The afterglow of the setting sun blanketed the earth, enveloping the entire Changle Marquis residence in a layer of soft golden light.
Rong Mo calmly accepted the banknotes and tucked them into his robe, clearly accustomed to this.
“Thank you, Uncle.”
“As it should be,” the Marquis of Changle, Cheng Zeyuan, nodded with feigned gravity. With his hands behind his back, he took the lead into the manor with the measured gait of a lord, though his heart was blooming with joy.
Ruyi tucked her banknotes away with satisfaction and followed happily behind her father.
Young Cheng Yu’s grin nearly reached his ears. He mimicked his father’s “lordly walk,” strutting proudly alongside his sister.
Watching the three of them in front of him, Rong Mo’s lips curled up instinctively, and a hint of softness flickered in his icy eyes.
The footman carrying the cockfighting cage had long since grown used to the interactions between the Marquis and his children; he followed without looking left or right.
Once they were all inside, the gatekeepers closed the heavy doors.
The group went straight to the main courtyard to wait for dinner. While waiting, Ruyi had the guards display her shopping haul on the long rosewood dining table.
A literal parade of meat aromas.
In this sweltering heat, everyone’s appetite was already poor. Hit by this intense smell of heavy meats, they felt even less like eating.
The Marquis’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He pointed at the table full of meat delicacies, his lips trembling: “Daughter… why did you buy so much meat? Can we even finish this?”
Ruyi looked at her father calmly and patted her empty belly. “It’s not much. I bought these to show my filial piety to you and Mother. If there are leftovers, your daughter will finish them off tonight. I won’t waste a single grain of food.”
As an ability user, the higher her level, the larger her appetite would grow.
This little bit of meat wasn’t even enough for her to digest properly; it was only because the original owner’s stomach was too small and couldn’t hold much that Ruyi was forced to eat many small meals throughout the day.
Eating a lot certainly meant spending a lot.
From what she understood, the finances of the Changle Marquis household were quite tight. Her father’s salary and the income from the fief granted with his title weren’t enough. Fortunately, the number of servants in the residence wasn’t too large—just enough to keep up appearances.
Combined with her mother’s dowry and careful budgeting, along with her father’s particular talent for “scamming and swindling” a bit of extra silver, their lives were actually quite comfortable.
Her father, in particular, was exceptionally generous toward the siblings and their cousin. Every time he “scammed”—er, no, “procured” silver—he would give them plenty of pocket money.
The Marquis looked at the sea of meat on the table with tears in his eyes, clutching his vaguely aching stomach as he looked cautiously at his daughter. “…Daughter, Daddy knows you’re filial, but can Daddy not eat it? Daddy prefers some light greens with porridge.”
Seeing her father’s expression, Ruyi nodded. “Alright, I won’t force you then.”
The Marquis finally relaxed. He couldn’t wait to summon a maid to move the mountain of meat in front of him to the other end of the table.
This attitude of avoiding the food like the plague made Ruyi and Cheng Yu laugh, and even Rong Mo nearly failed to suppress a smile.
At that moment, a beautiful woman with a fine figure, dressed in a pale blue silk gown embroidered with magnolias, entered followed by maids and older servants.
“Mother!” Ruyi and Cheng Yu called out in unison. Cheng Yu bounced forward to support her, only to be held back by his sister.
“Aunt,” came Rong Mo’s cool voice.
“Susu, sit here.” Seeing his wife arrive, the Marquis stood up quickly and, with the air of a devoted lapdog, led the beautiful woman by her soft, white hand to the seat beside him.
This was Rong Susu, the sole mistress of the Changle Marquis residence. She looked remarkably young, appearing to be in her early twenties. Her features were about sixty percent similar to Ruyi’s; standing together, they looked like sisters.
However, Rong Susu possessed a more mature charm and elegance.
It was precisely because her beauty was so vivid and striking that the old Madame Cheng—who disliked and detested her concubine-born son Cheng Zeyuan—had chosen her as his bride.
“A-Yuan, where is today’s household money?” Rong Susu’s voice was sweet, and her upturned phoenix eyes carried a faint, captivating allure. She glanced at the pile of meat on the table, then at her husband who was smiling tentatively beside her.
“Right here, right here…” The Marquis flatteringly pulled the banknotes he had scammed today from his robe and placed them before his wife.
Rong Susu reached out with her slender, white fingers and quickly counted them. Not bad—six thousand taels. She pulled out two one-hundred-tael notes and handed the rest to a trusted nanny to put in the strongbox. A smile graced her beautiful face as she gave her husband an appreciative look and a word of encouragement.
“Today’s income is good. As a reward, here are two hundred taels for your pocket money. Remember to keep up the good work in the future!”
The Marquis happily tucked the two notes away. Hearing his dear wife’s encouragement, he scratched his head with a silly, delighted grin.
Ruyi’s lip twitched. Her beautiful mother’s style was always so… intoxicating.
“Daddy, Sister and I were bullied today.” Young Cheng Yu’s eyes darted around as he spoke pitifully, then proceeded to give a vivid, dramatic account of the incident at the restaurant.
The “handsome middle-aged” Marquis was furious: “Unreasonable! To go so far! Xiao Yu, don’t worry—Daddy will go to Zhao Chenghai tomorrow to ‘reason’ with him.”
Zhao Chenghai was the Vice-Commissioner and Zhao Yalan’s father.
The protective mother also arched her brows. She only had this one pair of children; who did this Zhao Yalan think she was to bully her daughter?
“Hmph. Ruyi, don’t be afraid. Mother will go speak with Madame Sun tomorrow.” Madame Sun was Zhao Chenghai’s wife.
Husband and wife stood united, prepared to cause trouble for others the next day.
