Li Zhongnan's home.
As soon as Li Yongcheng entered the door, he was surrounded by his eldest and second eldest brothers' four children.
To be precise, it was the pheasant he was carrying.
"Third Uncle, I want to eat this pheasant!"
"Me too! I want a big chicken leg!"
"Third brother, this pheasant was given to you by Su Yan. Anyway, your wife can't finish it all by herself. How about we divide it into four portions? One portion for Dad, one for eldest brother, one for second brother, and you can take the last portion home?" Li Yong'an said with a smile, showing no shame at taking food from a woman in confinement.
Li Yongcheng looked at his elder brother, moved his lips but didn't say anything.
Li Yong'an then said, "Look how greedy these kids are, how can you, their third uncle, eat all the food yourself?"
Li Zhongnan remained silent, sitting on the stool holding his grandson, as if he couldn't hear the sounds coming from this side.
Li Yongcheng's heart turned cold, and he said indifferently, "Fine, keep the chicken legs, chicken wings, and chicken feet for me. Xiuqin needs nutrition during her postpartum period."
Upon hearing this, Li Yong'an's smile froze on his face. "This... Third brother, the kids just love chicken legs and such. Xiuqin can eat anything else."
"Brother, do you want a piece of a woman's food?" Li Yongcheng suddenly said sarcastically.
Li Yong'an's face darkened instantly. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up, saying, "Li Yongcheng, what do you mean by this? Why are you speaking so rudely?"
"Alright, leave one chicken leg for the third son's wife, and divide the rest among yourselves," Li Zhongnan said at the opportune moment.
He kept one chicken leg, but his heart still leaned towards the eldest brother.
Li Yongcheng gave his father a deep look, then sneered, picked up his knife, and went out to kill a chicken.
Li Zhongnan felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze and was very depressed.
"Dad, look at the third son, he doesn't even respect you anymore!" Li Yong'an continued to stir up trouble, not wanting to miss an opportunity to cause more trouble.
"Stop with your underhanded schemes!" Li Zhongnan glanced at Li Yong'an, who was full of calculations, and warned, "Don't piss him off! Otherwise, you'll regret it."
Li Yong'an awkwardly shut his mouth, then went out to watch Li Yongcheng kill the chicken.
Looking at Li Yongcheng, who was limping and working in the yard, a hint of disgust flashed in Li Zhongnan's eyes.
When he was young, he married a young woman who had been sent down to Lijia Ping, a former high-ranking official's daughter. She was fair-skinned, tall, and even more beautiful than Su Yan's maternal grandmother, Li Hao.
He went to great lengths to marry her, but even after they had two sons, he still couldn't get a good look from her. Then one time, his wife disappeared for a week before returning to Lijiapin. She fell seriously ill upon her return and soon became pregnant.
In the first few days after his wife returned, he forced himself on her several times out of anger. Despite these experiences, he still suspected that Li Yongcheng was not his child. Now that he was older, he looked five or six parts like his mother, but not like him at all.
Because of this, Li Zhongnan felt uneasy. Even until his wife died, he couldn't get the details of that week's events from her. Therefore, he disliked Li Yongcheng and deliberately harmed him several times when he was young, but the boy was lucky enough to survive.
Moreover, his wife disliked the second and eldest sons, but particularly liked the third son.
Li Zhongnan sometimes wondered if the eldest and second eldest children were his offspring, which was why she didn't like them?
However, he had no evidence to prove that the third child was not his, and he had been turning a blind eye to it all these years.
In the end, Li Yongcheng took away a chicken leg and a chicken wing; the rest were mostly chicken bones with little meat.
He took it home and made soup. His wife, Chen Xiuqin, ate it with great relish and satisfaction, but Li Yongcheng felt quite uneasy watching it.
After working for two days, he only received four yuan. Given Su Yan's generous nature, he certainly received more than that. As for where the shortfall went, he knew without even guessing.
"Honey, where did you buy this chicken? The meat is so delicious, and the soup is even better than the chicken raised in the village. It also helps with lactation." Chen Xiuqin felt her milk engorgement after drinking the chicken soup.
No one was there to help her during her postpartum period, and her family was poor, so she could only eat one egg or one fish a day, which she would divide into two meals to supplement her nutrition. But how could such a small amount of food possibly stimulate milk production? Her baby often cried loudly from hunger.
"I bought it in town. I just got paid. I'll buy another one for you tomorrow," Li Yongcheng said sullenly.
Chen Xiuqin smiled and said, "Okay."
Although the man she found was not talkative, he was very caring. She had no one to take care of her during her postpartum period, but this man didn't let her do any work!
Su Yan was unaware of the intricacies of Li Zhongnan's family affairs; she got up at two in the morning to get busy.
She and her mother worked until six o'clock, then loaded the ten large iron barrels onto an oxcart and headed to town.
They had barely left when Zhu Xiaoping heard the noise and ran after them.
She braised some duck products yesterday, and they tasted and smelled good. They were cheaper than Su Yan's braised food. Everything was ready, and today she was going to see where Su Yan's stall was and then rent a place next to hers!
Upon arriving in town, Su Yan hadn't even gotten off the oxcart when she saw a long line already forming at her stall. This time, everyone brought a deep bowl, buying braised food and filling it with broth to take home and mix with noodles—that's how delicious it is!
"Oh, here it comes, the boss is here."
"Boss, you're ten minutes late today. Shouldn't you bring us something to make up for it?"
Su Yan carried the iron bucket off the car and couldn't help but laugh, "Okay, how about this today? Buy five yuan worth and get two ounces of edamame or lotus root slices for free, buy ten yuan worth and get a duck head for free."
Upon hearing this, the people in line cheered and praised Su Yan for her business acumen.
The customers were happy, but Li Juan was experiencing a bittersweet mix of pain and joy as she packed up the duck heads, collected the money, and gave them away.
Su Yan's business is booming, while the other stalls are just swatting flies, looking on with envy and jealousy, but there's nothing they can do but admire, since the taste of her braised food is indeed undeniably excellent.
Zhu Xiaoping, who was hiding in the shadows and spying, felt her heart bleed!
If she had known the duck products business was so good, she should have made some to sell herself. The business at Su Yan's stall should have been hers!
Without further delay, Zhu Xiaoping immediately went to the management bureau to pay for the rental space.
When she mentioned the location next to Su Yan's, Lan Xiaoyu's eyes flickered slightly, and she casually inquired, "What do you sell?"
"Selling braised food! Duck products!" Zhu Xiaoping said with a fawning smile, "Comrade, I'll bring some over for you to try tomorrow. If you like it, come to my place often."
Lan Xiaoyu responded listlessly, and when she finished get off work at noon, she went straight to Su Yan's stall.
Because they had prepared ten barrels, Su Tobacco didn't sell out until 11:30.
"Su Yan!" Lan Xiaoyu rushed over and said, "A woman rented the stall next to yours, she also sells braised food!"
"What? Someone's already selling the same thing so quickly?" Li Juan, who was tidying up the metal bucket, exclaimed in shock.
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