“This is really delicious. Try some.” Shen Yunzhi handed the bowl over.
Su Jingci froze.
His own mother plotting to harm her child — and speaking so casually.
He had always known he wasn’t favored. He tried his best to be a good son, enduring scolding and beatings without complaint, always giving her the better portion of any food.
Yet for the sake of her natal family, she didn’t even care about their bond as mother and son.
He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes.
His life had been given by her. If she wanted to take it back now, so be it. He didn’t even wish to live this kind of life anymore.
He only hoped that after harming him, she wouldn’t hurt anyone else.
“Mother… your son will go on ahead.”
He lifted the bowl and drank it in one gulp.
The jelly melted instantly in his mouth, cool and lightly sweet.
So poison could taste this good.
He even felt the urge to have another bowl — at least he could die full.
“Well? Is it good?” Shen Yunzhi asked, eyes shining with anticipation.
“Eldest Sister-in-law, what are you doing?!” Liu Lihua rushed out after hearing the commotion, just in time to see Su Jingci finish everything.
“Didn’t Grandfather warn you not to eat anything your mother brings you? Why didn’t you listen?” Her voice rose sharply as she shouted inside, “Quick, fetch a doctor! The eldest has taken poison!”
Shen Yunzhi stood stunned.
“Poison.”
The word echoed in her head before Liu Lihua’s accusations hit her.
“Shen Yunzhi, are you even human? For your natal family, you’d even sacrifice your own son!”
Ever since Shen Yunzhi married in, her heart had belonged to the Shen family. Su Jingci had practically been raised by Liu Lihua. To her, he was no different from her own child.
After Su Jinhuai’s death, she and her husband had even discussed adopting Su Jingci if Shen Yunzhi remarried.
Now she hated Shen Yunzhi to the core.
If anything happened to Su Jingci, she wouldn’t spare Shen Yunzhi — or anyone from the Shen family.
Shen Yunzhi was dumbfounded. She had only wanted her son to taste the ice jelly she made. How had it turned into attempted murder?
“When did I ever harm Su Jingci?”
“The evidence is right here! And you still deny it?”
She finally understood the misunderstanding — but no one believed her anymore.
“If anything happens to the eldest, I won’t forgive you!” Old Master Su roared.
“It’s not poison!” Shen Yunzhi hurriedly filled another bowl. “If you don’t believe me, watch.”
She drank it down herself.
Liu Lihua grew even angrier. “To join hands with the Shen family and seize the Su family’s property, you’d even take poison yourself? Shen Yunzhi, that’s enough!”
“There’s really no poison. No matter how terrible I’ve been, I would never harm my own son.”
No one listened.
She was pushed aside as they helped Su Jingci inside.
A wave of helplessness washed over her.
Earning the Su family’s trust would be a long road.
When the doctor finally arrived, everyone’s hearts were in their throats.
Su Jingci was the eldest grandson — honest, gentle, careful, filial. With a mother like Shen Yunzhi, the family doted on him even more.
Old Master Su loved him like his own life.
He had already made up his mind.
Shen Yunzhi could not stay.
If she could harm him once, who knew what she might do next?
As for the compensation money — they could write an IOU and repay it later.
Watching their panic, Shen Yunzhi’s own heart climbed into her throat.
For a split second, she even wondered—
Was it really poison?
“Doctor, how is Eldest Son?” Liu Lihua’s voice trembled.
“He’s fine.”
Liu Lihua pointed at the false groundcherry outside. “Didn’t you say eating too much of that could be life-threatening? He ate a whole big bowl — how is he fine?”
The doctor walked over, scooped up a spoonful, and tasted it. It was sweet and tangy, refreshing in the summer heat.
All eyes in the Su family fixed on him, waiting.
“Once properly processed, false groundcherry is no longer toxic.”
Shen Yunzhi quickly asked, “What do you think of the taste?”
The doctor nodded. “It’s very good.”
“If I set up a stall to sell it, do you think people would buy it?” She needed reassurance.
The doctor had seen many kinds of food. If he said it was good, it likely was. Still, she couldn’t help worrying whether anyone would actually pay for it.
“It should sell well.”
His words were like a calming pill. The tension in her chest finally eased.
She filled another bowl for him to take home to his child. Knowing the Su family’s situation, the doctor accepted the ice jelly as payment for the visit.
Shen Yunzhi grew even happier. She served two bowls to Old Master Su and Old Madam Su.
“Father, Mother — have a taste.”
She explained its origin. “I read about it in a book and tried making it, to see if I could earn some money selling it.”
The two elders were stunned.
They had already prepared themselves for her remarriage. They had even agreed to keep half the compensation money and give her the other half, in acknowledgment of her years in the family.
Now this new development left them puzzled.
As long as she didn’t cause trouble, they could tolerate the rest.
As for setting up a stall, others in the village had tried before. Even Old Madam Su had done it in her youth — hardly anyone bought anything, and she lost more than she earned. Most villagers had similar experiences.
And running a stall was no easier than farming. Shen Yunzhi had always been pampered; could she endure such hardship?
The elders exchanged a glance. They assumed this was just a passing whim.
“Eldest daughter-in-law, is it hard to make?” Old Madam Su asked. Not to steal the recipe — just thinking that if the cost was low, she could let her try for a few days.
Shen Yunzhi explained the method in detail. “The stall fee in town is twenty wen per day.”
She had no silver. The brown sugar had been traded for a chicken. But stall fees couldn’t be paid in poultry — she had to be upfront.
“So expensive?” Liu Lihua gasped.
Twenty wen could buy twenty steamed buns.
For farming households like theirs, sometimes a whole day’s labor didn’t earn that much.
“Let’s try one day,” Shen Yunzhi urged. “If it works, we continue. If not, we stop.”
It was the first time she had proactively wanted to do something.
Fearing she might create another scene if refused, Old Master Su reluctantly agreed. “Fine. Let’s do it.”
Though not wealthy, the family could afford twenty wen.
He handed her fifty copper coins.
For a moment, she felt as though she was back in her previous life — when the Su family had heard she was suffering and secretly sent her money.
Clutching the coins, she silently vowed she would not disappoint them again.
That night, Old Master Su sent someone to gather more false groundcherry from the mountain. They worked late into the night to make half a bucket of ice jelly.
Once the family learned the method, they didn’t even let Shen Yunzhi lift a finger, rushing to do all the work themselves.
The corner of her lips lifted slightly.
This was her first step.
Slowly, she would make the Su family truly accept her.