“All right, all right. Sit down too. You’ll know once you taste it, won’t you?”
The old woman pulled Nanny Zhou down beside her.
“I really think you’ve gotten senile.”
After being called old twice in a row, Nanny Zhou’s aged face flushed red. No matter how unwilling she was, she had no choice but to sit down and angrily stuff a large mouthful into her mouth.
When she was young, she had traveled far and wide with Old Ancestor. What hadn’t she eaten?
Wild yam vines might be considered a wild delicacy, but weren’t they basically just leaves and weeds? How good could they possibly be to make Miss so…
Nanny Zhou chewed twice.
Something wasn’t right.
She chewed a couple more times.
Huh?
Chew, chew, chew…
Her mind went blank.
“Why doesn’t this yam vine taste bitter at all?”
The first flavors were a gentle sourness and sweetness. The fresh fragrance of the mountain raspberries spread like flowers blooming across the wilderness overnight, filling her entire mouth in an instant.
It wasn’t overpowering.
It was vibrant and full of life!
Then she pressed the food lightly with her tongue.
The yam vines were smooth, tender, soft, and crisp, with an incredibly rich texture. Their clean sweetness slowly covered the increasingly intense sourness and sweetness of the berries, balancing everything perfectly.
One fraction less and it would have been too bland.
One fraction more and it would have been too intense.
It was truly astonishing!
The old woman was equally amazed the more she ate.
She immediately made her decision.
“Lingxi, don’t leave this time. Stay here and learn cooking from me!”
“Hahaha! You’re giving me too much credit, Old Ancestor!”
Xu Lingxi planted her hands on her hips and laughed.
“That day, I said I wanted to show my filial devotion to you, but I didn’t know what to buy. Cook Su suggested that I make you a dish myself instead.”
“You’ve eaten so many delicacies that perhaps you would enjoy these fresh wild ingredients even more. So she carefully taught me how to pick them and how to prepare them. She even came up with the name.”
“I followed her instructions exactly, step by step, and it really did taste amazing! If you asked me to make it on my own, I definitely couldn’t.”
After saying that, she began recounting the entire journey, describing how Su Wan’ning had gone out of her way to prepare different foods for her and gradually restored her appetite.
The more Nanny Zhou listened, the more regretful she became, and the more uneasy she felt.
This Madam Su was actually so thoughtful and attentive, and she had such excellent cooking skills.
Nanny Zhou truly should not have taken it upon herself to exchange the silver Old Ancestor had given her!
She had no idea what kind of temperament that Madam Su had.
What if she had offended her?
Just then, Xuancao returned.
She was holding the familiar purse and a note.
“Miss, you should read this yourself.”
In truth, Su Wan’ning had not written much on the note.
But if Xu Lingxi paid attention, she would certainly notice the subtle emotions behind the words and figure out exactly what Nanny Zhou had done.
If Nanny Zhou really had tampered with the reward, she would inevitably be punished.
If she had not, then there was no harm done.
But what if Xu Lingxi failed to notice?
Forget it.
Su Wan’ning gave a cold laugh and quickened her pace.
She had entered the city that morning and had not stopped for even a moment since.
By the time she finished taking care of everything she needed to do, both legs were sore and aching, and her stomach was painfully empty with hunger.
She headed straight for a noodle stall along South Street River.
She had just ordered a bowl of plain noodles when she heard a familiar voice.
“In another two days, that idiot will be back. When she gets here, put on a good show and trick all the valuable things out of her.”
Su Wan’ning subtly shifted her body.
From the corner of her eye, she immediately recognized him.
That ungrateful wretch, Lin Jiabao.
Beside him was a vendor selling sweet drinks. He was sitting there with his future wife, Jiang Tao’er, feeding each other pieces of fried honey cake.
The cakes were coated in a thick layer of oil.
“Brother Bao, don’t worry. I know what to do. But about the house…”
“She saved quite a bit of silver while she was in the palace. I’ve calculated it. She can definitely afford that house.”
“And she’s incredibly stupid. As long as you make her happy, she’d be willing to give you everything she has.”
Then came the sounds of exaggerated slurping and kissing.
It was nauseating.
Su Wan’ning felt like vomiting.
