The small thatched hut of the third branch had no soundproofing, so they naturally heard Luo Shi’s shouting and cursing.
The family of five sat together around the table.
“Ye’er… this isn’t right…” Lin Shi’s face turned pale.
Wen Lao San and the siblings Wen Lan and Wen Chui were also extremely worried and didn’t dare pick up their chopsticks.
“What are you afraid of? Even Grandma hasn’t said anything. Let’s just eat our food.” Wen Ye wasn’t afraid at all, because she knew Fang Shi and Old Madam Wen were definitely plotting something.
For the sake of whatever they were planning, they would endure it!
Lin Shi and the others exchanged glances. Seeing that the main hall had suddenly become quiet and no one had come over to make trouble, they found it rather strange.
They didn’t dare go over to take a look, or they’d only draw more attention to themselves.
Seeing that Wen Ye had already started eating, they trembled as they picked up their chopsticks too.
As she ate, Wen Ye frowned in disdain.
Luo Shi must have thought they were about to leave and didn’t want to let the third branch get any advantage. There wasn’t a trace of oil in tonight’s dishes.
There was only boiled pumpkin, steamed eggplant, and pickled vegetables.
…
The next day, it was the second branch’s turn to do the household chores.
Wen Lao San didn’t dare slack off and still took Wen Chui to the fields early in the morning to tend the crops.
After finishing the laundry, Lin Shi suddenly had nothing to do and felt both uneasy and unaccustomed to being idle.
Around noon, she went to the kitchen to help, only to be chased out by Fang Shi.
When the meal was ready, Fang Shi came to the hut and said with a smile,
“Third Brother, Third Sister-in-law, we’ll be splitting the family in a few days anyway. Don’t carry your meals back to your room anymore. It makes us seem too distant.”
“Second Sister-in-law is right,” Lin Shi replied nervously, afraid that if anything went wrong, the family separation would fall through.
Under Lin Shi’s urging, the family of five awkwardly entered the main hall and sat together with the first branch, the second branch, and Old Madam Wen.
Wen Ye couldn’t help glancing at Wen Li Yue, who was sitting not far away.
When Wen Li Yue met her gaze, she glared right back.
Ever since returning from town, Wen Li Yue had felt uncomfortable all over. She couldn’t explain exactly what was wrong, only that she felt miserable and listless. She had stayed in her room all day and even had Fang Shi bring her meals to her.
Fortunately, Old Madam Wen had been injured, which allowed her to avoid work.
Today she finally felt a little better and came to eat with everyone.
Seeing the female lead of the novel looking so dispirited, Wen Ye felt reassured.
Soon, the dishes were brought out.
Today, Fang Shi had actually bought a whole jin of pork belly and stewed it with green beans until it was tender and fragrant. Before it even reached the table, the aroma had already filled the room. There was also a creamy white bone soup and three vegetable dishes. It was quite a lavish meal.
Luo Shi and Wen Lao Da nearly drooled at the sight of the food, but when they saw those “outsiders” from the third branch sitting there, they felt as though they were suffering a loss.
Fang Shi smiled and said,
“Third Brother, Third Sister-in-law, we really were too careless when we arranged a marriage for Lan’er without understanding the situation first. Today’s meal is our compensation to you.”
Lin Shi and Wen Lao San were stunned.
For the past two days, they had believed that the first and second branches had conspired together to sell off Wen Lan.
But after the family agreed yesterday to separate and even give them one mu of land, and with Fang Shi repeatedly speaking kindly to them, they couldn’t help feeling uncertain.
Maybe… they had misunderstood. Perhaps the second branch really hadn’t known the groom was an old man…
Wen Li Yue snorted softly. They’d already explained it several times—her mother would never do such a thing!
Fang Shi turned and went back into the kitchen. This time, she came out carrying five bowls of sweet poached eggs.
Wolfberries and red dates floated in the syrup. Before the bowls were even set down, the sweet aroma could already be smelled.
“Come, come.” Fang Shi placed a bowl in front of each of the five members of the third branch.
Luo Shi exploded instantly.
“What are you doing? What are you doing? Five eggs, and only they’re allowed to eat them?”
Wen Mei also frowned.
“The eggs belong to the family. Why should only they get some?”
“Exactly,” even Wen Li Yue couldn’t help muttering.
