Chapter 3: When to Divorce?

Zhu Chidi was the first to speak. She gently brushed the stray hairs on her forehead and said, “You scared me to death. How could you faint so suddenly? Mother always said to practice moderation. No matter what, don’t overdo things. Otherwise, how can you live a long life and enjoy your later years?” Her voice was gentle but left no room for argument.

Zhu Wansheng felt anxious inside but put on an awkward smile. “I’m fine, just hungry. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

Seeing her so obedient, Zhu Chidi was somewhat surprised. “Wansheng is being so well-behaved today, not arguing with me.”

She knew she couldn’t act like the original owner – hot-tempered, argumentative, rebellious, and full of sensitive spots. She had long since had her edges smoothed in the scientific research circle, where she most often said: “Alright, understood.”

Not wanting to be surrounded and stared at like a monkey in a zoo, Zhu Wansheng sat up on the soft couch. Lanfan immediately came over to wrap a cloak around her.

She was pleasantly surprised, but before she could calm down, Zhu Chidi took her hand and led her to sit on the huanghuali luohan couch. Sweet pastries were immediately brought to her lips. She reached out to take one from Zhu Chidi’s hand and took a small bite.

“I came to your courtyard a few times yesterday. Lanfan said you had drunk some wine and gone to bed early, so I didn’t want to wake you,” Zhu Chidi said.

It seemed she was about to discuss something important. Zhu Wansheng immediately stopped eating and listened attentively. “But seeing your complexion looking even worse today, the doctor just said that kidney deficiency causes dizziness. You’ll need to be careful in the future and follow the prescription to recuperate properly.”

“I will take good care of myself.” Although she had only fainted due to excessive exercise and insufficient blood flow to the brain, it was truly difficult to explain.

Zhu Chidi turned to face her, her expression becoming serious, a change from her previous gentle demeanor. “Mother wants to discuss some important matters with you.”

Feeling uneasy at this sudden seriousness, she replied, “Please go ahead.”

“You’ve been married for over three months now. It’s time for you to establish yourself in your career. For the first few years, you’ve been idle and carefree every day. I didn’t say anything, letting you do as you pleased. But now, it’s time for you to help ease your mother’s burdens, don’t you think?”

She wanted to say no. The original owner had enjoyed eighteen years without incident. Why should she take on such a heavy responsibility as soon as she arrived?

But she didn’t dare refuse. “What should I do?”

Zhu Chidi was quite shocked. “You’re agreeing just like that?”

She nodded, though her heart was filled with trepidation.

Although the Zhu family’s rouge shop was a century-old business, it had declined rather than prospered by the time it reached the original owner’s mother’s generation. The reason was simple – Zhu Chidi only loved eating, drinking, and having fun. She had no interest in doing business.

She hardly ever inquired about the rouge shop’s affairs, handing over the entire business to her sister Zhu Chimo to manage. Zhu Chimo and her subordinates were conservative and didn’t know how to keep up with the times, causing the Zhu family’s rouge shop to gradually fall into decline. Now this hot potato was being handed to her…

While she was pondering, Zhu Chidi spoke again, “There are some things I shouldn’t say too much about. You just need to remember, looking around, men are everywhere. It’s not worth pushing everyone away for the sake of one man’s smile.”

“As for the rouge shop matters, you don’t need to rush for success. Start with the simplest things. You can go to the shop first to familiarize yourself. I’ll have someone bring you the coral token soon.”

The coral token was the Zhu family’s hereditary cinnabar seal. Because the Zhu family had many branch stores spread across a wide area, shopkeepers in other regions might not have seen members of the main family. Therefore, this token was specially made – seeing the token was like seeing the family head.

Zhu Wansheng nodded reluctantly. “Alright, I’ll go today then.”

“There’s no need to rush. Your body is still weak. Establishing your career isn’t urgent. Take a few days to recover before you go.”

Zhu Wansheng felt a warmth in her heart. In her previous life, she had rarely been with her family. Seeing Zhu Chidi reminded her of her own mother, and she felt a bit sentimental.

Zhu Chidi didn’t notice her sentimentality and thought of something else. “Qing’er, you come here too.”

Gu Yingqing responded with a cool “Mm.”

Zhu Chidi took Gu Yingqing’s hand and placed it in hers. His hand was much larger than hers, with a warm palm and a long wound on the tiger’s mouth that was still bleeding.

After Zhu Chidi let go, he lifted his hand slightly, leaving a gap so as not to touch her.

Zhu Chidi didn’t notice these small movements and continued speaking, “Wansheng, I have another wish. You should get along well with Qing’er. Don’t always argue and make people laugh at us, causing chaos in the family. From now on, let Qing’er accompany you when you inspect the shops.”

Zhu Wansheng smiled without saying anything.

“There’s a lot to learn about managing shops. You’ve been used to playing since you were little, and it’s too much for one person to handle. Let Qing’er share some of the burden. That way, I can feel at ease entrusting it to you both to enjoy a peaceful life.”

Zhu Wansheng quickly glanced at Gu Yingqing. He might as well have had “unwilling” written on his forehead. Zhu Wansheng was speechless.

She didn’t want to either. “Mother, it’s just watching the shop. I can actually go by myself.”

Zhu Chidi raised her voice slightly, speaking firmly, “That won’t do. Since you’re starting to learn from scratch, you should do it together. Once you’re familiar with it, I’ll have your aunt teach you to take over the rest. But you must let Qing’er learn alongside you.”

Zhu Wansheng was dissatisfied.