In her previous life, after she was injured and returned home, Jiang Tao’er had indeed taken care of her quite a bit.
For example, she would stew chicken feet and call it “hen soup.”
She would use several finger-length fish to make “fresh fish and tofu soup.”
Or she would pick a few wild grasses, blanch them in water, add neither salt nor oil, and claim that she had stayed up all night carefully selecting the tender tips because they were especially nourishing.
Because of Lin Jiabao, Su Wan’ning had forced herself to eat them.
She had originally intended to tactfully point out that Jiang Tao’er’s cooking skills were lacking.
Unfortunately, the girl would agree verbally and then do exactly the same thing next time.
Looking back now, Jiang Tao’er probably couldn’t be bothered to take care of her, while also coveting the house.
She had been resentful and had deliberately made things difficult for her.
Every single one of them had treated her as though she were made of mud and could be molded however they pleased.
Fine.
Since that was how they wanted to play it, she would give them an opportunity.
Su Wan’ning lost her appetite for noodles.
She went straight to a medical clinic and bought a jar of Xuejie Yuhong Ointment.
The ointment was as red as blood. It could nourish the skin, promote blood circulation, and improve the flow of energy through the meridians.
She applied a thick layer to her right arm and wrapped it with cloth.
Then she hired an ox cart back to the village and headed toward Shili Village.
She had barely approached the village when someone spotted her.
“Whose young lady is that?”
The person looked her over carefully.
Seeing the cloth wrapped around her arm, with faint traces of red seeping through, she was shocked.
“What happened to your arm?”
Su Wan’ning recognized her.
She gave a bitter smile, tears glistening in her eyes.
“Auntie Wang, I… I’m Wan’ning.”
“Wan’ning?”
Wang Chunxiu slapped her thigh and immediately shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Second Brother Lin’s wife! Come quickly! Your Wan’ning is back! Good heavens, child, weren’t you sent to the palace? Why are you back? Your arm is injured?”
She then called for her daughter to fetch the village doctor.
The two of them headed straight for the Lin family home.
Quite a few villagers gathered around to watch the commotion.
Back when the drought struck, the Lin family had sold their two daughters to the palace. Everyone had called the Lin family heartless.
But later, they discovered that the two girls had not only survived in the palace but were doing quite well.
Especially the younger one, who frequently sent silver home!
The Lin family had built houses, bought farmland, and somehow became prosperous.
The villagers were both regretful and envious.
Now, seeing Su Wan’ning in such a miserable state, all kinds of speculation immediately surfaced.
“What happened to her hand? Did some palace lady break it?”
“Who knows what wicked thing she did? She must have been driven out.”
“She should consider herself lucky to have made it back alive. Making a living under the nobles isn’t easy.”
Su Wan’ning simply kept her head down and walked without answering a single question.
Soon, she stopped in front of the Lin family home.
Inside the courtyard, Madam Li had already heard Wang Chunxiu’s booming voice.
But according to her calculations, that idiot should not have arrived for another two days at the earliest.
How had she gotten back early?
Then… had the plan succeeded or not?
She hesitated for only a moment.
When she looked up again, she met a pair of tear-filled eyes.
The tension in her heart eased slightly.
Then she noticed the cloth wrapped around Su Wan’ning’s arm, with faint red seeping through it.
Only then did she finally relax.
She immediately put on a look of surprise.
“Wan’ning?”
“Aunt…”
Su Wan’ning hurried forward two steps, then stopped, looking timidly at her.
“My Wan’ning! It really is you!”
Tears welled up in Madam Li’s eyes, and her voice became choked with emotion as she rushed toward her.
That was enough time for Su Wan’ning to take in the layout of the courtyard.
She calculated the angle.
Then, faster and harder than Madam Li could react, she rushed forward and slammed her head into Madam Li’s chest.
“Auntie!”
“Ah!”
The impact sent Madam Li stumbling backward several steps.
Her foot caught on a small stool, and she fell flat on her back.
Pain exploded through her chest and the back of her head.
For a moment, she felt as though her soul had been knocked out of her body.
When she finally came to her senses, the back of her head felt hot and wet.
She reached back and found her hand covered in blood.
“My head!”