Chapter 16 She dared to embezzle food rations, I'm going to settle the score with her!

Zhizhi overheard everything the two brothers said.

She hesitated before raising her hand to knock on the door.

'Knock knock—!'

The bedroom fell silent instantly. Zhenwei walked over and opened the door.

He was slow-witted and hadn't even finished processing what his older brother had said when he saw his younger sister with her hair in a small bun standing outside the door.

Her skin was fair and soft, and her large, dark eyes were like grapes.

Just imagine, this quirky and clever younger sister will leave one day.

After that, no one bought him popsicles anymore.

There was no fragrant handkerchief to wipe his mouth anymore.

He was very disappointed.

Zhizhi walked into the bedroom with a carefree attitude and handed the water bottle to the little boss.

"drink."

Gan Su paused, seemingly pondering how much of their conversation she had overheard.

Will she feel that I am sowing discord behind her back?

While pondering, he didn't know how to begin.

Jiang Zhenwei, however, remained oblivious, asking, "When did you get here? You didn't overhear our conversation, did you?"

"What? Are you talking bad about me?"

Zhizhi raised her chin and looked at the young man threateningly.

Zhenwei shook his head repeatedly, "It wasn't me, I didn't do it, don't talk nonsense!"

"If you tell anyone, you can forget about getting an ice pop!"

As Zhizhi spoke, she tried to sit on the bed using her hands and feet. Not being tall enough, she had to push herself up while climbing before she could finally sit up.

Sang Zhizhi asked in a serious tone, "Hey bro, was today's popsicle delicious?"

"tasty!"

"Do you want to keep eating?" She winked temptingly, "Besides popsicles, there's also White Rabbit milk candy and malted milk powder~"

"Let me think about it!"

"Would you be willing to queue up with me to buy groceries from now on?"

Zhizhi's smile is harmless, yet she resembles a little fox calculating on its abacus. If you could see the fox's tail, it would probably be swaying behind her.

Will Dad and Aunt Deng agree?

Jiang Zhenwei was somewhat hesitant.

"You're stupid! You can't fight city hall. Dad has two legs, but we have six arms!"

Six?

Jiang Zhenwei was bad at math and couldn't understand why two people had six arms.

But Gan Su, who was holding water beside him, was stunned.

She included herself in her plan... ...?

He glanced at Xiao Zhizhi furtively, then quickly looked away when she noticed. Sensing her gaze growing increasingly intense, Gan Su hurriedly gulped down two mouthfuls of water.

The cool, sweet water entered his mouth, and for some reason, he suddenly felt that the wound in his mouth didn't hurt as much.

Sang Zhizhi noticed that he had drunk from the spiritual spring and nodded her little head in satisfaction.

She deliberately said, "If none of you are saying anything, I'll take that as a yes."

Jiang Gansu wanted to say something, but was interrupted by a look from her.

"You drank my water, so what's wrong with helping me out? You can't refuse!"

Jiang Gansu pursed his lips and lowered his head.

After a while

His voice was soft and tinged with awkwardness.

"... ...oh."

He didn't intend to refuse.

Of course, he did it not for her, but to protect Zhenwei.

It was definitely not for her.

Seeing his older brother nod, Zhenwei's eyes immediately lit up. "Great! Then I'll buy milk candy next time, two pieces! Oh no! Three pieces!"

"make a deal!"

Zhizhi's little feet couldn't reach the ground, dangling in mid-air and swaying.

The money-making plan is a success!

(＾－＾)V Yay~

*

On the dining table

"—This is braised pork?!"

Zhenwei swallowed hard, staring longingly at the plate of glistening, tempting meat.

Deng Qiusheng placed the cooked rice in front of the children, saying, "Auntie's rice is on the sweeter side, try it."

Jiang Zhenwei picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. In an instant, his taste buds were conquered by the rich aroma of the meat in the dark sauce. He quickly shoveled some rice into his mouth.

"Is it tasty?"

"Mmm!"

tasty!

It was so delicious he almost cried!

Is this what mom's cooking tastes like?

