The Formidable Lady of the Poor Scholar’s Household - Chapter 28
Chapter 28: Excitement in the Shi Family!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qian Sishui thought for a while. No matter what, she had to cooperate with Li Kui. Otherwise, he would think that she was too calm and abnormal.
“First?” Qian Sishui asked.
“Yes, first place! That’s awesome!” As he spoke, he almost danced with joy. “Our village finally has an Elementary Scholar. Let’s see who dares to mock our village in the future!” They had finally gotten a scholar, and not just any scholar—one in first place! Could other villages’ Elementary Scholars compare to their village?
“Mm, impressive!” Qian Sishui thought for a long time about how to express her excitement, but in the end, she could only say this.
“Let’s go. The official is at your house. You weren’t at home, so he’s sitting at my house now! He’s just waiting for you to come back to pick up the announcement.”
When they were about to reach the village entrance, they saw Auntie Wan squatting under the big banyan tree. From afar, she looked like a Tibetan mastiff!
“Mother, why are you here at the village entrance?” Li Kui ran over and asked.
Auntie Wan rolled her eyes at her eldest son. “Sister Qian, have you prepared the congratulatory money?”
“No.” How much was she supposed to prepare? She didn’t even have any clue about this!
“Heh, I knew you wouldn’t pay attention! I gathered this together with the old village chief. I brought two taels, and three taels are from the village chief’s family. Take it and send it to the officials later.”
Auntie Wan handed the pouch to Qian Sishui. The young woman thought to herself, ‘This is such a profitable business!’
If Shi Jinhua knew that his wife would give the officials another five taels, he would have said, “Don’t hold me back. This is a whole year’s worth of income! I have to snatch it back! B*tch!”
His heart would hurt, and so would his head, and even his hands!
When Qian Sishui opened the door, Auntie Wan entered with the officials, followed by a long line of villagers who were watching the commotion.
When the official saw Qian Sishui, he thought to himself, ‘This Elementary Scholar’s wife is indeed different. She’s different from everyone else we’ve seen.’
“Congratulations! Madam Scholar, Scholar Shi got first place in the exam. We’re here to bring you the good news!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of gongs and drums filled the air. All of a sudden, the thundering sound of firecrackers sounded as well, and the crackling sound shook the entire Shandong Village!
“It’s been hard on you. Here’s the congratulatory money.” She suddenly paused. Would the others think that she was being arrogant for saying too little?
At this moment, the old village chief stood up and said, “It’s been hard on you, Sir. Take this and drink some tea. It’s a joyous occasion.”
The officer did not think too much about it. He only thought that perhaps Qian Sishui was too happy and didn’t know how to respond.
‘You’re exactly right,’ the village chief thought.
Qian Sishui could only smile weakly.
After the official left, the villagers no longer had to put up a front, and were back to their normal selves.
“Our village has a scholar too!”
“That’s right. The Wang family from the neighboring village has produced an Elementary Scholar. They might be showing off!”
“That’s right, but our village has the top student! He might become a High Scholar in the future!”
“He might even be the top scorer!”
Everyone was laughing and smiling. They were really over the moon.
The villagers might not have meant anything, but Wang Xiaoling took it all to heart!
The wife of the top scholar? How amazing was that? Now, she was already so popular as an Elementary Scholar. In the future, she might be the wife of a High Scholar. She would be different from others!
Looking at Qian Shui who was surrounded, her eyes turned green with jealousy!
At this moment, her good friend, Feng Yuting, walked over. “Xiaoling, there you are! I’ve been looking for you for a long time!” As she spoke, she looked at Qian Ruoshui, who was surrounded by people talking. “I didn’t expect her to become the wife of a scholar. How impressive.”
When Wang Xiaoling heard that, she asked, “What’s so impressive about that?”
“She might be the wife of a High Scholar in the future. According to my brother, he can become an official after he becomes a High Scholar. That means she’ll be the wife of an official! Don’t you think that’s amazing?”
Feng Yuting said to her friend. Even if he was a minor official, he would still be an official! A village chief was already very powerful!
“Hmph, who knows if she has that kind of luck!” After saying that, she turned around and stormed off.
Feng Yuting was not angry. She simply glanced at her friend who left, and turned around to walk towards the crowd.
