Chapter 327 The Rendezvous After Dusk

After standing for an hour and a half, Lin Yuesha's body was stiff, but having been pulled out for separate training before, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and endure it, not daring to move around recklessly.

Granny Kang stared at Lin Yuesha for a while, then nodded in satisfaction. Since the little girl was making rapid progress, she seemed to be different from the weak young ladies. She could increase the intensity and call her out for training alone tonight.

Looking at her, it's actually a good thing that she has no foundation. The other girls each have their own flaws, but they are difficult to correct because of their bad habits.

"Let's rest for fifteen minutes first."

Granny Kang waved her hand, her expression quite calm. The young ladies relaxed their guard, but Lin Yuesha was still worried. She always felt that Granny Kang's calm demeanor often meant she was about to unleash a powerful attack.

"My arms and legs don't even belong to me anymore."

Having caught her breath, Zhao Fundie immediately leaned against the wall, her tone slightly complaining, "The girls' school eats fancy food, but it's never enough. I woke up hungry last night and couldn't fall back asleep."

Zhao Jingya nodded; she wasn't full either.

"Do you think the young ladies from wealthy families in the capital only eat this little bit of food?"

Zhao Fundie sighed. Not having enough to eat was a problem that had to be solved. She didn't want to leave the girls' school only to be skinned alive and starved to death. She looked at Bai Youran incredulously and asked, "Is this really all you eat?"

"almost."

Bai Youran came from the capital, so of course she knew a lot. The girls' school was already being quite generous by providing this kind of food. She ate breakfast with her grandmother at the Bai residence, and once her grandmother stopped eating, she couldn't eat anymore; that was the rule.

The old lady ate very little, so Bai Youran had to go hungry as well.

The cooks in the main kitchen were unmanageable; they either had to pay a tip for special meals or eat cakes to fill their stomachs—that was how tough it was.

"It's much more comfortable in the North; my family doesn't have so many rules."

Zhao Fundie was quite upset. She had been away from home for many days, traveling all the way from Yingcheng, and she wasn't used to the food at the girls' school. Yingcheng was by the sea, and the family had fish, meat, and fresh shrimp at almost every meal, prepared in a variety of ways.

"I still miss my pet white mouse. I wonder if the servants were secretly disobeying me and feeding it the best rice."

As Zhao Fundie spoke, she rubbed her empty stomach; she was hungry again.

At the girls' school, there were only two meals a day, and they almost never ate after noon. These past few days, she had been on her period and just wanted to eat some cakes with brown sugar filling.

"I have a way."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuesha immediately explored a new way to make money.

The twenty taels of silver spent to hire the kitchen staff and her daughter-in-law for work wasn't for nothing. I had already made connections in the kitchen, and all three of them would do me a favor when I prepared food for dinner.

"What method?"

Zhao Fundie's eyes lit up, and she asked expectantly, "Did you bring some food in?"

"No."

Even if she smuggled some in, she couldn't admit it. If she were accused, not even a crumb of pastry would be left. Lin Yuesha shook her head, but she had connections to get food, like brown sugar-filled pastries.

"What can we do? Tell me!"

Zhao Fendie stamped her foot in frustration, pulled Lin Yuesha to her side, and whispered, "Sister Lin, as long as you can help, I promise to help you deal with the Li sisters."

Food comes first. As for making enemies with Li Ruoxue and Li Ruoshuang, it doesn't matter, since they've never gotten along anyway.

With that in mind, Lin Yuesha nodded in relief, but even between brothers, accounts must be kept clear, and the money due must not be less than agreed upon.

"You mean you can cover all the pastries I sell at the girls' school?"

Zhao Fendie almost screamed; she couldn't believe Lin Yuesha could be so resourceful. The girls' school valued rules and regulations, so it was impossible to provide extra meals for everyone; therefore, food was the most important issue to resolve.

"Yes, but it takes money to make arrangements and buy ingredients."

Lin Yuesha found that Zhao Fendie was a decent person and had no intention of taking advantage of her; she was an honest businesswoman.

"Don't worry about the money, I'll pay for it."

Zhao Fundie readily agreed, not caring about the money; she wasn't short of cash.

The two agreed that Lin Yuesha would deliver food tonight, and the secret code for the meeting would be "Open Sesame".

Having closed another deal, Lin Yuesha was in a good mood. When she practiced Li Rong again, she found it wasn't so difficult anymore.

"Wait a minute, I'm going to give you a little test. If you fail, you won't get dinner. You'll have to reflect on your actions."

Granny Kang remained calm, glanced at Granny Fang, and their eyes met. Granny Fang curled her lips into a forced smile.

Oh no, this is definitely going to be a brutal test!

Lin Yuesha tensed up. Before she could even think about what kind of test it was, someone in the crowd screamed, "Ahhh, a snake!"

"What snake? Where is it?"

"Ahhh!"

Feeling something soft brush against her shoe, Lin Yuesha looked down and saw, lo and behold, a long, grayish-brown snake.

"snake……"

Bai Youran's face turned pale. She wanted to jump up and run away, but Lin Yuesha grabbed her hand and whispered a reminder, "This is a test from Granny Kang."

Bai Youran bit her lip, slowly nodded, and suppressed the urge to twist and run away.

The appearance of snakes caused chaos, and the young ladies scattered and fled. Someone stepped on a snake, and Li Ruoxue was unlucky enough to be bitten by it, immediately breaking down in tears.

"This is your Li Rong. I've seen it for myself."

Granny Kang watched the crowd jump around with a cold eye, and in the end, only Lin Yuesha and Bai Youran were able to remain calm and composed.

Kang Mama wasn't surprised by the prefect's daughter's behavior, but she hadn't expected Lin Yuesha to be so calm. She called her out separately to praise her.

"Miss Lin and Miss Bai may have dinner. The rest of you, stand here and reflect on your actions until you go to your needlework class this afternoon!"

After finishing her sentence, Granny Kang turned to Lin Yuesha and asked gently, "How do you manage to remain so calm in the face of such a change?"

“Granny Kang, this snake is grayish-brown and non-venomous. The villagers don’t have much oil or fat, so snake meat would be a great tonic.”

Lin Yuesha decided to play dumb to outsmart the enemy. She used to be a top chef, and snake meat was indeed an ingredient for her.

Granny Kang: ...She should have known better; she shouldn't have had any expectations of a contrarian!

"Come here at 7 PM tonight, and your appearance still won't meet the requirements."

Granny Kang glared at Lin Yuesha and stormed off.

Lin Yuesha shook her head, unconcerned. She wasn't as good as others, so she should start early.

"Sister Yue Sha, don't be too afraid. Granny Kang is a tough-talking but soft-hearted person. She won't make things difficult for you."

Bai Youran offered these words of comfort to Lin Yuesha, but in her heart, she didn't think so. Throwing a snake at the young ladies to test their abilities was simply terrifying!

"Well, I wasn't thinking about that, but rather a poem."

It's okay, there will be dinner tonight. Compared to the group of hungry ladies, Lin Yuesha has a great advantage.

"What poem?"

Bai Youran suddenly felt a little envious of Lin Yuesha; such an optimistic attitude is something most people don't have.

"The moon rises above the willow branches, and we meet after dusk."

Lin Yuesha recited a line with great emotion, saying that she and Granny Kang had agreed to meet at 7 PM, which was dusk.

Bai Youran: ...Is this how you use poetry?!