The Prime Minister’s Little Wife

Chapter 25: Extremely Ugly

The happiest person on the journey was Xiaowu. He was eating well now and had his sister’s love. Life was great.

“Sister, can we sell all these bean sprouts for a lot of money?”

Xu Zhizhi tapped his nose and said, “Yes, we can sell them for a lot of money. From now on, we’ll have them to sell every day. You can eat whatever you want, and we’ll make sure you’re full. We can even send you to school.”

“Really? I can go to school too?”

“Of course! You’re only six now. After the autumn harvest, you, Daniu, and Erhu will all go to school.”

Xu Dahu, who was driving the ox cart, listened to the siblings’ conversation and felt happy too.

When they arrived at Drunken Fragrance Pavilion, Manager Li was already waiting eagerly. As soon as he saw them, he hurried over and said, “Miss Xu, you’re very punctual.”

Xu Zhizhi thought to herself, Of course, I only agreed to come today, not at a specific time!

But she smiled and said, “That’s how it should be. Once Drunken Fragrance Pavilion’s business thrives, our bean sprouts won’t have trouble selling.”

Manager Li called a few waiters to carry the baskets inside. After weighing them, they totaled 110 pounds, which came to 220 coins.

Xu Dahu was stunned. He had heard his sister say, “This is the yield from ten pounds of beans.”

He did the math: ten pounds of beans cost 80 coins, and adding the cost of the ox cart and labor, it was less than 100 coins. This time, they made a profit of 120 coins. In a month, they could earn three taels of silver. Heavens! We’re going to be rich!

The waiter politely invited him and Xiaowu to sit down and served them the breakfast that had been prepared earlier, telling them to take their time eating.

Xu Zhizhi, meanwhile, went to the kitchen to teach Chef Lin once more. Chef Lin was quite skilled and managed to do a good job after just one lesson.

Afterward, Xu Zhizhi left through the back door and went straight to Kangning Hall. She asked Sun Hao, “How’s the patient doing?”

Sun Hao said, “Why don’t you go in and see for yourself?”

Xu Zhizhi didn’t feel like dealing with this arrogant young man, so she decided to go in herself. Just then, Old Doctor Shangguan came out. “Divine Doctor, how’s the patient?”

“Not bad. The kneecap has been set, but he needs to stay in bed and continue recuperating. He can’t be moved,” Old Doctor Shangguan replied honestly.

Xu Zhizhi took out a hundred-year-old ginseng and handed it to him. “Divine Doctor, please use this to prepare medicine for Xiao Jingheng. You’re still missing one ingredient, but it’ll be ready in a few days. I’ll bring it over then. I have things to do now, so I won’t go in to see him.”

When Shangguan Zhuoyun heard that only one ingredient was missing, he was in a great mood. Whether she went in to see the patient or not didn’t matter to him.

“Miss Xu, you can go ahead with your work. We’ll take good care of him. Feel free to visit anytime,” Old Doctor Shangguan said cheerfully.

He escorted her to the entrance of the hall and didn’t go back in until she was out of sight.

Xu Zhizhi returned to Drunken Fragrance Pavilion, where her two brothers were eating with greasy faces.

“Sister, you’ve worked hard cooking. Sit down and have some tea and snacks,” Xu Xiaowu said happily, pulling his sister to sit down.

Xu Zhizhi sat down and ate slowly. After she was full, she took her two brothers back. Manager Li personally saw them off at the door.

“Will you be delivering bean sprouts every day?”

Xu Zhizhi said, “Yes. Starting tomorrow, if there’s nothing special, I won’t be coming. My cousin will deliver them on time. If there’s anything, just send me a message.”

“Alright,” Manager Li said, watching them leave before going back inside.

Xu Dahu was still thinking about how he could earn three taels of silver a month.

“Should we go around town?”

“No, we need to go back and work in the fields. We also need to water the bean sprouts,” Xu Dahu said, his mind fixated on his family’s bean sprouts growing quickly.

Xu Xiaowu didn’t mind whether they went around town or not, as long as he was with his sister.

Xu Zhizhi didn’t have anything to buy for now, so she bought a few boxes of crispy pastries and other snacks. She gave some to Xu Dahu to take back for his siblings and kept two boxes to give to Third Uncle’s family when they returned the ox cart.

The three siblings chattered happily all the way home.

——-

Sun Hao brought the prepared medicine to Xiao Jingheng. “You’re really lucky. That village girl is so generous, giving you a hundred-year-old ginseng to nourish your body.”

Xiao Jingheng looked confused. “What village girl? What hundred-year-old ginseng?”

“The one who brought you here last time,” Sun Hao said in a strange tone.

He was resentful. The village girl had given a hundred-year-old ginseng, and his master hadn’t even substituted it. He had directly sliced it and added it to the medicine for this beggar.

Xiao Jingheng didn’t know how to express his feelings. “Did that little girl come? Why didn’t she come in to see me?”

“Ask my master! The village girl asked me how you were doing, and I told her to come in and see for herself. But then my master came out, said a few words, and took the ginseng. She left a long time ago,” Sun Hao said, still in that strange tone.

“Here, this is the medicine made with the ginseng,” Sun Hao added, then asked curiously, “The village girl came to deliver medicine. She could’ve just given it to my master. Why did she have to come in and see you?”

“Because I’m good-looking,” Xiao Jingheng blurted out.

“You’re good-looking? Have you not looked in a mirror?” Sun Hao exclaimed.

Seeing the shocked expression on this disciple of Old Doctor Shangguan, Xiao Jingheng wondered: Does a bad temper spread too?

He was, after all, ranked first among the most handsome men in Luocheng, universally acknowledged as the “Most Handsome Man in Luocheng.”

“Drink your medicine first. I’ll go find a mirror for you to see for yourself,” Sun Hao said, looking at his incredulous expression.

He was genuinely puzzled: *Why can’t such an ugly person admit it?!*

Xiao Jingheng had no choice but to pick up the bowl and drink the medicine in one gulp. His kneecap was healing these past two days, and it hurt terribly.

After finishing the medicine, he set the bowl down and circulated his internal energy. After one cycle, the pain lessened. The ginseng seemed to have some effect. His internal energy also felt slightly stronger.

Sun Hao brought him a mirror. “Take a look at yourself. There’s nothing wrong with being ugly, but why can’t you admit it?”

Xiao Jingheng took the mirror casually, then froze in shock.

In the mirror, his face was crisscrossed with black lines, making him look hideous and extremely ugly…

Where was the Most Handsome Man in Luocheng? Gone. Although he had never cared much about his appearance, all the women in Luocheng had adored his stunning looks.

He had always found it annoying.

But here, everyone called him an ugly monster, a stinky beggar. He had thought it was just because he hadn’t washed his face.

That day, the little girl had squatted down and smiled so brightly at him.

Although he had inwardly scorned her, he had also secretly been glad that he had a handsome face. He thought the little girl, born in this remote mountain village, must have been captivated by his beauty, which was why she had saved him!

He had even been thinking these past two days: If the little girl falls for me and wants me to marry her, I definitely won’t agree.

But now, looking at the mirror, who was this ghostly figure? Who was this extremely ugly person?

No wonder the little girl didn’t want to come in and see him…

This was a misunderstanding. Xu Zhizhi, with her abilities, could see through the black lines to his original stunning appearance.

But this time, she didn’t want her brother to know she had come to the medical hall, so she had delivered the ginseng and hurried back.

(End of Chapter)