Did the master help Qian Rushan in his evil deeds?
What a ridiculous claim!
Xiao Qi frowned. "Master, does Miss Zhou have some misunderstanding about you? How could you be in cahoots with Qian Rushan?" He thought for a moment and suddenly realized, "Qian Rushan and Ah Zhong must have said something to her! No, I have to explain to Miss Zhou clearly. I can't let her wrong my master."
"What's there to explain? Let her think what she wants." Yang Xi calmly sat back down in his chair, picked up the confession he hadn't finished reading, and said in a deep voice, "The innocent are innocent. I, Yang Xi, have a clear conscience about what I didn't do."
Seeing that his master didn't seem to care much, Xiao Qi didn't dare to disobey him and had no choice but to give up.
Zhou Chenyu's request to change cells was ruthlessly rejected. She huddled in the only clean corner left in the room, her eyes wide open, unable to sleep all night.
In the early morning, a beam of sunlight shone through the skylight.
The jailer opened the door for her. "Zhou Chenyu, you can be released from prison now!"
Without hesitation, Zhou Chenyu left this godforsaken place without looking back.
As I walked out of the prison, it was just dawn. People from the neighborhood poured the water they had used to wash outside their doors and swept away the dust in front of their doors. The usually bustling street was now only occupied by a few scattered breakfast vendors.
Zhou Chenyu didn't touch the food the jailer gave her last night. She had been hungry for several hours and her stomach was almost empty. Looking at the freshly cooked breakfast across from her, her eyes were practically sparkling with hunger.
She touched her pockets; all her money had been taken by those people, and she couldn't find a single coin. In addition, she hadn't slept all night, and her eyes were extremely dry, as if her eyelashes had fallen out and it hurt to blink.
Zhou Chenyu turned away dejectedly and took a shortcut home through another side road.
Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard, which sounded like Li Xiuju's: "Chenyu, Mother is here, Baoyu, wake up quickly."
Baoyu rubbed his eyes, saw a familiar figure, and shouted, "Sister!"
Zhou Chenyu suddenly turned around, and Li Xiuju stood up while holding onto the tree trunk, but then stumbled and fell down again.
Seeing that scene, Zhou Chenyu felt a lump in her throat for no apparent reason.
Li Xiuju, supported by Baoyu, approached. "Did they give you any trouble?"
Zhou Chenyu looked at Li Xiuju, whose hair was disheveled and whose face was haggard. Although it had only been one night since they last met, she looked much older.
She forced a smile. "Who am I? Qian Rushan was no match for me when he was collecting debts last time, and he's no match for me now either. I'm fine, you don't need to be so nervous. I'm being well-fed and cared for in the prison, while you've been guarding outside all night. Aren't you cold?"
Baoyu noticed the strange smile on Zhou Chenyu's face. Given her usual fierce demeanor, she would never have been so calm. He suspected that the truth was not as she claimed.
He didn't want to tell his mother about his sister's arrest yesterday, but the news spread too fast and he couldn't keep it a secret any longer.
This forced the elderly woman, despite her limp, to rush out into the streets overnight to gather information.
If he hadn't overestimated himself and insisted on taking the lead, his sister and mother wouldn't have suffered.
He lowered his head in self-reproach, "Sister, I'm sorry, I've dragged you into this."
Implicated?
When Baoyu first impulsively rushed forward, Zhou Chenyu did indeed want him to be reformed.
But last night she thought about it calmly all night. If Baoyu had ignored all of this for his own safety, what would have happened?
What difference is there between this kind of person and the likes of Qian Rushan and Yang Xi?
Zhou Chenyu wasn't good at comforting people. "Apologizing isn't enough. You'll be washing all the dishes for the next month."
Previously, the two would always argue about who should wash the dishes after dinner, but today Baoyu didn't hesitate at all, "Yes, sister, don't worry, I'll wash them all from now on!"
Seeing how reasonable the siblings were, Li Xiuju finally relaxed after being tense all night. "Alright, it's early morning and no one has eaten anything. There's a congee with raw pork liver for sale over there. Let's go have breakfast and then go back."
Zhou Chenyu was so hungry she was dizzy, and these words struck a chord with her: "Okay!"
They found a place to sit down and ordered three bowls of congee with pork liver.
Before the porridge was served, Li Xiuju asked Zhou Chenyu about her situation in the prison cell. Zhou Chenyu was afraid that she would overthink it, so she made up some excuses to get by.
"The porridge is here!" The old lady brought up three bowls of still-hot porridge. "Be careful, it's hot."
Zhou Chenyu looked at the hot porridge in front of her. The porridge was white, thick, and fragrant. She casually scooped it up with a spoon and found it was full of pork offal and other ingredients, making it very nutritious.
After it cools down, take a bite. The porridge is cooked until soft and fluffy, and you can't taste any grains of rice. The fresh pork offal, marinated and infused with ginger to remove any fishy smell, is smooth, chewy, and not dry at all. With the addition of scallions and goji leaves, it's fragrant but not greasy. A big bowl of pork offal porridge is finished in no time.
Li Xiuju stole a glance at the owner's cooking skills and silently made a mental note of it. "This porridge is even better than the eel porridge we had last time. We'll buy some pork offal and cook it ourselves another day."
After a hearty meal, Zhou Chenyu smiled sincerely, "Great! If the food is good, we can set up a stall to sell it too. We can hone our skills and make money at the same time. It's a win-win situation."
When Baoyu heard about making money, his eyes lit up. "I don't know how to cook, but I'm good with words. Sister, you and Mother can cook, and I'll sell!"
Li Xiuju hadn't thought that far ahead; she only wished that the children would no longer go hungry. Afraid of discouraging the children, she smiled and nodded.
"Sister, look over there!" Baoyu reminded her warily. Zhou Chenyu turned her head and saw Yang's icy face. The anger she had just suppressed immediately flared up again.
Yang Xi and Xiao Qi had been on duty all night, and took advantage of the daylight to go out for breakfast.
When the old man saw a familiar face, he smiled and beckoned the customer, "Hey, Yang, would you like a bowl of porridge? It's been a long time since I've seen you here."
"I've been busy with official duties and haven't had a chance to come. I've been thinking about your porridge for a long time, so as soon as I had some free time, I came. Auntie, give us two bowls." Yang Xi smiled as he took out a copper coin and handed it over. The old lady nodded with a smile, "Okay, please sit down, the porridge will be here soon."
Yang Xi and Xiao Qi found a spot with a straw curtain to sit down. The old woman brought over two bowls of porridge and said with a smile, "Please enjoy your meal."
"Thank you." Yang Xi nodded in acknowledgment. Xiao Qi saw Zhou Chenyu in the distance. "Master, Miss Zhou is over there. It seems she's with her family."
"Did they arrest you?" Li Xiuju looked at the two men and slowly stood up. "Although they arrested you, they are, after all, local officials, and we will inevitably have to deal with them in the future. I'll go over and apologize to them."
"Grandma, there's no need to apologize. We won't have anything to do with each other again." Zhou Chenyu, still harboring resentment from last night, took a big bite of her bun and said loudly, "Because some people do all sorts of bad things and won't live to see that day."
"How could she say that?" Xiao Qi stood up anxiously upon hearing the pointed curse.
Yang Xi glanced at him, his brows revealing coldness: "Sit down and drink your porridge."
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