showed no such reaction, leaving her no choice but to continue awkwardly.

“Our family is just a bit poor and doesn’t have anything nice. We even had to let you wear Ji Mei’s old clothes. But don’t worry—tomorrow I’ll take you to town to make some new clothes.”

“It’s fine. I just arrived here. Having clothes to wear is already good enough,” Zhu Jie replied calmly.

Seeing how generous and easygoing she seemed, Old Madam Ji actually felt dissatisfied inside.

A person with no desires at all—that wouldn’t do.