Ugly girl only wants to farm

Chapter 223 Willing to Request a Divorce

The little maid carried the somewhat heavy food box toward the academy. Qin Zhenzhen was already getting impatient. The biting cold swept over her, making her shiver. She flicked her sleeve away.

She tossed several plates of snacks and tea off the small table, and the hand warmer was now only slightly warm. The maid returned just before she was about to lose her temper again.

"Miss, the young master was delayed for a while because of some business. I bought some tofu pudding and a few snacks. Which one would you like to eat first?"

After Xiaochun finished speaking, she lifted the curtain and respectfully handed it over. Her hands were red from the cold, and she was trembling slightly as she held the tofu pudding.

Qin Zhenzhen held a handkerchief in one hand to shield herself from the chill, her voice tinged with displeasure: "You're back so late, go back and receive your punishment."

Xiaochun didn't dare to utter a sound and nodded timidly, her voice filled with fear. She had rushed over as fast as she could and almost tripped, but was still scolded by the young lady.

Qin Zhenzhen glanced at the shoddy food in her hand, her face full of disgust. She thought that the woman had come up with some new trick, but it turned out to be the same kind of shoddy food again.

Qin Zhenzhen glanced at the distance again and saw Xu Chaoyan chatting and laughing with others. She found it an eyesore. How could such a vulgar and ugly woman be worthy of such an elegant and refined person? It was like a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung.

Xu Chaoyan boiled all the soup and blanched all the vegetables, especially the radish chunks, which became more flavorful the longer they were cooked. There wasn't much konjac tofu left either; it had been quite popular when she came three days ago.

She had previously frozen a lot of snow tofu, which both Shen Siheng and Meng Jiuhe liked to eat, but Meng Jiuhe didn't show it as obviously as Shen Siheng.

Xu Chaoyan noticed his subtle movements. Looking at the few remaining konjac tofu pieces, she saved some for her husband. She wanted to save this good stuff for him to try, since she would need him in the future.

Qin Zhenzhen found that smile irritating and increasingly distasteful of the coarse food.

Xiaochun's hands were red from the cold all the way here, and they were covered with chilblains after the whole winter. Holding that bowl of frozen tofu pudding, her hands finally felt a little warm.

Qin Zhenzhen shot an impatient glance at me, her face full of annoyance: "What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and take these things to feed the dogs. Forget it, even dogs won't eat these things. Throw them away, don't let them pollute your eyes."

Qin Zhenzhen originally planned to go back inside to get some charcoal braziers to warm herself up, but when she saw Xu Chaoyan chatting and laughing with others, she found it very annoying. She thought that such an ugly woman should be sent away as soon as possible. She heard that Meng Shusheng was also a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examinations), and his future was limitless if he passed the Juren (another successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations).

She had secretly inquired about the county school and Mingyue Academy. Those who were knowledgeable were not particularly good-looking, and few of those who were good-looking had real talent. It was rare to find someone who was both talented and handsome, but unfortunately, she was already married. It was hard to tell that she had married such an ugly woman at such a young age. She wondered if she had been coerced.

She was unwilling and tightly clutched the handkerchief in her hand. Her mother had been mentioning the matter of finding a husband for her these past few days, saying that she was getting old and could not wait any longer. She always used the excuse that her eldest brother was not yet married to brush off these matters.

Her elder brother's marriage was arranged before the new year, and she could no longer find a reason to refuse. The magistrate's son had long coveted her, and his father, hoping for a promotion, intended to curry favor with the magistrate's family.

She had heard before that the county magistrate's family intended to establish a relationship with the prefect's family through marriage. If she married into the family, she could only be a concubine, which, to put it nicely, would still mean being inferior to others.

Qin Zhenzhen glanced into the distance as if she had made a major decision. She yanked open the curtain, and Xiaochun was still standing there in a daze. She walked over, stepped on Xiaochun's foot, and pushed her away: "Don't stand here. You can't even handle a small matter. Hurry up and get rid of that inferior food and come up here."

Xu Chaoyan ladled a bowl of hot soup and handed it to Meng Jiuxia. This little girl was having her period for the first time in winter and was also out setting up a stall with her. She was worried that the girl might catch a cold, because in ancient times, even a small cold could be fatal.

"Little sister-in-law, have a bowl of soup to warm yourself up, and add a few more pieces of charcoal to warm yourself up."

As she spoke, she added several more pieces of charcoal to the charcoal brazier. Zhang Yueniang quickly stopped her, saying, "Sister, be careful. There's not much business right now. Why add so much charcoal? We can manage. It won't hurt to burn a couple more braziers when business picks up later."

