The old house next door.
Chen Ruolan sat idly in the yard, watching Old Lady Chen feeding the chickens with disdain in her eyes.
She hadn't expected Old Madam Chen to be so useless; not only did she fail to produce a single penny for the main house, but she was also thoroughly ridiculed by Chen Zhanshan.
If she had known it would end like this, she wouldn't have come back to suffer like this, even if it meant being ridiculed in town.
I've been back for two days, and all I've eaten every meal is cornbread, rice bran porridge, and other unpalatable food that scratches my throat.
She wanted to eat refined rice, stewed meat, and white flour steamed buns...
Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly smelled a sweet fragrance.
Chen Ruolan's spirits lifted, and she quickly looked around, her gaze settling on Chen Erbao's hands.
Snacks? They turned out to be Ruyi cakes from Mixiangzhai in town.
Where did he get it? Did someone else give it to him?
Impossible. This Ruyi cake is expensive and not sold by retail. A box of ten costs five hundred coins. Who would give him something so expensive?
Could it have been bought by the second wife?
Yes, that must be it.
Well, the second wife has also developed a thieving mind, daring to secretly hide money.
No, this matter must be known to Grandpa and Grandma. If everyone in this family is secretly plotting against each other, how will the third branch of the family continue to live a life of comfort and ease in town?
Thinking of this, she got up and quickly went to Erbao, snatching the snack from his hand. "Erbao, what are you eating?"
"Give it back to me! You don't need to steal my food!" Chen Erbao stomped his feet in frustration after his treat was taken away.
Chen Ruolan pointed at him and said, "Shut up! If you dare to make another sound, I'll spank you." Seeing that Erbao was frightened, she quickly called out to Grandma Chen, "Grandma, come here quickly, look what Erbao is eating!"
Hearing the shout, Old Mrs. Chen quickly put down her work and came over. "What's wrong, Ruolan? Who bothered you?"
"Grandma, look what this is?" Chen Ruolan held up the Ruyi Cake in her hand.
Grandma Chen had never seen such exquisite pastries before. She looked puzzled and asked, "Ruolan, what is this? It looks so beautiful."
"Grandma, this is called Ruyi Cake. It costs fifty coins a piece and is the signature snack of Mixiangzhai in town."
"What?! Such a small pastry costs fifty coins?" Old Mrs. Chen stared wide-eyed in surprise, smacking her lips. "It looks delicious. Where did it come from?"
Chen Ruolan glanced at Chen Erbao and snorted, "How would I know where he got it? Anyway, Erbao was eating it when I saw it."
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Chen was so angry that her ribs ached. She thought, "Why would I give such delicious food to this brat instead of my elders? This is outrageous and lawless!"
She gritted her teeth and glared fiercely at Chen Erbao. "You little brat, tell me where you got this from? If you dare to lie, I'll beat you to death."
The auspicious cake in his hand was snatched away, and Erbao was at a loss. When he saw Old Lady Chen baring her teeth and glaring at him, he was so frightened that he burst into tears and shouted loudly towards the room where the second wife lived.
"Mom, come quick! They're stealing my pastries and trying to hit me."
Hearing her son's cries, Mrs. Sun, who was sweeping the floor inside, grabbed a broom and ran out. "Erbao, what happened? Who bullied you?"
When Chen Erbao saw his mother come out, he cried even harder, "Sister Ruolan stole my cakes, and my grandma even tried to hit me."
Sun had long disapproved of Chen Ruolan's behavior. A young woman who did nothing all day but eat and sleep, doing nothing of substance, was so lazy that her ass was practically crawling with maggots. It was infuriating to look at.
She's lazy, and on top of that, she's greedy. Whenever there's something delicious, she fights over it like pigs and dogs, only caring about eating and drinking. Her ill-mannered behavior is just annoying.
Her face darkened. "Ruolan, you're not a child anymore. Erbao is your younger brother. How can you bully him?"
Chen Ruolan's face paled at the rebuke, and she feigned weakness, "Second Aunt, I didn't bully Erbao. I was just asking him where these pastries came from. Why don't you share the good food with everyone?"
Sun couldn't stand her weak and submissive appearance, and snorted disdainfully, "What business is it of yours? You still want to eat? When your family is eating well, do you think of us?"
Chen Ruolan's eyes reddened, and she put on a particularly aggrieved look, "Second Aunt, you misunderstood me. I didn't say I wanted to eat it. I just felt that if there are good things, I should first give them to my grandparents."
"Chen Ruolan, how can you be so good with words!" Sun sneered. "You call yourself filial to your grandparents? Your grandma frys two eggs for you every day at your meals, but I've never seen you give her a bite. You only think of your grandma when Erbao eats a snack. You really know how to be a good person."
Chen Ruolan choked and her face turned red. She explained to the old lady next to her, "Grandma, it's not that I didn't want to give you any. I remember you said you don't like scrambled eggs, so I didn't give you any. I just thought you'd never had such a nice snack before, so I was in a hurry and snatched it from Erbao's hand."
Seeing her tearful eyes filled with tenderness, Grandma Chen nodded repeatedly, "Good granddaughter, Grandma knows you are the most filial, Grandma understands your feelings."
"Thank you, Grandma. I knew you understood me." Chen Ruolan said, even squeezing out a few tears of grievance.
Looking at her hypocritical act, Mrs. Sun felt disgusted and said coldly, "Your grandmother doesn't like it, but when you bent down to eat, did you ever think of asking us?"
Old Mrs. Chen was displeased. Her face darkened, and she said irritably, "Second son's wife, Ruolan is fighting for this food for me. Why are you being so relentless? Did you buy this Ruyi cake?"
"If I didn't buy it, did you?"
Seeing the bite taken out of the Ruyi cake, Old Mrs. Chen's face instantly darkened to the point of being dripping with water. She pointed at Sun Shi and said, "You unfilial thing! I'm not even dead yet, and you dare to hide money from me to buy delicious food. This is outrageous! Is this how your family taught you to be a daughter-in-law?"
Chen Ruolan was secretly pleased with herself. She had guessed right. The second wife was indeed hiding money. If Old Madam Chen found out, she would be in big trouble today.
She quickly added fuel to the fire, saying, "Second Aunt, you've gone too far! Why hide the delicious food you bought? Don't you know how to be filial to your elders first?"
Old Mrs. Chen's eyes blazed with anger. This spendthrift! The family is almost out of rice to cook, yet she still has secret savings to buy this to eat. She's really gone too far!
"Second son's wife, I won't hold it against you today. Just give me your secret stash of money right now, and we'll call it a day. Otherwise, I'll have Zhanliang divorce you, you disrespectful and wicked woman."
At this moment, Chen Zhanliang came out of the house upon hearing the noise and shouted, "Mother, you are making false accusations! Our second branch of the family is innocent. Where would we get any secret money? We didn't buy this Ruyi cake; it was a gift from someone else."
Chen Ruolan gave a cold laugh, "Second Uncle, don't lie to me. A box of Ruyi cakes costs five hundred coins. If you didn't buy them, who would give Erbao such an expensive treat?"
Sun gritted her teeth in anger, "Chen Ruolan, not everyone is as heartless as you third wife, taking the family's hard-earned money to eat, drink, and have fun in town!"
To tell you the truth, this box of auspicious cakes was a gift from Qingya to our second branch of the family. Qingya is a kind-hearted girl, a thousand times better than you, Chen Ruolan.
I'm making this clear today: I won't give these cakes to Chen Ruolan, because you don't deserve them.
......
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