Fang Shi glared at her before saying,
“These eggs aren’t from the family. I ran into my mother when I went to buy meat this morning, and she gave them to me. If Sister-in-law wants some, then ask your own family for them.”
The entire first branch choked on their words.
“The third branch is about to leave, and I can’t bear to part with them, so I boiled a few eggs for them.”
She pushed a bowl toward Wen Chui and smiled gently.
“Chui’er, eat up. You still need to grow taller! Ye’er and Lan’er, hurry and eat too.”
Hearing Fang Shi’s soft urging, Lin Shi and Wen Lao San were deeply moved.
Even Wen Lan felt a warmth in her heart. Wen Chui stared at the sweet soup and swallowed hard, just about to eat.
“Thank you, Second Aunt.”
But Wen Ye suddenly smiled and picked up her bowl, placing it in front of Old Madam Wen.
“Second Aunt cares about us so much, so I’ve decided to be a filial granddaughter. This bowl is for Grandma.”
The others from the third branch heard this and felt too embarrassed to eat.
Wen Lan hurriedly pushed her bowl toward Luo Shi.
“I… I’ll also honor Eldest Aunt.”
Lin Shi, her husband, and Wen Chui followed suit, placing their bowls in front of Wen Lao Da and the second branch’s couple.
Fang Shi and Old Madam Wen’s hearts instantly sank.
Old Madam Wen pulled a long face.
“If your Second Aunt told you to eat, then eat! Why keep pushing them around? This is her way of caring for you.”
Wen Ye sneered.
“I get stomachaches whenever I eat sweet things. Grandma should eat it instead.”
Seeing that the third branch was just about to eat the eggs, only for this little wretch to stir up trouble again, Old Madam Wen was both furious and anxious.
“If I told you to eat, then eat! Why all the nonsense?”
“I said I can’t eat sweets—they give me stomachaches! Grandma, are you trying to kill me?”
With that, Wen Ye slammed the table and stood up.
“Or do you really want to poison us? Second Aunt never gave me anything good to eat before, yet suddenly she brings us sweet eggs today. What are you trying to do? Did you poison them?”
Old Madam Wen and Fang Shi’s faces turned green.
Fang Shi hurriedly said,
“Oh my… Ye’er, what nonsense are you talking about? So you can’t eat sweets? I didn’t know that before. Since you can’t eat them… then don’t eat them. Hehe…”
“Hehe.”
Wen Ye returned her smile with a cold laugh.
“Since it’s Ye’er’s gift of filial respect, Mother should eat it,” Fang Shi said, turning toward Old Madam Wen.
Old Madam Wen’s face stiffened.
Although it wasn’t poison, she was afraid it might harm her health and didn’t dare eat it!
After thinking for a moment, she placed the bowl in front of Wen Li Yue.
“My teeth have been hurting lately. Yue’er, you eat it.”
“Okay!” Wen Li Yue answered quickly.
But she was still hesitant inside. She didn’t believe her mother would poison anyone, yet after everyone had kept pushing the bowl around, the sweet egg soup suddenly seemed suspicious.
Fang Shi secretly grew anxious when she saw Old Madam Wen pushing it onto Wen Li Yue, but she couldn’t stop her and merely smiled.
“Your grandmother gave it to you. Hurry and eat.”
“That’s right, hurry and eat!”
Afraid the third branch might take it back, Luo Shi directly speared an egg with her chopsticks and impatiently took a bite.
Wen Lao Da and Wen Mei were also delighted and started eating.
“Let’s eat. Chui’er, have a piece of meat.”
Fang Shi picked up a piece of pork and placed it in Wen Chui’s bowl.
Wen Lao San and Lin Shi exchanged glances, feeling somewhat guilty.
Even Wen Li Yue had eaten the sweet soup, so there couldn’t possibly be anything wrong with it.
Wen Lan also felt she had wronged Fang Shi and awkwardly picked up some green beans for Wen Ye.
As Wen Ye ate, however, her eyes held a cold smile when she looked at Fang Shi.
She didn’t need intuition to know that those bowls of sweet eggs had something wrong with them.
Something had been added to them.
What else did the third branch still possess that others could covet?
Her eyes flickered, and she suddenly thought of something. The mockery in her gaze deepened.
She understood now.
These people truly refused to give up their evil intentions.