After getting home, Yu Lian didn’t cry or make a fuss. Head held high in triumph, she went straight to the kitchen, scooped a full bowl of fine wheat flour into the pot, and made a whole pot of dough-drop soup for her daughter.
Wang Guiqiu watched from the side, wincing with heartache, and could only snipe with sarcasm: “A whole big family here, and only Sanya is precious enough to eat dough-drop soup made from fine flour.”
“So what? Our little Xi is capable. If someone gave your Xingchen fine flour, you could eat like this too!”
Yu Lian wasn’t angry at all. She knew they were just jealous—and jealous was exactly right. After all their trash talk about Xi, she lifted her chin high, ladled up a bowl of soup, and walked off.
Grain couldn’t be hoarded privately, but this was what little Xi had brought back. What was wrong with her eating a bit more? Absolutely nothing.
Having failed to get the better of her, Wang Guiqiu grew even more sullen. When she went outside and saw Su Xinghui and Su Lingxi sitting together whispering, she instantly found an outlet.
She pointed at Su Xinghui’s nose and cursed: “Before, you wailed and screamed about leaving, and now you’re shamelessly clinging to them? Hoping they’ll give you a bite of fine flour? I feed you and clothe you, and all you know is to fawn on outsiders. Why are your bones so cheap!”
Su Xinghui was stunned by the scolding, her face so mortified it could wring out water.
But knowing Wang Guiqiu was nothing like the reasonable Yu Lian, she didn’t dare clash head-on and could only placate her in a low voice: “Ma, I was asking about a bicycle ration ticket for Big Brother. He’s studying in the county—wouldn’t riding a bicycle be a good look for him?”
Wang Guiqiu was dubious. “So what did you find out?”
“Haven’t asked yet—you came over before I could,” Su Xinghui said awkwardly.
“Then hurry up and ask!” Disdain practically overflowed from Wang Guiqiu’s eyes. “Useless! If you don’t ask now, are you waiting for New Year?”
Watching Su Xinghui’s cowering manner, her mood improved considerably. Dragging her sturdy frame along, she went off to comfort her eldest son. Xingchen had been wronged—tomorrow morning she’d have to make something tasty with flour to make it up to him!
Su Xinghui stood where she was, her face dark and suppressed.
“Second Sister, what did you want with me exactly? If it’s nothing, I’ll go eat first—I’m starving.” Ling Xi didn’t care what that mother and daughter were whispering about. As long as she was around, nothing they schemed would succeed.
Yu Lian’s dough-drop soup was delicious. Having not eaten all evening, Ling Xi’s stomach was growling.
Su Xinghui came back to her senses and looked at her with a complicated expression. “Xi, let me ask you—how do you know those soldiers?”
Even though she wasn’t a native of this era, she knew soldiers held an unmatched status at this time. If she could get connected to the military, whatever she did in the future would be much easier.
Thinking of her grand blueprint for the future, Su Xinghui eagerly wanted to get close to those soldiers who looked anything but ordinary at a glance.
Seeing through her thoughts at a glance, Ling Xi curled her lip. “We just met on the mountain before. Weren’t you there too, Second Sister?”
“That’s true, but how did you get so familiar with them? And how did you help them catch the criminal? Tell me in detail.” There was a note of urgency in Su Xinghui’s tone.
Ling Xi’s eyes went slightly cold, and her voice cooled as well. “Second Sister, all military operations are confidential. Isn’t it inappropriate for you to ask that?”
“We’re sisters—what’s inappropriate about it?” Meeting her gaze, Su Xinghui’s heart lurched, and she snapped in embarrassment and anger, “Fine, don’t tell me! Like I care!”
Watching her leave, Ling Xi gave a disdainful snort. Trying to poach someone? Come back after practicing for a few hundred million years.
Back inside the house, she was greeted by a full bowl of dough drop soup, with several pieces of white fish floating on top. It was a bit fishy, but that didn’t detract from its deliciousness.
