CHAPTER 49

Someone took the lead, and the remaining women followed suit.

“That’s right. When Su Wan brought food to Shen Lin, I smelled the food. It was delicious.”

“One day a few days ago, I passed by Shen Lin’s house and smelled a very delicious meat smell, which was better than any meat smell I had ever smelled.”

“It’s strange to say, Su Wan used to be clumsy and stupid, but after she went to the Shen family, she became beautiful.”

“What do you call this? This is called surviving a great disaster and having good fortune in the future. I used to think this child had a miserable life, but now it seems that she is pretty and can marry into a wealthy family. She won’t have to suffer these hardships in the future.”

Several women started talking to each other, and they started talking about Su Wan’s appearance and future life.

Mrs. Wang coughed. In the past, in order to create a good reputation for Wang Luoxue, Mrs. Wang said that all the work done by Su Wan was done by Wang Luoxue. At the same time, she also said how clumsy Su Wan was, which made everyone think that Su Wan was very clumsy.

But things are different now. If Su Wan can be more presentable, it will further demonstrate the noble status of Wang Luosheng.

Mrs. Wang cleared her throat and said, “Su Wan’s family background may not be as good as other girls who like Luosheng, but she can do some work. She has grown up with Luosheng and Luoxue for two years. If it weren’t for this reason and affection, she wouldn’t have had the blessing of coming to work for my family.”

Several women found Mrs. Wang’s words harsh. How could working for her family be considered a blessing? Mrs. Wang was really overestimating herself.

Mrs. Sun couldn’t help herself and said , “Sister Wang, can Su Wan really come over? You and her broke off all ties a few months ago. How could she not hate you?”

Mrs. Sun also bluntly said that Mrs. Wang had watched the man in danger without helping him.

Mrs. Wang was not ashamed of this and said, “Why not? She is crying and begging to come and work for my family. Just wait and see; she will be here soon.”

Mrs. Li said, “Well, let’s talk here and wait for Su Wan to come over. She has only been in Qingzhou Prefecture for a few days, but I feel like I haven’t seen her for a long time.”

Several women said that they hadn’t seen Su Wan for a long time, so they might as well wait for Su Wan to come to Wang’s house.

It was really boring to have nothing to do in winter, so they wanted to see how Su Wan would beg Mrs. Wang to let her come back to work. To be honest, it was too servile for a girl to do this. Only because Su Wan had no father and no mother could she do such a thing.

Several women found small stools in the Wang family’s yard to sit on, waiting to watch the show.

Don’t miss this opportunity to watch the fun.

Several women sat down and started chatting. Mrs. Wang naturally couldn’t help but exaggerate how successful her son was and how virtuous her daughter was.

Several women were muttering in their hearts. When Mrs. Wang said that Wang Luoxue was virtuous, they also thought so. It was true that Wang Luoxue was good at embroidery and kept her home in order. However, they had come to Wang’s house several times recently and found that the yard was not very tidy. As a result, the women began to doubt Wang Luoxue’s good reputation and discussed this matter in private.

Mrs. Wang naturally had not heard the women’s private suspicions, and she continued talking, and as she spoke, she came to the topic of Yang Yunyan.

Mrs. Wang talked about how beautiful and well-educated Yang Yunyan was and how many young men in Qingyun County liked Yang Yunyan. Finally, Wang “deliberately lowered her voice” and told several women about the purse Yang Yunyan gave to Wang Luosheng.

Several women gave each other praise, saying that Wang Luosheng was indeed excellent, and all the girls rushed forward to show their affection to Wang Luosheng.

Mrs. Wang was very satisfied and immersed in a deep sense of contentment.

At this moment, Mrs. Sun said, “Hey, why hasn’t Su Wan come over yet? Everyone is waiting for her.”

Everyone also asked, Why hasn’t Su Wan come over yet? They have been talking for a while, and Su Wan should have come over by now.

Mrs. Wang felt even happier. The slower Su Wan packed, the more things she had. Mrs. Wang had heard that Shen Lin had been selling the candied haws for Su Wan a few days ago. Su Wan was naturally rich, and the richer she was, the more things she had.

Once we take these back, they will all belong to the Wang family.

Mrs. Wang said, “She must have bought a lot of things, so she was slow to clean up. Didn’t you see her buying rice, flour, meat, vegetables, and fabrics a few days ago? She probably bought even more in the following months, so it will take some time to sort them out.”

After hearing this, the ladies were envious and jealous. They all knew that Su Wan often went to Qingyun County to buy things. They had been to Shen’s house before and happened to meet Su Wan coming back from shopping.

At that time they envied the Shen family, but now they envy the Wang family. Alas, it was because Mrs. Wang gave birth to a son who passed the imperial examination and became a scholar.

Several women were still sitting there waiting, and their enthusiasm for conversation was obviously not as high as before.

After waiting for a while, there was still no movement at the Wang family’s gate, and Su Wan didn’t come over.

Mrs. Li said, “Su Wan has a lot of stuff; why don’t we go over and help her move it?”

Mrs. Wang waved her hands and raised her eyebrows. “Of course we can’t go over to help her move. If we go over, it means that our Wang family invited her here. If anyone wants to enter our Wang family, we, Wang, will have to set rules for her so that she won’t lose her identity in the future.”

