Mu Tairan curled the corner of his mouth and said slowly, “A month ago, I met Zhiman while walking on the street…”
One month ago, Jing City.
“Take a look, have a look, don’t miss out as you pass by~”
“Freshly steamed meat buns for sale!”
“Miss, would you like to buy a bun?”
Lin Zhiman clutched her stomach, swallowing hard. She hadn’t eaten for three days, and her stomach ached fiercely from hunger.
“Boss, how much for these buns?”
“Not expensive, five coins each. How many would you like, miss?”
“I… I have no money. Could you give me one for free? I can help with chores!”
Upon hearing this, the boss performed a Sichuan opera face change for free.
He withdrew his smile and said coldly, “Shoo, shoo, get lost. No money and still want to eat meat buns? How unlucky!”
As he spoke, he used a large palm-leaf fan to shoo Lin Zhiman aside, his face full of disgust as if he had seen something filthy.
Lin Zhiman stumbled backward until her back bumped into something and she stopped.
“Oh, Brother Mu, you’re quite the ladies’ man! Even walking on the street, beauties throw themselves into your arms.”
“Heh heh.”
She felt the body behind her tremble slightly. Looking up, she met the gaze of a man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a full beard…
“At that time, Zhiman looked up at me with deep affection, clearly attracted by my handsome appearance.”
“I immediately bought all the buns from the meat bun vendor and said to her: ‘Woman, if you behave, I’ll buy all these buns for you’!”
“Hahaha—” Mu Tairan laughed wildly.
Lin Zhiman couldn’t take it anymore and scolded, “You’re talking nonsense!”
Shang Yueli listened intently to their gossip while casually adding more melon seeds for Mu Yunsheng.
Lin Zhiman: “What actually happened was this…”
When she turned around, she saw a hairy man in his forties and nearly fainted from how ugly he was.
Lin Zhiman tactfully retreated, wanting to get away from him.
But the next second, the man bought all the meat buns and revealed the Token of the General’s Manor.
“I immediately knew he was a wealthy man, and from the General’s Manor at that. If I could marry him, I’d never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of my life.”
Mu Tairan raised an eyebrow: “So that night, you took advantage of my absence to sneak into my room, then took off your clothes and lay on my bed?”
Mu Yunsheng quickly covered Shang Yueli’s ears, and Wang Shi also prevented Xiao Fu from hearing these inappropriate things.
“What is it that I can’t hear?”
Shang Yueli broke free from the restraint, but by then the juicy part was already over!
Pretending to be angry, she glared at Mu Yunsheng and turned to check what was in the pot.
When she lifted the lid, the aroma of chicken instantly filled the entire cave.
Seeing that the heat was about right, Shang Yueli took out coarse salt and accidentally added a large handful.
“Oh no!”
She looked left and right, only to find everyone staring in her direction.
“Haha, everyone probably prefers salty food… right?”
Lin Zhiman said indifferently, “It’s fine. It’s just a bit more salt, no big deal.”
“Hehe.”
Shang Yueli used bowls that cost five taels of silver each to serve everyone a full bowl of chicken soup. Dividing the chicken pieces, each person got exactly two pieces.
Jiang Xia sheepishly accepted the bowl and whispered, “Thank you.”
Mu Shicai smiled sweetly: “Thank you, cousin-in-law. I won’t call you a fat wife anymore!”
Shang Yueli’s forehead veins bulged, “You brat, don’t make me stuff a sock in your mouth.”
Lin Zhiman chimed in, “His wife, Mu Shicai is already so chubby, and you’re still feeding him? Be careful he turns into a pig!”
“Nyah nyah nyah!” Mu Shicai stuck his tongue out at Lin Zhiman, then huddled in a corner with his mother, bowl in hand.
In their eyes, Mu Tai Qi might as well have been an outsider.
Then again, when Jiang Xia and Mu Shicai were being bullied, he hadn’t spoken a word in their defense. If it were Shang Yueli, she would’ve chopped off that man’s head without hesitation.
But these were the Third Branch’s family affairs—none of her business.
Shang Yueli withdrew her gaze and handed a bowl to each of the guards escorting the Mu family.
“Brother Gu, these are for you. No need to ask us for money anymore.”
“Hmph! Do I look that petty to you?”
Shang Yueli smiled faintly, “No.”
Sorry, dear, but you absolutely are—no doubt about it.
There was still some chicken soup left in the pot, but she didn’t offer any to the Su family. Whether the guards escorting them went hungry was none of her concern.
Watching Mu Yunsheng take a big gulp, Shang Yueli quickly asked, “How is it? Tasty?”
Mu Yunsheng hesitated briefly, “Mmm… it’s good.”
“Bleh! Shang Yueli, are you trying to kill me with salt?” Lin Zhiman’s face scrunched up in disgust.
“What!”
“Didn’t you say it was fine? Now you’re complaining the soup is salty?”
Shang Yueli chuckled calmly, took a sip herself, and gave a thumbs-up.
“What’s so salty about this soup? It’s delicious!”
With that, she swiftly turned her back to Lin Zhiman and stuck out her tongue.
Ugh… unbearably salty!
How could Mu Yunsheng have no reaction? Had he lost his sense of taste?
Mu Yunsheng, once again subjected to baseless assumptions: “.”
Gu Mang brought over a bag of steamed buns and offered them to the Mu family.
“Eat these with it. No charge.”
“Brother Gu, you’re such a good person!”
Gu Mang’s eyebrow twitched. Why does that feel like an insult?
Shang Yueli broke the steamed buns into small pieces, soaked them in the chicken soup, and eagerly took a bite once they were soft.
“!!!”
“How can anything in the world taste this amazing!”
“With the buns added, the soup isn’t salty anymore!”
After days of nothing but plain steamed buns, she finally saw them as a delicacy.
Others followed suit, dipping buns into their soup.
“It really isn’t salty anymore!” Lin Zhiman’s eyes sparkled as she devoured several mouthfuls.
Everyone felt warmth spreading in their stomachs, a comforting sensation washing over them.
The exhaustion from days of travel vanished, leaving them refreshed and energized!
Su Moli nibbled on her bland steamed bun, watching the Mu family enjoy themselves around the fire, a twinge of resentment stirring within her.
“Is chicken soup really that impressive?”
“Anything cooked by that cheating woman must taste awful!”
“Little sister, what’s gotten into you lately? Why are you so fixated on the Mu family?”
Su Yi studied her with a probing gaze.
“Nothing! I just can’t stand their hypocritical act, especially that Shang Yueli!”
“Big brother, you have no idea—back in Yicheng, if she hadn’t framed me, I wouldn’t have been detained by the guards for so long!”
Su Yi fell silent for a moment, then asked, “How can you be so sure they’re divorced? And how did you know Mu-furen is pregnant?”
Shang Yueli was only three months along—not yet showing.
Su Moli didn’t know medicine, nor had she ever been in close contact with Madam Mu, so how could she be so certain she was pregnant and so sure she would have an abortion?
Su Yi coughed twice, staring intently at every expression on Su Moli’s face, feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
“I, I…” Su Moli looked nervous, her heart pounding wildly.
Su Er said, “Big brother, how can you scold our little sister for an outsider’s sake!”
Su Moli took the opportunity to burst into tears, feigning grievance.
Mother Su quickly pulled her into her arms. “Enough! We are family. Don’t let an outsider drive a wedge between us!”
“Cough, cough. You’re right, Mother,” Su Yi agreed verbally, but his doubts grew even stronger.
His little sister, Su Moli, seemed to have become a different person since when, he wondered…