Because as soon as she finished speaking, Gu Yanli pushed the door open and walked in.  

Gu Yanli’s face was dark as he stood at the doorway and called out to her, “Dinner’s ready. Come eat.”  

Wen Tang: “……”  

Had he overheard what she just said?  

Wen Tang wanted to ask, but Gu Yanli turned and left as soon as he finished speaking.  

Left with no choice, Wen Tang obediently followed.  

In the main hall of the Gu family, Old Man Gu, Father Lin, and her mother-in-law Zhong Meixian were already seated, with chopsticks laid out and two dishes on the table. The only thing missing was the rice, which hadn’t been brought out yet.  

So Wen Tang dutifully hurried to the kitchen.  

She didn’t know how to cook on a wood-fired stove, but she could at least help carry the rice.  

After all, she was also eating the food—it didn’t make sense to expect others to serve her for everything.  

As Wen Tang reached the kitchen door, she happened to run into Gu Yanli, who was coming out with bowls of rice.  

Seeing her, Gu Yanli asked, “What are you doing in the kitchen?”  

“Getting the rice.”  

“No need. Go sit in the main hall.”  

“Since I’m already here…” Wen Tang pointed past him into the kitchen and slipped inside.  

Gu Yanli waited at the kitchen door.  

Meanwhile, inside the kitchen, Lin Jingshen saw Wen Tang and immediately extinguished the fire in the stove before darting out.  

He couldn’t forget the days when Wen Tang had relentlessly pursued him.  

“Uncle, I’m going to call my mom for dinner,” he said as he passed Gu Yanli.  

Wen Tang had originally planned to follow Gu Yanli’s example and carry three bowls of rice.  

But reality proved that not only could she not manage three bowls—even two was too much for her.  

Carrying just one bowl out, Wen Tang felt embarrassed, her fingertips barely gripping the edge of the bowl as she blushed. “It’s too hot.”  

Gu Yanli wanted to laugh but held back, afraid of upsetting her. “I didn’t ask you to carry it.”  

Wen Tang pouted. “Blame me for being presumptuous.”  

Gu Yanli followed behind her. “That’s not what I meant.”  

“While I’m on leave at home, you can just rest,” he added.  

Only then did Wen Tang slow her steps. “Won’t people say I’m lazy?”  

“We’re not living our lives for them,” Gu Yanli said.  

Wen Tang freed one hand to give Gu Yanli a thumbs-up. She wanted to say she liked what the guy was saying and to remember to leave his door unlocked tonight.  

Lin Jingshen ran back to his own courtyard, where Chi Yue happened to be coming out of the house.  

Gu Jinfeng was sitting in her own yard.  

Just as Chi Yue was about to greet her, she saw her little “puppy” running back from next door.  

Spotting Chi Yue, Lin Jingshen’s face flushed slightly. “Xiao Yue, dinner’s ready. You can go eat next door first.”  

Then he called out to his mother, “Mom, it’s time to eat. Are you still mad at Grandma?”  

Provoked by the question, Gu Jinfeng began venting her grievances. “Mad at her? How could I not be mad at her?”  

“Who talks like that?”  

“Your uncle is her biological son, but aren’t you her biological grandson?”  

“I know she’s biased, but are you some outsider?”  

“How could she say such things?”  

Lin Jingshen didn’t know the exact reason for their argument, but he did know one thing: his family lived close to his grandmother’s, and they’d been eating together for years. Fights like this between his mother and grandmother weren’t uncommon.  

At most, their anger would last a night. By the next day, as long as they gossiped about someone else together, they’d be mother and daughter again.  

So without digging into the details, Lin Jingshen just coaxed her: “Grandma’s just like that. She doesn’t mean any harm.”  

“You’re her own daughter, after all. If she really had ill intentions, she wouldn’t direct them at you, right?”  

“Come on, let’s eat. Grandma’s waiting for you!”  

Lin Jingshen’s words—“Grandma’s waiting”—made Gu Jinfeng restless.  

After all, Zhong Meixian was her birth mother. As the child, how could she sit here and keep her mother waiting?  