Xu Chaoyan had no choice but to put away the fire tongs.

Suddenly, a "thump" came from the table, and the three of them involuntarily looked up.

Qin Zhenzhen looked arrogant and pointed at the money bag on the table: "I'll take care of everything for you today. Make room for me. Also, you two go to Zhang's and buy me some freshly baked osmanthus cakes. Remember to bring them to me while they're hot. They'll taste different if you run over and they cool down."

After saying that, he had the maid hand over a piece of silver, still with an arrogant and rude attitude: "Consider the rest as a reward for you two, as your travel expenses?"

Xu Chaoyan's gaze was drawn to a bag of silver on the table. Even if they bought all the snacks from these three stalls, it wouldn't be worth that much money.

Meng Jiuxia and Zhang Yueniang were still standing there, not even taking the piece of silver. They were at a loss and didn't know how to respond. It would take Zhang Ji at least half an hour to make a round trip.

Xu Chaoyan took the silver coins and stuffed them into Zhang Yueniang's hand: "What are you still standing there for, sister? Take your sister-in-law and buy some osmanthus cake. Remember to buy Zhang Ji's. Their osmanthus cake is so soft, tender and sweet that no other place can compare to it."

Meng Jiuxia glanced at her malicious gaze, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but Xu Chaoyan stopped her.

"Hurry up and go buy it! It's such a big order, and it's not fair that you two only buy osmanthus cake. Keep the rest for your pocket money, sister-in-law doesn't want it."

Zhang Yueniang glanced at Xu Chaoyan with some concern, then gestured with her eyes: "This woman isn't coming to cause trouble, is she? Judging from her kind look, she probably doesn't want anything good. Should we stay and help her?"

Xu Chaoyan waved to her and urged them to hurry up and go.

After the two left, Xu Chaoyan quickly put on a formulaic smile, ladled out a bowl of hot soup, and pointed to the food in the pot.

"Miss, what would you like to eat? I'll pick it for you right away. How was your last experience? We've made some new tofu pudding this time, would you like to try some? We have sweet and savory options, depending on your preference."

Qin Zhenzhen glanced at the steaming tofu pudding and the bright red chili oil. Their brows furrowed involuntarily. It would be strange if such spicy and stimulating food didn't cause pimples. Last time, she almost couldn't handle it even after adding a lot of dogwood. She even wondered if this woman was doing it on purpose.

Qin Zhenzhen didn't waste any time with her and planned to directly state her purpose for the day.

"Your husband still owes me a favor from last time he went to the county school, do you remember?"

Xu Chaoyan still smiled and spoke in a humble yet firm tone: "How could my family ever forget your great kindness, Miss? Just let us know if you ever need anything in the future."

Seeing that her attitude towards her was acceptable, Qin Zhenzhen said approvingly, "You said it yourself. If there's anything I can do to help you, just let me know. Right now, there's something I can do to help you. Are you willing to help?"

Xu Chaoyan took the bowl and rinsed it with hot water. These rich young ladies had too many rules.

"Appreciate further details."

Qin Zhenzhen didn't blurt it out, after all, it was her first time doing this. She then took off a bracelet from her wrist, its emerald green luster clearly worth a lot of money.

Seeing Xu Chaoyan's uncultured look, she smiled sarcastically and thought to herself, "That country bumpkin has never seen the world."

The maid Xiaochun handed over the bracelet, saying, "Let's not beat around the bush. I prefer people who are sensible."

Xu Chaoyan couldn't help but roll her eyes inwardly. "Speak up if you have something to say, or shut up. What are you dawdling about? This bracelet looks pretty good. I wonder how many taels it could sell for. This woman doesn't seem to be here with good intentions. Is she deliberately trying to cause trouble?"

Qin Zhenzhen saw that she still had a smiling face, and with her face full of acne scars, it was disgusting to look at. She wondered how such a person could stand being with someone as gentle and refined as her.

"I'll keep it short."

Xu Chaoyan stared at her, waiting for her to speak, but Qin Zhenzhen didn't say anything after a long time.

She was getting a little anxious, wondering what this woman was up to.

Xu Chaoyan: "Miss, have you encountered any difficulties?"

Qin Zhenzhen gritted her teeth before speaking. After all, she was a young woman, and she was still a little shy about discussing men's affairs with someone for the first time: "Are you willing to ask to leave your husband? I have taken a liking to your husband. This bracelet is just a small token. I will give you money later so that you can live a life of comfort and security, or I can arrange a marriage for you."

Xu Chaoyan: "Forced purchase or sale?"

Qin Zhenzhen's expression changed: "Since you have asked to step down, I will certainly not treat you unfairly."