Leng Shuyue was trembling with rage. She pointed a cold finger at the gate, her teeth chattering in anger.
"I told you we shouldn’t come, I told you! But you insisted. And now look! Look at his attitude! He’s a complete, ungrateful wretch."
Ding Jiangchuan was furious. He rounded on Leng Shuyue. "I told you to get on good terms with Leng Yuan. And what did you do? With an aunt like you, if I were Leng Yuan, I wouldn’t want anything to do with you either."
With that, Ding Jiangchuan angrily hopped on his bicycle and rode away, leaving Leng Shuyue standing there alone.
Leng Shuyue panicked, and then a wave of indignation washed over her.
’I told Ding Jiangchuan about all those things I did before, and he never objected. Why is he blaming me now that things have gone south?’
Watching Ding Jiangchuan leave without a backward glance, Leng Shuyue kicked the gate in a fit of pique. The gate was made of thick, solid iron; never mind Leng Shuyue, even a strong man wouldn’t come out of that unscathed.
As for Leng Shuyue, her kick left the iron gate completely unmarked, but her own leg went numb with pain.
Aggrieved, humiliated, and heartbroken, she wiped away her tears and limped toward the Leng Family home.
’Ugh, I’m so furious!’ she sobbed inwardly. ’That damn Leng Yuan... he’d better not let me find any dirt on him, or I’ll make him pay.’
Gu Jiaojiao and Leng Yuan went inside. Neither of them gave the incident a second thought. After putting away the New Year’s goods, she took out the cyan-colored fabric.
She had bought it to make a pair of boots for Leng Yuan.
Just as Gu Jiaojiao finished tidying up, there was another knock on the courtyard gate.
Her expression darkened.
’Don’t tell me Leng Shuyue and Ding Jiangchuan still haven’t given up!’
Before Gu Jiaojiao could put her things down and answer it, Leng Yuan had already gone to the gate. When Gu Jiaojiao came out of the room again, she saw Leng Yuan emerging from the kitchen.
Seeing Gu Jiaojiao, Leng Yuan explained.
"Grandma Chen dropped off some tofu."
Gu Jiaojiao hadn’t expected it to be Grandma Chen. She walked into the kitchen and saw a large block of tofu sitting in a basin.
She had only mentioned it in passing; she never thought Grandma Chen would bring over such a huge piece.
Gu Jiaojiao decided to make fish with tofu, since they still had some of the fish Leng Yuan had caught earlier.
At Leng Yuan’s house, a fragrant aroma filled the air and drifted outside.
Over at Yun Hao’s place, the pots and stove were cold. No one was cooking.
Yesterday, Xu Wenwan hadn’t even been able to get a fire started, and the two of them ended up going to bed on an empty stomach. Today, Yun Hao had cooked, but he only made enough for himself, completely ignoring Xu Wenwan.
After he had choked her the day before, Xu Wenwan was now a little afraid of Yun Hao. Seeing there was no food for her, she didn’t dare make a fuss.
She hadn’t eaten and had no energy. She wanted to use her points to redeem some food, but the system reminded her that she had no points left.
Xu Wenwan instantly became enraged.
’No points, always no points! I siphoned the luck from three people yesterday, and I can’t even exchange it for a bite to eat?’
’Then just let me starve to death! Once I’m dead, you can just find a new host.’
She had a complete breakdown, unleashing a tirade on the system.
The system pondered for a moment. It concluded that if something really happened to Xu Wenwan, it wouldn’t benefit either. So, it reluctantly redeemed a serving of braised pork and rice for her.
The sight of meat and rice made Xu Wenwan’s eyes light up. She bolted her door and ate by herself until she was stuffed.
After her meal, suspicion finally began to dawn on Xu Wenwan.
Before, she needed points for everything. But this time, she clearly had none, yet the system had still helped her.
There had been similar situations in the past.
Whenever she brought up the luck she’d gathered and threatened to go on strike, the system would offer her some help.
’So, this "luck" must be extremely important to the system!’