Ye Yuze still couldn’t come during the afternoon lessons, but by evening he arrived at the Cheng household carrying a wild rabbit.
“Auntie Ye, this is for you!”
Ye Manshu asked, “Where did you get it?”
“I set a rabbit snare and caught it.”
“And why are you giving it to me?”
Ye Manshu didn’t believe that merely attending a few lessons meant he should give her such a valuable gift. For Ye Yuze, this rabbit was absolutely extravagant.
“ Auntie Ye… I want to study. I really want to study. Thank you for teaching me, but I only have time at night…”
Ye Manshu smiled.
“That’s no problem. If you truly want to study, then attend lessons during the daytime too. At night, if you still want to learn, I’ll continue teaching you. As for your fields, I’ll send my two idiot sons to work them for you.”
Ye Yuze froze.
“That… that won’t do…”
“What’s wrong with it? This rabbit could sell for thirty or forty copper coins. Nearby labor jobs only pay seven or eight coins a day. Your rabbit is worth five or six days of labor.”
She thought for a moment.
“How about this? I’ll have my second son work your fields for six days. That should nearly finish your farmwork.”
Ye Yuze hurriedly said,
“Auntie Ye, this rabbit was meant as a gift for you…”
“No, no. I can’t accept rewards without merit. Listening to class during the day is free anyway. Other children can sit in too, so you can as well. Right?”
Ye Yuze suddenly found himself unable to argue back.
Ye Manshu continued,
“Besides, your auntie here was just craving rabbit meat and thinking of buying one. Then you conveniently delivered one to my door. I should be thanking you. Oh right—can you cook?”
Ye Yuze blinked blankly, then nodded.
“I can.”
“Excellent. Then butcher this rabbit and cook dinner for me. My daughters-in-law’s cooking is honestly pretty ordinary. You should be able to make something tasty, right?”
Ye Manshu had long heard that despite his young age, Ye Yuze could already cook quite well. Ye Wu had mentioned once that he’d even eaten chicken cooked by the boy before.
Ye Yuze immediately agreed.
“Alright.”
Sun Shi was stunned to discover someone had come help with cooking.
This time she was reduced entirely to assisting.
According to Mother, both sons and daughters-in-law all cooked terribly.
And honestly, she couldn’t even protest.
What she made were perfectly ordinary home-style dishes. Ye Manshu had repeatedly explained how to improve them, but somehow she simply lacked culinary talent. No matter what she did, the results never fully satisfied Ye Manshu.
Standing near the kitchen doorway, Ye Manshu still occasionally guided Ye Yuze.
Combined with his own skill and familiarity in cooking, before long the rabbit meat began releasing a rich aroma.
Ye Manshu unconsciously licked her lips.
Sure enough, the difference between someone who could cook and someone who couldn’t was heaven and earth—even using identical ingredients.
The smell was practically divine.
“So fragrant it could knock your shoes off,” she declared dramatically. “So delicious-smelling even roosters would crow from excitement!”
Hearing Ye Manshu’s amusing words, a smile finally appeared on Ye Yuze’s face.
Everyone liked being praised.
“It’s not because I cook especially well,” he said honestly. “It’s because Auntie Ye’s house has plenty of oil and seasonings.”
Cheng Yunfan was practically drooling from hunger, but since Grandmother hadn’t yet said they could eat, he didn’t dare touch anything for fear of getting beaten.
Da Ya and Er Ya were also desperately tempted, though they managed to restrain themselves.
Just as Ye Manshu sat down, hurried footsteps sounded from outside along with a booming voice:
“Mother! What smells so good? It nearly made me stumble from the fragrance alone!”
No need to guess—it was Cheng Kang.
A moment later Cheng Yuan followed him inside, eyes practically trembling with shock.
“Who cooked this meal? Why does it smell this good?”
Yang Shi followed behind them smiling.
“Second Sister-in-law, did your cooking improve?”
Before Ye Manshu could answer, Cheng Kang had already reached out to grab a piece of rabbit meat.
Smack!
Ye Manshu struck the back of his hand with chopsticks.
“Go wash your hands.”
Not wanting to argue, Cheng Kang rushed outside, quickly washed his hands in the basin, then sprinted back.
“Mother, can I eat now?”
Ye Manshu ignored him entirely and instead turned toward Ye Yuze.
