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Shen Xiuying and Wen Siying never imagined that Cheng Jiafu would get up so early, cover himself in soot, all just to cook breakfast.
Since when did men ever make breakfast in their house?
“Jiafu, there’s no need for you to do this. You’re a boy, don’t go into the kitchen so often, the smoke and grease are heavy.” Wen Siying hurriedly pushed Cheng Jiafu back inside, then turned toward Cheng Yuanyue:
“You wretched girl, did you tell your brother to cook breakfast?”
“It was big brother who got up on his own. If you don’t want him to cook, then do it yourselves. I’ve already eaten, you don’t need to make mine.” Cheng Yuanyue said, heading toward the house.
“Who let you go inside? Out in public I couldn’t ask, but now that we’re home, what are you waiting for—hand over the money. You stay at home all day, and we provide food, oil, rice, and salt. What do you need money for? Hand it over for your brother’s marriage fund.”
“Ayuan, about you signing Afang up for school without permission—fine, this term is already registered, let her go. Tuition was fifty-two. Liu Shuhong gave you a hundred. You should still have forty-eight left. Hand it over. You hardly leave the house, you don’t need it.” Shen Xiuying spoke up, helping Wen Siying.
Without another word, Ayuan went straight into the kitchen.
Seeing her go in, Jiafu trembled and hid behind Shen Xiuying, pointing:
“Mom, she’s going for the knife again!”
“She dares? She threw a tantrum yesterday and wants another today?” Wen Siying grabbed a hoe. “I’ll see what she thinks she’s doing.”
The next moment, flames erupted in the kitchen, the firewood crackling loudly.
Shen Xiuying realized something was wrong and panicked:
“Mother, this is bad! That wretched girl set the kitchen on fire, hurry—put it out!”
Wen Siying rushed into the kitchen.
There stood Ayuan, holding a burning torch, watching the fire with an eerie smile.
Crazy—she’d gone completely mad.
All they did was ask her for money. She wouldn’t agree, fine—but to burn the kitchen?
“Quick, put it out!”
“Don’t let the whole house burn!”
It was mealtime, and the neighbors, seeing smoke from the Cheng family kitchen, rushed over to help.
Soon, the fire was extinguished, but since the kitchen had plenty of firewood, the blaze burned through half the roof and a window.
“Eldest sister-in-law, how did your kitchen catch fire so early in the morning?” Cheng Baoshan looked at the charred remains with pity.
Repairing the roof and window would cost at least a hundred.
“What a debt-collector of a granddaughter,” Wen Siying wailed, sitting on the ground. “I only asked her to hand over the money for her brother’s marriage, and she burned the kitchen down! We can’t afford to raise you—get out of this house!”
“What happened? The fire was Ayuan’s doing?” Second Aunt Liu Xianying thought she’d just heard something shocking.
“Who else? Yesterday she went to town, the Wu family gave her a hundred. I told her to hand it in, and she burned the kitchen! Bad enough she’s cursed to harm her husband, now she dares burn her own house!”
Cheng Baoshan and Liu Xianying exchanged looks.
Ayuan, usually the most obedient—would she really burn the kitchen?
“Did you really start the fire?” Cheng Baoshan asked her.
“I just came in to wash my hands, and the kitchen suddenly caught fire. Grandma, even if I don’t want to give up the money, you can’t slander me like this.”
Her calm, careless denial made Wen Siying’s chest ache with rage.
Was this still her once obedient, gentle, capable granddaughter?
She’d only gone to town once—how did she come back a lunatic?
“You did it on purpose, I saw it with my own eyes!” Wen Siying nearly jumped up in fury.
“This morning it was big brother cooking in the kitchen. I came back in with you all. Just now, I only went in to wash my hands—how could I know it would suddenly catch fire?”
“Mother, Ayuan’s always been the most obedient. How could she burn our own kitchen? You must be mistaken. Half the roof and a window are gone—let big brother call a carpenter.”
“Exactly, Mother. Ayuan wouldn’t dare do such a thing,” Liu Xianying agreed. She turned to Jiafu and suddenly realized:
“Jiafu, you lit the stove today?”
Jiafu nodded sheepishly. “I got up early to make breakfast for Mom and Grandma.”
“It’s normal to be clumsy the first time. But you need to watch the fire carefully. Luckily, it was caught early. If the whole house burned, where would you sleep tonight?” Cheng Baoshan patted his shoulder.
“Jiafu went out of his way to cook breakfast. So the kitchen burned a bit—it’s nothing serious. Let him practice a few more times, and it won’t happen again.” Liu Xianying said.
Jiafu: “…”
But the fire was his sister’s doing, not his!
Why didn’t they believe him?
“Breakfast’s ruined then. Come eat at our place.”
The villagers also shrugged it off—just repair it later. Jiafu rarely entered the kitchen, so it was understandable if the first attempt went wrong.
Seeing everyone blame Jiafu’s cooking instead of Ayuan, Wen Siying, unable to explain otherwise, waved them all away.
Once they were gone, she found Ayuan sitting calmly in the living room, as though she hadn’t just set the kitchen ablaze.
“You wretched girl, what do you want?”
“It’s simple. However you treat big brother, you treat me the same. Whatever he has, I should have. We’re both Cheng family children—you can’t play favorites. If the scales aren’t balanced, who knows what might happen?”
“He’s a man, you’re a woman. He’ll carry on the Cheng family line, how can you compare?”
“True, it’s not the same. But if he were to… lose something, wouldn’t we be the same then?” Ayuan’s eyes flicked to Jiafu’s crotch, her lips curling into a smile.
Her words nearly gave Wen Siying a heart attack.
Jiafu felt a sudden chill down below. Knowing his sister was no longer someone to provoke, he quickly said:
“Grandma, from now on I’ll do chores too. Whatever Ayuan does, I’ll do as well. I’m the man, I can’t let her work while I do nothing.”
Better to work than risk his life.
“Mother,” Shen Xiuying pulled Wen Siying aside, “let it go. She must have been upset in town yesterday. Let’s indulge her a bit, she’ll come around. Don’t forget, she used to be the most obedient and sensible.”
“She must have met something unclean on the way back from town. You’d better find a spirit medium to see if she’s possessed.”