But Ji Zhuxin had packed enough for several people. Ji Zhaoxi drank water as she ate, but still couldn't eat much of it.
She cried again. When she left, her sister had explicitly said she would beat her if she didn't finish it.
Qin Du was working in the fields. He arrived on time every day without a single day of rest. His plot was neater than the surrounding ones, and the crops he grew were better than others'. Ji Zhaoxi had no idea how he managed to grow them like that.
It was as if he couldn't feel the blazing sun, just burying his head in his work. His sweat dripped onto the ground, quickly blending with the soil.
Suddenly, a box appeared right in front of him. The hand holding it clearly hadn't done much heavy labor; its fingertips were a delicate pink, forming a sharp contrast with his own rough hands.
"Qin Du, do you want to eat some pickled vegetables?"
Hearing her voice, which was as small as a buzzing fly, Qin Du ignored her. Just as he was about to resume his work, those hands pushed the box closer to him again.
"Are you really not going to eat any? I saw that your attempt at making pickled vegetables failed last time."
Ji Zhaoxi was a little nervous. She kept one hand behind her back, ready to run at any moment.
Qin Du fell silent for a moment.
He didn't like pickled vegetables, but his mother did.
However, he didn't know how to make them; he had tried several times and failed.
Qin Du took the box and walked over to his basket. Then, he grabbed a wild pheasant and walked back toward Ji Zhaoxi.
"I don't want..."
Before she could finish, the pheasant was tossed into her basket.
Qin Du picked up his hoe and continued working, splashing dirt directly onto her shoes.
Ji Zhaoxi was speechless.
She shook the dirt off her shoes and muttered softly, "This wild pheasant is worth way more than pickled vegetables."
Qin Du ignored her.
Ji Zhaoxi choked up slightly, "Then I'm really taking it. You gave it to me, and I won't give it back."
The sadness caused by the gossip of those educated youths dissipated because of this wild pheasant. Ji Zhaoxi went home happily.
As soon as she got home, Ji Zhaoxi started wailing.
"Sister, those educated youths called me a village bumpkin and despised me for being illiterate. They were gossiping about me the whole time I was there!"
"Educated Youth Xie looks down on me too, yet you always make me bring him food. He's absolutely disgusted by it, and that toad even said I was shamelessly throwing myself at Educated Youth Xie!"
Ji Zhuxin's hands trembled with anger.
She had thought that at most, the villagers would gossip, but she never imagined that those educated youths would talk behind people's backs too.
On the surface, they acted all polite and refined, but behind closed doors, they were no different from the gossiping villagers.
She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "We won't bring them anything anymore."
Ji Zhaoxi looked at the unusually calm Ji Zhuxin, stunned.
Her sister was actually this composed this time?
Ji Zhuxin took the wild pheasant from her hands without asking where it came from, simply telling her to go gather some firewood.
Ji Zhaoxi immediately ran out to find firewood.
Ji Zhuxin looked at the chicken feathers floating in the water, her face involuntarily showing a dazed expression. Tears fell into the basin, creating tiny ripples.
Village bumpkin, toad, shamelessly throwing oneself...
She had worked so hard all these years just so the words that were once used on her wouldn't be used on Ji Zhaoxi.
But unexpectedly, because of her, Ji Zhaoxi was still talked about like this...
Ji Zhuxin wiped the tears from her face, her heart aching even more.
The next day, there was a village meeting. The educated youths and village officials all attended.
The educated youths grew nervous as soon as they saw Ji Zhuxin. After what happened yesterday, Ji Zhuxin definitely knew.
The most terrified of all was Educated Youth Xie, who kept his head down, not daring to look at her.
The village chief's wife smiled cheerfully, "Zhuxin, you're here. Why don't you go with Educated Youth Xie and the others for this inspection? You guys have a good relationship anyway."
Ji Zhuxin replied sarcastically, "How could a village bumpkin like me dare to walk with the educated youths?"
The village chief's wife was taken aback. "What's wrong?"
Ji Zhuxin's temper instantly flared up. "And they call themselves scholars! Every single one of them is shameless. I've given you so much food, and in return, you gossip about us sisters behind our backs. You ungrateful wretches!"
"You people from the county town think you're so noble. Well, if you're so capable, don't eat my food! You eat it and then talk trash behind our backs. Bah! All those books you read went straight to the dogs."
The village chief's wife looked at the educated youths in astonishment.
She knew Ji Zhuxin usually took good care of them, sometimes even paying out of her own pocket to buy meat from her to feed them.
But she hadn't expected these educated youths to secretly harbor such thoughts.
The youths were scolded so badly they didn't dare to talk back, their faces flushing red all the way down to their necks.
People at the door also began to gather, pointing and whispering about the educated youths, who hung their heads in embarrassment and shrank into the corner.
Qin Du happened to pass by and overheard the conversation inside.
The image of Ji Zhaoxi sitting on the field ridge yesterday, crying while eating, suddenly flashed in his mind.
Afterward, Ji Zhuxin stormed off angrily, leaving only the village chief's wife and the educated youths staring at each other in dismay.
After returning to the compound.
Several educated youths complained angrily.
"If I had known, I wouldn't have eaten her food. Now she has something to hold against us."
"She's a complete shrew. Yelling so loudly in front of so many people, she has no sense of shame."
"Tch, who even wants to eat her food? If this village wasn't so poor that there's nothing to eat, we would never have touched it."
Educated Youth Xie followed behind them, keeping his head down and remaining silent.
His hands trembled slightly; he had anticipated this exact scene yesterday.
He wanted to explain things to Ji Zhaoxi, but he didn't know how.
He hadn't spoken those words from his heart at the time; it was just that everyone around him was laughing at him, and he felt compelled to say those hurtful things.
But since Ji Zhaoxi would ignore him from now on, shouldn't he be happy? No one would tease him about her anymore. Yet why did he feel a sense of loss instead of relief?
Later, Educated Youth Xie went looking for Ji Zhaoxi a few times, but she would run away the moment she saw him. He even chased her into the fields, but upon seeing the other villagers, he lowered his head and left.
Food for the ordinary villagers was becoming increasingly scarce.
Ji Zhaoxi wasn't the only one who knew Qin Du hunted; others in the village were quietly observing too.
By this time, some villagers had begun to grow dissatisfied. Why should the prey they caught be distributed by the village chief? He ate until his mouth was dripping with grease, while the hunters themselves got nothing.
"What if it catches a person?"
"Who cares? As long as we catch something to eat, even a field mouse is fine."
"No, let's pile some stones next to it as a marker, just in case someone accidentally steps on it."
A few men carrying hoes carefully placed an animal trap on the ground, then piled a small mound of stones next to it.
Not long after, a father and son walked down.
"Dad, what's that?"
The man took one look and immediately frowned. "Didn't they say animal traps are forbidden? Why is someone still using them? We have to tell the village chief."
The child stepped on the pile of stones and accidentally tripped. The man quickly pulled him up, muttering, "You're always doing this."
The trap was now partially obscured by scattered stones, making it even more hidden.
