CH 83

There was a strong sense of unwelcome in Xuehan’s tone. She had truly seen through San Ya, who was now Wang Ru.

Wang Ru changed her appearance. She was wearing an emerald-green skirt, a blue padded jacket on her upper body, her sparse hair was combed neatly, and she carried a beautiful purse around her waist. Xuehan looked at her in a daze, mentally calculating that her outfit alone was worth at least five hundred wens. She furrowed her brows, realizing that nobody in the village had ever dressed so flamboyantly. It was far too attention-grabbing.

Sometimes she thought Wang Ru was cunning, while at other times she considered her foolish. Wang Ru’s family was on the verge of becoming a prominent household in the village, with nobody to compete against them. This should have been a time for discretion, but Wang Ru’s ostentatious display was like a blatant announcement to the entire village, “Look how wealthy my family is!”

Didn’t they learn enough lessons from last time? There was no doubt they were father and daughter, the roots were the same!

Wang Ru, in her self-righteousness, thought Xuehan was envious of her. Thinking about the purpose of coming here today, she said, “Xuehan, I came to apologize. I was jealous of you before and I inevitably had resentment. Now I sincerely apologize to you. I hope you be the better person and forgive me.”

Xuehan became vigilant. Mother told many stories, especially the story of the white-eyed wolf with a sweet belly. She pursed her lips, “I see, you can go back!”

Seeing Xuehan bowing her head to write again, Wang Ru crushed the handkerchief in her hand her jealousy grew even stronger. Not only was Xuehan a village girl like her, but she also had a good father who could read and write. It was no wonder she had caught the attention of the male protagonist. Wang Ru never anticipated that she herself would be transported into the world of the novel. Thoughts of Xuehan’s younger brother, Zhou Changzhi, crossed her mind. She couldn’t let Zhou Changzhi succeed because, without him, Xuehan would remain nothing more than a village girl.

As for snatching the male protagonist, Wang Ru’s eyes flickered with cunning. “Every man for himself,” she thought. Besides, Xuehan was inherently selfish, (1) looking down on others and considering herself superior. However, she still needed to play it safe. With that in mind, Wang Ru planned to stand in front of the table and raise her hand, revealing her jade bracelet. “Master Shi is too kind. Not only did he gift me this precious jade bracelet, but he also presented a generous amount of gold and silver. He possesses both outstanding looks and talent, and his kind-hearted nature is truly rare in this world.”

Xuehan was tired of hearing this and frowned. She wondered what kind of illness Wang Ru was suffering from so she came to her house to show off, “I’m going to show my mother what I wrote, you go back first!”

Wang Ru is a bit stupid, why didn’t she follow the script, shouldn’t she be jealous? Shouldn’t she yearn for it? It’s just that she couldn’t stay any longer because she was too thick-skinned, so she walked away unhappy with her mouth squinted.

Xuehan went to the main room to find her mother and told her Wang Ru’s words and movements, “Mother, you haven’t seen Wang Ru’s appearance, and she can’t wait to put all the good things on herself. The thin and dry wrists are wearing jade bracelets. It’s not pretty, let alone, I’m afraid it won’t be able to carry it and it’ll fall to pieces.”

Zhulan’s face darkened. Wang Ru truly didn’t let go of any opportunity to scheme. Whether or not Master Shi would take a liking to Xuehan was beside the point. The fact was that if Xuehan had shown her materialistic side, it could have bought her down. Wang Ru’s intentions remained poisonous. She not only wanted to tarnish Snow Han’s reputation but also wanted to lead her astray.

Zhao shi was dumbfounded, and said dryly, “Sanya, sorry, now it is Wang Ru. She is trying to lead our xiǎogūzi (2) to the wrong side. She has too many bad intentions, she really doesn’t look like the children in the village. Speaking of which, her transformation has been quite drastic.”

Xuehan also heard some stories about goblins and ghosts, and was terrified, “Mother, Wang Ru must have encountered a lonely ghost!”(3)

Zhulan kept smiling, my dear child, there was one in front of you now. No dear, there were two in your family (4), “Don’t think about it, I think Wang Ru’s nature is like this. Think about it, didn’t Fourth Wang just change the moment he had some money in his hand? Aren’t father and daughter very similar?

Xuehan nodded, realizing the truth in Zhu Lan’s words. However, she pursed her lips and said, “I didn’t understand it before, but from now on, I won’t let her visit our house again.”

Zhu Lan tried to see the positive side of the situation. With her and Zhou Shuren around, she wasn’t afraid of Wang Ru taking advantage of Xuehan. It could also serve as an opportunity for Xuehan to grow and become more discerning so that she wouldn’t be easily manipulated by others in the future.

The next day, Fourth Wang’s family bought a house. They bought the house adjacent to Zhulan’s house. The house had a main room and six side rooms and was built two years ago. Fourth Wang’s family was very high-profile, and everyone knew that they bought the house for 30 taels. The seller had bought the previously rented house of Fourth Wang for 5 taels and then renovated it for another 5. Later he sold it to Fourth Wang for 30, making a neat profit of 20 taels!

Zhulan was speechless seeing the activities of Fourth Wang’s family. He was not afraid that the whole village would know about their wealth; the previous incident hadn’t taught him a lesson.

Zheng shi was also not strict with her mouth. She was present when Master Shi gave the gift of thanks. As soon as Zheng shi publicized it, everyone in the village knew what the nobleman had given away. Two bolts of silk and satin, fifty taels of silver, and some jewelry worth more than 100 taels.

Zhulan couldn’t help but chuckle upon hearing this. Master Shi treated Wang Ru as nothing but a village girl and dismissed her with just 100 taels. If it weren’t for the sausage recipe, she wouldn’t have even received those hundred taels. The story was becoming more and more interesting.