"It's all thanks to your aunt. We never get to eat these things normally," Zhou Yingying said sarcastically, while her hands were busy taking away most of the shrimp from the plate.
"What are you doing? Your mother has never skimped on your food or drink." Ever since his younger sister came back yesterday, his wife has been giving him the cold shoulder, and today she's gone even further. Li Haoran looked at Zhou Yingying with anger.
Seeing her husband contradict her in front of so many people at the dinner table, Zhou Yingying simply lost her temper.
"So what if I have a problem! Why should an old hen that can't lay eggs be treated like a treasure after being sent back to her parents' home?"
"Why didn't Mother agree to the marriage that the matchmaker brought today?" Zhou Yingying's words became increasingly unrestrained. "What's wrong with a second-hand woman marrying Master Zhou as his eighteenth concubine!"
"How dare you hit me!" Zhou Yingying was shocked that Li Haoran would actually hit her. She covered her burning cheek and cried out in anger.
"Li Haoran, you're not human! You actually hit me for Li Youran! I knew you and that slut were having an affair!"
The more Zhou Ying thought about it, the more she realized her mother was right; she had been incredibly foolish. After all, they weren't blood-related siblings; who knew what their relationship was like!
"Sister-in-law, you've gone too far!" Li Tairan said through gritted teeth, his face flushed with anger.
"I'm going too far?" Zhou Yingying snorted coldly and laughed, "Go out and ask around, your Li family is a joke now!"
Li Youran had long suspected that her family's life would be difficult, but she never expected that her sister-in-law would turn against her after only one day back.
“Sister-in-law, I had no choice but to let you go back to your parents’ home after being divorced.” Not wanting everyone to argue because of her, Li Youran took the initiative to speak up, “Give me some time and I will leave.”
Zhou Yingying pursed her lips and didn't say anything. After all, if she completely angered her in-laws, she wouldn't get a share of the income from the pancake shop. Since she had already made a scene, she picked up her half-plate of shrimp, led the child, and went straight back to her room.
"My poor son..." Li Niangzi cried softly, and Li Dazhu also sighed.
"Ignore her, she's always like that." At Zhao Lanzhi's urging, the family hurriedly finished their lunch.
It was already night when Li Youran finished tidying up her dowry. She didn't eat dinner and lay on the bed staring blankly at the window curtains.
With no female household available and her natal family unable to keep her, what should she do...?
The next day, before dawn, Li Youran was already busy in the kitchen, and the pots were emitting a fragrant aroma.
"Little sister, why are you up so early?" Zhao Lanzhi was startled when she saw Li Youran with dark circles under her eyes, but her attention was drawn to the aroma wafting through the air. "What are you stewing?"
"Wild crucian carp, I bought it at the dock this morning." Li Youran ladled out a bowl and handed it to Zhao Lanzhi. "Sister-in-law, please taste it and see if it's salty enough."
"Delicious!" Zhao Lanzhi wanted to refuse, but she inexplicably took the bowl and ate more than half of it in one gulp.
"Second sister-in-law, are you willing to spend money to buy it?"
"Huh?" Zhao Lanzhi didn't react for a moment, and fumbled in her waist for a while. "Little sister, I don't have any money with me."
"Second sister-in-law, what I mean is, if we sell this fish soup, do you think anyone will buy it?" Li Youran was amused by Zhao Lanzhi and grew to like this simple-minded second sister-in-law even more.
"Rice porridge is two coins, egg drop soup is three coins, chicken soup is five coins..." Zhao Lanzhi thought carefully for a moment, "Five coins, I'll say!"
Li Youran nodded; the price was the same as she had expected.
"Little sister, I don't think this business is easy to run, after all, not many people are willing to drink chicken soup on a regular basis."
"Second sister-in-law, what you said makes a lot of sense." Li Youran shut off the fire on the stove and used the residual heat to simmer the food for the last time. "I plan to sell it near the academy, where most of the students can afford it."
After all, most people who can afford to go to school are wealthy.
"My little sister is so clever!" Zhao Lanzhi was a bit worried. How should she keep the fish soup warm?
Li Youran pulled out a long-unused porridge bucket from the storeroom on the east side of the kitchen.
"Your second brother should have mentioned it to you. Before selling steamed buns, your parents sold steamed buns." Li Youran and Zhao Lanzhi chatted about family matters while washing the porridge bucket together.
In his early years, Li Dazhu sold steamed buns on the streets and alleys, and would also sell some soups and broths on the side. After his parents passed away, Li Dazhu separated from his younger brother Li Erzhu and handed over the steamed bun business to his brother, while he found another way to make a living.
"Your second brother also told me about an uncle who sold steamed buns in the south of the city. Why did he stop visiting?"
"I've never heard my parents mention it," Li Youran shook her head.
In fact, Li Youran had overheard her father and mother talking about this matter, which seemed to be related to her background, but they were speaking very softly and she couldn't hear clearly.
"Let alone a girl who's been married twice, even a young, unmarried woman marrying into the Zhou family is a stroke of incredible luck!" Matchmaker Jinhua said, spitting as she spoke. "I only proposed this marriage because Xiangyu is beautiful. If the girl wasn't pretty, I wouldn't have come at all!"
“Aunt Jinhua is right,” Madam Wang was already swayed by the matchmaker Jinhua’s words, “but my daughter is very stubborn, and I still need her to agree.”
“I understand, didn’t we all go through that when we were young?” After finishing her story, the matchmaker Jin Hua took a sip of tea and continued in a tone of someone who had been through it all: “But what can this young girl know? She only knows how to find a handsome young man, how does she know that older people can be caring?”
"I can't guarantee anything else, but I can guarantee that after you marry into the family, you'll be dressed in gold and silver and live a life of luxury. Everyone knows that Master Zhou is rich!" The matchmaker, Jin Hua, became more and more excited as she spoke, and even Madam Wang approved of the marriage.
“Master Zhou has already taken seventeen wives. Marrying her in as the eighteenth concubine is truly a wonderful match!” Wang Xiangyu threw a basin of rice-rinsing water directly at the matchmaker, Jin Hua.
"You little slut! You really think you're a virgin? Even if you haven't entered the Tang family, you're still secondhand goods!" Before the matchmaker Jin Hua could finish speaking, Wang Xiangyu grabbed a rolling pin and chased her out the door.
"Xiangyu, this is no good marriage prospect! What kind of person are you looking for, child?" Madam Wang felt a headache coming on.
"Mother!" Wang Xiangyu stamped her foot angrily and said, "Listen to your daughter!"
"This...is this really possible?" Madam Wang hadn't expected her daughter to have such high standards, wanting to marry a scholar from the Lu family.
"My daughter must marry him!" Wang Xiangyu said fiercely.
As noon approached, Li Youran arrived at the academy gate with the fish soup she had prepared.
"Second brother, you should go back and make steamed buns. I can manage here by myself."
"Alright, your second brother will come to pick you up in a bit." After saying that, Li Tairan drove the carriage away.
"Look, isn't this an old hen that can't lay eggs?"
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