“If you continue to be so willful, you’ll stay in Zhu Yin Pavilion to rest and recuperate in the future, without going out.”

Before she could even start, she was already defeated. This was like being grounded. She made a few mental calculations and then nodded. “Alright, we’ll go together. Learn, learn together.” Anyway, once outside the Zhu family gate, she could do whatever she wanted. They couldn’t keep someone watching her all the time, could they?

Having discussed what needed to be discussed, the conversation ended. Zhu Wansheng was looking for an excuse to leave when Lin Cangai, who had been standing at a distance, suddenly appeared. “Elder Zhu, I want to accompany big sister too. Can I go along? I can help as well.”

At this… Zhu Wansheng’s mouth twitched. The original owner was into this, huh.

She remained calm, but Zhu Chidi’s face showed displeasure. She snorted coldly and said sternly, “Absolutely not. What would it look like for you to meddle in Zhu family affairs? You just stay at home and rest. Don’t go causing trouble.”

Lin Cangai let out a disappointed “Oh,” hanging his head dejectedly. His fingers fidgeted in front of him, and he occasionally raised his head to steal glances at Zhu Wansheng. But she seemed to be having an eye-fight with Gu Yingqing and didn’t pay attention to anything else.

***

Just after the hour of the Goat, Zhu Wansheng woke up thirsty from her sleep. She threw off the covers and, not even bothering to put on shoes, ran to the round table in her foot wrappings to pour herself a cup of flower tea.

The tea had been sitting out all night and had long since lost its flavor and gone cold, but she didn’t care. She gulped it down in one go, still not quenching her thirst, and poured another cup.

After finishing, she hurriedly began to dress and make herself up. Today was her day of release from confinement. After fainting in the room that day, Zhu Chidi had restricted her to Zhu Yin Pavilion to “recuperate” for over half a month. Being cooped up in this small space without a phone was driving her crazy.

With the coral token delivered, Zhu Wansheng didn’t want to wait a moment longer.

However – even though half a month had passed, Zhu Chidi still remembered to have Gu Yingqing accompany her.

Sitting opposite each other, they traveled in silence. Zhu Wansheng didn’t mind, lifting the curtain to look at this novel world.

The main street of Jiayu City was quite different from the ancient costume dramas she had seen before. Among the people coming and going, women were the majority, with few men. Even when there were men, they mostly followed behind women.

Looking around, what Zhu Wansheng liked most was the women’s ear decorations with fresh flowers. The flowers were of various colors, paired with numerous silver ornaments, creating a unique charm. She suddenly wanted to try dressing like that too.

Just as she was enjoying the sights, the carriage suddenly jolted, making her feel a bit nauseous…

The person opposite her was like a wax figure, showing no reaction no matter how she fidgeted. Zhu Wansheng suddenly had an idea and broke the silence, “Your sword looks quite nice. Is there a story behind it?”

Gu Yingqing lifted his eyelids slightly, glancing at her. “No.”

The carriage swayed gently. He sat upright, his right hand resting on his knee. His fair, slender fingers tapped his knee intermittently. The wound on his tiger’s mouth had started to scab over. In the dim light, it looked like a thin, long worm gripping his palm, with its tail peeking out.

Zhu Wansheng had a thought: Research Assistant, are you there? I need 500 milliliters of dipalmitoyl ascorbate, prepared as a solution. But don’t use a dropper bottle with a rubber cap.

[I’m here. Received. The system is preparing your order. After purchasing special organic reagents, please replenish sugar to avoid fainting.]

During these days of being confined to her quarters, she had been exploring the rules of this system. For example, the system sometimes had specific rules. Generally, when synthesizing slightly more complex reagents, she needed to supplement something.

Recalling when she was in her room and her lips were chapped, she had requested some Vaseline, and the system had also reminded her to replenish energy. However, she had a sudden idea and said: Assistant, can you get me some glucose to replenish my energy?

The system had replied:

[You can’t exploit loopholes. Please find sugar on your own.]

……

But to this day, she still hadn’t figured out exactly which reagents were considered special reagents.

At first, she thought it was complex organic compounds, but later found out that wasn’t the case. She couldn’t figure it out, and whenever she asked the system about this, it would crash…

Zhu Wansheng took out a small brown reagent bottle and began peeling off the label. Suddenly, she thought that recently she had only been getting small amounts of reagents. If she wanted to make some rouge or something to sell, she would probably need large quantities. So she probed: If I need one kilogram of sucrose, can I extract it all at once? Or if I need something like pigments, what’s the maximum mass I can take?

[Hello, the system’s daily limit for each reagent is 500 grams. For amounts exceeding 500 grams, you need to provide an equal mass of raw materials. For the sucrose you just requested, you would need to provide one kilogram of sugarcane.]

Zhu Wansheng blurted out, “Where am I supposed to get so much sugarcane for you?”

Hearing this, Gu Yingqing glanced at her sideways. She seemed unaccustomed to the carriage’s swaying, sitting somewhat stiffly, head lowered and focused on what she was doing, occasionally muttering to herself.

She spoke again, “Here, this is medicine for removing scars.” She extended her hand, offering him what she was holding.

Gu Yingqing didn’t take it. “It’s a small wound. I don’t need that.”

She made a sound of acknowledgment and leaned back against the carriage wall. She lightly tossed the bottle she had been holding upwards.

As the bottle fell back into her hand, he spoke, “When do you plan to carry out the divorce?”

She tossed the bottle again, but his sudden question made her miss catching it.

“What divorce?”