Chapter 7

Liu Lizhen stood at the doorway with a dark face. “You still know to come back? I see you’re getting wilder and wilder! Where did you go last night? Who were you with? What were you doing? You didn’t even come home—look at which family’s girl is like you!”

Ye Xiangdang said from inside, “If you have something to say, come in and say it. Blocking the doorway just makes us a laughingstock.”

Left with no choice, Liu Lizhen finally stopped and angrily let Ye Wanqing enter.

Ye Mingzhu heard the noise and came out of the room. She smiled sweetly at Ye Wanqing. “Sister, you’re back?”

Ye Wanqing ignored her.

“Come here.” Ye Xiangdang waved.

Ye Wanqing sat down on the wooden sofa opposite Ye Xiangdang. A pair of dark, clear almond eyes looked toward him.

“Where did you go last night?”

“I slept at Grandma Chen’s downstairs.”

“Isn’t that too much trouble for other people?” Ye Xiangdang frowned.

“Then what? Where else could I go?” Ye Wanqing asked lightly in return. “I don’t have a house key. When I knocked you wouldn’t open the door. If I don’t trouble others, am I supposed to sleep outside the door for a night? The nights are cold and the wind is chilly at this time. You don’t feel sorry for me, so I at least have to feel sorry for myself.”

“You never went to Grandma Chen’s before.” Ye Mingzhu asked curiously. “Sister, you wouldn’t specially go sell misery to others and ruin our family’s reputation outside, would you? These past two days the whole bus station has been talking about how you’re an adopted daughter and can’t take over the job or whatever.”

“I never sell misery. I only speak the truth.”

Ye Mingzhu choked.

Liu Lizhen could not hold back and shouted, “You’re the one with the sharp tongue! Whoever says a single word you have to talk back! There are only three keys for the door lock. So what if we don’t give you a key? Just because we don’t give you one you go outside and spread bad things about the family? Ye Wanqing, how did you become like this? How have we let you down?”

Ye Wanqing gave a light laugh.

To be honest, she also did not know why Ye Xiangdang and Liu Lizhen truly had a bit of sincerity toward her. On the surface there was no difference in how she and Ye Mingzhu were treated regarding food, clothing, and living, and they had also paid for her schooling. The only thing was that they never gave her a house key.

If there weren’t enough door keys, couldn’t they just make another one?

In her previous life she had not been able to understand this issue. She had been sensitive about it for a long time and never dared to ask, even crying several times over it. In this life she no longer cared.

The atmosphere of the conversation was not very good. Ye Xiangdang also lost interest in talking and waved his hand impatiently. “All right, stop being so sarcastic here. Go into your room. Finish the housework before sleeping. You don’t want to marry into the Wang family, and the Wang family doesn’t think much of you either. You got what you wanted.”

This counted as good news. Ye Wanqing raised her brows and smiled.

She stood up. Ye Xiangdang gave her another instruction: “Also, from now on don’t talk about family matters outside. You’re not a two- or three-year-old child. Have a little sense of shame.”

Ye Wanqing neither agreed nor disagreed.

She walked into the kitchen and found a pile of unwashed bowls and chopsticks in the sink. The floor was also dirty. She estimated that the reason she had been allowed to enter the house tonight was still thanks to how well she did housework.

Forget it. Housing was very tight for every family at this time, and renting a place was not easy. For now she still needed to live here. Doing housework could be counted as paying rent.

She quickly cleaned everything up, washed, and prepared to rest.

After closing the door, she faintly heard the family of three talking in low voices outside.

“Don’t push too hard.”

“It’s also good that she went out and said it. How our family has treated her all these years is plain to see. No one will believe her nonsense…… Not giving her the job is not giving it. If people want to gossip, let them first touch their own chests and see who can treat both the same.”

“Mingzhu is so obedient. As for her, as long as she doesn’t make people angry it’s already good.”

“……”

Ye Wanqing listened for a while. There was nothing new. She had been tired all day again and quickly felt sleepy after closing her eyes.

While she was half-asleep, she suddenly felt someone push her back.

It was Ye Mingzhu.

Her voice carried a bit of coquettish complaint. “Sister, you’ll always treat me well, right? Actually I feel a little sorry toward you, but I still want the job. My grades aren’t good. I definitely won’t be able to find a better job later.”

“Sister, once I start working I’ll bring you big apples from outside to eat! The red Fuji kind—how about it?”

“Are you really asleep, or just don’t want to pay attention to me?”

Ye Wanqing pretended to sleep and did not speak.

Seeing that she did not respond, Ye Mingzhu said nothing more and unhappily walked back to her own bed to lie down.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

Ye Wanqing ran back and forth every day between the bus station and Ge Yuan’s small courtyard. Not only did she not feel tired, she felt very fulfilled. Her small stall looked simple, but the tea business was truly good. In just these few days she had already accumulated nearly one hundred yuan in her hands.

Perhaps because they were envious of her low costs and good business, the moment Ye Wanqing arrived at the waiting hall that day she discovered that Sun Guixiang had also started selling tea.

Also clear tea and ginger-salt tea, and even the enamel cups were the same style she had bought.

Seeing Ye Wanqing’s slightly surprised gaze, Sun Guixiang awkwardly smoothed her hair. “Little sister, you don’t mind me selling tea as well, right? I’m not trying to steal your business, but my family burden is heavy. The whole family is waiting for me to support them. I have no choice.”

Ye Wanqing pressed her lips into a smile. “I don’t mind.”

Saying she minded would be useless. Besides souring the relationship there was no benefit at all. Selling tea had no technical content and was originally easy to copy. Without a Sun Guixiang there would be a Chen Guixiang.

