"Brother, this little girl has so many people in her family, how should we make our move?"

"Don't rush, wait for the right opportunity. We two brothers can wait outside."

The biting wind chilled them to the bone, and the two dimwits, who weren't quite right in the head, shivered like two dogs.

Wang Xiangyu, returning from delivering goods from Aunt Zhang's house, was humming a little tune as she passed the alley entrance when she saw two people crouching in the alley, shivering. She vaguely heard the name Li Youran, so she crouched down and hid, eavesdropping on their conversation.

Wang Xiangyu was in a great mood today. Firstly, she wasn't afraid that Li Youran would report her to the authorities because she had no evidence. Secondly, she had also sold herself out once, so the two of them were even.

Secondly, taking advantage of the chaos in the Li family today, she leaked the news that the palace was about to hold a selection of concubines. There were many people buying rouge and face powder today; Zhang Da Niang's three daughters bought a whole bunch of them.

After overhearing the two's conversation, Wang Xiangyu felt that today was a day of double happiness.

Li Youran, Li Youran, I never thought you'd end up like this. If I don't teach you a lesson, someone else will! Thinking of this, Wang Xiangyu almost burst out laughing.

"who!"

Although the two men were simple-minded, their hearing was indeed very sharp, and the little sound that Wang Xiangyu made caught their attention.

Upon seeing this, Wang Xiangyu hurriedly covered her mouth and hid behind the corner of the wall, not daring to move.

"Brother, you must have misheard. There's no one around in this freezing weather."

After a while, seeing that there was indeed no movement, the simple-minded leader relaxed his guard and continued chatting.

"Second brother, people say we're hooligans with bad character, but how good can the character of a scholar be?"

The simple-minded eldest continued to sigh.

"He took a fancy to a girl and secretly plotted to take away her innocence."

Wang Xiangyu, who had been gloating, frowned when she heard the words "scholar".

"Brother, I don't understand either. That scholar was dressed in a white robe and looked respectable. If he wanted a girl, he could have just come to propose marriage directly. Why did he do such a despicable thing?"

"Forget it, why bother with all that? I'm just doing what people pay for."

The eldest brother, not knowing how to respond to his brother, simply changed the subject.

Lu Chuan has a preference for white, and almost all of his clothes are white. Wang Xiangyu immediately took this personally.

Wang Xiangyu's brows were furrowed so deeply they could have trapped a fly. She hadn't expected that Lu Chuan was still thinking about Li Youran and would resort to such a desperate measure.

No, she had to stop it from happening. If it did, they would definitely remarry.

"Little sister, big brother, I'm sorry. If it weren't for big brother, you wouldn't have..." Li Haoran was already drunk, and when he saw Li Youran, he started crying with snot and tears streaming down his face.

Li Haoran felt very guilty. If he hadn't been so selfish and wanted to live his own life, he wouldn't have indulged his wife so much, which led to Zhou Yingying becoming bolder and bolder, even setting her sights on her younger sister.

"Brother, I'm perfectly fine, aren't I?" Li Youran comforted him, "What's past is past, brother, please don't blame yourself."

Feeling uneasy, Li Youran used the excuse that her eldest brother was drunk to persuade her father and second brother to drink less.

The two men outside were acting suspiciously. What if they really were after their house? All three men in the house were drunk; wouldn't that give the thugs an opening?

"Mother, we've almost sold out of rouge and face powder at home. Tonight, I'll take a carriage to the capital to restock."

After returning home, Wang Xiangyu first gave some of the silver to Wang Niangzi, and then found an excuse to leave the house.

She specially changed into an outfit similar to Li Youran's and styled her hair in the way Li Youran usually did.

Under the cover of night, they entered from the other end of the alley and arrived at the gate of Li Youran's house. They then deliberately made some noise and walked towards the two people at the corner of the alley.

"Brother, that little wench is out."

"It's so dark we can't see anything clearly. Let's double-check first, so we don't arrest the wrong person."

As the eldest brother spoke, he got up and walked towards Wang Xiangyu.

"May I ask if your surname is Li, young lady?"

"How do you know me?" Wang Xiangyu asked, feigning surprise.

Once he realized it was the person he was looking for, the simple-minded boss quickly pulled a rag from his pocket and stuffed it into Wang Xiangyu's mouth.

"What are you standing there for? Come and help!"

The two thugs tied up Wang Xiangyu together, then put a sack over her and carried her away at a jog.

“If you want to eat something, just let the maid go out and buy it. Why do you have to go out yourself? You need a maid.” Madam Zhao frowned and said, “You’re about to get engaged, so it’s better for you to go out and show your face in public less often.”

Early in the morning, Zhao Lanshan said she wanted to go out for steamed buns. Zhao Niangzi tried to persuade her several times, but to no avail.

"Mother, please let me be willful this once! After I get married, I won't have such carefree days anymore," Zhao Lanshan said coquettishly.

"Alright, go if you want."

Zhao Lanshan's words struck a chord with Zhao Niangzi. That was exactly how it was. The most comfortable and carefree days were when she was a girl in her parents' home. Once she married into her husband's family, even if she wanted to be spoiled and willful, she would never have such an opportunity again.

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Zhao Lanshan thought about it for a long time last night. She didn't think Liu Zhiyuan would like a ridiculous street vendor; he just liked Li Youran's cooking.

"Miss, we've arrived."

In the blink of an eye, the carriage arrived at the entrance of Li Youran's steamed bun shop.

Zhao Lanshan was helped down from the carriage by her maid. Looking at the bustling steamed bun shop, she became even more certain that her guess was correct.

Since Liu Zhiyuan likes this flavor, I'll learn how to make it myself.

"Miss, would you like to buy some steamed buns?"

Since Hua Ruyu made a new discovery while selling steamed buns last time, she stayed in front to sell steamed buns, while Li Youran helped out from the side.

"Is there a place to sit inside?" Zhao Lanshan said softly, "If there is, please pick up a few steamed buns for me."

"Yes, please come in, young lady."

Li Youran knew that this girl was acquainted with Liu Zhiyuan, so he guessed that she was also someone who was not short of money.

Rich people have no shortage of oil and fat, so Li Youran picked out the buns with less oil and took one of each.

"Miss, would you like another bowl of millet porridge or bone broth?" Li Youran warmly invited. "A little soup will warm you up."

"Then I'll have a bowl of millet porridge."

As soon as Zhao Lanshan finished speaking, a burst of laughter came from Baozi's group.

"A scholar doing such a thing would be too ashamed to show his face in public, hahaha~"