The Formidable Lady of the Poor Scholar’s Household

Chapter 21: Original Owner’s Hairpin

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Although Shi Jinhua’s looks made people of the same gender jealous, his intellect was what people even more envious. Although he didn’t have a photographic memory, he was intelligent. Yet, in front of Qian Sishui, his mind was always blank.

At dawn, Shi Jinhua prepared breakfast and left with a steamed bun made from cornmeal. When he arrived at the academy, he was just in time for the gates to open.

“Hello, Uncle Fu.” Because he was the first to arrive at the academy and happened to meet Uncle Fu, the gatekeeper, he greeted him politely. This was a necessary skill for scholars.

“Scholar Shi, good morning! Have you eaten?” He was so early. How hardworking!

“Uncle Fu, I only came after eating.” He bowed at Uncle Fu.

“Mr. Zhao Yun asked you to look for him after lunch.”

Thinking back to the past few days, the Headmasters of the academy had been looking forward to seeing Scholar Shi.

The scholar examination would be happening in September, and Scolar Shi was the only hope of the teachers! They even had dreams of him getting first place in the examination!

“Thank you, Uncle Fu.”

Shi Jinhua thought to himself, ‘As expected, I might not be able to go back.’

It was already the end of July, and the family’s crops had to be harvested in August.

Shi Jinhua, who was engrossed in his studies at the academy, would never have expected his wife—who was so happy at home—would come to town again.

The town was really big. No wonder the county office was set up here. It was no different from a city.

Qian Sishui brought the pouch to the embroidery shop. The boss took a look and pulled Qian Sishui along, refusing to let her go.

“Sister Qian, look. It’s a waste of your talent to show off these little things. I have a big screen here that needs to be embroidered. I haven’t been able to find a suitable person to embroider it. Look, this is it.” The boss pointed at the screen in front of him that was as tall as a person. “If you’re willing to do it, you’ll make at least this much.” The boss made a number three with his fingers.

Seeing that Qian Sishui was calm, the boss said anxiously, “I won’t lie to you. If you think 300 taels is too little, I’ll give you another 50 taels! This customer ordered it, and wee only charged 400 taels. The remaining 50 taels will be our material fee. I won’t earn a single cent!”

Qian Sishui did not want to embroider, but she had nothing to do recently. Embroidery was a waste of time.

However, she thought of what Auntie Wan had said, “It’s especially cold here in winter, and the snowfall is really heavy. Your house has to be repaired. Otherwise, it will collapse once we get heavy snow.

She had 1,000 taels but she could not use it openly. The Shi family did not have much money, but there were few people, so there was a lot of food. They weren’t starving, and Shi Jinhua would sometimes copy books. They weren’t wealthy by any means, but they were comfortable.

“Sister, no, Sister Qian, what do you think? We’ll provide all the materials. You just have to do it.” If not for his dignity, the boss would have knelt down in front of Qian Sishui.

This screen had been placed there for half a year but they had yet to complete it. It would be heartbreaking to lose such a big client! If he could not keep such an embroidery expert, it would be as good as losing his life.

“Alright.”

“Hey, I’ll wrap it up for you now.” He had better hurry and wrap it up. Otherwise, he was afraid that this girl would regret it later!

“Qian Sishui?” Suddenly, a female voice sounded.

Qian Sishui instinctively turned around to take a look, and a cold glint flashed across her eyes.

“You’re not dead? I thought you wouldn’t survive!”

On the way here, this woman had already been dressed differently. The material of her clothes was especially beautiful. Because she was weak at that time and in and out of consciousness, she had not resisted when being bullied.

“You still have the money to come to the embroidery shop?” It seemed like her life as a farmer’s wife was very exciting.

Seeing that Qian Sishui was still dressed better than her, her tone was downright sour. “No matter where you are, having a pretty face is always the most important thing.”

