Chapter 6: Believe

Yuan Lingling was listening to Aunt Yang cursing at the Xie family’s mother and daughter when she saw Shen Caisheng return with a child in tow.

She was stunned for a moment. Her first thought was that he already had a child, but then she quickly dismissed the idea. If he had a child this big, then wouldn’t that mean…

No, no, she couldn’t let her mind go there.

Taking a closer look at the child, Yuan Lingling quickly recalled who he was from her memory. Wasn’t this Houzi’s little brother, Hou Yuan?

Sure enough, the child had a pitiful expression written all over his face.

“Brother Shen!”

Ma Jie suddenly jumped in front of Shen Caisheng, acting even more eager than Yuan Lingling, the actual Shen family’s daughter-in-law.

After greeting him, he quickly turned his attention to the child.

“Yuanyuan, aren’t you going to call me Brother Ma?”

“Brother Ma Jie, Aunt Yang.”

Hou Yuan spoke slowly, but his voice was sweet. After greeting the two, he clung to Shen Caisheng’s hand and stared at Yuan Lingling with his round, shiny eyes. However, he didn’t take the initiative to call her.

Ma Jie couldn’t stand the awkward atmosphere. He glanced at Shen Caisheng before quickly pulling Hou Yuan over to introduce him.

“This is your Brother Caisheng’s wife. Call her Sister-in-law Lingling.”

Hou Yuan tilted his head and looked at Shen Caisheng.

“Sister-in-law Lingling? Is she the Yuan Lingling that Sister Xie and Auntie were talking about just now?”

The corner of Yuan Lingling’s mouth twitched. Just how much had those two badmouthed her? Why did it seem like everyone could hear them scolding her?

Might as well let Shen Caisheng really break Xie Guanglian’s legs so they wouldn’t have the time to run their mouths anymore.

Feeling a little awkward, she glanced at Shen Caisheng, but he remained as calm as ever. Truly worthy of being a big shot.

“These two heartless wretches are still spouting nonsense. I swear, their brains must have been kicked by a donkey. They’re dirty themselves yet insist on dragging others down with them. It’d be better if they just dropped dead.”

Yang Ying was furious.

She wouldn’t have said much about other matters, but her son had already explained that the sweet potato cakes were given to their family by Yuan Lingling. They weren’t meant for the Xie family. If they had any dignity, they wouldn’t eat food that wasn’t theirs.

Thinking about this only made her angrier. She turned to Ma Jie and scolded him.

“You tell me, what good are you? Be honest with your mother—are you still thinking about that Xie Aihe?”

Yuan Lingling’s eyes widened. Was this another piece of gossip she hadn’t heard before?

To be fair, Xie Aihe was indeed good-looking. The Xie family members were all quite attractive. Otherwise, the original owner wouldn’t have fallen for Xie Guanglian.

But she hadn’t expected Ma Jie, who seemed a little clever, to be just as foolish as the original owner. Truly, his ability to judge people was terrible.

Sure enough, his mother shared the same opinion as Yuan Lingling.

“You idiot! When you were little, she tricked you into giving her all your rations. Now that you’ve grown up, you’re still clueless. If you dare have any thoughts about her again…”

Hearing that his mother was about to expose all his embarrassing childhood secrets, Ma Jie quickly interrupted.

“M-Mom! Can you stop embarrassing your son? That was years ago!”

“Then explain why you gave the sweet potato cakes to that mother and daughter.”

Yang Ying sighed in frustration.

Her foolish son! Couldn’t he see that the young couple was about to have a fight? Was it that hard to take the blame?

Little did she know, she had hit the nail on the head.

Ma Jie was already feeling guilty, and her words only made it worse. Naturally, he had to defend himself.

Now that she had touched on the key issue, Ma Jie’s face turned red. He wanted to explain, but his gaze kept darting toward Shen Caisheng.

“Oh, come on, Mom. Can’t we talk about this at home?”

Yang Ying’s expression said it all—I knew it! She let out a cold laugh.

“Fine. Let’s go. I want to see what excuse you’ll come up with.”

She reached out, aiming to twist Ma Jie’s ear, but he wasn’t about to stand there and take the punishment. He immediately jumped and ran toward home, leaving Yang Ying fuming.

“Caisheng, don’t blame Lingling for this. It’s all that rascal Jiezi’s fault today. I’ll go home and deal with him.”

Before leaving, Yang Ying gave Yuan Lingling an apologetic smile. But after taking a few steps, she suddenly turned back.

“Oh, right. Do you still need me to send over food later?”

Shen Caisheng’s cooking skills weren’t any worse than hers. Since he was home, she figured she wasn’t needed, and it would also give the young couple more time to spend together.

