She got up, using the excuse of going to the yard to fetch firewood. When she returned, the pile of firewood in her hands was stacked high, but the egg she had originally tucked in her bosom was nowhere to be seen.
In the kitchen, Lin Hua had already rushed back impatiently to wait. As soon as she saw her, she shouted, “You wretched girl, is my steamed egg custard ready?”
Lin Qianqian struggled to place the firewood by the stove, panting as she said, “It’s ready, Auntie. Please help yourself to it. If it sits too long, it’ll get tough.”
Lin Hua rarely saw her so obedient and snorted with satisfaction before lifting the pot lid.
Inside the pot, there was only dark, coarse rice and a few steamed buns, not even a wisp of steam.
“Where’s the steamed egg custard!” Lin Hua shrieked, her voice sharp. “You wretched girl, where’s my steamed egg custard!”
Lin Qianqian shrank back in fear, her face deathly pale, her lips trembling uncontrollably. “I… I really don’t know… I put it in the pot to steam, then… then went to fetch firewood… Auntie Ding… Auntie Ding was here the whole time…”
Her voice grew softer and softer, tears falling pat-pat-pat.
Upon hearing this, Ding Yuxiang’s face turned green. “You wretched girl, what do you mean by that? Are you saying I stole and ate it?”
“I… I didn’t…” Lin Qianqian trembled like a leaf in the wind.
“Ding Yuxiang! It must have been you who stole it!” Lin Hua grabbed Ding Yuxiang’s sleeve. “You must have been jealous because you think my mother favors me, and you couldn’t stand to see me have something good!”
Ding Yuxiang was furious. She twisted Lin Qianqian’s ear in retaliation. “You little bitch, speak up! Did you steal it and blame me?”
“It hurts… it hurts…” Lin Qianqian cried as if her heart were breaking. “I didn’t steal it… it was clearly… you who said Grandma was biased, only giving it to Auntie and not to Yuanyuan…”
Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly covered her mouth, looking at Ding Yuxiang in terror.
“Well, well!” Lin Hua’s eyes turned red. She dragged Ding Yuxiang toward the yard. “Come on! Let’s go find Mother and settle this! You and your burden eat and live off our Lin family, and now you even want to eat my egg!”
“What’s all this wailing early in the morning!” Old Mrs. Lin rushed out, draped in her clothes. Seeing her daughter and daughter-in-law tearing at each other, her face turned ashen.
“Mother! Second Sister-in-law stole and ate the egg meant for me! She even told Qianqian that you’re biased and that she’s jealous Yuanyuan didn’t get any!” Lin Hua, quick with her words, spilled everything in one breath.
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Lin flew into a rage. Pointing at Ding Yuxiang’s nose, she scolded, “Is that broomstar you brought even worthy of eating eggs? Does she count as a member of our Lin family? Giving her a mouthful of rice is charity—and she wants eggs? She’s dreaming!”
These words were like a knife, precisely piercing Ding Yuxiang’s heart.
She let out a wailing cry and shouted toward the room, “Lin Guozhu, you useless coward! Get out here! Your mother says Yuanyuan isn’t a member of the Lin family—you explain this to me! If you don’t give me an answer today, this marriage is over!”
Lin Guozhu, having been called out, could no longer pretend to be dead. He shuffled out slowly, looking at one person, then the other, opening his mouth but unable to speak.
Ding Yuxiang lunged forward and pinched his arm hard. “Are you mute? Speak up! Wasn’t it you who said you’d treat Yuanyuan as your own, that she even took your Lin family surname? And now she’s an outsider?”
Lin Guozhu winced in pain and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: “Mother… your words were too harsh. Yuanyuan bears the Lin surname—how can she not be a member of the Lin family…”
Ding Yuxiang had just shown a hint of a smile when Lin Guozhu added, “But… but you still shouldn’t have stolen the eggs! Hurry up and apologize to Mother and Sister!”
Ding Yuxiang’s smile froze on her face, followed by an outburst of anger: “I didn’t eat them! I didn’t eat them!”
“If you didn’t eat them, then where did the eggs go?” Lin Hua grabbed Lin Qianqian, who was shrinking in the corner. “Could it be her? Even if she starved to death, she wouldn’t have the guts!”
All eyes fell on Lin Qianqian. She lowered her head, her shoulders still trembling slightly, like a frightened rabbit.
In the end, Old Man Lin, whose head was throbbing from the noise, shouted from the main room: “All of you, quiet down! Do you think we haven’t been embarrassed enough? Get back to eating! Old woman, give Hua’er another egg!”
The crowd dispersed, grumbling and cursing.
Ding Yuxiang rubbed her bruised arm and glared viciously at Lin Qianqian’s retreating figure.
No one noticed that the thin, bowed girl curled her lips into an extremely faint smile the moment she turned around.
She raised her head and glanced at the rising sun.
The show had just begun.