The remaining fish were rubbed with salt by Yu Lian and hung in a corner to dry, meant to nourish the two men of the family.
Ling Xi truly enjoyed a long stretch of carefree days with fish and meat, her complexion visibly turning rosy, and she even grew a little taller.
By the time all five fish were eaten, the autumn harvest was nearly over.
Su Xinghui, originally fair-skinned and plump, had grown dark and thin after half a month of hardship. She looked as if her very spirit had been drained, sickly and listless.
Yet no one felt sorry for her—except Wang Tieniu next door, whose devotion never wavered. Even Wang Guiqiu, who in the original storyline had doted on her, began to resent her for eating without working.
Su Xinghui thought in despair that if things didn’t change soon, she wouldn’t be far from going mad.
So when Yu Lian took Ling Xi to the market in town, she shamelessly begged to come along, and for some reason Wang Guiqiu didn’t stop her.
Yu Lian found her utterly tiresome, but out of concern for appearances couldn’t refuse outright. Su Xinghui pretended not to notice and, thick-skinned, climbed onto the ox cart leaving the village with them.
Since she was already on board, Yu Lian couldn’t very well push her off, so she held her nose and paid her fare, feeling thoroughly disgusted inside.
An older woman nearby saw this and asked with a chuckle, “Sister, are these two both your daughters? Such pretty little things!”
At these words, Ling Xi looked up to see her mother’s face turning green.
Auntie Wang from the same village was also on the cart, and she started chattering away like pouring beans: “What? The older one—no one even knows whose seed she is. Not long ago she was just assigned to her Third Aunt’s household, and then she got the whole village saying Sister Lian mistreats her, claiming her real father saved Sister Lian’s husband’s life. And guess what?”
“What?” The whole cart looked at her curiously.
“It was nothing like that at all!” the auntie relished telling it. “It was Sister Lian’s husband who saved her real father, and he ended up with a lame leg and lost his job. And instead of remembering their kindness, she stirs up trouble at home. I say, even an ungrateful wolf doesn’t have such a black heart!”
With every remark the aunties made, Su Xinghui’s face darkened another shade. She wished she could shrink into a crack, her eyes brimming with tears, looking utterly pitiful.
She was naturally beautiful—even darkened and thinned, her delicate loveliness couldn’t be hidden. Seeing her in such a tearful, willow-in-the-rain state, several educated youths from neighboring villages felt sympathy for her. The best-looking among them pressed his lips together and handed her a handkerchief. “Here, wipe your face.”
Su Xinghui looked up. Seeing that he was handsome with an extraordinary bearing, she accepted the handkerchief shyly and lowered her head, saying softly, “Thank you.”
Cheng Yuanhang was momentarily dazed by her pitiful appearance. His face flushed, and a sense of manly responsibility rose in his chest. With a stern face, he rebuked the gossiping women: “Nobody knows what actually happened. Talking about a young girl like this—aren’t you ashamed?”
Auntie Wang, who had been educating everyone, was immediately displeased. “What do you mean nobody knows? The whole village watched when Su Xinghui made a scene about being transferred to her Third Aunt’s family. You’re the one who doesn’t know anything, running your mouth! Oh~ I get it now. Could it be you find this ungrateful wolf pretty and want to stand up for her?”
Cheng Yuanhang, whose sore spot had been hit, turned even redder. He was about to say something more when his companions from the educated youth station pulled him back. “Yuanhang, stop it. You can’t out-argue them.”
The educated youths were already unpopular with the villagers—if a real conflict broke out, they would be the ones at a disadvantage.
With the other side falling silent, the aunties didn’t press the matter and gathered together to gossip about someone else’s family instead.
Only Ling Xi caught the title the educated youth had blurted out—Yuanhang, Cheng Yuanhang? Wasn’t that the second male lead’s name?
After Cai Yu confirmed it, she clicked her tongue. Fate, truly a marvelous thing.