Chapter 29

Cao Yunxia stood behind Ho Tianhe, and it was she who had encouraged her son to come out and snatch the food earlier. When she saw that Lan Yun’er had bought snacks for Ho Miaomiao from the window, she quickly called her son out to grab them. Upon hearing Lan Yun’er’s sharp words, her expression immediately darkened, and she unhappily said, “Why are you being so fierce with the child? Lan Yun’er, you really have some nerve, scolding a child like that!” Lan Yun’er sneered, “To deal with this kind of mischievous child, you have to be strict. I don’t know who taught him such words, saying all the family’s things belong to him. How shameless! He should be embarrassed to say such things out loud!”

“You!” Cao Yunxia tried to argue, but suddenly, Yao Guizhi came out of the house. After what happened the night before, Yao Guizhi was furious with Cao Yunxia and glared at her, scolding, “What are you up to now? Didn’t I tell you to wash clothes? Why are you still here?”

“Zhong Cuitao said she would do the washing. She insisted on doing it,” Cao Yunxia replied with a fake smile, trying to cover up. Actually, her mother-in-law had asked her to wash the clothes, but she had forced Zhong Cuitao to do it instead. Zhong Cuitao, being timid and weak, had hesitated at first but was bullied into doing it and went to the river with the clothes.

Yao Guizhi had long figured out Cao Yunxia’s tricks, so she wasn’t fooled. She picked up a broom from the corner of the room and swung it at Cao Yunxia. “You useless thing, do you think I don’t know you’re lying? Does Zhong Cuitao really want to take your chores? You lazy good-for-nothing! Not only do you laze around at home, but you also cause trouble! Do you believe I’ll make Jun Da divorce you? Do you believe I’ll kick you out?” Yao Guizhi was serious about wanting to get rid of her. Cao Yunxia had completely ruined the family’s reputation, and now everyone laughed at the Ho family for having such a wife.

When Cao Yunxia heard this, she panicked. She didn’t care about the pain from the broom and quickly said, “Mom, don’t do this. I’ll go do the work. I’ll go work right now!” Yao Guizhi angrily hit Cao Yunxia again, “Go turn over that piece of land behind the house! In spring, I want to plant some vegetables. If you don’t do it today, don’t expect dinner tonight!”

Digging up land was hard work, and Cao Yunxia didn’t want to do it, but when she saw her mother-in-law’s angry expression, she could only obediently go. Before she left, she pointed at Lan Yun’er and complained to Yao Guizhi, “Mom, Lan Yun’er is so biased. She bought snacks but only gave them to Ho Miaomiao and didn’t give any to Tianhe. How can an aunt be so unfair?”

The snack was just a small bag of candy. Lan Yun’er’s eyes narrowed, and she quickly interrupted Cao Yunxia. She looked at Yao Guizhi and calmly said, “Mom, look at Tianhe’s teeth. His teeth are so black, probably because he eats too much candy. If he keeps eating it, he might lose all his teeth before he turns ten.”

Ho Tianhe’s teeth were indeed black, and the village barefoot doctor had even mentioned before that his teeth were unusually black for his age. Hearing Lan Yun’er’s words, Yao Guizhi subconsciously looked at Ho Tianhe, who quickly covered his mouth in embarrassment.

Lan Yun’er continued, “Also, eating too much candy can make kids fat. Being overweight isn’t good for their health, they get sick easily. When I went to the city hospital with my family, the doctor said this. Mom, for Tianhe’s health, we need to control his diet. We can’t let him keep eating like this. And if he gets too fat, how is he going to find a wife when he grows up?”

Lan Yun’er’s words made sense, and Yao Guizhi frowned, clearly taking it to heart. Cao Yunxia was so angry she nearly spat blood, “Lan Yun’er, stop spouting nonsense! You just don’t want to give Tianhe good things, do you?”

“Shut up! Don’t you have work to do? Why are you still standing here?” Yao Guizhi raised the broom again, ready to hit Cao Yunxia. Cao Yunxia suppressed her anger and said, “I’m going, Mom, don’t hit me.”

Yao Guizhi glanced at Lan Yun’er and asked, “What’s this?”

“This is a new set of clothes I bought for Jinchen. His old clothes were too worn out and didn’t keep him warm. If he goes to work like that, he might get sick. I made some money selling wild chickens and rabbits today, so I bought it for him,” Lan Yun’er explained with a smile.

Yao Guizhi picked up the clothes from the basket and looked at them. There was only one set, for her son. Lan Yun’er had bought clothes only for him and not for herself. It seemed that this daughter-in-law really cared for her son.

Yao Guizhi felt a sense of pleasure in her heart as she repeatedly examined the clothes and said, “Hmm, this style is good, and the quality feels great. Jinchen will definitely look good in this outfit.” Lan Yun’er smiled, saying, “That’s for sure.”

Cao Yunxia glanced at the clothes in Yao Guizhi’s hands. They really looked good. She also wanted new clothes.

That despicable woman, Lan Yun’er, why is it that only she gets to sell the wild chickens and rabbits from the whole family? Why is it that only she buys clothes for Fourth Brother Ho? If only she had gotten up earlier today, she could’ve taken the chickens and rabbits to sell, and everything would’ve been better. As these thoughts ran through her mind, Cao Yunxia glared at Lan Yun’er in resentment.

Lan Yun’er felt the gaze and slightly curled the corner of her lips, sneering inwardly. She could guess exactly what Cao Yunxia was thinking. That woman, Cao Yunxia, was simply greedy, and all her greed was for other people’s things.