"You're so immature! Eat slowly. Who's taking it from you? We've never shortchanged you on food."

Jiang Anchao shook his head helplessly. He picked up a piece and put it in Deng Qiu's bowl, then tasted one himself.

The moment he tasted it, his eyes lit up uncontrollably.

"Dad, you're still blaming me? You've gone stupid from eating so much!"

Jiang Zhenwei, in his simple-mindedness, saw through his father's reaction, and then earned a dangerous glare from his father.

Jiang Anchao was somewhat embarrassed, facing Deng Qiu's hopeful gaze.

He suppressed his excitement and nodded demurely, "It tastes good."

Seeing that the atmosphere at the dinner table was good, Sang Zhizhi took the initiative to suggest, "Since you like it so much, next time we can make steamed pork with rice flour, or steamed pork ribs with taro. By the way, Dad... do we still have any meat coupons?"

This left Jiang Anchao Wen stunned.

He didn't usually keep track of his food coupons; he mostly handed them over to Liu Qing.

Deng Qiu spoke up at the opportune moment: "Uh... this is the last meat ticket for this month."

"It's only the beginning of the month, and it's already gone?"

Jiang Anchao was secretly surprised, then glanced at the two children, "I guess Liu Qing wanted to buy meat for the eldest and second eldest, so she took it in advance. It's okay, since we won't be in contact anymore, we don't need her help. I'll go over tomorrow to get it back."

"...But the guy said they don't even get enough to eat with cornbread."

Sang Zhizhi tilted her head and asked slowly, "Where did Aunt Liu's meat go? It's so hard to guess..."

Jiang Anchao slowly put down his chopsticks, his expression gradually becoming serious.

He looked at the two brothers and said, "Aunt Liu told me that you two had indigestion from eating too much meat, so she occasionally lets you eat some coarse grain bread and steamed buns... Have you two never eaten meat before?"

Seeing that he remained silent, Jiang Anchao turned his gaze to the second son and said, "Zhenwei, you speak."

Jiang Zhenwei lowered his head in distress. "My brother and I usually only eat vegetable soup with cornbread. Sometimes we don't even get cornbread at night. My brother doesn't let me say anything... He's afraid that Aunt Liu will become our stepmother and won't give us any more food if she finds out we've complained."

"Zhenwei, stop talking..."

Jiang Gansu tugged at his younger brother's sleeve; his face was visibly pale.

No matter how mature he is, he's still just a child at heart.

"Nonsense!"

Jiang Anchao rarely lost his temper, "Who said I was going to marry her? Even if I did, I wouldn't let her treat you like this!"

He watched these two children grow up, one five years old and the other four and a half.

Although he has never been a father, he has developed feelings for his two sons over the years.

This Liu Qing is truly insatiable!

"I'll go find her right now!"

He got up and was about to leave.

Sang Zhizhi quickly jumped off the stool to stop him, and Deng Qiu also grabbed his wrist.

“Hey! Everyone’s off work and at home at this time. She’s injured like that today. If you make a scene now, it won’t be good for us.”

During the years Deng Qiu spent working in the countryside, he witnessed far too many arguments and insults in the village.

Those peasant women were completely unreasonable when they started throwing tantrums.

She looked at the two children with heartache and said calmly, "In the end, it's not convenient for you, a grown man, to worry about these things. Why don't I be the one to bring it up?"

"How can that be? We can't let you be the villain."

Sang Zhizhi sighed, resting her chin on her hand: "Giving money is easy, but getting it back is hard."

No matter the era, the one who owes money is always the boss.

“Mom and Dad, Aunt Liu Qing can bear to abuse children, what other bad things can’t she do? She won’t return the food coupons so easily. She’ll turn around and blame us, saying that she was just trying to take care of the children and was blamed instead. Then the neighbors will definitely sympathize with her, and we’ll be in the wrong.”

The little cub interrupted their conversation in a childish voice, resting her chubby cheeks on her hand and sighing.

"The younger brother took a needle, and the older brother also took a needle. What a coincidence! It's most likely that someone close to them did it. We should find the evidence as soon as possible and settle accounts together!"