After seeing Liang Fengyi off at the main gate and watching her get into a car parked not far away, Zhang Yun’an assumed it was a work-related vehicle. She thought Liang Fengyi’s unusual behavior had disrupted her work schedule, which was why she had come to see her first. Zhang Yun’an didn’t pay much attention to it.
What she didn’t notice was that besides the driver, Lin Siyi was also sitting inside the car behind the tightly closed windows.
After Zhang Yun’an went back inside, the car didn’t drive away immediately.
“Si Yi, if you really miss your mother, Grandma can take you to catch up with her.”
Lin Siyi’s gaze had been fixed on Zhang Yun’an’s retreating figure, but upon hearing Liang Fengyi’s words, he suddenly turned his head away and whispered, “I already overheard what she said to Auntie earlier. She won’t want me anymore from now on.”
Who would have thought that Lin Siyi, who had seemed asleep at the time, was actually pretending? He had believed that by pretending to sleep, he could make his mother, who had never carried him on her back before, carry him a little longer. Little did he expect to overhear the conversation she had with Lin Fengyi at the entrance of the Lin Family’s Dayuan.
Although Liang Fengyi had never seen such a heartless mother either, she had never spoken a single ill word about Zhang Yun’an in front of Lin Siyi. Now, hearing him say this, she knew that despite his young age, he understood everything.
“Grandma, did she eat the Chicken Leg Bread? Or will she take it to give to Uncle again?”
Liang Fengyi shook her head firmly. “No, she’s out of money now. I checked earlier—there’s no other food at home. If she still gives it to your uncle, she’ll have to go hungry herself.”
Hearing this, Lin Siyi finally relaxed and buried his face in Liang Fengyi’s embrace, sobbing softly.
Liang Fengyi gently patted his small back, tears uncontrollably streaming down her cheeks.
Zhang Yun’an, of course, knew nothing of the heart-wrenching scene inside the car. After escorting Liang Fengyi to the main gate as requested, she headed straight back inside.
The neighbors in the Dayuan, including Wan Dajie, who had seen Liang Fengyi arrive, could hardly believe their eyes when they noticed Zhang Yun’an had actually gone out to see her off.
Yet, no one dared to step forward and stop Zhang Yun’an to ask what was going on or why she was acting so unusually.
Once inside, Zhang Yun’an’s stomach was already growling with hunger. She picked up the box of pastries Liang Fengyi had brought, avoiding the awkward-looking Chicken Leg Bread.
The pastries Liang Fengyi had brought were Bazhen cakes, which Zhang Yun’an quite liked. She even knew how to make them, having learned from a cook in her family who taught her culinary skills.
She was also curious about how Bazhen cakes tasted in this era. But as soon as she took a bite, she realized something was off—not only were the ingredients lacking, but the medicinal herbs had also been overcooked during processing.
However, with barely any money to her name now, how could she afford to be picky? She’d have to make do. If she wanted to be particular, she’d have to wait until she earned some money.
In this life, free from the turmoil of war and still in her youth, she had plenty of time to pursue her passions, enjoy her favorite foods, and explore the vast beauty of her homeland.
Though she thought this way, she still had to face the reality of the present. In the end, she only ate the piece of Bazhen cake she had bitten into before her gaze involuntarily shifted to the Chicken Leg Bread, which she had found awkward earlier but now looked undeniably delicious.
Adhering to the principle that an empty stomach outweighs pride, Zhang Yun’an picked up a piece of Chicken Leg Bread and began to eat.
Although the Chicken Leg Bread was made with simple ingredients and had a somewhat odd shape—truly resembling a chicken leg, with a thin wooden stick inserted for easy handling—its taste was indeed as delicious as it looked. Especially the ham sausage sandwiched inside, which made the already tasty bread even more flavorful.
At the Lin Family's home, Xu Yan, Lin Shaoxun's second aunt, returned from work at noon and heard from her younger daughter, Lin Fengyu, that Zhang Yun'an had brought Si Yi back again. As for the words Zhang Yun'an had asked Lin Fengyi to relay, Xu Yan didn't believe a single one of them.
What kind of people Zhang Yun'an and her father, Zhang Tianliang, were was not only well-known to Lin Shaoxun's family but also to Xu Yan's family and even all the relatives and friends of the Lin Family.