Mrs. Wang’s words made the other ladies even more uncomfortable, but some of them were used to agreeing and said, “That’s right, we need to set some rules for her, otherwise she will be disrespectful in the future.”

Wang Luoxue waited and waited in the house, but Su Wan didn’t show up, so she paced around the house anxiously.

A few women were sitting on small benches outside the house, basking in the sun bored, when they suddenly smelled a strong aroma of chili peppers.

No, it was not just the fragrance of chili peppers. The fragrance of chili peppers was mixed with the taste of numbness and saltiness. Although it was almost time to cook, it was not yet time for people to get hungry. However, at this moment, everyone in the Wang family’s yard was hungry.

“This smell must have come from the Shen family.” Sun looked in the direction of the Shen family.

“Yes, it’s the Shen family. They’ve started cooking.”

“Mrs. Shen can’t cook, and Shen Lin can’t make such a delicious meal. This must be Su Wan. Hey, this is strange. Wasn’t Su Wan going to pack up and come to Wang’s house? How could she cook?”

Several women started murmuring again.

Mrs. Li was puzzled, “Is Su Wan not coming to the Wang family anymore?”

Mrs. Wang snorted coldly, “It’s impossible for her not to come. She is so happy to be back in the Wang family. You didn’t see how happy she was when she heard that she could come back to the Wang family.”

The women kept silent and decided to wait a little longer. However, if Su Wan had not come by the time it was time to cook, they would have to go to the Shen family to see what was going on. They couldn’t keep wasting time like this and delaying the family’s cooking. The man at home would definitely be angry.

After waiting for a while, the women became a little annoyed. They had come here to watch the show and enjoy the excitement, but ended up sitting in the Wang family’s yard and blowing in the cold wind.

Mrs. Wang was also a stingy person. She didn’t even invite them home.

It’s time to cook, but Su Wan hasn’t come home yet.

Mrs. Sun couldn’t hold back any longer. “Sister Wang, let’s go to Sister Shen’s place to see what’s going on with Su Wan and why she hasn’t returned to the Wang family yet.”

Mrs. Li continued, “That’s right. If we go there, we can ask the child whether she is embarrassed to go back to the Wang family or if she has no intention of going back to the Wang family at all.”

Mrs. Wang couldn’t hold back any longer. Su Wan had always been timid before. She must be afraid that she would refuse to let her come back, so she didn’t dare to come to her house.  She should have begged her to come back today and given herself enough dignity in front of others, but she was so hopeless that she didn’t dare to come back, making her wait for half the morning.

Mrs. Sun was the first to stand up, and everyone else stood up as well. Mrs. Sun led everyone out of the  Wang family’s yard and walked towards the Shen family’s gate.

Mrs. Wang naturally walked in front.

A few people went to the gate of Shen’s house and were about to knock on the door when they saw the door move by itself.

Mrs.Wang felt regretful. She thought that Su Wan must be going to Wang’s house. Why couldn’t she hold back so early?

Mrs. Wang was just regretting it, but the person who came out was Shen Yaya.

Shen Yaya came out with a pot of spicy hot pot in both hands, and then Su Wan, who opened the door for Shen Yaya, also showed up.

Shen Yaya was shocked when she saw so many people gathered at the door.

Several women were instantly attracted by the spicy hotpot in Shen Yaya’s hand. What kind of food is this? A big pot of red and green. It smells fresh and spicy. It must be delicious.

Su Wan used the fried hot pot base to make spicy hot pot. The method of making spicy hot pot is very simple. Just wash various tofu, tofu skin, mushrooms, vegetables, duck blood, and mutton offal and stir-fry them directly in the pan.

These were all bought by Su Wan in Qingyun County that day. Tofu and tofu products, as well as duck blood and mutton offal, were all very cheap. Su Wan thought that these would be suitable for making spicy hot pot, so she bought a lot of them when she went back to try it. Now they came in handy for making spicy hot pot.

Su Wan asked Shen Yaya to take the first pot of spicy hotpot she made to the Yang family. When Shen Lin went to Qingzhou Prefecture these days, he told Yang Wu to look after the yard, so naturally she couldn’t let him work in vain.

The Yang brothers were all kind-hearted and grateful, so Su Wan made a big pot of soup so that the whole Yang family could have some.

Several women swallowed their saliva unconsciously. This bowl of food must be delicious.

Mrs. Sun was the first to speak, “Shen Yaya, are you helping Su Wan take this meal to Aunt Wang’s house?”

Mrs. Sun thought that Su Wan had prepared delicious meals to please Mrs. Wang, and she felt extremely envious and jealous.

Shen Yaya looked puzzled. “No, Aunt Sun, this dish is to be served to the grandparents of the Yang family. The brothers of the Yang family helped my brother with the work and also helped my brother to look after the yard. Of course we have to express our gratitude.”

After that, Shen Yaya took the initiative to ask, “Aunts, what are you doing at my door?”

Mrs. Li replied, “Isn’t your sister Su Wan going back to your aunt Wang’s house? We thought she had a lot of stuff, so we came to help her move it.”

Shen Yaya was shocked and was about to retort when she heard Su Wan speak, “Aunts, I never said I was going to Wang’s house. I live well in Shen’s house; why would I go to Aunt Wang’s house?”

After hearing Su Wan’s words, the ladies had different expressions; some were shocked, and some thought it was as they expected.