Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Seeing the wine, Second Uncle's spirits lifted, and he instantly forgot Ye Xiaohan's rudeness. With a slurp, he smacked his lips and called out to Beibei, "Fill it up again, fill it up!"
Beibei noticed that Ye Xiaohan was unhappy and, taking advantage of Second Uncle and Second Aunt's distraction, pulled her aside to apologize. "Xiao Han, I know you're not very happy with Second Uncle being here. He can be a bit... well, you know how he is. But he's one of the few relatives we have left. If Dad were still alive, he wouldn't want the family to be in disarray. Please bear with it a little longer; I'll talk them into leaving in a few days."
"Got it. It's not like I have nothing to deal with," Ye Xiaohan pouted. "Don't worry; as long as they don't bother me, I'll pretend I don't see them. Live and let live."
Beibei whispered, "I knew you cared about me."
"Who? Who cares about you!" Ye Xiaohan exclaimed as if stung by a bee. She looked up and stammered, "Stop flattering yourself! I'm just trying to keep things simple!"
Beibei watched her quickly walk away, a slight smile forming at the corners of his mouth.
In the following days, Uncle Lu's family took advantage of their stay at the Liu household, living comfortably and seemingly forgetting their troubles.
Ye Xiaohan was in the shop when she spotted a familiar figure from a distance, her heart sinking.
It was Second Aunt.
Second Aunt entered the store and began touching everything in sight, earning several disdainful looks from customers, which she ignored completely.
Ye Xiaohan calmed the customers down and offered some gifts before they finally left satisfied.
Second Aunt lamented, "Oh dear, such good things given away just like that! You young people really don’t know how to manage a household; it's all wasteful."
Remembering Beibei's plea, Ye Xiaohan forced a smile. "Second Aunt, if there's anything you like, feel free to take it. We're family; no need to be polite."
Second Aunt quickly replied, "You don’t need to worry about me; I’ll take what I want myself. It’s all our stuff; I won’t hold back."
Ye Xiaohan did her best to maintain her smile.
Second Aunt took several items without caring whether they were suitable or not, planning to bring them back first. She pulled Ye Xiaohan aside and said, "By the way, Ye Xiaohan, now that we are here as the elders of the family, we should take care of important things. I think you should hand over that recipe for the flowers to us."
What a bold face you have. Ye Xiaohan controlled her hands to prevent them from splashing water on Second Aunt's face. Maintaining her expression, she smiled and replied, "Second Aunt, this is an important item; how can it be in my hands? I already gave it to Six Bei."
After thinking about it, Second Aunt decided to ask Second Uncle to get it from Six Bei.
This recipe was painstakingly developed by Ye Xiaohan, and the prosperity of Peach Blossom Studio relied on this thin piece of paper. Without a second thought, Six Bei directly refused: "Second Uncle, I can give you anything else you want, but not this."
Second Uncle cursed angrily, "You useless one! You can't even manage your own wife and are afraid of her. Now when I ask you for something small, you refuse? You unfilial son!"
Six Bei let him scold without responding, only refusing to budge on the recipe.
Seeing that his first plan failed, Second Uncle had to come up with another one. He proposed sending his own children to a private school for education but claimed they had no money. As the elder brother, Six Bei had to take on this responsibility.
Reluctantly, Six Bei sought advice from Ye Xiaohan: "Second Uncle's family has helped us a lot in the past; since he is making a request now, we should help if we can. Besides, education is a good thing; letting my brother go to school is better than letting him run wild outside."
Despite feeling frustrated with their repeated demands, Ye Xiaohan reminded herself to stay calm and handed over ten taels of silver as tuition.
She did this for Six Bei's sake. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself.
Ye Xiaohan's tolerance made Second Uncle feel proud, believing he had authority over the new daughter-in-law and even sought out Six Bei, eager to impart his 'taming wife' methods.
Though reluctant, Six Bei, respecting his elder, listened quietly while occasionally nodding in agreement. He thought that Ye Xiaohan was doing just fine as she was and didn’t need any changes.
The family of Second Uncle, being lazy and quarrelsome, turned their home into chaos. Six Yang and Six Qi, whom Six Bei had called over for a talk, were advised to be polite and patient.
Complaining to Ye Xiaohan, Six Yang said, "My elder brother really is something; it's obvious that Second Uncle's family is taking advantage of his filial piety. If it were me, I would have kicked them out long ago. They come over every evening to mooch off us and expect us to treat them like gods—what kind of situation is this?"
"Who isn't?" Ye Xiaohan empathized deeply. "Your family used to owe them a great deal; how can you repay such kindness without fighting back or arguing?"
"Second Uncle's family is just as poor as ours, and Second Aunt is notoriously stingy. She would hesitate to give Qi a sweet potato, so how much help can we expect? It's only because Big Brother is kind-hearted that he puts up with them," said Liu.
"What kindness? That's foolish filial piety! Elders want everything done their way, and even if it's unreasonable, you can't argue back. Only a fool would listen!" Ye Xiaohan retorted angrily.
The two grumbled for a while but couldn't come up with a good solution, so they had to compromise. "Forget it, since Liu Bei has decided this way, we'll just have to endure for now."