Fearing that Liang Fengyi and her husband might fall for the Zhang family's tricks again, Xu Yan went to see them right after lunch. However, neither of them was home. After asking Lin Fengyi, she learned that Liang Fengyi's husband had not returned due to work matters, and her mother had already taken Lin Siyi to find Zhang Yun'an.
Worried, Xu Yan decided to take the afternoon off and wait for Liang Fengyi to return.
By the time Liang Fengyi brought Lin Siyi back, Xu Yan had been waiting for her for quite a while. As soon as she saw Liang Fengyi, Xu Yan poured out her thoughts like beans from a bag: "That Zhang Tianliang is truly a cunning old fox. This move of retreating to advance is well-played. He had Zhang Yun'an take the initiative to bring Si Yi back, deliberately making her speak ill of the Zhang family in front of you. That way, when Zhang Yun'an and Shaoxun divorce, she won’t even need to make a fuss—you’ll willingly let her take Si Yi away. To ensure Si Yi lives well, you’ll not only give Zhang Yun'an a large share of the assets but also be at their mercy in the future. If they ever want you to do something, as long as it’s not too excessive, you’ll surely agree."
To be fair, Zhang Tianliang's previous schemes were indeed almost exactly as Xu Yan had guessed.
However, no matter how well Zhang Tianliang had planned, he could never have anticipated that his eldest daughter, whom he had raised since childhood to believe she could take advantage of everyone except her parents and younger brother, would be betrayed by his "careful" teachings. Her fate ended with a bite of Chicken Leg Bread, causing him to lose an obedient Cash Cow.
"Fengyi, take Fengyu and Si Yi to play in the backyard for a while. I need to talk with your second aunt."
Liang Fengyi didn’t immediately respond to Xu Yan’s words. Instead, she asked Lin Fengyi to take Lin Siyi away.
After the three had left, she told Xu Yan what Zhang Yun'an had said to her earlier.
Xu Yan glanced helplessly at her sister-in-law, who often seemed aloof and even gave off an air of looking down on others, yet had a soft heart. Every time Zhang Yun'an made a scene in front of her, she would get her way. Now, with this retreat-to-advance tactic, it was no wonder her sister-in-law had fallen for it.
Having been sisters-in-law for so many years, Liang Fengyi knew exactly what Xu Yan was worried about: "Even if she really is deceiving me, this will be the last time. I accept it. After all, if it weren’t for her, Shaoxun would have long since…"
Xu Yan, seeing she was about to say something inauspicious, quickly interrupted her: "Alright, alright, then we'll just fall for that old fox Zhang Tianliang's tricks one more time. When they divorce, you can give Zhang Yun'an money, but Si Yi absolutely cannot be allowed to go with her. With someone like her, plus the whole Zhang family and that ill-intentioned Xu Daming, they'll only raise Si Yi wrong. After Shaoxun and Zhang Yun'an divorce, if the Zhang family tries any more tricks, even if you and big brother don't take action, Jiming and I won't let them off. Don't think about stopping us then."
Liang Fengyi knew well that if it weren't for her and her husband holding them back over the years, Lin Jiming and Xu Yan would have long since dealt with Zhang Tianliang, who had been scheming against the Lin Family from behind the scenes.
"Don't worry, I'll handle the Zhang family and that Xu Daming properly."
Seeing that she didn't seem to be brushing her off and would likely really deal with it, Xu Yan felt slightly reassured.
After finishing the matter about the Zhang family, she said to Liang Fengyi: "By the way, I saw little sister this morning. She asked me to tell you and big brother that if their Zhou Haiyang comes to borrow money from you, absolutely don't lend him any."
Just hearing Zhou Haiyang's name gave Liang Fengyi a headache. In all her years married into the Lin Family, she had never encountered a difficult mother-in-law, nor troublesome sisters-in-law or younger sister-in-law, and the children were all sensible and promising. But there were two people who always kept the Lin Family unsettled: the first was undoubtedly her eldest daughter-in-law Zhang Yun'an, and the second was her younger sister-in-law's son, Zhou Haiyang.
Zhou Haiyang hadn't done anything illegal or disorderly—how to put it? He was just a bit too driven. He looked down on the jobs his family arranged for him, always wanting to jump on whatever business bandwagon seemed profitable, never listening to his family's advice.
