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“I heard there are buns!” Ye Peng and Erquan rushed out of the room excitedly.
They had been staying up late by the river last night and were still sleeping.
But as soon as they heard about the buns, they woke up.
Even Du Shi, Wei Shi, Jinhua, and Yinhua came out with surprised faces.
They couldn’t remember how long it had been since they had eaten buns. Thinking about the soft texture, the fragrant meat and broth that burst out with a bite, they swallowed hard.
“Are they meat buns?” Ye Yinhua licked her lips.
“Yes.” Ye Caiping smiled. “Sister-in-law, heat up the buns, steamed buns, and porridge. Yinhua, where is your grandfather?”
“He’s chatting with the village head.”
“Go, call him home to eat.”
Ye Caiping gave him the money for the cart and told him how much meat to buy tonight before Ye Bajin left.
Ye Caiping was about to take the wooden bucket to the river to rinse it when she saw Old Woman Zhao, her neighbor, walking in, munching on dates and swaying from side to side:
“What kind of good luck have you been having lately? I keep smelling delicious aromas. I even heard you were going to eat meat buns. Those are precious things, two copper coins each. You didn’t get it wrong, did you? Maybe you mistook steamed buns for meat buns?”
Ye Caiping rolled her eyes and chuckled: “What we eat is none of your business.”
Old Woman Zhao widened her eyes: “Hey, you can still laugh? I’m telling you, your former husband is getting married today.”
Ye Caiping was taken aback. After thinking for a while, she realized that Old Woman Zhao’s “your former husband” referred to her ex-husband, Li Zhiyuan.
Ye Caiping was speechless: “Let me correct you, I don’t have a husband, that was just my ex-husband. We’ve already divorced, our marriages are none of each other’s business. Don’t even mention him getting married, even if he married a pig, it’s none of my concern.”
Jin’er and Huan’er felt uncomfortable in their hearts.
Yan Fang, Ye Daquan, and the others’ faces fell.
That scumbag Li Zhiyuan, he had cheated the Ye family out of all their money, and after passing the provincial exam, he turned his back on them, refusing to acknowledge them. He then framed Caiping and divorced her.
It had only been a month, and he was already marrying a new wife!
“That scoundrel! I’m going to ruin his wedding right now! Erquan, let’s go!”
Ye Daquan roared, and Ye Erquan, obediently following his lead, was about to rush out.
“Stop!” Ye Caiping immediately stopped them. “I already said, we’ve divorced, whether he marries a wife or not is his own business.”
“But…” Ye Daquan gritted his teeth, unwilling to accept it. “Why does he get to live better and better, while we…”
He simply couldn’t stand seeing Li Zhiyuan doing well.
Ye Caiping said, “I’m doing better now too. I will only do better than him in the future, we don’t need to be envious of him.”
Ye Daquan thought about how Ye Caiping’s spicy soup business was indeed making money, and she could even give her mother spending money. It seemed like she was truly doing well.
Thinking about it this way, he felt a little better.
“Here, have some candy, eat it and don’t be angry, be good.” Ye Caiping said, taking a paper bag from her backpack and giving him a sweet osmanthus candy.
Ye Daquan saw her coaxing him like a child, he couldn’t help but chuckle, both embarrassed and happy, his bad mood dissipated.
Ye Erquan felt jealous: “What about me?”
“Everyone gets one. I bought these for everyone, I just forgot to take them out earlier.”
Ye Caiping gave Ye Erquan one, then turned and gave one to Yan Fang, Jinhua, Yinhua, and the others.
Everyone received one, although it was just a small candy, it made Yan Fang and the others feel happy, their mood instantly shifting from gloomy to sunny.
Ye Caiping had four candies left, so she carefully wrapped them in new oiled paper.
Old Woman Zhao came with the news of Li Zhiyuan’s wedding, intending to see Ye Caiping’s misfortune, but unexpectedly, the latter didn’t care at all, and even handed out candy.
Old Woman Zhao was both unwilling and envious.
She pulled her lips: “Oh, you have so much candy that you even wrapped it up, and you don’t even know how to give one to your elders.”