“Sister Qian, I’ve wrapped it up for you. Just send it over when it’s ready. There’s no hurry.”

The boss thought that they knew each other, so he didn’t say anything. Qian Sishui glanced at the woman who spoke and ignored her.

She simply took the bag from the boss and walked out of the shop.

Seeing that she had been ignored, the other party seemed indignant. “Hey! I’m talking to you! Didn’t you hear me? Give me whatever money you have!”

Qian Sishui thought of something. Back then, she had a very important hairpin that had been snatched away by this woman. The other party thought that it looked good and simply took it for herself. Because the body’s original owner had a soft personality and she had been poisoned at that time, many of her accessories had been snatched away.

Coincidentally, this woman had pinned it on her hair to show off to everyone else today.

Qian Sishui glanced at the hairpin on the woman’s head and walked into the alley without saying a word. The arrogant woman followed behind, threatening Qian Sishui all the way.

Seeing that Qian Sishui was like a fool, she immediately became excited since they had walked into an empty alley.

“Give me the money.”

“Zhang Caiyun?” Qian Sishui asked.

“So what if it’s me?”

‘Do you think I’m afraid of you? You’re no different from a peasant now!’ she thought to herself.

Qian Sishui didn’t waste any time and went straight to work.

After Zhang Caiyun’s chin was dislocated, she felt a sharp pain in her back. When she finally reacted, she realized that she was covered in cold sweat. She did not know if it was from fear or pain!

Zhang Caiyun attempted to grab Qian Sishui’s face, but she had not expected the latter to grab her hand and break it! Zhang Caiyun finally felt fearful when she felt the pain coursing through her nerves! She couldn’t even speak or beg for mercy. Her eyes were filled only with fear.

Qian Sishui coldly pulled out the hairpin from Zhang Caiyun’s hair and took out a handkerchief from her bosom. She carefully wiped the hairpin clean.

Zhang Caiyun looked at Qian Sishui and felt afraid for the first time. She was just a child from a slave family. Never in her life had she ever seen someone as cold and arrogant as Qian Sishui!

The initial fear in her eyes turned into a pleading gaze. She hoped that Qian Sishui would let her off. She wanted to escape, but her body was not cooperating!

Throughout the entire process, Qian Sishui only said one sentence. Without even looking at the other woman, she threw the handkerchief on the ground and turned to leave.

Zhang Caiyun only dared to move when she couldn’t see Qian Sishui anymore. Coincidentally, a gust of wind blew in the alley. A strong smell of urine filled the air. She looked down and realized that she had peed in her pants.

Her hand was broken and her chin was dislocated. She ran to find a doctor in a sorry state.

Qian Sishui was a very low-key and cautious person. Today, she had used an ordinary method to dislocate Zhang Caiyun’s chin. It was impossible to kill someone now. If she really wanted to kill someone, she wouldn’t have given up the 300 taels of silver from the government office!

Now, Qian Sishui only had one firm goal: to be a farmer’s wife! No one could disrupt her plan!

In the next few days, Qian Sishui stayed at home to embroider. Both Auntie Wan and Li Jiajia’s family knew about this.

After Li Jiajia’s mother, Liu Hua, bragged about Qian Sishui, the entire village now knew that the young woman had been busy embroidering recently!

It would be difficult for such a woman not to bring prosperity to the family!

“Sigh, if only my son had passed by the government office back then!” She wasn’t just a daughter-in-law! She was a money tree!

“Looks like we have to give our children good names. Look at Qian Sishui. Her name means money flowing like water. How much money are we even talking about?”

“That seems to be the case. In the future, if you need to name your children, you can’t just give them any name, especially not those that sound like they’ll have tough lives in the future!”

The discussion in the village began to evolve from Qian Sishui’s behavior to a debate about naming children.

When Wang Xiaoling heard it, she was scornfnul. “Hmph, vixen!”

The more outstanding Qian Sishui was, the more uncomfortable she felt.