The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Just look at the Zhou family's face creams and ointments to see how effective they are when they are sent to the capital.

At dawn, Madam Zhou sat in front of her dressing table, letting her maidservant style her hair.

Suddenly she noticed that her skin was practically glowing.

Zhou thought there was something wrong with her eyes, so she tilted her head and looked left and right. Her face, which had been with her for almost fifty years, had never had such a good color before.

"Madam, your skin is very beautiful."

As Zi'er styled her hair, she sighed, "It's much better than last year, Madam. What could be the reason for this?"

I've been taking care of my wife all this time. I'm a year older than last year, but surprisingly, she looks even better than last year.

“Look, here’s the reason.” Zhou pointed to the two small ceramic bottles: “Nuan Nuan said that this face cream has the effect of skin care and nourishment. She applies the face cream after cleansing her face every morning and the face cream after cleansing her face every night. After using it for half a year, it really makes a difference.”

"So this is ah."

Zi'er suddenly realized why Madam was rubbing her face every day.

I've heard that the Third Young Mistress is very knowledgeable about medicine and can read prescriptions, but I didn't know she was so capable that she could also make faces look radiant.

"This thing, Nuannuan said she wanted to send it to the palace for the nobles to use."

Mrs. Zhou felt truly blessed to have access to these fine things even before the nobles.

Spring is here... Is there any possibility that you could try it on behalf of your important relatives?

Of course, she didn't dare say this to Zhou.

Moreover, she knows best that her own formulated face creams and lotions are safe and effective.

I just didn't expect it to work so well for Zhou.

"Madam, does this dress suit you well today?"

"We're going back to the Zhou family today." After applying face cream, Madam Zhou turned to look at Zi'er: "Choose a dress that isn't too bright. The fourth branch is getting married, and we can't let her dress be brighter than the fourth wife and steal her limelight."

Guests should be mindful of their role and not overshadow the host.

In the end, Ms. Zhou chose a lake-blue dress.

Zi'er, watching from the side, didn't realize there was something she should say but didn't: "Madam's outfit isn't particularly bright, but it complements her complexion. Even though she's almost fifty, she looks like a woman in her twenties. If she stood there like that, she would definitely dazzle many people in the know and become the focus of everyone's attention."

The relationship between Fourth Madam Gao and Madam Zhou was quite good. When Gao married her eldest daughter, Madam Zhou prepared a more generous dowry.

It's no exaggeration to say that this gift is three times more generous than that given to a niece from the bride's own family for her wedding.

That's just how people are; if you're good to me, I'll be good to you in return.

My sister-in-law, Zheng, is the daughter of a wealthy family in Shuzhou. She was somewhat willing to marry into the Zhou family, so she always looked down on everyone and spoke as if she were superior. Zhou, on the other hand, was straightforward. If you look down on me, I look down on you too. The two women maintained a superficial harmony, but in reality, they were not close at all.

On the contrary, the fourth wife and Zhou got along very well, and the relationship between the two sisters-in-law was also harmonious.

Now that she's getting married, her dowry will naturally be more elaborate.

Thinking that the fourth wife also loved beauty, Zhou specially asked Chunnuan for two bottles of face cream.

The fourth branch of the Zhou family was filled with joy as guests and friends congratulated the fourth wife on her daughter's marriage.

As Zhou stepped down from the carriage, Fourth Madam spotted her immediately.

"Grandma, no wonder you haven't come for so long. This is... Oh my, Grandma, what kind of magic pill have you taken to make you look so young? You are..." Fourth Madam was straightforward and loud. She pulled Zhou Shi up and down and looked her over, praising her endlessly.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, you don't know yet, do you? Our aunt is so blessed! The eldest son is a skilled doctor, and his herbal medicine shop is renowned among the people; the second son is going to the capital to become the top scholar; and the third son has even received the title of righteous merchant bestowed by the emperor. When people are happy, they are in high spirits, so naturally our aunt's energy and spirits are better than anyone else's..."

Zhou Shi... She had been careful not to wear anything too bright when choosing her dress, for fear of overshadowing the Fourth Madam. She never expected that she would become the center of attention as soon as she appeared.

Indeed, for hundreds of years, there have been so many families doing business in Changzhou, but there has never been a single merchant who was personally selected and bestowed the title of "righteous merchant" by the emperor.

What an honor that is!
Whether these people are sincere or not, they always wear various masks to try and get close to her.

For a time, Zhou was extremely busy, dealing with one person after another.

"Auntie, you're so lucky! When are you moving to the capital?"

Suddenly, Zheng's voice came over, neither warm nor cold.

To outsiders, it sounded like genuine concern, but only Zhou knew that she was mocking her.

Whether or not we move to the capital depends on my master's decision.

Zhou knew that she was mentally ill, a little envious and jealous, and unwilling to accept that she was better than her, which was why she said such things.

"To be honest, a few years ago my father said he wanted to move the whole family to the capital. I thought to myself, we have no one to rely on in the capital, just a few stinking coins. Money doesn't work in the capital, so it's better to live a carefree life here than to live a miserable life there."

Zhou was no pushover either; his words implied that it wasn't that I couldn't go to the capital, but rather that I didn't want to go.

what's going on?

Whether you envy or are jealous, that's your business.

“Yes, as they say, it’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. Only when you get to the capital will you realize how important your choice was.” Madam Zhou continued, “It’s easy to want to live in the capital, but it’s not easy to live happily there. Our relatives and friends from the Zhao and Zhou families are all in Changzhou. If we go to the capital, we’ll miss them terribly. The old master doesn’t want to go to the capital either. He says he’s old and wants to return to his roots. He’ll stay here for the rest of his life.”

After Zhou's words, the other wives echoed her sentiments.

Once you get used to living in a place, you don't want to move; there's always a sense of unfamiliarity.

Speechless after being confronted by Zhou, Zheng could only sit awkwardly to the side in silence.

Zhou... you're really stupid. Even if you have a million complaints about me, you shouldn't say them in front of others.

Does it sound good to have a bad reputation when sisters-in-law are at odds?

She didn't want to pay attention to her at first, but the things she said were very hurtful, so Zhou stopped indulging her.

Indeed, she felt she had suffered a great loss by marrying into the Zhou family.

What she despised most was that she had married into the Zhao family, where the couple was loving and their three sons were all successful. In contrast, her two sons were idle and never did anything. They always lost money in business and couldn't bear to lose face by doing manual labor, so they stayed at home all day doing nothing.

When someone is unhappy, they always want to find fault with others and feel that others' happiness is a mistake.

This person, born into a wealthy family, has a heart as small as a pinhole.

This is also the consequence of an arranged marriage; she and her elder brother became a resentful couple.

To be honest, she felt miserable, and her older brother wasn't much happier either.

It was all her own doing. (End of Chapter)