Chapter 8: I Was So Happy I Forgot

When she arrived at the iron shop, Shen Xuezhú bought two vegetable pots, a spatula, a rice pot, and a kitchen knife.

For all of these, she spent a total of 159 wen.

Afterward, she went to the tavern and bought two jin of yellow wine, spending 30 wen.

Passing by a bakery, she thought of her two little ones. She bought six meat pies to take home, spending 18 wen.

Three of these were for Aunt Yao’s family, who had invited her family to lunch that afternoon.

Also, two of the pies could be left at her house, so she wouldn’t have to worry about them while she was out in town.

…

Qingtang Village.

This time, Shen Xuezhú bought a lot of things, filling an entire ox cart.

Zhao Lao Er had no choice but to drive the cart to her house.

A few idle villagers, seeing the cart full of items, thought it couldn’t possibly be Shen Xuezhú’s.

She had just separated from her in-laws; how could she have the money to buy so many things?

The items on the cart either belonged to Zhao Lao Er or were things he was delivering for someone else.

Curious villagers began to ask.

“Zhao Lao Er, you bought so many things, aren’t you afraid your wife will scold you when you get home?”

“I think he’s probably just delivering these things for someone else, but why would he be carrying so much?”

“Look at those two big pots, the wooden buckets and basins, it must have cost a lot of money!”

“Why would he be so willing to spend that much?”

Zhao Lao Er stopped the cart and told them, “These aren’t mine.”

Someone asked, “Then who bought all this?”

Zhao Lao Er didn’t know how to answer and glanced at Shen Xuezhú.

Since everyone had already seen, she didn’t want to hide it anymore. She said, “I bought all of these!”

A villager gasped.

“My heavens! The wife of Xiao Mountain just separated from her in-laws, how could she afford to buy so much?”

She couldn’t say she found money on the street, or that she borrowed from Shen Qingye. She couldn’t think of any other convincing explanation.

She calmly said, “I was forced into a corner. I couldn’t let Xiao Yue and Xiao Li suffer from hunger with me.”

“I had a sudden idea and came up with a few recipes, which I sold to the town’s restaurant. That’s how I had the money to buy all these things.”

One villager couldn’t believe it. “How come I never thought of that? How did you come up with the idea? Can you tell me what dishes you made?”

In Shen Xuezhú’s opinion, some people liked to dig for details, while others were just jealous.

However, no matter which type they were, she wasn’t going to share her recipes with them.

“I signed a contract with the restaurant. I can’t reveal the recipes. Please don’t make things difficult for me, Aunt.”

Shen Xuezhú’s answer left the woman speechless. She didn’t plan to ask anything further and shot a glance at Shen Xuezhú before walking away.

As soon as she left, a villager came over to Shen Xuezhú and whispered, “Thank goodness you didn’t tell her the recipes. You might not know this, but she’s a big gossip. If you had told her the recipes, it would’ve been a disaster.”

Shen Xuezhú understood and thanked her. “Thank you for the reminder, Aunt.”

The ox cart then made its way to the Lu family’s old house.

When it arrived, Shen Xuezhú saw Lu Xiaoyue and Lu Xiaoli playing outside.

Perhaps she had been gone for a while, and the girls ran out to check if she had returned.

She called out to them, “Xiaoyue, Xiaoli, Mommy’s home!”

Lu Xiaoyue, holding Lu Xiaoli’s hand, walked over, both of them stunned.