“Miss Su, it’s hot out. Have some milk.”
Madam Zhou was being exceptionally attentive. She had prepared milk sweetened with pong sugar and gently fanned Su Wan’ning.
“Madam Zhou, please don’t be so formal. You’re making me uncomfortable.”
Su Wan’ning came back to herself. She didn’t put on airs with Madam Zhou and instead maintained a very gentle attitude.
“Yes. This old servant was foolish.”
Madam Zhou returned to the subject from earlier. Seeing that Su Wan’ning didn’t interrupt her this time and instead adopted an attentive expression, she continued.
“You didn’t see how angry Miss was yesterday. Oh, dear…”
When Xuan Cao had brought her the note and purse yesterday, the little bit of regret Madam Zhou had felt had actually turned into contempt.
Since she had dared to do it, she had naturally prepared an explanation in advance.
If five hundred copper coins weren’t enough for Su Wan’ning and she deliberately made a fuss and came to complain, that would only prove that the little cook was ignorant, unreasonable, and greedy.
But there had been no complaint in the note at all!
Instead, Su Wan’ning had praised Miss Xu to the skies, saying that she was straightforward and adorable, that they seemed destined to get along, and that she was more than willing to study food together with her.
That had made Miss Xu so happy she had practically jumped for joy.
But as she continued reading, her expression changed.
Su Wan’ning had written that she knew her status was low and would never presume to become friends with Miss Xu.
She had already accepted the ten-tael payment, so she would respectfully decline the additional reward.
Miss Xu immediately opened the purse.
The brand-new, beautiful little silver ingots that had originally been prepared by the Old Ancestor had all been replaced with mixed old and new copper coins!
Ten taels had become five hundred copper coins!
What had been meant as appreciation, gratitude, and a gesture of friendship had been reduced to a casual handout.
It had become an insult!
Miss Xu had burst into tears, shouting,
“No wonder she politely declined! No wonder she didn’t dare to be friends with me!”
She had then thrown all the copper coins at Madam Zhou.
She had immediately wanted to go into town and apologize to Su Wan’ning herself.
Fortunately, the Old Ancestor had stopped her.
She said that Su Wan’ning had only just returned home and needed to rest. She also explained on Madam Zhou’s behalf that Su Wan’ning wasn’t being greedy; she simply looked down somewhat on the little cook because of her status.
The Old Ancestor had even punished Madam Zhou by withholding half a year’s wages and ordered her to personally come today to invite Su Wan’ning.
After explaining everything, Madam Zhou respectfully took out the original purse.
“Miss Su, this purse should still be returned to its rightful owner.”
“How could I accept this?”
Su Wan’ning politely refused.
“This old servant has watched Miss grow up. She is simple-hearted but hot-tempered, and it’s very easy for someone with ulterior motives to lead her astray. I’m genuinely afraid she’ll be influenced by the wrong people…”
“Please forgive this old servant’s good intentions.”
Madam Zhou’s eyes were almost brimming with tears.
Only then did Su Wan’ning accept the purse.
“In that case, I won’t refuse any longer. But please don’t take offense either. Meeting Miss Xu was truly an unexpected blessing for me. Everything I wrote in that note was sincere. As for my status…”
“Please don’t say that.”
The two exchanged a round of polite compliments.
On the surface, they were finally on perfectly good terms.
In their hearts, however, both felt that the other was far from simple.
Madam Zhou hadn’t expected Su Wan’ning to expose the matter so elegantly.
Nor had she expected Su Wan’ning to hold such a high position in Miss Xu’s heart.
Su Wan’ning, meanwhile, hadn’t expected that Xu Lingxi had actually been raised by Madam Zhou.
In other words, Xu Lingxi had grown up by the Old Ancestor’s side.
Could her pickiness about food be because of the Old Ancestor?
No wonder she knew about the Precious Mushroom Deer Paste.
Could those strange and unusual dishes she had mentioned also be recipes passed down from ancient times?
As the saying went, those who stayed close to vermilion became red.
Could Xu Lingxi’s personality also resemble the Old Ancestor’s in some ways?
And the four-fingered servant outside…
Since he could accompany Madam Zhou here, he was probably truly one of the Old Ancestor’s people.
In her previous life, when she had been tortured to death to appease the Old Ancestor, had the Old Ancestor personally ordered it?