“Madam Scholar, do you want to hold a banquet to celebrate? We can all help!”
someone asked loudly. The Wang family of the neighboring village had already held a banquet back then.
The old village chief also turned around and asked Qian Sishui, who replied, “Do it!”
When the old village chief saw Qian Sishui’s cold expression, he waved his hand. Fine! Since he had gotten the go-ahead, he would arrange the rest himself!
“We’ll wait until our scholar returns! Once that happens, each family will send one person to help!”
“Old Village Chief, we would take the initiative to help even if you don’t say anything!” They had a scholar! How impressive!
“Sister Qian, if you need any help, just tell me. I’ll call my sisters over.” Feng Yuting finally squeezed in front of Qian Sishui.
Qian Sishui wasn’t used to having so many people around, but she could not shake them off. She could only thank them in response.
Feng Yuting wanted to hold Qian Sishui’s hand, but before she could do so, the latter walked behind Auntie Wan.
The other young woman suddenly felt lonely, but it did not affect her enthusiasm for scholar’s wife at all. In the end, under the pressure of the old village chief, the surrounding villagers slowly dispersed.
Before Auntie Wan left, she instructed Qian Sishui, “Remember to place the good news on the Shi family’s altar later and offer incense to your ancestors.”
When Qian Sishui heard this, she thought, ‘This damned routine!’
When they were all gone, Qian Sishui placed the good news on the altar and lit three incense sticks. This time, it was much simpler and more direct!
The incense had just started to smoke when she placed them into the incense burner. She said coldly, “He got in!”
She then turned around and left without a second glance!
To that, even the ancestors were at a loss for words.
Perhaps they would say, “Don’t hold me back! Even coffin lids can’t hold me down!”
After a while, Qian Sishui returned and looked coldly at the wooden memorial tablets.
She stood there for a long time and stared at all the tablets. Finally, she asked, “Do you guys even understand what this is?” Her tone was cold, as if she was looking down on them.
The ancestors would probably be tossing and turning in their graves! How they wished they could kill her! Alas, that wasn’t possible.
All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew up the paper on the altar. It floated around for a moment before landing on the altar again.
Qian Sishui sighed and put the piece of paper back where it belonged. She needed to find something to hold the piece of paper down so that it wouldn’t be blown away by the wind again.
After looking around for a long time, she still couldn’t find anything suitable. Finally, she reached out to take a memorial tablet to be used as a paperweight.
To that, even the ancestors were at a loss for words. How they wished they could borrow another 500 years from the heavens! They would study hard, then kill this unfilial daughter-in-law! It was infuriating!
The next day, Qian Sishui was up bright and early to send the completed screen to the embroidery shop.
There were very few people going to the town. Today, Qian Sishui was alone. But there were many going to town from another village.
The chickens and ducks in the chicken coop, and the child in the woman’s arms made the entire ox cart especially lively.
Qian Sishui, who was wearing a hat, was at a loss for what to do when she saw how close she was to others.
Once she received her salary, she started looking around the labor market.
She had to observe the market. Her family was preparing to repair their house. Currently, the house she lived in was quite big. It was surrounded by mountains and rivers. One look and one could tell that it had good fengshui!
She had made a round but not found anyone for the job. They all thought that she was easy to bully, asking for sky-high prices!
“Sister Qian, what are you doing in town?” Li Kui, who had just bade farewell to his brother, saw Qian Sishui around the corner.
“Looking for workers.” But she had not taking a liking to any of them!
“What workers are you looking for? Tell me, I’ll see if I know anyone.” He knew this area like the back of his hand. He could even walk home with his eyes closed.
“Repairing our house.” When Li Kui heard this, he was stunned. How could she look for workers for that on the streets?
“If you trust me, I’ll introduce some workers to you. The masters bring dozens of workers to repair houses. People here are all freelance workers. You’ll definitely get cheated.”
“I do.” Qian Sishui trusted Auntie Wan, so she naturally trusted Li Kui! This man was simple-minded and righteous.
“That’s good. I don’t think your house should be repaired anymore. Just build a new one!” That dilapidated house was not worth repairing.
Qian Sishui thought for a while and asked, “How much would that cost?”
Li Kui could even understand Qian Sishui’s words now.