But the businesses he saw as profitable were often those others were about to abandon. The result was that he lost money in everything he tried. Originally, his parents' family had a substantial foundation, but with such an overly driven child, even the thickest foundation couldn't withstand his troubles. His parents had nearly worried themselves gray over this child.
"Did Haiyang lose money in business again?"
Xu Yan sighed: "This time it wasn't business. Somehow, he got led astray and became obsessed with collecting antiques. What does he know about antiques? And he refuses to buy from proper places. He's being fleeced as a sucker by some antique dealers from who-knows-where, buying a pile of junk that's now piled up at home. Little sister and her husband are at their wits' end with him, so they've stopped giving him any money. They're afraid that once Zhou Haiyang runs out of money, he'll come to us or other relatives to borrow, so they're warning us in advance not to lend him any. Otherwise, it would be like throwing meat buns at a dog—gone for good."
After hearing this, Liang Fengyi also felt anxious for her sister-in-law, but her own family had its own troubles. After seeing Xu Yan and her daughter off, that evening she didn't even eat dinner. Entrusting Lin Siyi to Lin Fengyi's care, she went to bed to rest with her eyes closed. Her mind was either dwelling on Zhang Yun'an's words, or Lin Siyi crying in the car, or worrying about Lin Shaoxun facing danger during his mission, and finally adding her troublesome eldest nephew Zhou Haiyang to the mix. How could she possibly really fall asleep?
As for Zhang Yun'an on the other side, she left home early the next morning.
In her previous life, the Zhang family was a scholarly household, but even scholarly households needed to eat. No prominent family was without its own business ventures. However, no matter what business one engaged in, capital was required. Moreover, the market and business models of this era differed from those of the Republican period. The original owner of this body knew nothing about such matters, so Zhang Yun'an could not glean much useful information from her memories to help with business in this era.
To be safe, she decided to pursue the business she loved most and one that required little capital: selling Beauty Portraits.
After taking a bus to the city center, she asked around and found a place selling brushes, ink, and Xuan paper. She bought brushes and ink, but her funds were insufficient to purchase a whole stack of Xuan paper, so she only bought a few sheets of raw Xuan and a few sheets of processed Xuan.
By the time she wanted to buy pigments for painting, she had run out of money. Zhang Yun'an could only decide to sell calligraphy first and return to buy pigments after earning some money.
It is often said that calligraphy and painting are inseparable. Zhang Yun'an was not only exceptionally talented in painting but also wrote with the style of a master calligrapher. This was one of the reasons why, in her previous life, some people who couldn't bear to see her waste her talent would chase after her, scolding her.
After buying what she needed, she headed to a nearby alley where antique dealers often gathered.
Although current policies allowed private businesses, the antique trade was still state-run. To buy antiques, one had to go to state-owned antique shops.
Those antique dealers who wanted to sell their wares had no fixed place to set up stalls yet and could only operate like guerrillas, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, with only a few general locations where they were likely to show up.
Of course, Zhang Yun'an went there not to resell antiques or hunt for bargains. Even though her ability to appraise antiques was something even the head manager of the Zhang family's pawnshop in her previous life admired, she had no money on hand. Moreover, truly valuable antiques were never easy to find, regardless of the era.
She came to a place frequented by antique dealers to sell her calligraphy and paintings. Where antiques were sold, there were more discerning eyes, which increased the chances of making a sale.
Today was not a weekend, so there weren't many antique dealers setting up stalls, but there were quite a few people browsing.
Where there were people, there was potential for business. This gave Zhang Yun'an a bit more confidence that she could earn money. Although she had made a lot of money from Beauty Portraits in her previous life, she didn't know whether, in this era that was more conservative in many ways than the Republican period, people would appreciate the Beauty Portraits she painted. Would she be chased and scolded by some people again, just as in her previous life, once she painted them? So, selling calligraphy first served two purposes: first, she genuinely lacked the funds to buy pigments for painting at the moment, and second, it allowed her to test the market for calligraphy and paintings.
Just as Zhang Yun'an was lost in thought while looking for a place to set up her stall, she heard the sound of shattering porcelain behind her.
Her first thought was: someone was about to be in trouble.