Or had it been the “Master” that Lin Mao had brought in?
One question after another was buried deep in her heart.
Su Wan’ning took a deep breath.
Then she heard Lin Jiabao’s voice outside.
“Sis! Sis, where are you going? Wait for me!”
She looked outside.
“What are you doing?”
Lin Jiabao was pushing the wooden cart, his head covered in sweat.
“I’m returning the cart to the Li family. Where are you going, Sis? Who’s Miss Xu? Let me sit in the carriage for a while.”
Why could this fool happily ride in a carriage while he had to work himself to death?
“Miss Su, should we stop the carriage?”
Madam Zhou had already investigated Su Wan’ning and the Lin family.
For some reason, she instinctively disliked the Lin family members, which was why she had deliberately ignored this young man earlier.
But now, she still wanted to follow Su Wan’ning’s wishes.
“No need. Let’s continue on our way.”
Su Wan’ning ignored him, and the carriage actually sped up.
Lin Jiabao was furious but had no choice.
However, after following them all the way, he confirmed that Su Wan’ning had indeed entered the Li family’s estate.
He returned the cart, then trudged home and told Madam Li what had happened.
Madam Li was turning the IOU over and over in her hands, looking rather annoyed.
“You foolish child, why did you borrow eighty taels from Master Xiong?”
“What’s there to be afraid of? Zhao Escort Leader should be back soon. Do you think we’ll be short of money in the future?”
Lin Jiabao gulped down some water.
“Tao’er, later let’s go into town and have a look around. That fool really did manage to climb up the social ladder. We’d better dress nicely. Then we can have her introduce us.”
He noticed a bowl of wontons on the table and picked it up.
“Don’t—”
Jiang Tao’er didn’t even have time to stop him.
Lin Jiabao had already swallowed one whole.
“Urgh! What the hell is this? Get rid of it!”
Lin Jiabao spat and gagged for a long while.
“Stop making me sick. Hurry and clean all this up. Then go ask around and see if anyone has returned from the capital. I just can’t shake this uneasy feeling.”
Madam Li put away the IOU.
“The interest is so high—one tael a day. It would be best if we could repay it tonight. Don’t waste any money. We still need to buy medicine for your father.”
Madam Li wore a worried expression.
Lin Jiabao didn’t care.
Jiang Tao’er was plotting something in her heart.
And Lin Mao was covered in injuries.
In short, the atmosphere in the Lin household was far from pleasant.
At Qiufeng Estate, however, the Old Ancestor’s courtyard was filled with wave after wave of laughter.
“Wan’ning, you’re too thoughtful! You started preparing for my birthday banquet this early. I’m so touched!”
Xu Lingxi hugged Su Wan’ning and spun her around.
Su Wan’ning’s head was spinning.
“It wasn’t entirely for the birthday banquet. We use our arms and wrists so much that we need to apply medicinal ointment and take care of them.”
She had barely entered the courtyard and hadn’t even had a chance to pay her respects to the Old Ancestor before Xu Lingxi had already thrown her arms around her.
When Xu Lingxi saw her arm, she had been frightened out of her wits.
Su Wan’ning hurriedly removed the bandage and explained that she had only applied Blood-Soothing Jade-Red Ointment to improve circulation and relax the tendons.
She had casually added that she wanted her arm in better condition so she could perform better in a few days.
It wasn’t an injury at all.
And so Xu Lingxi became touched all over again.
Su Wan’ning felt a little guilty.
She took the initiative and asked,
“What would you like for lunch? How about loaches? This morning, I saw someone wasting them, and it really bothered me.”
“I’ll have someone catch them right now! What happened this morning? Tell me everything!”
Xu Lingxi waved her hand, and a maid immediately went off to carry out her order.
“Let’s pay our respects to the Old Ancestor first.”
Su Wan’ning wasn’t in a hurry to tell her about the Lin family.
What she wanted more urgently was to meet the Old Ancestor herself.
After getting out of the carriage just now, she had noticed that the four-fingered servant was already gone.
And after Madam Zhou brought her into the courtyard, she had also turned around and left.
Where had they all gone?
The Old Ancestor had definitely already investigated her in secret.
So Su Wan’ning needed to think carefully about how she could put herself in the most advantageous position.