Nan Qianqian was holding a bowl and packing food for Fu Nanxun when Nan Jing’s “overjoyed” voice came from outside.
Then, unsurprisingly, came another pig-slaughter-like scream.
“Ahhh… It hurts! Mom, why did you hit me again?”
Nan Jing felt as though his head was buzzing from the slap. Despite being such a tall, burly man, he immediately clutched his head with both hands and dramatically darted around the courtyard.
“Hmph. With that pig brain of yours, who else would I hit if not you? Our family only has one rooster. How could it possibly hatch chicks?”
Li Cuihua was so exasperated by her foolish son that her chest hurt.
Still feeling unsatisfied, she continued, “No, this won’t do. I have to go find your father. Today, we’re taking you to the town hospital to get your brain checked.”
After saying that, Li Cuihua made as if to head toward the gate.
She had only just taken a step when Zhang Xiao grabbed her.
“Mom, I can smell food all over the courtyard. Who’s cooking?”
Zhang Xiao glanced at Nan Jing.
She felt that her husband was perfectly normal outside the house, but the moment he came home, he instantly turned into a complete fool.
Hearing Zhang Xiao’s words, Li Cuihua finally remembered the delicious smell of food that had filled the courtyard before she even entered.
Before she could go take a look, a soft, sweet voice came from inside the house.
“Mom, you’re back. I brought those wild chicks home.”
Nan Qianqian stood there carrying the food, looking toward the courtyard with a bright smile on her fair face.
“Daughter, when did you get back? Are you tired?”
The moment Li Cuihua saw her daughter, her dark expression immediately softened.
At this point, she completely forgot about the chicks and Nan Jing.
She grabbed Nan Qianqian’s arm, her words filled with concern.
“Mom, I’m not tired. You’re the ones who have been working hard.”
Nan Qianqian’s heart softened.
She thought to herself that someone like her, who did nothing all day, had no right to complain about being tired.
They were the ones who woke before dawn and worked until dark every single day.
That included her second sister-in-law, Zhang Xiao, who even took both children with her to work.
Now that Wu Yun had been sent back to her parents’ home, Nan Feng had also been left in her care.
Everyone was working hard.
Everyone except her.
“How could you not be tired? Look at you. You’ve lost weight.”
Li Cuihua stroked Nan Qianqian’s face with heartache.
The more she touched it, the more pitifully small she felt her daughter’s face had become.
Nan Qianqian: “…”
Ahem.
She truly had no idea where exactly she had supposedly lost weight.
She didn’t know about other families’ daughters, but her current body definitely couldn’t be described as skinny.
Of course, she wasn’t particularly fat either.
Nan Qianqian was quite satisfied with her current figure.
Everything that should be there was there.
To avoid continuing this topic, Nan Qianqian said, “Mom, I’ve already made the food. Wait until Dad and Eldest Brother come back, then you can eat. You don’t have to wait for me.”
After saying that, Nan Qianqian picked up the things and prepared to leave.
Before she could even take a step, Li Cuihua grabbed her arm.
“Daughter, when did you learn how to cook? Did you hurt yourself? Let Mom take a look.”
Li Cuihua was shocked.
She had raised this daughter for more than ten years.
As her mother, she genuinely had no idea when her daughter had learned to cook.
Good heavens.
It didn’t matter if something happened to the kitchen stove, but what if her daughter had gotten hurt?
“Mom, I secretly learned by watching you and Second Sister-in-law. I just never had the chance to cook before.”
Nan Qianqian had completely forgotten that the original owner didn’t know how to cook.
With the way Li Cuihua doted on her daughter, she treated her as though she were made of gold.
She treasured her dearly.
How could she possibly have allowed her to cook?
“Ah, my daughter is so capable.”
Although Li Cuihua couldn’t bear to let her daughter work, hearing that she knew how to cook still filled her heart with delight.
“Mom, I won’t talk to you anymore. I still have to take this food to Fu Nanxun.”
Li Cuihua had just been happily smiling, but the moment she heard the three words Fu Nanxun, her expression instantly changed.
“My daughter isn’t his maid. Why should you go over there every single day and tire yourself out serving him? Don’t go. Let your second brother deliver the food. You stay home and rest properly. Cooking must have tired you out too.”
Li Cuihua frowned as she spoke.
Her hands weren’t idle either.
She immediately snatched the packed food from Nan Qianqian’s hands.
