A Cannon Fodder Who Became The Future Queen - Chapter 18.1

At noon, they ate meat at Fugui’s house, so Ji Ping’an didn’t make anything too greasy for dinner. Stir-fried radish and a bowl of porridge made for a simple meal.

As they were eating, they heard a voice outside the yard calling Ji Ping’an’s name. Ji Ping’an and Shen Zhiyu looked at each other, both thinking of Gong Rong, who had come looking for her last time.

“You and Suisui eat first. I’ll go out and see what’s going on.”

If the person was a rascal like Gong Rong, they would inevitably have some thoughts when they saw Shen Zhiyu. Ji Ping’an didn’t want to put her in danger. After saying that, Ji Ping’an left the room.

Shen Zhiyu watched the Qianyuan’s back disappear behind the door. When she lowered her head, she found that she couldn’t eat the food in her bowl anymore.

When Ji Ping’an got to the yard, she saw a man around fifty years old standing outside the fence.

“Uncle Li,” Ji Ping’an quickly opened the fence gate and let the man in. “Why are you here at this hour?”

Li Feng was the head of their village and the only family in the village that had a cow. He lived in the north of the village.

“I heard that you’ve been hunting these past few days. I was wondering if I could buy some wild chicken or something from you so my family could have a good meal.” The Li family was wealthy and had a lot of people. His daughter got married last year, and her husband was a live-in son-in-law from another village. The family would get to eat meat from time to time. But wild game was a bit expensive to buy in the county town, so he used to buy from Ji Ping’an’s mother. It was cheaper than in the county town, and the meat was fresh. After Ji Ping’an’s mother passed away, the Li family ate less wild game. It was only in the last few days that he heard from the villagers that Ji Ping’an had started hunting as well.

“That’s a shame. I just sold the ones I hunted in the county town today. If I had known Uncle Li was going to come buy some, I would have definitely saved some for you. That way, I wouldn’t have to go to the county town again.”

Half of what Ji Ping’an said was sincere, and the other half was because of Li Feng’s status. Although the head of the village wasn’t considered an official, he was the person the villagers had the most contact with. He had a lot of status in the village, and sometimes his words were even more useful than the county magistrate’s. It was not a bad thing to have a good relationship with him.

Li Feng heard this and smiled. “Then I was too slow.”

“Ping’an, the next time you hunt a good prey, you must save it for me first.”

“Uncle Li, you don’t have to worry about that,” Ji Ping’an said. “I should be going up the mountain in the next few days. There will be wild chickens, wild rabbits, and other things. I’ll save them for you first.”

After the two of them came to an agreement, Li Feng left, and Ji Ping’an returned to the kitchen. She picked up her bowl and continued eating, telling Shen Zhiyu, “It’s nothing serious. Uncle Li is the head of the village.”

Shen Zhiyu hummed. She had heard their conversation in the kitchen. She just thought to herself that Ji Ping’an spoke with a good sense of propriety in front of outsiders. She could come to an agreement with the head of the village in just a few sentences. But when she spoke to her, she always seemed to be a bit mischievous.

******

County Town.

A few hours ago.

Gong Rong, Wang Er, and Hao Da were beaten badly and lay in bed to rest for two days. Their alcohol addiction had long since flared up during these two days, so as soon as they could get out of bed, they ran to the tavern and each ordered two pots of wine.

Gong Rong’s face was gloomy. “Since Ji Da dared to hit us, she has to pay the price. Otherwise, people will think we’re easy to bully.” Even though they were beaten in Big Willow Village, word had spread quickly, and many people in the county town knew they had been beaten. Rascals were afraid of the strong and bullied the weak. They wouldn’t bully those with power and hard fists; they only liked to bully those weaker than them.

Gong Rong knew people in the government, so no one dared to bully him yet. But there was no avoiding the gossip behind his back. People were saying that he couldn’t even beat a useless person like Ji Ping’an and didn’t deserve to be a rascal in Donghe County.

Gong Rong had wanted to say that even if they stood in front of Ji Ping’an, they might not be able to beat her. But that would sound like he was praising Ji Ping’an, so he could only angrily flick his sleeves as if he hadn’t heard anything.

Hao Da refilled her cup and added, “That’s right. How can someone who was a drunkard yesterday not touch a single drop of alcohol today? It’s clear that she’s looking down on us.”

“The last time, she just moved so fast that we didn’t even have time to react. Otherwise, could she beat any one of us three? She couldn’t beat anyone!”

