Chapter 224 Lazy People Have Clever Hands
Xiao Qi casually brushed off his younger sister, while Lin Yuesha, unwilling for her stepbrother to inquire too much about the pockmarked face, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he didn't continue asking questions.
The brother and sister each had their own ulterior motives, and after making up lies, they tacitly avoided bringing up the topic again.
On the fourteenth day of the second lunar month, early in the morning, Chen got up and found that her stepson had returned.
"Tingyun, next time you're away from home for a long time, send someone a message back. Your father and I are very worried."
Chen went to the kitchen to start a fire, and Lin Yuesha quickly followed. She wanted her father to teach her older brother a lesson, but she didn't expect that the father and son's behavior would be so different from what she had imagined.
"Still thinking of coming back?"
Xiao Chenggui stared at Xiao Qi for a while, then said with certainty, "You are injured."
"Minor injury."
Xiao Qi remained silent for a moment, then said two words expressionlessly.
“With you, as long as you’re not dead, it’s just a minor injury.”
Xiao Chenggui waved his hand and said, "You're just too cunning; you'll get hurt by a fool sooner or later."
It's not a good thing to calculate everything precisely and proceed cautiously step by step.
Not everything goes according to plan; there's always an element of fate involved, so it's best to let nature take its course.
"Then let's talk about it after I've failed."
If something hasn't happened, it's all just empty talk.
Xiao Qi narrowed his eyes. If someone plotted against him, he would fall into the trap and turn the tables on them. Who knew if it was a multi-pronged scheme?
Those involved in the game never know who the winner will be until the very end.
The two were speaking in cryptic language when Chen peeked out from the kitchen doorway and asked, "What's for breakfast? Steamed buns with porridge or noodles?"
Xiao Chenggui immediately changed to a gentle expression and said with a smile, "Anything my daughter makes is fine."
"What do you mean? You're looking down on my cooking now? Well then, when our daughter gets married, you'll be her dowry."
Mrs. Chen was furious. Her cooking was considered quite good in Chenjia Village, but compared to her daughter, it was no match.
The same ingredients can be transformed into many different dishes in Lin Yuesha's hands.
"Dad, then let's make some pan-fried buns."
Lin Yuesha skillfully kneaded the dough and prepared the filling, while Chen helped by tending the fire, unable to get a hand in the task.
“Your aunt used to say that lazy people can be skillful, and she was right.”
Mrs. Chen sighed, looking at her daughter's fair and delicate hands, she couldn't bear to let her do any work.
Lin Yuesha twitched her lips. Indeed, the original owner of the body left people with only one impression: lazy. She had already tried very hard to change that.
The family sat in the kitchen warming themselves by the fire and eating breakfast. Madam Chen looked at Xiao Qi and asked, "Tingyun, we have some money now, and it's not a good idea to keep staying at your husband's house all the time."
Chen felt uneasy living in someone else's courtyard, so if the other party was interested in selling the courtyard, she would spend some money to buy it.
The courtyard in the city will be left to Lin Yuesha as part of her dowry. When Xiao Qi gets married and his daughter gets married, the couple plans to buy a courtyard in the town in addition to returning to the village. This way, they can move to the town in the winter, making it convenient to buy things and avoiding being stuck in the village due to heavy snow.
"Okay, then I'll talk to my husband about it."
Xiao Qi agreed, but his hands moved quickly, steadily picking up a pan-fried bun. This small pan-fried bun was even tastier than the large steamed buns on the mountain, and only his younger sister knew how to make it.
The family of four were chatting when suddenly there was a noise at the door.
"Who came at mealtime?"
As Xiao Chenggui spoke, he put the steamed buns from the plate into his own bowl. He didn't want his daughter's buns to benefit outsiders.
Although Xiao Qi didn't say anything, he quickly picked up a steamed bun.
Seeing the actions of the father and son, Mr. Chen shook his head helplessly.
"Mother, who's here?"
Lin Yuesha stuffed a steamed bun into her mouth, stood up and went to the door. She figured there wouldn't be any customers coming in; it would probably be someone she knew.
"Big brother, Xiaohua, what brings you here?"
When Chen opened the door, she was taken aback. It was still early, and the two of them had already arrived in town. They must have left the village before dawn.
The family was discussing building a house, and Chen was planning to return to the village in the next couple of days. She noticed that her elder brother, Chen Tieniu, looked unwell and guessed that something had happened at home.
"You've been traveling at night, and you probably haven't eaten much. Come in and have something hot to eat."
Chen invited Chen Tieniu and Chen Xiaohua into the kitchen and found that the steamed buns on the plate were empty.
"Mom, I'll go get some noodles. You take Uncle and Sister Xiaohua inside to warm up."
The culprits, her father and stepbrother, showed no emotion, so Lin Yuesha had to ease the awkwardness by saying something.
"Little sister, no need, I can't eat anymore."
Chen Xiaohua lowered her head, wiping away her tears repeatedly. She tried to control herself from crying, but she simply couldn't hold back.
"Brother, what's wrong with this child?"
Mrs. Chen was anxious. Her niece was always outspoken and opinionated; she wouldn't cry like this unless something serious had happened.
"Let's go inside and talk."
Chen Tieniu looked weathered and aged ten years in an instant. After a moment of silence, he replied.
Regardless, they needed to eat something hot first, so Lin Yuesha let her second cousin Chen Xiaohua go inside first, while she stayed in the kitchen to make noodles.
"Little sister, make me a bowl too, with extra meat sauce and chili."
Xiao Qi stood to the side, watching Lin Yuesha pull noodles, and realized that he was not full.
"Brother, you're injured right now, you can't eat spicy food."
The pan-fried buns came with chili oil, and Lin Yuesha gave the chili oil to her parents, but deliberately didn't give it to her stepbrother.
To help the wound heal, she decided to eat more light and nourishing foods and buy an old hen to make soup.
"But I'm not full."
Xiao Qi rubbed his stomach. Because he was distracted, Xiao Chenggui took a bite out of each of the four remaining buns on the plate. Since he was a germaphobe, he naturally couldn't eat the buns that had been bitten.
"Then I'll make you clear broth noodles."
Lin Yuesha didn't suspect anything when her stepbrother's appetite suddenly increased, assuming it was because he had a good appetite.
Pulling noodles is not difficult, it only takes a little over fifteen minutes. Lin Yuesha brought over two bowls of noodles. As soon as she entered the room, she noticed that the atmosphere was not right. Her mother, Chen Shi, had red eyes.
What exactly happened at home? When she entered, everyone fell silent.
"Mom, shall I take my second cousin out for a walk?"
Lin Yuesha remembered that Chen Xiaohua hadn't been to the shop yet. She found the key and pulled Chen Xiaohua out.
There were some things she couldn't discuss with her parents at home. Lin Yuesha guessed that something bad had happened to her second cousin, which was likely related to her reputation.
After all, for people in this era, a woman's reputation is of paramount importance.
Lin Yuesha led Chen Xiaohua to the shop. Along the way, Chen Xiaohua kept her lips tightly pursed and didn't say a word.
The shop was already tidied up, with only one set of tables and chairs; the rest had been handed over to the craftsmen and were not yet finished.
Lin Yuesha, feeling a bit annoyed, boiled another kettle of water to make tea and asked, "Sister Xiaohua, what's wrong? Tell me!"
They had weathered such a difficult time at home before, and now that they've finally made some money in business, they can open a shop and run a small business and have a better life. Lin Yuesha prayed that nothing unexpected would happen.
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