Chapter 118: Letting Go
Zhaodi sneered, “Since she was scheming against me from the start, what kind of friend is that? Don’t worry, I’m not that fragile. Otherwise, I would’ve died who knows how many times over these years.”
The others exchanged glances and breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s too late, let’s go back and rest.” Su Yaoguang hugged Zhaodi’s arm. “Tonight, I’ll sleep with my mom.”
“No, absolutely not. I sleep perfectly fine alone. Why come make a fuss?” Zhaodi said disdainfully. “Hurry up and go. This place is truly disgusting. I’m never coming back.”
From behind came Su Guilan’s shrill screams, the cursing of Jiang Fang’s wife, Su Guilan’s husband shouting in rage that he would divorce her, and others trying to talk him down. The nearby residents couldn’t stay put listening to such a lively drama. They poked their heads out from their courtyards at the courtyard entrance of Jiang Shi and Tong Chunlai’s place.
Jiang Jing and Jia Chunni peered out from the doorway. Seeing them return, they immediately came forward to greet them.
“Godmother (aunt), are you okay?”
Zhaodi stroked Jiang Jing’s hair and patted Jia Chunni’s outstretched hand. “Silly child, look at me—not even a single strand of hair is missing. I’m definitely fine, no need to worry.”
“Today’s matter was all thanks to Wangshu. If not for this boy spotting it with his sharp eyes and exposing Jiang Shi and Su Guilan’s conspiracy early, I’m afraid I really would’ve fallen into their hands.” Zhaodi turned back to look at Zhou Wangshu. “Tomorrow, I’ll make you your favorite stir-fried chicken cubes.”
Zhou Wangshu blinked his eyes and said innocently, “Thanks, Mom. As long as Mom is fine, that’s good. Though we haven’t tasted Mom’s cooking in a long time. This time, it’s a blessing in disguise.”
The night was deep, and several little heads peeked out from the window.
Su Yaoguang pressed against the window, listening to the commotion inside.
Jiang Jing asked in a low voice, “How is it? Godmother didn’t cry, right?”
“Can’t hear.” Su Yaoguang cupped her hands like a horn and pressed them against the wall to listen to the sounds inside. “Nothing at all.”
“Auntie snores when she sleeps, so if she’s asleep, there’d definitely be some sound. No sound now means she’s not asleep.” Jia Chunni listened to the commotion inside from the side.
Zhou Wangshu stood not far away, leaning against a tree trunk with arms crossed, watching the three little girls secretly monitoring Zhaodi’s situation.
The window slid open with a clatter. Zhaodi stood at the window, looking exasperatedly at the three little girls caught red-handed. “Not sleepy? If you’re not sleepy, then go chop the firewood and make tomorrow’s breakfast.”
“Sleepy, of course sleepy. We’re going to sleep right now.” Jia Chunni scurried back to her room like a little eel.
Jiang Jing said obediently, “Godmother, a rat just ran by earlier. I was afraid it would scare you. Now it seems the rat has run far away, so I’m heading back to my room right away.”
Zhaodi looked at Su Yaoguang with a half-smile. “And you? What are you doing?”
“I was stargazing with Wangshu!” Su Yaoguang pointed at Zhou Wangshu behind her. “We’re heading back to our rooms to rest right now.”
With that, she trotted over to Zhou Wangshu, grabbed his hand, and ran off to the side, saying, “Hurry, hurry, my mom is about to erupt.”
Zhaodi watched the children, a smile flashing in her eyes. “Youth is truly wonderful.”
Su Yaoguang ran back into Zhou Wangshu’s room and poured a cup of water from the teapot.
“Good thing I ran fast, or else I’d have been beaten by my mom.”
“I’ve never seen Mom beat you.” Zhou Wangshu said, “Would she bear to beat you?”
Su Yaoguang paused, trying hard to recall, then lowered her eyes and said, “Yeah, Mom hasn’t beaten me in a long time.”
“From your tone, you seem disappointed?”
“Wangshu, can you rest and recuperate these next few days?” Su Yaoguang said. “Looking at the sky, I fear rain is coming soon. I want to procure some more grain before the rain starts.”
“We’ve already procured quite a bit of grain now—enough to last a year even.” Zhou Wangshu said. “We’ve also prepared plenty of medicinal herbs. Even if Jiang Jing opened a pharmacy, it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“I’m still not at ease and want to stock up on more things.” Su Yaoguang said. “Let’s go to the neighboring city to buy. Don’t let others know we’ve procured so much grain. We also need to find a place to store it.”
Besides grain, they needed to stock up on more medicinal herbs. Also, prepare some other daily necessities.
In her previous life, during that most difficult period, she and her mom had spent it in the countryside. During that time with no grain, they had pulled up all the grass in the mountains. Fortunately, it only lasted a few months before the imperial court allocated grain for disaster relief.
Xiao Yanci hadn’t suffered much in his previous life. After all, he was at the academy, and scholars were the academy’s foundation as well as a place’s foundation—they were the easiest group to get grain for.
Seeing her expression so grave, Zhou Wangshu thought he needed to pay special attention to this matter. But for him, it wasn’t difficult. A few days ago when he was preparing grain, he had told Chen Buyu and Zhong Chushan, and they had also bought a large batch of grain. Tomorrow he’d find them again and have them prepare even more. Then, the grain he bought could be transported back with the Chen family and Zhong family convoys.
“Okay.”
“Wangshu, you’re not asking why?” Su Yaoguang looked at him.
“This rain looks a bit off, and since you’re not at ease, wanting to stock up more grain is no problem. Grain can be eaten or sold anyway.”
“Wangshu, how are you so wonderful?” Su Yaoguang reached out her devilish claws and pinched his cheeks.
Zhou Wangshu: “…”
She really treated him like a child.
“With you helping me, I feel like I’m not fighting alone. Having someone to back me up feels truly great.” Su Yaoguang said sincerely. “Sure enough, keeping you was my wisest decision.”
Su Yaoguang stood up, waved her hand at him, and left his room.
Zhou Wangshu sat at the table, poured a cup of water, and drank it all in one go.
The next morning, Su Yaoguang returned from outside after finishing her errands. Seeing many people gathered at the doorway, she squeezed through the crowd and said, “Excuse me, make way. What are you all crowded here for?”
“Boss Su, your grandpa and grandma are here. They’re holding a knife and threatening to slit their throats at your shop doorway, saying you’re unfilial to elders.”
A flash of irritation passed through Su Yaoguang’s eyes.
How were they still haunting her like evil spirits?
Weren’t they supposed to be too busy with Su Guilan’s matter right now?
With Su Guilan having lost her chastity, her husband definitely wouldn’t keep her—divorcing her was just a matter of time. Yet the Su family wasn’t worrying about her but came here to make trouble. Clearly, the temptation of money was truly great.
“Call the officials!” Su Yaoguang took out ten copper coins and said to the auntie who told her, “Trouble Auntie to report to the officials for us. This is hardship fee.”
“Okay, I’ll go right now.”
Grandpa Su and Grandma Su had been making a racket here for a long time. Zhaodi couldn’t drive them away and could only let them cause a scene at the doorway. With Zhong Lanhua chiming in from the side, everyone started believing what Grandpa Su and Grandma Su said, expressing disapproval of Zhaodi and her daughter’s disrespect toward elders.
