"Yun Ying, can you think of a way to help Yun Tao?"

Xiao Yunying thought for a moment: "Second Brother Yang, don't worry. You only saw that my third sister had injuries on her face. Besides saying that she fell and hurt herself, did she say anything else?"

Yang Tianyun shook his head: "No."

Is her injury serious?

Yang Tianyun did not exaggerate out of excessive worry: "It's just some redness and bruising, not serious. It was almost gone when I saw it."

Xiao Yunying said, "You don't even know what happened to my third sister. There's no use in worrying. She doesn't want you to tell my parents, so don't tell them yet. Let me go to my parents and ask about my third sister's recent situation."

“I know, that’s why I came to find you. You’re much smarter than before, and you can definitely help Yuntao.”

Xiao Yunying touched her nose. With a different soul, how could she not be smart?

Since the original owner of this body married that scoundrel and ran away, she not only didn't know about her third sister's life, but she also rarely went back to visit her parents, who lived so close by.

The original owner was somewhat willful and selfish; he struggled to survive himself, so he wouldn't care how others were doing.

"Don't worry, Brother Yang. She is my third sister. If anything happens to her, I will definitely help her."

Yang Tianyun felt a little relieved after receiving Xiao Yunying's assurance: "I'm relieved to hear that. Well then, Yunying, I'll head back now."

"Take care, Brother Yang."

After seeing Yang Tianyun off, Xiao Yunying took off her apron and wanted to go back to her parents' home.

The cold wind in the yard sobered me up a bit, and I put my apron back on and went back to the kitchen.

It was almost lunchtime, and her family knew she had asked Duan Yingying to help prepare the food. Their urgent trip back to her parents' home to inquire about her third sister was too obvious.

Furthermore, she felt that her parents probably didn't know what had happened to Xiao Yuntao.

No matter what, Xiao Yuntao is still her parents' daughter. If they knew something had happened to her, they wouldn't just sit idly by and happily prepare for the New Year.

Duan Yingying didn't know why she had come back again: "Sister Yunying, how about I come back this afternoon?"

Xiao Yunying realized that she might have misunderstood, thinking that she couldn't leave because of her presence, and explained:

"It's alright, you go about your business. I don't think my mother knows what happened to my third sister, otherwise she wouldn't be so indifferent. I'll go over and ask them again tonight if they know anything about my sister's situation."

After shredding the green radish and carrot, Xiao Yunying sprinkled some salt on them and set them aside to draw out the moisture.

He cut two slices of tender green radish, peeled half of it, took a bite of one slice himself, and offered the other slice to Duan Yingying's mouth.

"Try it. This green radish is very juicy and sweet. It tastes good even when eaten raw. You can eat the skin and just eat the inside. The skin is spicy and not tasty."

Duan Yingying shook the water off her hands and took the radish: "Thank you, Sister Yunying."

She took a bite and tasted it: "Crispy and slightly sweet, it's delicious."

After Xiao Yunying finished eating the radish, she threw the peel into the trash can: "If you like it, I'll take some home with me."

"No, no, Sister Yunying, keep it to sell for money or eat it yourself."

Duan Yingying didn't need to think twice; she knew how expensive fresh vegetables were in the dead of winter, and how could she possibly accept them?

Xiao Yunying didn't argue with her about it. She took a piece of pork tenderloin and started slicing it into strips: "Yingying, first wash two green peppers, peel two potatoes, and wash two scallions for me."

She ate mutton twice yesterday, for lunch and dinner. Today, she plans to make something simpler for lunch: stir-fried shredded potatoes, shredded pork with green peppers, and a cold tomato salad with sugar for the children.

Duan Yingying searched for green peppers among a pile of vegetables, looking for a long time, but she didn't recognize many of them: "Sister Yunying, which one is a green pepper?"

"Do you see the red one? Next to it is the one that looks similar but is green."

Duan Yingying washed the green peppers: "These are green peppers, and are those red ones red peppers?"

"That's a fair name for it."

While chopping vegetables, Xiao Yunying taught her to recognize various vegetables, and they chatted for a while before the dish was quickly cooked.

She cooked large portions of food, dividing each dish into two portions and plating them. She called the children over, washed her hands, took one portion, put it in a food box, and added a few steamed cakes inside.

"Yingying, stop working for now. I won't keep you here for lunch. Take this home and bring it back to me this afternoon."

Duan Yingying put down the wooden basin, looking flustered, and said, "Sister Yunying, I can't take this."

"Why can't I take it? Didn't you say this morning that you wanted to take it home to eat?"

“It’s different. That was what you didn’t finish eating. This is what you just made.”

Xiao Yunying placed the food box in her hand: "There's nothing different. Whether it's leftovers or food I made on purpose, it's all clean food that no one has touched."

I've gotten so used to cooking for the whole family these past couple of days that I accidentally made too much. I can't finish it all if you don't take it home.

I'm a picky eater and don't like reheated food. Stop trying to refuse me; let's hurry home while it's still early so your mother doesn't have to cook.

Duan Yingying was a clever and quick-witted girl, so how could she not see that Xiao Yunying was deliberately saying this to get her to accept the food? "Thank you, Sister Yunying."

"Don't mention it. It's so cold outside, the food will get cold quickly. Go back home and rest for a while before you come back."

Xiao Yunying took the unfinished Spring Festival couplets and the character "福" (fortune) and rolled them up, then gave them to Duan Yingying and saw her off at the gate.

As I watched her leave, I saw a scholar-like figure walking down a path leading into the village.

"Liu Ge? Is that him?"

He was the only man among the men who lived in the village for a long time who wore a long gown; it must be him.

"It's him."

Xiao Yunying turned around: "Luo Yang, in the future, can you try to make your footsteps louder when you get close to me?"

“Mother, I didn’t deliberately walk quietly. It’s just that you tend to get lost in thought when you’re thinking about something.”

"...Okay, that's true."

Xiao Yunying glanced at the path where no one could be seen anymore, then closed the door.

"How can you be so sure it's Liu Ge? Maybe it's someone's scholar who's come back for the New Year."

Luo Yang confirmed, "Ali told me that she often sees him near our house these days when he's playing with his two puppies outside. Sometimes she sees him two or three times a day."

Two or three times a day, that's quite a high probability.

I've seen it two or three times, and I don't know how many times I've missed it.

Their house was the easternmost one, located at the end of this path. You didn't need to go so close to their house to get to Dongshan.

Why didn't Luo Li tell me?

“I told him not to say anything yet. Mother has been worried about something these past few days. When I first heard about this, I wasn’t sure if he was just passing by or if he was just wandering around our house. I wanted to find out before telling Mother, so as not to cause her any misunderstandings or unnecessary trouble.”