My Wife is the Vicious Supporting Character from an Era Novel - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Only Fragrance Can Soothe

In this era, getting married often required a dowry that included “the three revolves and one ring,” but in a rural village like Cloud Water, these were often substituted with money. Only three families in the entire village own a sewing machine.

Wen Miao draws a simple yet modern-looking dress pattern on paper. It’s a design that would still be fashionable in the future. Ji Baiqing looks at Wen Miao’s delicate hands and asks, “Can you make clothes?”

Wen Miao shakes her head. “I can’t, but I can have someone else do it.” Ji Baiqing had a feeling this would be the case. She suggests a woman named Lotus, who has a sewing machine and is known for her skill.

Lotus’s home is on the edge of the village. The house is old, but the yard is well-kept. When they knock, the door opens just a crack, revealing a thin woman with bulging eyes. Lotus, a widow, is startled to see Ji Baiqing. She asks what they need. Ji Baiqing explains they want a dress made and shows her the pattern. Lotus looks at the pattern, which has a cinched waist and a mermaid-style hem, and agrees to try.

Once inside, Lotus quickly closes the door. The sewing machine is in the main room where the light is best. She pours them water and nervously wipes her hands. As Ji Baiqing looks around the bare room, she wonders why Lotus and her daughter, Xiaomi, seem so poor despite her mother’s work. She then notices a pair of eyes peeking at them from a crack in a nearby room—it must be Xiaomi.

Ji Baiqing smiles and makes eye contact with the girl, who quickly closes the door. Lotus apologizes for her daughter’s rudeness. Ji Baiqing, however, naturally pulls a candy from her pocket and coaxes the girl to come out. Xiaomi, lured by the promise of a treat, peeks out. Lotus tells Ji Baiqing not to bother, but Ji Baiqing insists, “Lotus, Xiaomi isn’t a jinx. It was just a coincidence.” She speaks softly to the girl, and Xiaomi, despite her initial hesitation, comes out.

Xiaomi is tiny and looks starved. She stares longingly at the candy in Ji Baiqing’s hand. Wen Miao, seeing the girl, feels a pang of pity. She tells Ji Baiqing to give the girl the candy, and as soon as Ji Baiqing hands it over, Xiaomi grabs it and runs back into the room. Wen Miao’s hand, which she’d instinctively extended to touch the girl, hangs awkwardly in the air. Lotus apologizes for her daughter’s shyness, explaining that she’s a bit of a stranger to people.

Lotus takes Wen Miao’s measurements and agrees to make the dress. Ji Baiqing gives her a basket of eggs, which Lotus tries to refuse, but Ji Baiqing is too strong. When Ji Baiqing is gone, Lotus sees a dollar and five cents hidden at the bottom of the basket, and tears stream down her face.

Back home, Wen Miao is dejected. She asks Ji Baiqing, “Do I look scary?” Ji Baiqing shakes her head. “Of course not. You’re beautiful.” Wen Miao is still confused about why Xiaomi ran away from her. Ji Baiqing explains that Xiaomi is shy and has been ostracized by the village, who believes she is a “jinx” because her father was struck by lightning and died the day after she was born.

Wen Miao is a little sad but understands. She wonders why Lotus is still so poor. Ji Baiqing explains that people likely take advantage of her, paying her little or nothing for her work. Wen Miao suggests they bring her more food next time. Ji Baiqing agrees, unable to resist Wen Miao’s hopeful look.

The next day, Wen Miao has an idea. She tells the children who come to her for work that she will give extra cookies to whoever gets Xiaomi to join them to forage for pig feed. The children initially refuse, saying Xiaomi is bad luck, but when Wen Miao says she will give all the cookies to Xiaomi, one of them, Manman, agrees.

Manman reluctantly brings a teary-eyed Xiaomi over. Wen Miao gives Manman the promised cookies and tells her that Xiaomi is not a jinx, but just an ordinary girl. Manman, though still doubtful, agrees.

Ji Baiqing and Wen Miao decide to go to the next village to get flower and grape cuttings for their yard. On the way, Ji Baiqing reminds Wen Miao to hold on tight to her waist as the road is bumpy. Wen Miao holds on, resting her head against Ji Baiqing’s back. When they arrive, they find the owner, an elderly woman, is out working. They decide to wait.

While they are waiting, Ji Baiqing asks Wen Miao why she helped Xiaomi. Wen Miao confesses that she feels they are similar. “We’re both rejected by others,” she says softly. “My family is a bit better off, but if it weren’t for my grandmother, I’d be just like her.” She says she just pretends not to care.

Ji Baiqing feels a sudden, sharp pain in her chest and grabs Wen Miao’s hand. She says, “How could you think that? I don’t hate you. My family and I all like you.” She tells her that those who hate her are just jealous.

Wen Miao is not convinced. “How can someone who just met me be jealous of me?” She wonders why people like Shen Niannian and Lu Yan treat her so strangely, with an underlying hostility.

As Wen Miao speaks, Ji Baiqing feels a familiar, excruciating pain in her head, as if her two worlds are colliding. She clutches her head and sinks to the ground. Wen Miao, terrified, tries to help her, leaning against her. Ji Baiqing inhales Wen Miao’s familiar scent, which seems to be the only thing that can soothe her. After a few moments, the pain subsides.

Ji Baiqing, now feeling better, holds Wen Miao’s hand and says sincerely, “Wen Miao, you are a good person. People hating you is their problem, not yours.” She gently touches Wen Miao’s tear-stained face. “I’m not lying or just trying to comfort you. I really think you are special.”

A kind old woman, the owner of the house, appears and asks what they are doing. Ji Baiqing explains that they came to get some seeds. The woman gives them a bag of seeds and lets them take cuttings from her rose and grape vines. They return home with their new plants and find that the children have left four baskets of pig feed for them.

That afternoon, Wen Miao makes lunch and asks Ji Baiqing if she’s feeling better. Ji Baiqing laughs, “You’ve asked me a dozen times. I’m fine.” Wen Miao glares at her and says, “Well, I was worried. You scared me.”

After lunch, Wen Miao falls asleep, and Ji Baiqing fans her while thinking about her strange head pain. She realizes that her body is perfectly healthy. It must have been a hallucination. She is determined to figure out why people in the novel treat Wen Miao so badly.

She goes to the village head’s home and asks what he thinks of Wen Miao. The village head, Li Xiangdong, tells her that he knows she likes Wen Miao, but he thinks Wen Miao is a slacker and that Ji Baiqing shouldn’t learn from her if she wants to get married. Ji Baiqing realizes that even the village head despises Wen Miao. She goes back to her room, where Wen Miao wakes up and asks for a kiss. Ji Baiqing bends down and gives her a soft, sweet kiss, determined to help Wen Miao escape her fate as the “villainess.”