So, despite her anger, Gu Jinfeng stood up. “Hmph, don’t expect me to talk to her.”  

Lin Jingshen just smiled without responding.

Then, he waited for Chi Yue to go next door together.  

Chi Yue walked beside Lin Jingshen and asked, “Mom and Grandma had a fight?”  

Lin Jingshen nodded.  

“Why?”  

“Seems like it’s because of you and Aunt Wen.”  

“Me…?” Chi Yue recalled the earlier comparison between her and Wen Tang about who had the better life.  

Chi Yue: Ah, so they were the ones who stirred things up!

Hmm, their mother-daughter bond is a little fragile. 

Chi Yue wanted to laugh but didn’t dare—because it was time to eat.  

At the dinner table, Zhong Meixian and Gu Jinfeng, mother and daughter, indeed ignored each other, both sulking.  

Wen Tang was curious but didn’t ask.  

Because Chi Yue gave her a look, signaling that she knew the inside story.  

Wen Tang suppressed her burning curiosity, waiting until after dinner to gossip with her bestie.  

After eating, Wen Tang volunteered to wash the dishes.  

Chi Yue immediately reached out too. “Hmph, as if you’re the only diligent one.”  

Wen Tang stuck out her tongue playfully. “Nyah-nyah, I am more hardworking than you.”  

Then, as they cleared the table and carried the dishes to the kitchen, they kept bickering the whole way.  

Gu Yanli had originally intended to wash the dishes himself.  

But Wen Tang sternly warned him, “Stay out of it.”  

Seeing the invisible battle between the two women, Gu Yanli wisely kept quiet.  

With her daughter-in-law handling the dishes, Gu Jinfeng felt her pride swell. “Our Jingshen is truly blessed to marry such a diligent wife.”  

Zhong Meixian shot her a glance, then turned to Gu Yanli. “You didn’t marry the wrong girl. She’s hardworking, and I like her very much. Just wait.”  

The old lady hurried back to her room.  

A moment later, she returned with a red cloth bundle.  

Deliberately unfolding it in front of Gu Jinfeng, she showed Gu Yanli a pair of silver bracelets. “These were part of my dowry. I never gave them to anyone else, but now they’re for your wife.”  

“Go call her over.”  

In the kitchen, Wen Tang and Chi Yue, finally reunited without a wall between them, immediately started whispering excitedly.  

“Quick, tell me, what’s going on?” Wen Tang urged.  

“It’s a long story, so I’ll keep it short,” Chi Yue said, then summarized how Gu Jinfeng and Zhong Meixian’s mother-daughter relationship had seemingly fractured over a few remarks comparing their lives.  

Hearing this, Wen Tang couldn’t hold back a snort. “Seriously? For real?”  

“These two mothers-in-law are this amusing?”  

“And in the future—”  

Before she could finish, Gu Yanli’s voice sounded from the kitchen doorway. “Wen Tang, come here for a second.”  

Wen Tang stopped mid-sentence, wiped her hands, and called back, “Coming!”  

At the door, she asked sweetly, “What’s up?”  

“Mom has something for you.”  

“Oh, okay.”  

Before leaving, Wen Tang couldn’t resist teasing Chi Yue one last time. “You wash them yourself. My mother-in-law’s calling me.”  

Chi Yue hastily dried her hands too. “If you’re not washing, neither am I.”  

Both of them sensed something interesting was about to happen.  

Sure enough, back in the main hall, Zhong Meixian proudly handed Wen Tang the red cloth bundle containing the silver bracelets. “Daughter-in-law, take these. They were part of my dowry. Now that you’re Yanli’s wife, they’re yours.”  

Wen Tang accepted them with genuine delight, gushing, “Wow, Mom, you’re too good! You’re literally the best mother-in-law in the world. Marrying into the Gu family, I’ve truly landed in a nest of blessings!”  

Zhong Meixian, who had been slightly hunched, now stood straighter than ever.  

She shot a triumphant look at her daughter.  

See? This was exactly what she meant—marrying into the Gu family meant good fortune. And yet, her daughter still refused to admit it.