Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Li Changyu didn’t tell Qingmu what he was thinking, but he did state that the Li Family had no interest in taking over the two workshops and agreed with the suggestion to sell them to the Fang family. Consequently, all the villagers gathered that day to decide the workshops’ future, their clamorous arguments putting all of life’s little dramas on full display.

While the men were discussing important matters, the wives waited anxiously at home.

Meizi, however, had brought her son Li Jingwen to Juhua’s house to snap water bamboo shoots. As they worked, she complained that Liu Xiaomei hadn’t come back to visit her family since getting married, and that she hadn’t seen her in ages.

Juhua smiled faintly. "Doesn’t she have her own life to live? She can’t be running back to her parents’ house all the time. Even if she did come back, she’d spend most of her time at the Liu Family’s home. She’d barely have enough time to have a heart-to-heart with her own mother, so how would she find time to come see you?"

Zhao Qing was also at their side, snapping water bamboo shoots. Her small hands were covered in grime and muddy water trickled between her fingers, but her expression was completely serious, looking for all the world like she was busy providing for her family. Hearing Juhua’s words, she chimed in, "It’s so convenient for Sister Juhua to visit her family after marrying Brother Huai Zi. She doesn’t have to be like Sister Xiaomei, who can’t come back for days and days. It’s so sad. When I grow up, I’ll marry Brother Yangzi. Then when I miss my mom, it’ll be easy to go back and see her."

Hearing this, Juhua glanced sideways at the little girl and chuckled. Her resistance was much stronger now; she no longer burst out laughing at the drop of a hat whenever she heard the girl’s childish pronouncements.

Meizi pretended to be displeased and asked, "Qing’er, I’m so good to you, so why won’t you marry my Jingwen? My Jingwen is going to be a great man when he grows up!"

Zhao Qing glanced at the young master of the Li Family, who was crawling nonstop on the reed mat. His little bottom was stuck in the air as his chubby hand grabbed a peeled water bamboo shoot kernel—one his mother had peeled and placed before him—and stuffed it into his mouth. That row of tiny new teeth was surprisingly sharp, crunching the kernel to bits. However, a long line of drool trickled from the corner of his mouth, bits of kernel mixed in. It was a classic case of "half for the sky, half for the ground; half eaten, half spilled." As if that wasn’t enough, the little tyke chewed for a moment, probably decided it had lost its flavor, and then spat the pulpy mass out. He giggled at them, another silvery thread dangling from his lips.

Meizi’s hands were covered in grime from snapping the water bamboo shoots, so she couldn’t free them to clean her son up. She could only call out, "Jingwen, don’t spit everywhere! Look, you’re getting the mat all dirty. Auntie Juhua is going to scold you!"

Juhua’s eyebrow twitched—she’d been promoted to "Auntie"!

Zhao Qing, however, furrowed her little brow and pressed her lips together tightly. She held back for a long moment before saying, "Sister Meizi, your Jingwen just won’t do. He has no class at all. How can he compare to how refined and elegant Brother Yangzi is? You can’t blame me for wanting to marry Brother Yangzi."

She was simply parroting Juhua.

She was always coming over to play with Juhua, and Juhua, for her part, loved to draw her into conversation. The pair, one big and one small, would often get lost in surprisingly serious and animated chats. As a result, Zhao Qing would go home spouting all sorts of new words, occasionally using them so randomly that she left her parents dumbfounded. Only Little Shitou could understand a thing or two.

Meizi and Juhua sputtered with laughter. Meizi argued on her son’s behalf, "Jingwen is still little! How can he be expected to behave? Weren’t you a child once too? You were quite the little troublemaker when you were small, have you forgotten?"

Zhao Qing looked at her in disbelief. "Really?" She turned to Juhua and asked, "Sister Juhua, my brother said I was a very good baby and barely ever cried. Is that true? I didn’t drool like Li Jingwen, did I? And he’s got a bare bottom!"

Juhua didn’t have the heart to crush her, so she just smiled. "You drooled too, back before you had teeth. All little babies drool when they’re teething—they say it’s because their gums are itchy. You were a very good baby when you were born. You didn’t cry much, and you were as small and soft as a little kitten."

Zhao Qing was fascinated and began to clamor for Juhua to tell her more "stories from when she was little."

Meizi and Juhua looked at the little tyke and snickered to themselves. ’Aren’t you in your "little" days right now?’ they thought.

Juhua looked at her small, grime-covered hands and the rough-looking water bamboo shoots she had snapped—the little roots still clinging to them—and tried to persuade her. "Qing’er, why don’t you stop for now? Your hands are small, so you can’t do much anyway. It would be better if you went and washed your hands and helped wipe Li Jingwen’s mouth. Afterward, Sister Meizi and I will each give you some of the shoots. If you learn how to look after Li Jingwen, you’ll know how to take care of a baby. That way, when your mom has a little brother for you, you’ll be able to help look after him. This is how all little children grow up."

Zhao Qing hesitated for a moment after hearing this. Then she set down the water bamboo shoots and said, "Alright! This baby is really a handful!" With that, she let out a small sigh and went to scoop water from the bucket by the well to wash her hands.