“There’s no need for now. Thank you, Auntie.”

Ever since Shen Caisheng had entered the courtyard, this was the first time he spoke.

Yuan Lingling’s gaze flickered toward his face for a moment. She didn’t dare stare too long and quickly looked away, even lowering the corners of her mouth.

Seeing her reaction, Shen Caisheng was puzzled. He couldn’t understand why her attitude toward him had changed again.

When she first married him, it seemed like she was completely devoted to him. Whenever she ate or saw something good, she couldn’t wait to share it with him. It had been overwhelming for someone like him who disliked noise.

Then, when the rumors about her and Xie Guanglian started spreading, she seemed to lose interest in him and even tried to get closer to the Xie family.

Now, she still didn’t seem to like him, but for some reason, she seemed… afraid of him?

No wonder Big Brother said that a woman’s heart is as unpredictable as the sea and takes a lifetime to understand.

What he didn’t realize was that his deep thoughts and silence were making Yuan Lingling even more nervous.

Her mind was filled with images of dark, underground confinement rooms from movies she had seen before. She even thought about those horrific cases of husbands murdering their wives and dismembering their bodies. She felt completely on edge.

Just then, Hou Yuan suddenly spoke, breaking the awkward atmosphere.

“Sister-in-law Lingling, did you poison Auntie Xie and Sister Xie?”

Well, he almost saved the situation.

Yuan Lingling tugged at the corner of her mouth and wanted to pinch the child’s cheek, but the little one quickly dodged.

Hou Yuan clung tightly to Shen Caisheng’s leg, as if Yuan Lingling had scared him badly.

“I…” Yuan Lingling slightly pulled her hand back. She glanced at Shen Caisheng, signaling that she hadn’t done anything. But explaining herself outright might make her seem guilty, so she forced herself to stay calm and said, “Poisoning is illegal. The police will arrest you for it. You can’t do things that break the law.”

Hou Yuan clung even tighter to Shen Caisheng’s leg and asked again, “Then, Sister-in-law Lingling, did you poison them or not?”

“Of course not.” Yuan Lingling was speechless. What had she done to offend this little one?

But whether the child believed her or not didn’t matter. What mattered most was that Shen Caisheng believed her.

Seeing how silent Shen Caisheng was, could it be that he didn’t trust her?

Yuan Lingling said, “I—”

“I know you didn’t poison them. That stuff belongs to Ma Jie, doesn’t it?”

In fact, they had originally taken some things to help Houzi deal with someone, but they hadn’t used them. It just so happened that Aunt Xie and her daughter got caught in it, so Shen Caisheng figured it out immediately.

Yuan Lingling hadn’t expected him to believe her so easily. Her heartbeat sped up for no reason, but she knew she had to say something.

“I’m not sure either, but it wasn’t me.”

Her relationship with Shen Caisheng was awkward at best. Even speaking casually made Yuan Lingling feel uncomfortable.

However, Shen Caisheng glanced at her and said something that made her wish she could go back a second and slap herself.

Awkwardness wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Keeping the peace was more important.

Shen Caisheng asked, “You just said poisoning is illegal?”

Yuan Lingling froze for a moment, realizing what he was implying. Her face instantly burned.

She had dug a hole for herself and jumped right in, burying herself completely.

At that moment, Hou Yuan innocently asked, “Sister-in-law Lingling, why is your face so red?”

In her heart, Yuan Lingling replied: Don’t ask. Do you have a death wish?

She finally saw it clearly.

Not only was Ma Jie ruthless, but this little guy, Shen Caisheng, and probably even Houzi were the same. On the surface, they seemed honest, adorable, or indifferent, but in reality, each one of them was incredibly cunning.

Now that she had figured them out, Yuan Lingling suddenly felt that Shen Caisheng wasn’t so scary after all. It was obvious he was teasing her.

Was he….teasing?

Yuan Lingling glanced up at him and noticed that he was also studying her. She quickly said, “No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, but correcting them is what truly matters.”

“Don’t you think so?”

If she wasn’t mistaken, did Shen Caisheng just smile?

Damn it!

Yuan Lingling seriously suspected that this man was sent by the heavens to test her. He seemed to exude charm at every moment.

And now he was even smiling at her. Unforgivable.

“I’m going to cook. You guys keep talking.”

With that, she turned to slip away. But just as she took a step, her foot slid on the damp ground. The snow had been cleared, but the surface was still wet. As she lost her balance, her heart pounded wildly.

This was it.

Was she really going to suffer a double misfortune?

The terrifying disaster didn’t come. Instead, a warm hand pressed against her waist.