“Yuze, can you come cook for Auntie every day from now on? Your cooking is incredible.”
Ye Yuze didn’t refuse.
“Alright. I’ll come cook for Auntie Ye every day.”
“Good child. Sit down and eat with us. Consider it payment for your cooking.”
“No, I can’t eat here.”
He didn’t want to take advantage of them.
Ye Manshu deliberately pretended to become angry.
“So you don’t want to cook for me anymore? Do you think you’re taking advantage of us? That’s not true at all. Cooking is labor too. Right now my second daughter-in-law handles most of the cooking and plenty of other chores. She hardly rests all day. That’s labor, and labor deserves recognition from the family.”
Sun Shi froze upon hearing this.
Household chores deserved recognition?
Wasn’t this simply what women were supposed to do?
“Mother… this is what I should do…”
She sounded almost frightened.
“What do you mean ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’? As long as someone isn’t lazy, their efforts deserve recognition. Yuze, here’s the arrangement: you cook for me, and I feed you. That means you worked, I acknowledge your work, and this meal is something you rightfully earned. Understand?”
Though still somewhat confused, Ye Yuze somehow found himself nodding along with her logic.
“Good. Be obedient now and eat.”
She personally filled a bowl of porridge for him and handed him a white flour flatbread.
“Eat.”
Ye Yuze sat down stiffly and cautiously began eating.
He didn’t dare touch the rabbit meat, so Ye Manshu directly picked several pieces into his bowl herself.
“Just think of yourself as family here.”
Only after seeing him begin eating did Ye Manshu finally pick up a piece of rabbit meat for herself—
Then she suddenly noticed there were only three pieces left in the plate.
Looking around, she discovered Cheng Kang’s giant bowl was piled high with rabbit meat. Cheng Yuan’s bowl contained plenty too. Yang Shi and Cheng Yunfan also had large portions.
Only Sun Shi, Da Ya, and Er Ya had barely any—just a single piece each. Probably the very first piece they had taken.
Meanwhile Cheng Kang kept eating noisily while praising endlessly:
“Delicious! Delicious!”
Even while speaking, his eyes kept drifting greedily toward the final three pieces left on the platter.
His expression practically screamed that he wanted to lick the plate clean.
Ye Manshu felt instantly depressed.
She herself hadn’t even eaten a single bite yet, and the plate was already nearly empty.
How could she possibly fix this food-hoarding instinct?
What should you do when dogs guard food?
Simple.
Beat them.
Ye Manshu grabbed a bamboo switch and began smacking Cheng Yuan, Cheng Kang, Yang Shi, and Cheng Yunfan.
“Ow!”
Everyone instantly abandoned eating and jumped around dodging the blows.
Only Cheng Kang still clutched his giant bowl protectively while retreating into a corner.
“Mother! Why are you hitting us?”
“Why? Tell me why you grabbed everything! Your old mother hasn’t even eaten yet!”
“But Mother, weren’t there still three pieces left in the plate?”
Cheng Kang genuinely thought he’d done nothing wrong. Those pieces had specifically been left for her.
Cheng Yuan also defended himself.
“Exactly, Mother. We left some for you.”
Cheng Yunfan wailed pitifully,
“Grandma, mine isn’t even that much!”
Not much compared to adults perhaps—but for a child, it was absolutely plenty.
“Put it back. All of you. Nobody here is starving to death, so stop guarding food like this. From now on, whoever hoards food gets beaten. Especially you, Second Son.”
Ye Manshu pointed the bamboo switch directly at Cheng Kang.
“You’re the worst. Your wife and daughters are sitting right there. Why didn’t you give them any? You’re not even as decent as your older brother. At least he knows to save some for his wife and son.”
Since Cheng Kang had taken the most, under his mother’s fierce glare he unwillingly divided some rabbit meat into Sun Shi’s bowl and Da Ya and Er Ya’s bowls.
Cheng Yuan silently returned some meat from his bowl back onto the communal plate.
Yang Shi did the same.
Even Cheng Yunfan reluctantly returned two pieces.
Only then did Ye Manshu pick up the final three pieces for herself.
“The rest can be shared. Try grabbing everything again and see what happens.”
Nobody dared anymore.
Everyone obediently continued eating quietly.
Ye Manshu finally let out a long breath.
This family truly needed discipline.