Chapter 15 is good for your voice

Yao Fangfang waited all afternoon, but Wu Peng didn't come to her door. She bit her lip hard, skipped dinner, and went straight back to her bedroom.

Fang Guizhi followed her in and saw her daughter sitting on the edge of the bed. She tapped her forehead hard and said, "I told you to just go there, but you wouldn't listen. You could have just said you were going to play with your sisters."

I'm not going!

If he doesn't come, what's the point of me going?

"It's not like all the men in the world are dead!" Yao Fangfang turned away angrily.

If it weren't for her daughter's feelings for Wu Peng, Fang Guizhi wouldn't have harbored such thoughts. Others might not believe the Wu family was hiding money, but Fang Guizhi did—no, not just money, but gold and jewels. Her father and father-in-law had both worked as long-term laborers for the Wu family, though they were essentially servants. She had heard firsthand about the Wu family's wealth; her father had said they definitely had hidden jewels. Although her father-in-law said it was impossible, that they had confiscated everything, the doubt in his eyes didn't fool her.

"You should wait until you're married before you throw a tantrum. He was a young master himself, how could he tolerate your temper?"

"What 'young lady' and 'young master'? What era are we living in? If you said that a few years ago, you'd be paraded through the streets. Besides, even if he was a young master, he's fallen on hard times now." Yao Fangfang pouted.

“The situation is different now. Otherwise, how could your mother have agreed to your marriage to Wu Peng? If this were decades ago, you would have been a maid, and he would have been a proper young master. You would have had to serve him wholeheartedly. There would have been no room for you to throw a tantrum.”

Yao Fangfang snorted, "Does his family really have gold and silver treasures hidden away?"

"You have no idea how wealthy the Wu family used to be. Your grandfather said that even a first-timer would get lost in the Wu family mansion. The courtyards were endless, and the storerooms were overflowing with gold, silver, jewels, and silks—it was dazzling! He was lucky enough to help carry boxes into the vault; those boxes were huge, filled with gold bars. And once inside the storeroom, wow, rows and rows of those boxes, neatly stacked, were for storing gold bars. And that was just the gold bar storeroom; imagine what else there was!" Fang Guizhi got excited just thinking about it. If all of this were to become her daughter's, how could she possibly be left out?

"You know, you have to take the initiative in these kinds of things. My daughter is so beautiful and capable, and she has a respectable job. If you just take the initiative a little, that guy surnamed Wu will have her all to yourself. Otherwise, I think Yao Fanghua will probably beat you to it. Look how shrewd she is, going to Wu Peng's place every few days. Didn't she manage to lure him into her room? Under the guise of studying. Don't let her quiet demeanor fool you; she's always been clever and cunning. She's even been actively flirting with people."

"No way, Sister Hua isn't that kind of person."

"You're so stupid! Look, she's only been back a few days and she's already hooked up with Wu Peng. Just wait until she's living in a big house, wearing gold and silver and becoming a rich young mistress, then you'll have a lot to regret!"

"You can tell she's no pushover just by how she bosses her younger siblings around. And you, you're still throwing a tantrum."

After dinner, Wu Peng returned to Yao Fanghua's place to continue studying until nine o'clock in the evening before going home. As soon as Wu Peng left, Yao Fanghua began examining the jewelry box. It was a carved sandalwood jewelry box covered in mud, cracked on the left side, with four holes in the four corners of the top, presumably where inlaid jade or similar stones had been pried out. Yao Fanghua carefully wiped and cleaned it, caressing the carvings; the craftsmanship was truly exquisite. She disassembled the left side and repaired it.

Yao Weimin found it uninteresting and wondered how his sister could be so focused, as if the whole world consisted only of her and the box.

As soon as Yao Weimin came out of the house, Zhong Er spotted him. Then, Zhong Er and two other people followed Yao Weimin into his house. They knew that Yao Weimin had money now, and they were keeping an eye on him.

In the middle of the night, Yao Fanghua couldn't resist the urge to carve her own designs on a piece of wood. Whenever she played with these things, her teacher would say she was neglecting her studies, but she just loved it.

The next day, Yao's two aunts were coming. Li Chunying got up early to get ready, and also called the three children to get up quickly so they wouldn't be laughed at. Yao Fanghua knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep in today.

We didn't need to cook at home at noon; we ate at Uncle Yao's house. Wu Peng arrived even earlier than Yao's two aunts. As soon as he arrived, he pulled Yao Weimin out of bed. Yao Weimin had just fallen asleep and was very sleepy.

Wu Peng noticed the mess on the floor and the few cigarette butts scattered around, clearly indicating that it wasn't just one person smoking. "Did you gamble again yesterday? How much did you lose?"

Yao Weimin scratched his head. "Two yuan." Two yuan and ninety cents.

