Chapter 8 Taking Advantage

"Look at me! I've been so busy lately that I forgot. You're talking about selling food in town, right? That was my brother's idea. He's just trying to find something for me to do since I'm always causing trouble at the Zhou family's house. I'm just selling some things for them, earning a few dozen coins a day."

"What, did this attract attention? It's just a few dozen coins, it can't be that big of a deal, can it?"

Song Yushu had already planned to pin the blame on the Wei family. He had already discussed the matter with Wei's mother and was just waiting for the Zhou family to discover the truth and cover it up.

"That's not right. Chengzhu said that you made the braised meat every day before taking it to town to sell. How did it become your family's? You're a Zhou family member now, how can you keep thinking about outsiders!"

Qian Yue knew that as soon as Zhou Laoda returned, he told her that Wei's food was selling very well, and if they could sell it too, they could earn a lot of money.

"The recipe belongs to my mother's family. Haven't you seen my mother watching over me every day? If you want to do it, go to the Wei family and pay them for the recipe. I won't stop you."

Song Yushu didn't believe that the old lady of the Zhou family was so shameless.

"Since you don't care about the Zhou family, you should at least pay more attention to your children. I heard that Chengyu dropped out of school?"

Of course, Old Mrs. Zhou couldn't do something so shameless, so she couldn't do anything about it and could only find fault with her in other ways.

"Yes, your food business is so good, how could you lack money for Chengyu's schooling? Chengyu seems like a promising child, it would be a waste to let him go to farm!"

Qian Yue didn't expect the old lady to just let the matter of her selling food go unnoticed. She hadn't even received the recipe yet, so all she could do was make a few sarcastic remarks, hoping to sow discord between the mother and son.

Song Yushu glanced at the twins; one looked guilty, while the other, having overheard what Old Madam Zhou and Qian Yue had said, was glaring at her with resentment.

“I was the one who dropped him out of school. Rather than paying him three taels of silver a year to skip school and wander around town, it’s better to let him come back to farm. Nobody’s money grows on trees. If you have any objections, you can pay him to support him instead of just talking.”

Song Yushu maintained a steady output, completely ignoring the words of the Zhou family matriarch.

"Second son, look at what your wife is saying. She's complaining that we didn't take care of Chengyu. As his father, can't you say anything?"

Old Mrs. Zhou suppressed her anger and looked towards Zhou Lao Er.

“Mother, it is indeed my incompetence as a father that I can no longer support Chengyu’s education,” Zhou Lao Er really couldn’t blame Song Yushu for this.

“I’ve been paying for Zhou Chengyu’s education these past few years, so he can’t say anything about it. Alright, I’ll go back now if there’s nothing else,” Song Yushu said, losing interest as she saw that they were speechless.

“Father! My elder brother’s wedding cost twenty taels of silver, while I only have three taels for tuition each year. How can I not afford it?” Zhou Chengyu couldn’t hold back any longer. He had been holding in his anger since dropping out of school, and now it finally exploded.

“You child! Your elder brother is a scholar, so naturally we should prioritize him. How can you compare to him…” Old Mrs. Zhou blurted out without thinking.

Only then did Zhou Chengyu realize that he could never compare to his elder brother in the Zhou family, and for the first time, he felt dissatisfied with Zhou Chengli.

Song Yushu thought this was for the best; it was better than being sold out by the male lead and then counting the money for him.

"Since you're not going to school anymore, tomorrow you should tidy up that empty vegetable patch in the back and plant some vegetables. You can't just sit around doing nothing all day," Song Yushu said, giving him a task when he saw him looking dejected.

“That plot of land is so small, I can tidy it up in a morning. It’s just farming!” Zhou Chengyu had suffered setbacks one after another in the past two days, and he vowed to do this well so that Song Yushu would look at him with new eyes.

Song Yushu remained silent, not believing that Zhou Chengyu, who had never worked in the fields before, could dig the ground properly.

This time, after making the braised meat, Song Yushu didn't leave a single piece for Zhou Chengzhu, no matter how much she begged. She was very stingy. Although the Zhou family would find out about her selling braised meat sooner or later, Zhou Chengzhu should be taught a lesson for her loose tongue.

"Boss Wei! You've finally arrived!"

"Manager Shen, why are you here so early today?" Song Yushu recognized him as the manager of the restaurant that sold her chicken feet and quickly greeted him.

"Of course, we should seize the opportunity when there's good news. I'm here to discuss business with you. Could you increase the quantity of your braised meat? Our restaurant owner wants to place an order with you, to have it delivered to the restaurant at this time every day. Is that possible?"

Manager Shen was a regular customer of braised meat and naturally knew how delicious it was. So when the owner came to check the accounts, he made a point of mentioning it. Unexpectedly, the owner nodded in approval after tasting it.

"Of course, but I don't know how much your restaurant needs to book?"

