Lu Guoqing felt uncomfortable being stared at and was about to ask Zhang Yuping for a small treat when she quickly handed him a large bowl of corn porridge.
"Wen, you're here to eat."
Wen Moxue took it and turned to ask Lu Yuan.
"Is this 'change of address fee' just corn porridge?"
"puff!"
Lu Yuan almost burst out laughing; this fake wife was actually quite interesting.
"Ahem, no, usually they would give a red envelope, but I'm a stepmother, so don't even think about it."
"Huh? Didn't everyone say your stepmother treats you better than her own? I don't think so."
Lu Yuan nodded in agreement, "Those are just rumors."
The two talked as if no one else was around, making no attempt to avoid them.
The others glared at the two of them, their faces flushed with anger. Zhang Yuping slammed her bowl down on the table, looking utterly aggrieved.
"Old Lu, I've worried myself sick over this family, and in the end, I haven't received a single kind word. What hope do I have left?"
"You've been worrying yourself sick, but it's not for me. You know how you've treated me, and you still expect a kind word from me? Where's your shame?" Lu Yuan retorted.
How could you say that?
Zhang Yuping clutched her chest, looking extremely distressed.
Lu Guoqing was furious and yelled at Lu Yuan, "Enough! Look at the state you've become! What has your mother ever done to offend you? Why do you have to speak so harshly to her?"
"If you don't want to say something unpleasant, don't do something unsightly."
As he spoke, he spread his hands and said, "Come on, the new bride has entered the house and has already changed her address. Give me the change-of-address fee."
Lu Guoqing's face was stern, and he was so angry he was almost fuming.
But considering that today was indeed the new bride's first day in the family, and that they hadn't prepared properly, they suppressed their anger.
Send Zhang Yuping to collect the "change of address fee".
Zhang Yuping gritted her teeth, and a smile immediately appeared on her face.
"Oh dear, look at me, I prepared the red envelope a long time ago, but I was so busy that I didn't have time. I was saying I'd do it after dinner. Since you two are so impatient, I'll go get it now."
With that, he turned and went into the room.
Wen Moxue leaned closer to Lu Yuan and whispered something.
"You're quite the stepmother, aren't you? You've got a whole set of tricks up your sleeve."
They weren't prepared to begin with, and now that they couldn't avoid it, they immediately switched to a nicer excuse, implying that Lu Yuan and the other person were being unreasonable.
Basically, it's about praising yourself while putting others down.
Lu Yuan handed Wen Moxue a pair of chopsticks. "Let's eat first. We still have things to do after we finish eating."
Wen Moxue wasn't hungry at the moment, but she had to pretend to be starving and snored loudly.
But this corn porridge is a bit hard on the throat, so I can't eat it quickly at all.
That must have been so tough on her!
We need to separate the family quickly, or we'll suffer even more.
Lu Yuan noticed that she couldn't eat and started complaining.
"Didn't I say that today is my wife's first day in the family and I should cook a good meal? Why is this worse than usual?"
Zhang Yuping had just come out of the room when she heard this and said with a smile, "There really isn't much food left at home. This corn porridge is already a very good thing."
After saying that, he handed the change of address fee, which was wrapped in red paper, to Wen Moxue.
Wen Moxue accepted it without hesitation and opened it directly.
Then he threw his chopsticks on the table and stuffed two red paper packets into Lu Yuan's hands.
"What do you mean by this? Are you looking down on me?"
After saying that, he got up and went back to his room.
He was secretly pleased, having found an excuse not to eat corn porridge.
Lu Yuan looked down at the money in his hand and immediately shook his head.
He placed the red paper and money on the table and slowly counted the money.
"One cent, two cents, one dime, two dimes, four cents. Tsk, young lady, you're really generous!"
The irony shouldn't be too obvious.
There was only 12 cents in that red envelope. That's incredibly stingy.
Even if someone is poor, you should still give them 1.2 yuan.
Better families usually give six, eight, or twelve yuan. But I've never seen a new bride given a mere twelve cents as a "change of address" fee before.
Lu Guoqing blushed.
Lu Xiaoqin and her two siblings, however, didn't think it was a problem; 12 cents was just right.
Zhang Yuping was a little dumbfounded. Who would open a red envelope in public? Don't they usually open them behind someone's back?
She had it all planned out: if they said they only paid 12 cents, she would deny it to the death.
Then they can say that they deliberately slandered them.
As is usually the case, others wouldn't believe Lu Yuan; they would only assume that what he said was true.
But despite all her calculations, she hadn't anticipated that Wen Moxue would open the red envelope without a word, without even saying thank you.
At this moment, the smile on his face could not be maintained at all.
But then, a thought struck him: how could he smooth things over?
"Old Lu, I prepared these red envelopes a long time ago. Each one contained 1.2 yuan. I don't know how they turned into 1.2 yuan."
Then he looked sternly at Lu Xiaofang and her two siblings.
"Xiaofang, Xiaoqin, tell me, did you two do something wrong?"
The two sisters were about to retort when they saw Zhang Yuping frantically winking at them, and they swallowed back the words they were about to say.
They understood their mother's intention: she wanted them to take the blame.
However, Lu Xiaofang was two or three years older and a bit more cunning.
The words that were about to be said took a turn in his throat and became, "Anyway, I didn't do anything."
The implication is that there is another movement.
Lu Xiaoqin felt incredibly aggrieved. She glared at Lu Xiaofang and remained silent, seething with anger.
Her behavior made it obvious to anyone unaware of the situation that she had taken the money from the red envelope.
Putting aside others, Lu Guoqing believed it anyway.
Zhang Yuping pretended to scold Lu Xiaoqin, "What are you doing, child?"
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