However, it seemed she needed to put the matter of boiling sour plum drink on the agenda.

Looking at the weather slowly growing hotter, a bowl of sweet-and-sour sour plum drink to relieve the heat would be the best. It was just that some of the ingredients were rather hard to obtain. She wondered whether Ge Yuan had any way.

Besides the sour plum drink, she also wanted to prepare some other food to sell—delicious and affordable kinds.

She did not mind others imitating her, but she would not allow herself to be surpassed by those who imitated her.

What else should she sell?

Ye Wanqing’s mind did not stop for the entire morning.

At noon she once again took out the leftover buns from the morning, warmed them, and prepared to make do with a meal.

However, before the buns even entered her mouth, a sudden cry of surprise rang out.

“Sister!”

Ye Wanqing looked up. Ye Mingzhu and Liu Lizhen, mother and daughter, walked quickly toward her, both wearing expressions of disbelief.

“Sister, why didn’t you tell the family that you’re setting up a stall here? Mom and Dad and I didn’t know at all. Other people told us!” While speaking, Ye Mingzhu looked over Ye Wanqing’s small stall. “Tsk…… You’re only selling tea. Can this make money?”

“Of course it can make money. Your sister has probably earned over a hundred yuan these past few days.” Sun Guixiang happened to pass by and smiled as she added a sentence.

“That much?!” Ye Mingzhu was stunned and looked eagerly at Ye Wanqing. “Sister, you’re really amazing!”

“Amazing about what? No matter how amazing, hasn’t she still been copied by some shameless people who started selling the same thing?” The moment Liu Lizhen saw that Sun Guixiang was also selling tea she understood the situation and directly confronted Sun Guixiang until the latter’s face fell, barely managing a smile.

Immediately after, her firepower concentrated on Ye Wanqing again. She said sternly, “Your sister says you’re amazing. I think you’re bold beyond measure! No matter what, you can’t take the family’s money! Ye Wanqing, this isn’t taking—this is stealing, do you know that? The principles of being a person that I taught you—did you learn them all into a dog’s stomach?”

Stealing things was an extremely serious accusation in this era that valued character highly. It could even lead to sentencing and imprisonment.

Even if it was stealing from one’s own family, it was still stealing.

For a moment many people looked at Ye Wanqing with shock and disdain, unable to believe that this girl who looked bright and pretty and acted straightforward and capable was actually a thief who stole money.

Ye Wanqing felt the strange gazes of the crowd and was so angry she laughed instead.

She did not know whether Liu Lizhen understood the seriousness of the three words “stealing things,” but she absolutely would not carry this black pot!

“You say I stole things—do you have evidence? I don’t even have a house key. When I’m at home there is always someone else at home. May I ask how I stole the family’s money? Are all of you blind, or can I turn invisible?”

“Then where did your money come from?” Liu Lizhen completely disbelieved her. “A couple of days ago I already discovered that the family was short twenty yuan. Without evidence I didn’t make a fuss. Today seeing you setting up a stall here—isn’t it obvious? Without twenty yuan as capital, how could this tea stall of yours possibly be set up?”

“Mom, lower your voice a bit. Give…… give Sister some face!” Ye Mingzhu’s face turned pale as she tugged at Liu Lizhen’s sleeve.

Ye Wanqing glanced at the anxious Ye Mingzhu, slightly curved her lips, the smile not reaching her eyes. “When did you discover the family was short twenty yuan?”

“Just the day before yesterday!”

“Really lost?”

“Lost!”

“Certain?”

“I’m certain! Otherwise why would I bring this up?” Liu Lizhen flung off Ye Mingzhu’s hand. “Don’t try to persuade me. Today I’m going to teach your sister a lesson!” Yet she did not notice that the eyes of Wang Fang and the others had become meaningful.

“……” A layer of sweat appeared on Ye Mingzhu’s forehead.

Ye Wanqing’s almond eyes were clear and cold. She could not help laughing. “Then I’m truly sorry. Sister Wang and the others all know I’ve already been setting up the stall for three or four days. It really doesn’t match the money you lost the day before yesterday. If you want to catch a family thief, you’d better think in another direction.”

Another direction……

Liu Lizhen subconsciously looked to her side and met her little daughter’s deathly pale little face. She only felt a bit dizzy.

“Then…… then maybe I remembered wrong. There was no such thing as losing money! But…… but where your capital came from, you must explain clearly. If you don’t explain clearly, how do I know you didn’t mess around outside, you……”

“Her capital was exchanged by selling her hair. The barbershop boss is my own younger brother. He can testify!” A voice suddenly interrupted from the side. A young man in blue work clothes walked over.

Ye Wanqing recognized him. He was Little Qi, the driver she had previously been paired with on the routes. So the barbershop boss was his younger brother.

A disturbance had broken out in the waiting hall. After hearing the news, Director Li hurried over. Upon hearing Liu Lizhen’s words she also felt it was unfair to Ye Wanqing and said angrily, “Liu Lizhen, is your biological daughter a daughter while the adopted one is not your daughter? Ten yuan of her capital was given by me! If it weren’t for you as the adoptive mother taking every single cent of the wages she earned riding the routes every month, she wouldn’t have been so hard-pressed!”

“So that’s how it was!”

“I said this mother was too strange, ruining her daughter’s reputation like this. I never expected she was an adopted daughter.”

“Since she’s not the biological daughter, who cares about reputation or not, tsk……”

Low discussions rose again among the crowd, only this time they were all directed at Liu Lizhen and Ye Mingzhu rather than Ye Wanqing. Liu Lizhen’s old face flushed with shame. She only felt her head was even dizzier.

At this moment, Ye Mingzhu suddenly stepped forward.