Ye Caiping sneered: “It’s not that much. The remaining ones are for my father, Yong’er, Xuan’er, and myself.”
Ye Yong is currently watching cassava by the river.
Old Woman Zhao pouted, “Other families are generous; they would rather not eat themselves than not offer food to guests. How can you be so stingy?”
Ye Caiping scoffed, “I’ve never seen anyone as shameless as you. What kind of guest are you? Which guest comes to the host’s house asking for food? Aren’t you just begging for food?”
Old Woman Zhao was so stunned that she couldn’t speak: “You…”
“What? Is your family so poor that you can’t even afford to eat and have to come to beg? I’ll just go ask Uncle Facai if your family is really going to become beggars.”
“You, you… don’t!”
Old Woman Zhao was terrified; she was most afraid of her husband, Zhao Facai.
As she walked out, she angrily said, “No wonder Li Xiucai divorced you, it really isn’t unjust! The new wife he married is very virtuous, the daughter of a wealthy family.”
As she spoke, she was already at the door but stopped to say a few more words:
“Do you know Zhang Fuhu? He’s the wealthiest man in Ling Family Village,”Old Woman Zhao said smugly.
“He owns seventy mu of fertile farmland, a grand house made of blue bricks with a big tiled roof, and even has two maidservants at home to attend to him. It’s incredibly impressive.”
Old Woman Zhao wore an expression of pride, as if it were her own family’s fortune she was describing.
Ye Caiping was speechless and about to chase her away…
Wait!
Suddenly, something dawned on Ye Caiping, and she froze in place, her face full of shock.
Zhang Fuhu from Lingjia Village… Ling Zhiyuan… Ling Xiucai?
“Zhang Fuhu, Li Xiucai?!”
Ye Caiping stared at Old Woman Zhao in shock. “Zhang Fuhu’s daughter… is her name Zhang Shuiniang?”
“Well, well, you seem to know quite a bit!” Old Woman Zhao immediately perked up, brimming with energy.
Ye Caiping felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She rushed forward anxiously, pressing for answers:
“This Zhang Shuiniang—isn’t she already married? Doesn’t she have two children? The eldest son is called Li Zimo, and the daughter is Li Jiaojiao, right?”
Old Woman Zhao curled her lips. “What Li Zimo? It’s actually Sun Zimo… Oh, no, now it really is Li Zimo and Li Jiaojiao. After all, don’t people change their surnames after getting married?”
Seeing Ye Caiping’s dazed expression, Old Woman Zhao assumed the other woman was crushed and grew even more pleased with herself.
“After Li Xiucai divorced you, he immediately married someone better. That Zhang Shuiniang is a young lady from a wealthy family, not someone you can compare to. You—”
Before she could finish speaking, Ye Caiping slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
Old Woman Zhao, staring at the door that nearly hit her nose, was utterly bewildered. In the end, she could only curse angrily as she stomped away.
Meanwhile, Yan Fang and Ye Daqian looked at Ye Caiping’s dazed expression with concern.
Seeing her ex-husband getting married, she must be heartbroken!
“Caiping, what’s wrong with you? Are you upset? I’ll go to Li’s village right now to stand up for you!” Ye Daquan urged.
“No… you all stay home, don’t go anywhere. I… I need some time to calm down.”
After saying that, Ye Caiping walked into the house. As she passed by Ye Jin’er, she grabbed her hand.
“Jin’er, stay at home and don’t go up the mountain.”
Ye Jin’er wanted the ginseng, so she nodded. “I won’t go anywhere, Mother… I’ll stay at home.”
Compared to the ginseng, she was more worried about her mother.
Ye Caiping returned to her room and closed the door.
Leaning on the bed, she finally let out a long sigh. Her mind was in a whirlwind, about to explode!
Because she had realized something shocking—she hadn’t just transmigrated; she had transmigrated into a book!
The book’s title was “The Top Scholar’s Little Sweetheart is Both Beautiful and Bold”, and the female lead of the story was none other than Li Jiaojiao.
Zhang Shuiniang’s daughter, and Li Zhiyuan’s stepdaughter.