"What about Qi?" Ye Xiaohan looked around but couldn't see her. "I'll go look for her; it's almost dark."
As she walked into the yard, she spotted Liu Qi squatting on the ground, pulling at the grass and flowers.
Upon seeing Ye Xiaohan, Qi dropped the weeds in her hands and held up a flower on tiptoe, offering it to her. "Sister-in-law, flower!"
"Is this for me? It's so beautiful, thank you! You're such a good girl, Qi." Ye Xiaohan took the flower and kissed Liu Qi's cheek.
Liu Qi grinned foolishly.
Noticing Qi's cheeks were puffed out, Ye Xiaohan asked curiously, "Qi, what are you eating?"
"Um, it's candy," Liu Qi replied cautiously, sneaking a glance at her.
Liu Qi had always had a sweet tooth, especially for candy. To prevent her from getting cavities, Ye Xiaohan had set a rule that she could only have one piece each day. She had already eaten her share today; where did this piece come from?
Wanting to tease her, Ye Xiaohan deliberately put on a stern face and said, "Qi, where did this candy come from? Did you sneak off to get it? If kids steal candy, they'll lose all their teeth. If your teeth fall out, you won't be able to eat delicious food and will have to go hungry every day. Aren't you scared?"
Thinking she was being scolded and hearing that she wouldn't be able to eat good food made Liu Qi more frightened. She burst into tears, crying out, "Sister-in-law, I won't do it again! I don't want to lose my teeth!"
"Haha." Ye Xiaohan couldn't help but laugh but quickly composed herself and took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears. "It's good that you know you've made a mistake. You can't sneak treats anymore; do you understand?"
"I understand." Liu Qi nodded pitifully through her tears. "But I didn't steal the candy; it was given to me by my brother."
"Hmm? You guys are still working as a gang, and Six Yang is so big yet still disobedient. As for me, how can you get the candy jar on the shelf?" Ye Xiaohan planned to take some time to educate Six Yang about the dangers of cavities.
Six Qi shook his head like a rattle drum. "It's not Second Brother; it's the older brother from Second Uncle's family."
"Why would he give you candy?" Ye Xiaohan sensed something was off.
Second Uncle's family was poor, barely scraping by until they came to the Six family, where they had a bit more comfort. However, all the money in the Six family was managed by Ye Xiaohan, and aside from shared meal expenses, there was no extra money given to Second Uncle to waste.
Because of this, Second Uncle often cursed Six Bei for being useless, unable to control his wife, and being unfilial.
Where would Second Uncle's brat get pocket money to buy candy and be so generous to share it with Six Qi?
Ye Xiaohan picked up Six Qi and let her sit on his lap. "Qi, why did your brother give you candy? Did you ask him for it?"
Six Qi shook her head. "It was my brother who gave it to me; I didn't ask for candy. My brother was playing cricket at the village entrance, and I wanted to play too, but he wouldn't let me, so he gave me candy."
As if recalling something, Six Qi whispered, "Sister-in-law, my brother can't let the family know. Is it because Second Uncle won't let him have candy either?"
Six Qi's explanation was a bit jumbled, but Ye Xiaohan understood immediately.
There had always been a custom in the village of fighting crickets, which later developed into a formal competition. It was indeed a competition, but both sides had placed bets on it; similar to cockfighting, it was a form of gambling.
That brat wasn't worried about giving away candy; he was afraid his family would find out he was wasting time in gambling dens at such a young age.
Moreover, where did he get his betting money?
After asking about the location of the cricket fights, Ye Xiaohan set Six Qi down and let her go play while he quietly headed over to check things out himself.
When he arrived at the village entrance, he saw a crowd gathered in a circle, occasionally erupting with cheers and shouts. There were winners boasting proudly and losers sighing in despair. Ye Xiaohan knew this was the place.
Ye Xiaohan leaned in closer, scanning the surroundings to take in the situation.
The person in front of him, red-faced and with clenched fists, shouting at the Cricket jar on the ground, was none other than the Brat from Second Uncle's family.
Inside the jar, two Crickets were locked in a fierce battle, neither giving an inch as they clawed at each other, stirring up excitement among the crowd. In the end, one agile Cricket managed to leap behind its opponent and bite off one of its legs.
The match was over.
Second Brother slammed his fist down hard on the ground. "Useless creature! You were supposed to win! How could you get hurt and lose a leg? What good are you now?"
Laughter erupted from those nearby, and one person called out, "Second Brother, you've lost quite a bit already. If you keep this up, you'll lose your pants too."
"Hahaha!" The crowd roared with laughter.
Still reeling from his defeat, Second Brother shoved the speaker aside. "Stop talking nonsense! I have plenty of money; I don't need you worrying about me. Let's go, let's go! Next round! I refuse to believe I can lose every time!"
The crowd cheered as they prepared for the next round.
Ye Xiaohan had seen enough and quietly slipped away.
Where would the Brat get so much money? Second Uncle himself was short on cash, and Second Aunt was stingy; there was no way she would give him any. The source of this gambling stake was undoubtedly the ten taels of silver she had previously given to Sixth Brother to pay for Private Tutor's fees.
Comment 0 Comment Count