Seeing that she was cooperative, Manager Shen took Song Yushu directly to draft the contract and put her fingerprint on it, so Song Yushu could finally have a stable income.

She sold braised meat for several days, and after deducting costs, she only earned a little over five taels of silver. Although this was considered a high income in the eyes of ordinary people, Song Yushu was not satisfied. She wanted to open a shop in town, and it would be impossible to do so without more than a hundred taels of silver. The Wei family's pork shop alone had to be acquired by emptying their savings of one hundred and fifty taels of silver.

Now, with the one-month deposit given by Manager Shen, she has more than twenty taels of silver, which is faster than she could earn by setting up her own stall.

It seems my luck is good today. Song Yushu is pleased and becomes even more amiable to his guests.

"Are you the one who came to buy braised meat for Master Xue yesterday? What would you like to order today? It's on me. Go back and tell Master Xue that this is a thank you gift for his help."

Song Yushu recognized the servant's face; it was the one Master Xue had sent yesterday. Looking around, he saw that it was indeed the same carriage Master Xue had ridden in yesterday.

Xue Huai'an was not alone in his carriage; a ten-year-old girl was also curiously peeking through the curtain at Song Yushu's shop.

"Dad, was the braised meat you bought yesterday from that shop? It looked so crowded," Xue Qingyao asked, her small face full of curiosity, as she hadn't been out for a long time.

"Don't catch a cold, or you'll cough again tonight. I'll ask Uncle Zhong to buy you some more braised meat. Eat small meals frequently and don't be picky about food, understand?" Xue Huai'an said, inevitably putting on his airs as a teacher in the school.

"You've finally managed to get out of town, Dad, please don't say such things!"

Xue Huai'an couldn't do anything about her. His wife had passed away many years ago, and Xue Qingyao was raised by the old lady in the family. Because she was weak since childhood, she was spoiled by the family and had quite a temper.

"Dad! Look, it looks like they're arguing over there!" Xue Qingyao watched with great interest.

Song Yushu never expected the Zhou family to be so shameless, coming to take advantage of him in broad daylight.

"Second sister-in-law, we're family after all, you can't expect me to pay you, can you?" Qian Yue had come here specifically to take advantage of the situation, just because the old lady had told her.

Even close brothers keep clear accounts! Besides, the family has already separated. Surely my sister-in-law understands this basic principle?

Song Yushu chopped down hard with the knife, instantly splitting the braised pig's head in two.

Qian Yue was startled, but seeing that there were many people around, she still forced herself to speak up: "I'm doing this for Chengli. He works hard studying at the academy, and the old lady asked me to buy some food to nourish him. You, as his stepmother, don't care about him, so we, as his uncles, naturally have to pay more attention to him."

Her words were pointed, causing the surrounding guests to exchange subtle glances.

“It’s not that I don’t want to give it to you, but this is my family’s shop. I can’t make the decision myself. I’ll ask my mother.” Song Yushu naturally couldn’t refuse in public. She still needed to do business in the town. If her reputation was ruined, her business would probably go out of business.

Wei's mother had only been working at the pork shop for a short time when the Zhou family arrived. She dragged her eldest son along to support her daughter.

Wei Laoda, tall and strong, stood next to Song Yushu with a stern face, startling Qian Yue, who was originally feeling smug.

"Oh, it's her sister-in-law. What brings you to my shop today?"

"It's because the old lady is worried about Chengli, so she asked me to come and see him," Qian Yue said, no longer daring to cause trouble.

"This child is really something. He can just come over and eat whatever he wants. How could we leave him out? We have to trouble you to come all this way," said Mother Wei, who quickly cut up a portion of braised meat and packed it for her.

Qian Yue didn't dare cause any more trouble, with the eldest son of the Wei family still watching from the side. She could only smile awkwardly and leave with the meat.

After the crowd dispersed, Wei's mother patted Song Yushu on the shoulder and said, "You child, you should be more discreet when you're out. You are that child's stepmother after all. If you make a mistake, people will spit on you and drown you! Not to mention that you still have to do business now."

"I understand, Mother. I will definitely be more careful in the future. But if the Zhou family keeps coming over to take advantage of me, I can't just let them get it for free every time, can I?"

“From now on, when the Zhou family comes, I will entertain them. You can just go into the shop and don’t need to show your face,” said Madam Wei, who was also very worried about Song Yushu. She had finally managed to earn some money by making some food, and she couldn’t let the Zhou family cut off her daughter’s fortune.

On the other side, Xue Huai'an frowned after reading it. He did not agree with Song Yushu's attitude towards his sister-in-law. After all, they were family, so how could they be so petty? Besides, reputation was the most important thing in this world.

He couldn't help but start to doubt whether Song Yushu could really teach Zhou Chengyu well. He seemed to have been too hasty in agreeing to cooperate with her.