Young Cheng Yu was finally satisfied, happily calculating how much pocket money he might get out of it. Ruyi was also extremely pleased; with her parents’ combined combat power, there would be another large sum of silver coming in tomorrow.
Rong Mo calmly sipped his tea. Such scenes played out from time to time in the Changle household; he had long since gone from shock to total numbness.
Despite his icy exterior, he was deeply grateful to his aunt and uncle’s family. To others, they might be oddities, but to Rong Mo, they were the best of people. He already considered himself a true member of this family.
He usually stayed within the manor and rarely went out, but he kept track of the rumors outside. Seeing that his uncle and cousins didn’t seem to care, he had assumed they were harmless.
Going out with Ruyi today had truly made him realize the reality of their situation. Rong Mo lowered his eyelids to hide a flash of coldness in his eyes.
Once the talk was over, Rong Susu looked at the row of meat on the table with a slight headache. A hint of worry appeared in her gaze as she looked at her daughter.
“Ruyi, what happened today? Why did you buy so much meat? Moxiang told me you even ordered the kitchen to make extra meat dishes. How can anyone finish all this?”
“Yeah, yeah, Daughter, were you triggered by something?” the Marquis chimed in.
Although the household finances were tight, Rong Susu never skimped on her children’s clothing or food. She budgeted carefully for herself but was very generous with them, not caring if they were a bit wasteful.
“Dad, Mom, I’m fine. I just have a great appetite lately and I crave meat.”
Being cared for felt good. Even though they weren’t her biological parents, Ruyi felt happy in her heart.
“So that’s it! Eating meat is good! Build some muscle. Daughter, you’re too thin—it hurts Daddy’s heart. It’s better to be a bit plumper; that’s where the good fortune is,” the Marquis said jovially.
“Mhm! I’ll eat more meat from now on. Daddy, you have to work hard to earn more silver!” Ruyi nodded happily, not forgetting to encourage her father to scam more people.
Rong Susu’s lip twitched. What kind of eye for beauty did her husband have? Their daughter had such a graceful, fine figure—how could she look good if she were fat?
But if her daughter liked it… she wouldn’t say much.
Listening to the joyful chatter between her husband and children, a smile of happiness appeared on Rong Susu’s face. Her only regret was that her nephew, Rong Mo, was already twenty and still hadn’t been betrothed.
She was worried!
As it grew dark, she ordered the maids to light the candles. Once everyone had washed their hands, dinner was served.
Because of the heat, the kitchen usually prepared light, appetizing dishes with less meat for dinner. But due to Ruyi’s special instructions, there were several extra meat dishes. These were placed directly in front of Ruyi.
Ruyi ate the fragrant meat dishes with satisfaction. Beside her, Rong Mo stole a glance. Seeing the food in her bowl rapidly disappearing, he paused, then quietly placed a piece of meat into her bowl.
Ruyi turned her head and gave him a brilliant smile. “Thanks, Cousin!”
Rong Mo was momentarily dazzled by her bright smile. His ears felt a faint heat. He muttered a “no problem” and continued to eat elegantly, but he kept an eye on Ruyi, naturally adding more meat to her bowl whenever it got low.
Ruyi didn’t think much of it, simply feeling that while Cousin Rong Mo looked cold, he was actually quite thoughtful. He was likely the “cold face, warm heart” type of man her “older sisters” in the apocalypse used to talk about.
Thinking about it, Ruyi also reached out with her chopsticks and put some pickled melon into Rong Mo’s bowl.
Seeing the pickled melon, Rong Mo’s gaze softened, and the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.
Aside from young Cheng Yu, who was eating happily, the Marquis and his wife exchanged a look of confusion across the table. When did our daughter and Rong Mo get so close?
However, seeing her nephew treat her daughter so well, Rong Susu was happy to see it happen. If her daughter hadn’t already been engaged to the Yan family, her nephew would actually be an excellent candidate.
Thinking of how the Yan family had repeatedly sought the Emperor’s permission to break the engagement over the past few months, Rong Susu’s heart sank, and she began to eat absent-mindedly.
Ruyi sensitively caught her mother’s mood shift. She looked up and asked with concern, “Mom, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
At this, the Marquis looked at his wife nervously. “Susu, are you okay?”
Rong Susu forced a smile and, seeing their concerned gazes, quickly said, “I’m fine. I just thought of some matters regarding the Yan family.”
Hearing the Yan family mentioned, Ruyi didn’t notice the murky emotion flickering in Rong Mo’s eyes. She simply rolled her eyes.
“Mom, the Yan family will be visiting in a few days. When they do, let’s just go along with them and break off the engagement. It’ll save me from being bullied after I marry in.”
“Who dares bully my daughter? I’ll skin him alive!” The handsome Marquis exploded.
“Yeah, yeah! Skin him alive!” Cheng Yu added, nodding vigorously.
Ruyi was speechless. Dad and Brother have focused on the wrong point again.
“Dad, Mom, let’s just break it off. It’ll stop the Yan family from jumping around making a fuss; it’s annoying. It would be more practical to make them pay a huge sum in compensation instead.”
Seeing that her daughter didn’t have even a hint of lingering attachment, Rong Susu felt incredibly relieved. If it weren’t for her daughter previously placing such importance on this match, she would have stopped caring about the Yans long ago.
“Well said! A-Yuan, that’s what we’ll do. When the Yans come, we’ll follow their lead and break it, and demand compensation while we’re at it. My daughter isn’t someone they get to look down on. Hmph!”
Having secured her parents’ support, Ruyi was overjoyed. She could finally be rid of this engagement.
Sansukini: I’ve read tons of cnovels, and this family is honestly the best. It’s so funny how everyone feels so accomplished scamming people.
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