Chapter 2 Loves Us the Most

Lin was frightened by Ye Mingzhu's sharp gaze and lowered her head, but she found the egg shell that Ye Yun'an accidentally dropped on the ground. She sniffed and smelled a faint smell of eggs.

"You ate eggs? Where did the eggs come from? Did you steal them?"

Originally, she was in the wrong for pushing Ye Mingzhu into prostitution, but she didn't expect Ye Yun'an to dare to steal eggs. Now she had caught him and had the chance to take away all the remaining things from the second house.

At the beginning, she wanted to take away the second wife's clothes and the wooden box that Wang brought as a dowry. Ye Mingzhu cried and said that she wanted to keep it as a souvenir. Uncle Ye scolded her a few words in front of the villagers, and she has always remembered it.

When Ye Mingzhu heard that Lin had concluded that they had stolen the eggs without asking any questions, she rolled her eyes in her heart.

In ancient times, reputation was more important than anything else. Being accused of being a "thief" would have a great impact on finding a job and getting married in the future.

Lin was the eldest aunt, and she had no love for her nephews and nieces, no regard for their reputation at all, and did not treat them as relatives at all.

Although she didn't ask Ye Yun'an where the eggs came from, Ye Yun'an's expression showed anger and sadness, but not fear, which meant that they were not stolen.

"The eggs were not stolen. Yunshun and I exchanged them." Ye Yun'an's face flushed and he objected loudly. Tears fell from his eyes after he finished speaking.

Ye Mingzhu wiped his tears with her sleeve and threw her voice at Lin like ice: "Did you hear that, Auntie? The eggs were not stolen."

There was a whisper of discussion outside the house. Lin's face turned grim. "Yun Shun doesn't even have eggs himself, how can we give them to him? It's obvious he's lying."

"Yun Shun took it from the jar. I gave my best clothes to Yun Shun, and he gave me an egg." Ye Yun'an's voice was choked but his words were clear.

"That's what my mother made for me."

Ye Mingzhu looked down and saw that Ye Yun'an's clothes had been washed white and were covered with many patches. She snorted coldly, "Are the eggs from my uncle's family really that valuable? They're actually worth a set of clothes."

Lin didn't expect that her youngest son would be involved. She secretly cursed her youngest son for ruining her plans, and her eyes rolled as she thought about how to make this matter go away.

"Your own child is eating an egg, why are you talking about stealing? Mingzhu knows your aunt-in-law, she is too worrying." Uncle Ye suddenly spoke at the door.

Only then did Ye Mingzhu realize that her uncle was at the door. She glanced at her third aunt Fang, who had been silent the whole time, and thought that her third uncle Ye must be at the door as well.

She rolled her eyes in her heart, fearing that her aunt-in-law was always worried about how to turn the second room's things into the first room's and then kick them out.

She stood up, put on her shoes, and walked out of the house with Ye Yun'an's support. She didn't want to let today's matter go like this.

Outside, the sky was filled with rosy clouds. It was already evening, and Uncle Ye and Third Uncle Ye both looked unhappy.

Uncle Ye said to Fang: "Why did Mingzhu come out? Go in quickly and lie down and wait for the doctor. Don't catch a cold."

Ye Mingzhu shook her head to indicate that she was fine. She glanced at the crowd outside the yard watching the excitement, and her voice was unusually clear.

"My brother traded his best clothes with Yunshun for eggs to replenish my body. I can't let my brother be known as a thief."

"Oh, one egg is worth a set of clothes. The eggs from Mr. Ye's family are really valuable. Mr. Ye, I have eggs too. Can I exchange two of them for a set of clothes?"

"Isn't Mingzhu eating with Mr. Ye? Why does she need to exchange clothes?"

The villagers were whispering loudly, and the faces of several people in the yard became even uglier.

Ye Mingzhu nodded in her heart. This was the kind of life they lived at Uncle Ye's house.

"Mingzhu, what are you talking about? We are all family. If you want to eat eggs, just tell your aunt. Don't say anything about exchanging clothes for eggs and let the villagers laugh at us." The uncle pulled the corner of his mouth and quickly tried to make amends. He was the man with the best reputation.

Ye Mingzhu looked at her aunt with a puzzled look: "Can I eat eggs? Didn't your aunt say that we are just sharing a meal and should be more discerning? My three hens only lay one egg every four or five days. Is that just enough for my brother and I to pay for salt?"

She is not a fool like the original owner. Lin was not good to her siblings, but the original owner not only did not tell anyone, but also kept it a secret when someone in the village asked about it.

She was going to tell everyone about how Uncle Ye and Mrs. Lin had treated them harshly. Anyway, the Ye family had split up a long time ago, and she didn't want to go to Uncle Ye's house and suffer and not get any good treatment.

Uncle Ye opened his mouth, wanting to say that he didn't know.

Ye Mingzhu had already spoken: "Uncle, you always said that you would keep the pearls I picked for us so that Yun'an could marry a wife in the future. But this time I just wanted to keep one, and my aunt accidentally pushed me into the sea. We even had to exchange our clothes for an egg."

"Yun'an only has one set of good clothes, which were made when our parents were still alive. This is the memory they left for us."

Ye Mingzhu's tears rolled down her cheeks, her face full of sadness, which was clearly seen by everyone inside and outside the courtyard.

"Brother, was Mingzhu pushed into the sea by sister-in-law?" Uncle Ye frowned, glanced at Lin, then turned his head and stared at Uncle Ye.

Uncle Ye wanted to refute, but Ye Mingzhu stared at him, so he could only say vaguely: "I didn't push it, it was an accident."

Ye Mingzhu suddenly choked up, fumbled around, and couldn't find a handkerchief, so she wiped her face with her sleeve. "Uncle San, don't ask me anymore. It's me. I shouldn't have opened the pearl oysters I picked. If I had given the pearls to my aunt, she wouldn't have pushed me away."

What Lin was about to say got stuck in her throat. She didn't expect Ye Mingzhu to say what she was about to say, and she was choked for a moment.

Why was my niece, who never resisted me, suddenly so talkative? Did she cause trouble when she fell into the sea?

Lin's eyes were evasive, full of confusion and fear.

In the eyes of others, Lin was guilty of pushing her niece into the sea.

Uncle Ye was furious. In his heart, he cursed Lin for being useless, but he still had to force a smile and said, "Mingzhu, I just found out that it was your aunt who pushed you into the sea. Why didn't you tell me earlier? I asked your aunt to boil an egg for you to replenish your body."

Ye Mingzhu knew that Uncle Ye was the most hypocritical. He was pushing the blame onto her because she didn't say anything.

"Uncle, didn't you see me being pushed into the sea?" Ye Mingzhu looked at Uncle Ye with a puzzled look, "Is it because I'm not the eldest wife's child?"

These words really hurt the heart. Boss Ye had said in person that he would treat the two children from the second wife as his own.

The villagers and Ye Lao San were witnesses, so they were allowed to take away all the food from the second house. If you count carefully, the coarse grains, fine grains, and various grains in the house after Ye Lao Er passed away were enough for the siblings to eat for four or five months.

Uncle Ye stared at Ye Mingzhu intently, and Ye Mingzhu looked at him calmly.

"Uncle treats you two as his own children," Uncle Ye said, gnashing his teeth as he glanced at the people outside the courtyard. He said in a low voice, "Mingzhu has been wronged this time. If you have any thoughts, just tell me."

"The Ye family split up a long time ago. I want to take my brother home and live on my own." Ye Mingzhu ignored Uncle Ye's threats.

Uncle Ye frowned: "No."