Unexpectedly, the first customer was a major one. The boss lady responded with a cheerful “Coming!” and immediately began frying the pancakes.
By the time the boss lady had finished frying twenty scallion oil pancakes, Xue Ning had also finished all of her own breakfast.
Seeing how she had eaten everything so cleanly, the boss lady found it incredible.
One should know that the wonton noodles at her stall were sold as main meals and came in substantial portions.
An average adult would find a single bowl of noodles or wontons more than enough for breakfast.
She only sold scallion oil pancakes and eggs as side items; only a few people would add a single pancake or an egg to accompany their noodles or wontons.
Xue Ning had not only ordered everything but had also finished it all!!
As the boss lady handed the packed scallion oil pancakes to Xue Ning, she couldn’t help but glance at the girl’s stomach.
Seeing that her belly was still as flat as before, she couldn’t help but wonder where all that food had gone.
Xue Ning followed the boss lady’s gaze to her own stomach and smiled at her:
“I told you I could finish it and wouldn’t waste it. Do you believe me now, ma’am?”
The boss lady nodded vigorously. “Being able to eat is a blessing. You will surely have a lot of good fortune, young lady.”
This boss lady was quite the smooth talker.
Everything at the stall cost two copper coins per portion.
Xue Ning had ordered four portions and then packed twenty more, making twenty-four portions in total, which came to forty-eight coins.
Xue Ning counted out fifty copper coins for the boss lady.
The extra two coins were a tip.
The boss lady happily took the money and told her to come back often.
Xue Ning turned away with the scallion oil pancakes in her arms. Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she quickly threw the pancakes into her Space.
With her back to the breakfast stall, Xue Ning kept her hands in front of her, pretending to hold the items.
Only when she was some distance away did she finally lower her hands.
Just as she lowered them, she heard a sudden clatter of horse hooves. Accompanying the frantic sound was the driver’s loud shout:
“Get out of the way! Move! The horse is out of control!”
Hearing this, pedestrians on the street scrambled to clear the path.
The runaway carriage approached from a distance. Xue Ning’s sharp eyes caught a character hanging on the vehicle: ‘Xue’.
—It was the carriage of the Yongle Marquess Manor.
Although there weren’t many people on the street at the moment, there were still enough that if the carriage were left to run wild, it could easily injure innocent bystanders.
Xue Ning stood her ground, preparing to take control of the carriage as it drew near. Little did she know that in the eyes of others, she looked as though she were frozen in fear.
As the carriage bore down on her, a man on horseback quickly overtook the runaway vehicle from the Marquess Manor. He leaned down and scooped Xue Ning up from the ground in one swift motion.
Xue Ning, who had been about to act: “…”
Looking up at the person who had grabbed her, Xue Ning froze, then reacted with pleasant surprise: “Qin Yuyu, is it you?”
Qin Jue looked down at the young girl in his arms. “You have the wrong person, Miss. I am Qin Jue.”
Xue Ning stared intensely at Qin Jue. Had she really mistaken him for someone else?
To meet someone with the same appearance and the same name in a different time and space—was there truly no connection between this man and the person she knew?
After staring at Qin Jue for a full minute, Xue Ning sighed in disappointment. “I’m sorry. I really did mistake you for someone else.”
Qin Jue: “…”
For some reason, while being stared at by this young girl, his heart felt as though it were being gripped tightly.
Seeing the look of utter disappointment on the girl’s face, Qin Jue actually felt a twinge of heartache.
He was not the type of man to be soft-hearted toward women.
Much less toward a girl who looked to be only eleven or twelve years old.
The feeling was too strange.
Qin Jue calmly suppressed his emotions, dismounted with the girl in his arms, and instructed her to be more careful in the future.
Xue Ning: “…”
Right, the carriage!
Xue Ning glanced to the side and saw a strong, bearded man taking the driver’s place, grabbing the horse’s reins.
The horse under the bearded man’s control seemed to try and break free, but no matter how it struggled, it couldn’t escape his grip and could only circle in place.
Even from a distance, Xue Ning could hear the occasional startled screams of a woman from inside the carriage.
A moment later, the frenzied horse was subdued by the bearded man and quieted down.
Handing the reins back to the driver, the bearded man made no attempt to take credit. He led his own horse, which had been waiting obediently nearby, toward Xue Ning.
Approaching Xue Ning, the bearded man bowed to Qin Jue, who was behind her. “Master, it’s settled.”
Qin Jue nodded and nimbly mounted his horse. “Let’s go.”
The bearded man agreed and likewise nimbly mounted his horse, following closely behind his master.
The master and servant left swiftly under everyone’s watchful eyes.
Xue Ke’er, who had just been helped down from the carriage and wanted to thank her savior, watched the two leave without looking back and was left stunned: “…”
The maid beside Xue Ke’er recognized Xue Ning and quickly alerted her.
Xue Ke’er hadn’t expected to run into Xue Ning here.
After a moment’s hesitation, she stepped forward to greet her. “Sister~”
Xue Ning looked away from Qin Jue’s retreating figure and toward Xue Ke’er. “…Miss Xue~”
Hearing Xue Ning address her with such formality, Xue Ke’er didn’t know how to react for a moment.
She admitted that when she first returned to the Marquess Manor and saw Xue Ning living the life that should have been hers, she had felt some jealousy.
When she learned her parents had decided to keep Xue Ning, it felt even worse.
To be honest, she actually disliked her.
But she had to admit that since her arrival at the Manor, she had received a lot of help from her.
Even if it was on their parents’ orders, she could tell Xue Ning had put her heart into it.
However, she still didn’t like her very much.
Especially every time Xue Ning was punished in her stead.
Clearly, she was the one who had made the mistake; why should Xue Ning take the punishment?
And her parents—why were they only willing to punish Xue Ning and not her?
Perhaps in her parents’ eyes, she was the newly returned daughter they wanted to compensate.
But in her eyes, the more they wanted to compensate her, the more distant they seemed.
She hated that feeling.
She was clearly the legitimate eldest daughter of the Marquess Manor, yet she had spent over ten years living a hard life in the countryside.
Although her foster parents had treated her well, if her life hadn’t been swapped, she should have had a better life.
What she hated most was the gossip of the servants behind her back.
They felt that she, the true young lady of the Manor, couldn’t compare to the fake young lady who had grown up there.
She had once sworn that one day she would surpass this fake young lady.
She would make her parents and everyone else acknowledge her.
But she hadn’t expected that before she could achieve that, Xue Ning would suddenly request to leave the Marquess Manor.
Thinking of how her mother had been distracted from time to time over the past two days, jealousy burned through Xue Ke’er’s mind.
Seeing that Xue Ning was still wearing the clothes she had on when she left the Manor, Xue Ke’er smiled mockingly.
“I forgot, Miss Xue has already requested to leave the Manor. From now on, you no longer deserve to be called ‘Sister’ by me.”
“Miss Xue, why are you still wearing the clothes from the day before yesterday?”
“Have you been home yet?”
“Did your biological parents not prepare a change of clothes for you?”
“Could it be… that they don’t welcome you back?”
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