Honestly, living under the same roof with someone like that really made her feel uncomfortable. It seemed she had to move out with Ho Jinchen as soon as possible to avoid seeing Cao Yunxia’s repulsive face. But to move out, they would need to get a new house, and right now, she and Ho Jinchen didn’t have much money. It was impossible to afford. Once again, the importance of money dawned on her. She realized once more that earning money was urgent.

Later that night, after entering the room, Lan Yun’er walked toward the bed and said to Ho Jinchen, “Jinchen, I want to discuss something with you.” She felt that if they were going to move out, it meant they needed to divide the family, which was a significant issue, so she needed to speak to him first.

Ho Jinchen followed her and, upon hearing this, his expression softened. “What’s the matter?”

Lan Yun’er sat on the edge of the bed, glanced at him, and said, “I want to move out. I don’t want to live with my sister-in-law anymore. She’s just too annoying.”

Ho Jinchen furrowed his brows. After getting married, he had also thought about moving out, especially since his older brother and sister-in-law could sometimes be really disappointing. However, given their current situation, moving out wasn’t easy. The main problem was that they didn’t have enough money to get a new place, and their parents would definitely not agree. His parents wanted everyone to live together harmoniously, enjoying the feeling of having the whole family at one table. If they moved out, the family would be separated. Moreover, his older brother and sister-in-law would certainly try to stop them.

After all, if they moved out, it would be much harder for his older brother and sister-in-law to take advantage of them. They would try to persuade their parents to stop them from splitting up.

“So, what’s the matter? You don’t agree?” Seeing the troubled expression on Ho Jinchen’s face, Lan Yun’er quickly asked.

Ho Jinchen sighed and sat beside her. He looked at Lan Yun’er and said, “It’s not that I don’t agree. I’ve thought about moving out, too. But…”

“Are you worried about not having enough money to move out?” Lan Yun’er interrupted. “I’ve thought about that too. From now on, we’ll work hard to earn money, and we’ll make sure to save enough to move out as soon as possible.”

Her tone was firm, and she was determined. She absolutely had to move out. She couldn’t bear to see Cao Yunxia’s repulsive face any longer.

Ho Jinchen replied, “Besides money, I’m also worried that our parents won’t agree. After all, they…”

“Don’t worry about our parents. I have a way to convince them to agree to the split. Now, all I need is for you to agree,” Lan Yun’er said mysteriously.

Ho Jinchen was surprised. “You have a way? What way?”

Lan Yun’er smiled mysteriously. “I won’t tell you just yet. You just need to trust me.”

Ho Jinchen: “…”

He couldn’t believe she was keeping things from him.

“We’ll focus on making money from now on. Jinchen, let’s go to bed early. We need to make money tomorrow,” Lan Yun’er said energetically.

She was eager to go into the mountains now to gather the materials for refining the beauty pills. Ho Jinchen yawned and, after washing up, was suddenly very sleepy. He barely touched the bed before feeling drowsy.

“Alright, sleep early. Goodnight, Yun’er,” Ho Jinchen said as he got up to blow out the oil lamp.

A few minutes later, as Ho Jinchen’s breathing became steady beside her, Lan Yun’er smiled slyly. To prevent Ho Jinchen from wanting to make love, she had given him a drink with added ingredients after dinner. After drinking it, Ho Jinchen would feel extremely tired and would fall asleep as soon as he lay on the bed.

After all, she had been turning him down every night. Eventually, he would start to suspect something.

After making sure he was asleep, Lan Yun’er tucked him in and closed her eyes.

The next day, after Ho Jinchen and Yao Guizhi left for work, Lan Yun’er packed a basket and headed toward Wolf Tooth Mountain to gather materials for the beauty pill. But when she reached the foot of the mountain, she saw Zhou Mingyue.

Zhou Mingyue’s face was swollen and bruised, with a cut on her mouth and bruises around her eyes. It was obvious that she had been beaten again, and the force had been heavy.

Indeed, Zhou Mingyue had been beaten last night. Her father had returned from a business trip and, upon hearing about her misdeeds, had started beating her mercilessly. While he beat her, he yelled at her, accusing her of bringing shame to the family and causing him to lose face in the village. Her mother and Zhou Mingli didn’t dare to intervene, as her father was like a madman when he was angry. In the end, he stopped only when he became tired. Her face had become as swollen as a pig’s head. She didn’t want to go out today, as she knew everyone would laugh at her if they saw her like this. But thinking about the book, where it said that she would find something in the mountains that would unlock her spatial ability, she decided to go anyway. With a spatial ability, she could change her fate and become wealthy.

Determined, Zhou Mingyue walked past Lan Yun’er, raising her chin and looking arrogantly ahead. Lan Yun’er looked at her back and sneered inwardly. Zhou Mingyue was acting so proud, but she really looked like a fool. Not wanting to bother with her, Lan Yun’er also headed up the mountain.

After parting ways with Zhou Mingyue, Lan Yun’er continued to search for the medicinal materials. Eventually, she arrived at a river in the mountains. The water was so clear that she could see everything inside. As she stood at the riverbank and was about to wash her hands, something shiny caught her eye. It was a golden ring, glimmering under the sunlight.

Lan Yun’er’s eyes brightened. She quickly fished it out. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the ring was engraved with the words “Fudi Baoyuan.”

“Fudi Baoyuan?” She thought these words sounded familiar. Suddenly, she remembered where she had seen them before. These words appeared in the novel Warm Marriage in the 80s: The Best Wife Has Space. In the novel, the female protagonist obtained a ring engraved with “Fudi Baoyuan” and unlocked a spatial ability.

Lan Yun’er was surprised. She hadn’t expected to find the protagonist’s ring. This was… quite the coincidence.

She examined the ring more closely. In the novel, after the female protagonist wore the ring, she unlocked her spatial ability. Lan Yun’er wondered if wearing the ring would also unlock her own spatial ability.