USWHC -Chapter 37 Sweet Words That Could Fool Someone to Death (Part 7)

“Mother, I want to go to the town too!” Just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Ji Mei clung to Old Madam Ji, insisting on going to town with them.

Their village was extremely remote. Normally, there wasn’t even a place to buy things nearby—they had to walk more than ten li to reach the bustling town. So going to the market in town was the favorite activity of all the young girls and married women. How could Ji Mei possibly miss it?

But Old Madam Ji ignored her and instead called gently toward Ji Yi’s room, “Erhan’s wife, wake up!”

Zhu Jie was curled up in her blanket, still playing chess with the Duke of Zhou in her dreams. Old Madam Ji’s rooster-like shout startled her so badly that the chess pieces in her dream scattered, and she woke up with a jolt. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she glanced out the window.

Seriously? The sun hadn’t even gotten up yet! Why was going to the market as early as starting work under that slave-driver Zhou Bapi?

“Mother, are you up already?” Excited voices from outside followed, including Sister-in-law You’s.

The sound of messy footsteps came one after another. It seemed Elder Brother Ji had also gotten up. “Mother, I’ll go harness the cart!” he said excitedly.

At that moment, Ji Yi also scrambled out of bed. The night before, Old Madam Ji had warmly and lovingly brought them a brand-new quilt—specially for Zhu Jie.

Although the two of them still couldn’t sleep in separate beds, at least they could now use separate quilts, which was already pretty good. After all, some men were always shouting, “I’m a normal man!” In case he suddenly became “normal” again, it was best to keep as much distance as possible.

“So early?” Zhu Jie said lazily. This was even earlier than when she used to go to work before. Could she admit that her favorite thing was sleeping in? Before transmigrating, she was always late to work because she loved staying in bed. Who would’ve thought that now she’d have to wake up early just to go shopping?

Ji Yi was already getting dressed. “The town is far away, and the New Year is approaching. There are many people going to the market, so everyone gets up this early.”

“Can I say I don’t want to go?” Zhu Jie protested quietly. But even as she said it, she slowly got out of bed.

The moment Zhu Jie stepped outside, Old Madam Ji and Sister-in-law You enthusiastically hooked their arms around hers. The two of them looked more excited than if they had just seen their own daughter.

Sister-in-law You giggled and said, “With such a fine figure, little sister-in-law should definitely have several nice outfits made.” As she spoke, she pushed Zhu Jie toward the cart.

Yes—Zhu Jie was practically lifted onto the cart.

She stared in shock at the open-air ox cart she was sitting on. This was way too “luxurious,” wasn’t it?

Everyone had squeezed onto the wooden flatbed cart. There was no canopy—only a short railing around the edges. It looked a bit like those carts used to haul coal. In front of it was a skinny, bony old yellow ox pulling the cart. Zhu Jie couldn’t help wondering whether that poor ox could even pull so many people. What if it dropped dead from exhaustion halfway there?

She pulled her cloak tighter around herself. On the entire cart, she was the only one wearing a cloak. Everyone else only wore padded cotton jackets, their hands tucked into their sleeves, shoulders hunched, crowding together in a rather shabby-looking bundle.

“Um… aren’t we going to eat breakfast?” Zhu Jie asked in surprise.

“We’ll eat in town together!” Old Madam Ji said excitedly.

The moment this was mentioned, everyone became excited again. Ji Mei shouted loudly, “Mother, I want to eat meat buns!” Her voice was so loud it seemed she was afraid Old Madam Ji might not hear.

Old Madam Ji narrowed her eyes and glanced at Zhu Jie before cheerfully saying, “Alright, everyone will eat them!”

Hearing that they would all get meat buns, everyone immediately looked as if they were about to drool, as though the buns were the greatest delicacy in the world. Seeing Old Madam Ji looking warmly at her, Zhu Jie merely smiled and said, “Mother can decide.”

Hearing this, Old Madam Ji’s smile froze for a moment, but she still chuckled and said, “Good, good—whatever works!”

Ji Yi led the ox forward slowly. The snow was thick. In the countryside, the ground hadn’t been cleared for many days. The snow hadn’t melted; instead, it had frozen into a layer of ice. Ji Yi walked very carefully, yet he still stumbled with uneven steps, looking like he might slip and fall at any moment.

Watching this, Zhu Jie felt a bit sorry for him and said softly, “Mother, let Ji Yi come up and sit too.”

“It’s fine. Let him walk below. If he doesn’t hold the ox and it falls, what then?” Old Madam Ji said indifferently, watching Ji Yi struggle.

What if the ox falls?

Hearing that, Zhu Jie immediately looked at Ji Yi with sympathy.

So in his mother’s heart… he wasn’t even as important as the ox.