Ever since Shen Zhiyi said those words to him, Lu Yusheng had been distracted all day.
He couldn’t stop wondering: How on earth did Shen Zhiyi know that Qiangqiang was his and Jiang Ruochu’s son?
Why would she know that?
It didn’t make sense. She was only released today, wasn’t she?
Could it be… that she was just bluffing?
Yes, that must be it. That woman was truly detestable. Next time, he definitely wouldn’t look so guilty in front of her.
Mainly, it was that phrase “paternity test” that had scared the living daylights out of him.
“So, what do you think Shen Zhiyi actually does all day while she’s locked up?” Lu Yusheng asked, completely out of it, answering a question no one had asked.
“I don’t care what she does! Yusheng, what is wrong with you today? Why are you so concerned about that convict?” The eldest brother, Lu Changsheng, couldn’t understand his behavior at all; he was acting like he was possessed.
“Exactly! Because of that woman, our whole family lost so much face today. Thankfully, Yusheng, you’re still the most successful person in Lu Village.” The fourth brother was still seething over what had happened earlier.
He secretly vowed to find a chance to teach Shen Zhiyi a good lesson.
“I just wanted to get her out of there quickly. Forget it, I was being foolish today. It won’t happen again.” Believing she was just bluffing, Lu Yusheng decided not to tell his family the details, to spare them unnecessary worry.
“You really were being foolish. You even made Ruochu leave in anger. Make time tomorrow to go apologize and make it up to her,” the second sister advised.
“Yeah, got it, Second Sister.”
“It’s been a long day for everyone. Let’s call it a night.”
“Alright.”
“Just you wait, Shen Zhiyi. I’ll find someone to teach her a lesson for daring to be so insolent and rude to our entire family today,” the fourth brother declared, trying to calm everyone down.
“Fourth brother, take it easy. She has Zhou Muchuan backing her up.”
“Zhou Muchuan is easy to deal with. One complaint letter and he’s finished,” Lu Yusheng said coldly, narrowing his eyes.
Thinking about how Zhou Muchuan had stood up for Shen Zhiyi several times that day made his blood boil.
He was planning to divorce her, but they weren’t divorced yet, were they?
Why did Zhou Muchuan keep sticking up for his wife? Was he trying to pick up what he had discarded?
Hmph.
If he really wanted her, he could at least wait until he had officially and completely thrown her away before trying to pick up the scraps.
…
The next morning.
Shen Zhiyi woke up early. She got dressed and went out to the courtyard to wash up, only to find that her mother was already up, busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
Sweet fermented rice eggs were the original body’s favorite food, and Shen Zhiyi quite liked this dessert too.
She usually thought of it as a dessert, but here, it was served as breakfast.
After washing up, she walked into the kitchen.
“You’re up, Zhiyi. Why didn’t you sleep a little longer? It’s still early,” her mother said lovingly.
“I want to get ready early. Mom, Boss Wei provides room and board. From now on, please don’t wake up so early for me.”
“I’m used to getting up early. I need to eat early too, and afterwards, I have to go check on the fields. There’s always so much work to do.”
“Once I’ve established myself with Boss Wei, I’ll ask him to buy vegetables directly from our fields. That way, you won’t have to carry heavy loads all the way to the market early in the morning.”
“Don’t do that, Zhiyi. This is a good job, you must cherish it. We shouldn’t let the boss down or cause him any trouble.” Her mother didn’t want to be a burden to her daughter.
“Alright.”
After breakfast, Auntie Zhang and her husband, who drove a tractor for transporting goods, arrived at the door.
As soon as she heard Zhiyi had found work, Mother Shen had gone over to their house the night before to ask if they could give her a ride into town.
The couple agreed with a smile. Mother Shen insisted on giving them thirty eggs as a thank you gift, even though Auntie Zhang tried to refuse.
Only then did Shen Zhiyi realize her mother had arranged a ride for her.
Carrying her camphor wood chest, she climbed onto the back of the tractor.
The tractor was usually used for hauling cement and was quite dirty. Even after wiping it down, she couldn’t bring herself to sit on the metal bed, so she simply sat right on top of her wooden chest. Along the way, Auntie Zhang and her husband chatted with her.
They praised her for being capable, finding a job so quickly, and actually working at Fumanlou!
Auntie Zhang reminisced, “Zhiyi, I remember when you were little, every time you tried to cook, you’d burn the food. Either you put too little water, or you forgot to watch the fire and let it boil dry. There were even two times you almost set the kitchen on fire!”
“Who would have thought that you’d become a chef now? And at a fancy place like Fumanlou! You’re really amazing, Zhiyi.”
“Auntie Zhang, I was just lucky,” Shen Zhiyi replied humbly.
Shen Zhiyi was actually quite surprised. Was the original body really that bad at cooking?
No wonder last night, when she told her family she was going to be a chef at Fumanlou, their expressions had been so complicated.
After dropping her off, the Zhangs left.
The back entrance to Fumanlou’s kitchen was open, but the main doors were still locked.
Seeing she had arrived so early, the person on duty told her to go straight up to the top floor where the staff quarters were.
The key was in the drawer at the front counter, and she was told to get it herself.
Apart from the two head chefs and the logistics manager, Sister Li, who wasn’t an early riser, everything had been arranged the night before.
The ones giving her instructions were the restaurant’s purchasers. They were just about to head to the market to buy fresh meat and produce.
The waitresses were all locals. To save money, they chose not to stay at the restaurant, only asking Boss Wei to provide their meals.
There were four rooms in the dormitory, one for each person. One room was empty, perfect for Shen Zhiyi.
By the time she finished unpacking, the sky was just starting to brighten.
Shen Zhiyi stared at her now empty camphor wood chest for a long time. Wait a minute… was the box slightly smaller than yesterday?
Yesterday, when she tried to put it on Zhou Muchuan’s motorcycle, it wouldn’t fit in the storage compartment. She had even complained that it was too big and wished it were smaller and easier to carry.
Right after she said that, somehow probably because she found the right angle it slid right in.
She hadn’t thought much of it then, chalking it up to the angle.
But looking at it now, it definitely seemed to have shrunk.
She reached out and touched it, “No way? Are you like the Monkey King, able to change size? Or am I seeing things?”
Shen Zhiyi was puzzled.
Shrugging it off, she sat on the single bed, trying to figure out what dish would best win over the taste buds of the townsfolk.
The simplest and easiest dish would be Cola Chicken Wings.
But… there was no cola here.
Perhaps this town was too remote, and carbonated drinks hadn’t made their way here yet.
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than a sudden THUD came from the chest, making her jump.
The sound wasn’t actually that loud, but in the quiet, enclosed room, it echoed sharply.
“What was that?”
Shen Zhiyi walked over. She had already taken all her clothes out; the box should be completely empty.
Had a board come loose?
She lifted the chest down from the top of the cabinet and opened it again.
There, sitting right in front of her eyes, were three large bottles of Pepsi.