Wang Er also took a big gulp of wine. He was the best fighter among the four of them and had the most strength. But last time, before he even got close to Ji Ping’an, she had thrown him to the ground with one arm. For the past few days, Wang Er had been lying in bed, his mind filled with the scene from that day and how to get his revenge.

“You’re right. We should find an opportunity, and it’s best to call more people, so we can let Ji Da know how powerful we are!”

After drinking, they got carried away and started arguing about how to beat up Ji Ping’an.

“First, we’ll make her fall, and it’s best if she can’t get up from the ground. We should break her arm too…”

“Doesn’t she have a Kunze at home? We’ll beat her up so she’s bruised and swollen. Let’s see if her Kunze will be scared, ha ha ha…”

Gong Rong was listening with great interest. He casually looked outside the tavern and saw a familiar back.

“Shut up!”

Hao Da hadn’t reacted yet and asked, “Boss, what’s wrong?”

Gong Rong pointed at the back in front of the general store. “Who do you think that is?”

“Ji Da?!”

“She still dares to come to the county town?”

“I’ll show her right now!”

Hao Da and Wang Er spoke one after another, annoying Gong Rong. “Then you two go out and start a fight right now.”

The two of them immediately fell silent. “Boss… we…”

“Our arms aren’t fully healed yet. If we go and fight now, we definitely won’t be able to show our true strength…”

Gong Rong didn’t really want them to fight right now. “Look at where Ji Da came out of.”

“The general store. And she’s carrying a lot of stuff…” Hao Da hadn’t figured it out yet.

Wang Er, however, was a little smarter than her. “That’s not right. Didn’t Ji Da use to pawn things from her family to get money for alcohol? How could she have money to buy other things?” Could it be the money she took from them last time? But Wang Er didn’t dare to say that, especially with Gong Rong around.

Gong Rong narrowed his eyes. “I want to know, too. The two of you go and find out what Ji Da has been up to lately.” He thought, She hit me, and now she thinks she can act like nothing happened? It’s not that easy.

*****

After dinner, Ji Ping’an opened the system page as usual.

[Current Lifespan of Shen Zhiyu: 41 (max 100)]

[Current Favorable Impression of Shen Zhiyu: -35 (max 100]

[Current number of chances to draw: 11]

Because of the candy, Shen Zhiyu’s favorable impression had increased by 4, and her chances to draw a card had reached 11. Thinking of the [Relaxing Music] she had drawn last time, Ji Ping’an still decided not to draw immediately.

Her lifespan wasn’t increasing as fast as before. Ji Ping’an guessed that the previous increases were from external injuries, which would heal after applying medicine. However, Shen Zhiyu’s amnesia hadn’t been cured, and her body was still weak, so her lifespan was increasing slowly.

Ji Ping’an thought about Shen Zhiyu’s behavior these past few days: she said one thing but meant another, she had a sweet tooth, she didn’t like to talk in front of strangers, she could take a joke but not too much. Now she could add another label: a delicate little one who needed to be taken good care of.

She said to herself, “She really is a lot like a cat.”

*******

The next day, Ji Ping’an prepared to go hunting in the mountains as usual. Before leaving, she arranged the bow and arrows she was going to take with her in the yard. Suisui had already watered the vegetable patch and fed some grass to the chick, murmuring, “Little Yellow, Little Yellow, grow up quickly.”

Ji Ping’an curiously asked Shen Zhiyu next to her, “Who is Little Yellow?”

“The chick,” Shen Zhiyu replied.

Ji Ping’an looked at the chick and thought that calling it Little Little Yellow wasn’t a bad idea either. She amused herself with the thought, then turned her head and said, “I’m going up the mountain. You should get some sun when you have nothing to do.” Sunbathing could help with calcium and was good for the body.

Shen Zhiyu, however, shot her a cold glare and said, “You get some sun yourself.” Does the Qianyuan not know what her pheromones smell like? Why else would she say something like that?

[Favorable Impression -1 for Target Character]

After saying that, she went to talk to Suisui and ignored her, leaving Ji Ping’an standing there in a daze.

“???”

Why did her favorable impression suddenly drop?

Ji Ping’an was still thinking with her mindset from the original world and didn’t have a deep understanding of the pheromones in this world. She really hadn’t paid attention to the smell of her own pheromones. So, she replayed the events from the moment she woke up until now but still couldn’t figure out how she had offended Shen Zhiyu and made her favorable impression drop again.

Since she couldn’t figure it out, Ji Ping’an didn’t dwell on it. That’s just how cats are; they scratch you when they’re in a bad mood. Regardless, the number of draws she had wouldn’t decrease.