"It's not a huge amount, but it's not a small amount either. If you keep playing like this, your future wages will all be earned by others, and you might even end up in gambling debts. This thing will come out sooner or later, and I wonder if your second aunt will beat you when she finds out."

Yao Weimin suddenly realized, "I'll only play for a few days, I definitely won't play anymore once I start working."

"Get up quickly and go see if your sister and the others are up yet."

Yao Fanghua got up, washed her face, drank a couple of mouthfuls of porridge, and then said she felt unwell and had a headache.

"Fever? Cold?" Li Chunying touched her forehead. "No, I don't have a fever. Do you want some medicine?"

"No need, I probably just caught a chill." Yao Fanghua coughed twice.

Li Chunying told her to go back to her room and rest. Wu Peng also genuinely thought Yao Fanghua was sick, so he told her to stop reading and take a hot water bottle to bed.

Yao Fanghua paused for a moment, then readily agreed and went to read a book while holding a hot water bottle against the headboard.

Soon, the two families of Yao's eldest and second aunts arrived one after the other, and the courtyard instantly became lively.

Yao Fanghua remained motionless in the room, while Li Chunying, along with Yao Fangyuan and Yao Weimin, had already gone to the main room.

Wu Peng looked at Yao Fanghua, who hadn't even raised an eyebrow and was engrossed in her book. She didn't seem sick at all. Then, listening to the noises coming from the main room, he suddenly realized why Yao Fanghua had suddenly fallen ill.

Then he took the prepared pastries to the main room. When Grandpa Yao saw Wu Peng, he pulled him aside and asked him to stay for lunch.

Others weren't very welcoming to Wu Peng, the convict who collected scrap metal. Yao's eldest son-in-law even deliberately avoided him; he believed in feng shui and felt he was being tainted by the convict's bad luck.

The main room was full of people; the men were smoking and drinking water, while the women were chopping meat and kneading dough in the adjacent kitchen, preparing to make dumplings.

Seeing that Yao Fangfang wasn't helping, Yao Fangyuan simply sat and chatted with her aunt's two sisters. However, the two sisters were all complimenting Yao Fangfang's work, which made her feel quite bored.

"Sister Fangfang, your hands are so beautiful, and the nail polish on them looks great too."

Yao Fangyuan leaned closer and indeed saw that the red nail polish was quite pretty. But as for her hands, she couldn't help but think of her own sister's hands—those hands were truly beautiful. Yao Fangyuan even felt that her sister's hands seemed to possess a magical allure. Her sister's hands could repair watches, sewing machines, and televisions; they could even carve. It was as if her hands could conjure money—what else could it be but magic?

Aunt Yao couldn't stand their chattering and leisurely enjoying themselves. "They're all grown women now, and all they do is sit around. By the way, where's Hua Hua? She's the eldest among the girls, where is she? She doesn't even set a good example." This generation of girls was incredibly lazy. Then she glanced at her two daughters-in-law. Luckily, she only had sons, so her daughters-in-law were relatively obedient. Laziness was one thing, but Yao Fanghua was even more clueless; she didn't even show her face when her two aunts came.

Li Chunying: "Huahua was sick, and I was afraid she would catch a cold from you, so I didn't let her come over."

Fang Guizhi: "Sick? I thought you were fine yesterday. How did you suddenly get sick?"

Aunt Yao's face immediately fell. "You're not faking illness, are you!"

Wu Peng came in just then. "Auntie, what are you saying? Hua Hua just said her throat hurt, so I poured her some hot water. Second Auntie, I came to tell you that you can rest assured about Hua Hua; I'll take good care of her. By the way, should we make a special filling for Hua Hua's dumplings for lunch? She can't eat anything too salty right now."

"Yuanyuan, keep an eye on things. Make a separate batch of dumplings for your sister later, then take them to us. Don't just sit there; help the elders with some chores."

After leaving the cubicle, Wu Peng asked Yao Weimin to go to the front street to see if the fried dough shop was open today. This fried dough shop also had a small shop window open. He asked Yao Weimin to buy a bag of rock sugar and two cans of food, saying that they would be good for his throat.

Li Chunying listened blankly as Wu Peng gave instructions to Yao Fangyuan and then to Yao Weimin. The two rascals responded loudly and immediately took action; their words had never been so effective. No, that wasn't the point. The point was that something felt off, something was off.

Not only her, but everyone in the room was stunned.

Apart from the brother and sister Yao Weimin and Yao Fangyuan, who were blinded by money.

No, they weren't too surprised that Wu Peng was coming over. After all, they had heard that Fangfang was seeing Wu Peng, and that her sister-in-law didn't object. But he didn't seem like Fangfang's boyfriend; he looked more like Huahua's.

Aunt Yao felt that both of her younger siblings were sick, and that Wu Peng was a convict, so she didn't know what had gotten into them.

Yao Fangfang's eyes reddened with shame and indignation. Next time Wu Peng came to her for help, she would refuse again! She wouldn't even take the referral fee!