And there was even a water flask?
Looking at the flask in her hand, Li Cuihua said unhappily, “Why are you bringing water? Don’t tell me he doesn’t even have water to drink over there?”
“Mom, I can take it over myself. I brought the water because I was afraid I might get thirsty on the way.”
Nan Qianqian felt somewhat troubled.
She had painstakingly cooked this food herself and had been hoping to earn a few more favorability points in front of the man.
If Nan Jing delivered it instead…
Wouldn’t her lovingly prepared meal lose its meaning?
Besides, this time she had filled the flask with Spiritual Spring Water from the space.
She still wanted to personally watch the man drink it.
“No. Let your brother go. He runs fast and will be back in no time.”
When it came to anything that might tire her daughter out, Li Cuihua’s attitude was always firm.
Seeing the expression on Li Cuihua’s face that clearly left no room for negotiation, Nan Qianqian felt that she simply couldn’t win against her mother.
Although her mother loved her dearly, she was still extremely stubborn about certain things.
“All right, then. Let Second Brother deliver it. I just need to tell him a few things.”
With that, Nan Qianqian took the things back from Li Cuihua and strode toward Nan Jing in the courtyard.
“Second Brother, then I’ll have to trouble you to take this to Fu Nanxun.
“And this too. Make sure he drinks it. Also, tell him that I’ll bring him food again tomorrow.”
Nan Qianqian looked serious as she gave Nan Jing each instruction one by one.
Nan Jing was stunned as he listened.
Was this considerate little cotton-padded jacket really his younger sister?
And why was she treating another man so well?
She had never even treated her own second brother this well before.
“All right. I’ll go now.”
Nan Jing didn’t refuse, but his response sounded somewhat listless.
He thought to himself that his little sister was truly biased!
At the very least, the two of them had been born from the same mother.
“Thank you, Second Brother. Hurry there and come back quickly. We’ll wait for you to return before eating.”
Seeing this, Nan Qianqian’s pink lips curved upward, and her fair face filled with a smile.
Seeing how adorable his little sister looked, Nan Jing’s heart warmed, and his gloomy mood instantly cleared.
“What are you thanking me for? I’m your second brother. I’m leaving now. Don’t wait for me to eat. I can just eat something casually when I get back.”
Nan Jing’s mood immediately brightened, and he was suddenly full of energy.
Carrying the things, he took long strides and headed out of the courtyard.
With Nan Jing gone to deliver the food, Nan Qianqian returned inside with Li Cuihua, Zhang Xiao, and the two children.
They would wait until the rest of the family came home before starting the meal.
Meanwhile, Nan Jing was in an excellent mood, and even his steps felt lighter.
“Hey, have you all heard about that money-losing girl from the village Party secretary’s family?”
The moment Nan Jing heard the words money-losing girl from the village Party secretary’s family, his good mood disappeared without a trace.
“How could we not have heard? Isn’t she usually treated like some precious treasure? Her head still hasn’t fully healed from when she smashed it, and now she’s already throwing herself at a man’s doorstep.”
“Exactly. I saw the village Party secretary bring her over yesterday. Then this morning, that money-losing girl went there by herself again.”
“Tsk, tsk. Closing the door in broad daylight… Who knows what kind of shameful things they were doing inside!”
The women went back and forth, each adding a sentence, completely failing to notice Nan Jing approaching them with a face as black as charcoal.
“Hehe, what else could they have been doing? Of course they were—ow! Who pinched me?”
The woman had been speaking enthusiastically when someone suddenly grabbed her shoulder.
“Of course they were what?”
Nan Jing enunciated each word coldly.
At this moment, his expression was frighteningly dark, without the slightest trace of his earlier smile.
The women froze.
Looking at the vicious expression on the young man’s face, none of them dared utter another word.
The second son of the Nan family was famously a smiling tiger.
He might usually be all smiles, but once he became ruthless, it could truly cost someone their life.
“You little brat, let go of me!”
The woman frowned deeply.
Her shoulder felt as though it were about to be crushed, and the pain was unbearable.
“Hehe, Auntie, the mouth actually has quite a lot of uses.
“But it should still be used for the things it’s supposed to be used for.
“However, if you truly don’t want yours anymore, I can reluctantly help you take it off your hands. What do you think of that idea, Auntie?”
The woman looked at the smiling man in front of her.
Yet the words coming out of his mouth made her heart tremble.