Chapter 17: Spendthrift woman, can’t do anything

Seeing that the heavy rain had finally stopped, Ling Yu carried a ladder out and propped it under the eaves. He wanted to climb up and rearrange the thatch so the roof wouldn’t leak again. Noticing Ye Wuyou had already finished eating, he didn’t indulge her and simply said:

“Since you’ve eaten, go wash the dishes.”

“What for? I don’t want to~~”

Wash dishes? That was something from years ago! Ye Wuyou had no intention of doing it. Back in the apocalypse, she had always tossed her bowls straight into the dishwasher. In her previous life, her parents had died young, but fortunately they had left her a huge inheritance. She had been pampered all her life with maids and housekeepers—washing dishes had never been her chore. In fact, she only learned to wash dishes later, after suffering humiliation from other ability users.

But Ling Yu wasn’t the type to spoil her. His family couldn’t afford to raise a pampered young lady. Seeing her reluctance, he snorted coldly:

“No reason. Just because you eat in my house. My family doesn’t feed freeloaders. My little brother was already washing dishes when he was five. Don’t tell me you’re worse than a five-year-old?”

Ye Wuyou’s face was full of displeasure. Ling Zixiao, wanting to ease the tension, stepped in.

“Big brother, why don’t I—”

“No need. You’re helping me later, handing me tools while I fix the roof.”

With that, Ling Yu ignored Ye Wuyou. He’d said what needed to be said. He didn’t believe she had the face to keep refusing. In truth, he asked her to wash the dishes because he thought that since they would be living together as a family, everyone should contribute their share. Only that way could Ye Wuyou truly leave her painful past behind.

Ye Wuyou, seeing no one would side with her, grew even more upset. Still, she admitted he had a point. This household was poor; they couldn’t support someone doing nothing. But why couldn’t Ling Yu just say it nicely? Did he have to bark at her? If he had spoken gently, would she really have refused? What an infuriating, tactless man.

Grumbling in her heart, she gathered the dishes and went to the kitchen to wash them. Luckily, with so little oil and grease—just thin porridge and plain boiled cabbage—the bowls were easy to rinse clean.

But just as she was putting one away, her hand slipped. Even with her quick reflexes, she still heard the sharp crack! of pottery shattering on the floor. She looked down at the fragments and, with some relief, thought—thank goodness she had only carried one bowl at a time. Otherwise, they’d all be broken.

Hearing the sound from the kitchen, Ling Yu felt a vein throb on his forehead. This useless woman—how could someone be so incompetent? The moment she touched anything, she managed to mess it up. Washing a bowl shouldn’t result in breaking one! He clenched his teeth, thinking: hopefully she only smashed one or two. Otherwise, she could drink her porridge straight from her hands tonight.

“Big brother, should I go check—?” Ling Zixiao froze at the noise and glanced uncertainly at Ling Yu.

“No need. What’s done is done. Looking won’t glue the pieces back together. Hand me that hammer—you can help me patch this roof.”

Ling Yu had no desire to bother with Ye Wuyou. The more he thought, the more useless she seemed. Break a bowl while washing dishes? Was she deliberately rebelling? If she’d really been this clumsy back at the Ye household, her family would’ve beaten her black and blue for breaking a bowl.

Ye Wuyou pouted at the broken pieces but obediently swept them up, planning to throw them out later.

When she stepped into the yard to toss the shards, her gaze landed on Old Lady Wang’s house at the foot of the mountain. The sight of that big, sturdy, tiled-roof home made bitterness rise in her chest. Why was she stuck living in this leaky thatched hut, while those vile people lived comfortably in a fine house?

Her eyes then drifted to a ruined old hut nearby, falling apart. Suddenly she thought—if only Old Lady Wang and her family were forced to live here in this wreck, wouldn’t that be fitting? Then she’d “care” for them from time to time.

Looking up at the dark sky, she thought again—if only a lightning bolt would strike Old Lady Wang’s house and burn it down. But she sighed inwardly. She didn’t have that kind of power yet.

“What are you doing? Never seen rain before?”

Ling Yu had finished fixing the roof and came out to dump the rotten thatch, only to see Ye Wuyou glaring daggers at Old Lady Wang’s house like she wanted to devour the family alive. From her expression, he could tell she was brooding dark thoughts. Not wanting her to spiral, he cut her off.

Seeing it was Ling Yu, Ye Wuyou hesitated, then decided to explain about the broken bowl. After all, in such a poor household, bowls were precious.

“I didn’t mean to just now. My hand slipped.”

Her eyes held genuine sincerity, and Ling Yu, looking at her, found himself half-believing her words.

“It’s fine, isn’t it just a bowl? Worst case, you’ll just have to eat out of a basin tonight,” Ling Yu said casually. Even though he knew Ye Wuyou hadn’t meant to break the bowl, there was nothing he could do—his family only had three bowls. Since Ye Wuyou had broken one, it wasn’t unreasonable for her to eat from a basin that evening.

“Huh? What do you mean~” Ye Wuyou didn’t understand what Ling Yu was getting at. Eat from a basin? Did that mean they’d be having a feast tonight?

“It’s nothing. Later, I’ll go up the mountain with my younger brother to gather some firewood. Otherwise, once the weather clears and we have to work again, we won’t have time to go out. It’s been raining pretty often these past couple of days. We’ll also check if there are any mushrooms in the mountains. We might come back a little late.” Ling Yu didn’t answer her question directly, instead changing the subject. Anyway, she’d find out soon enough what he meant about eating from a basin.

Ye Wuyou trailed after Ling Yu. When she heard they were going up the mountain, she felt an itch in her heart—she wanted to go too.

“Can’t you take me with you when you go? I really want to see what the mountain looks like.” Ye Wuyou simply wanted to take a look at the wilderness. After all, in her previous life, she had never set foot in such a primitive mountain.

But to Ling Yu, it was a different matter. What village girl hadn’t been up the mountain before? What was Ye Wuyou doing trying to tag along now? And besides, her hand was still bandaged, making it inconvenient. The mountain paths would be especially slippery after all that rain. What if she fell? But because Ling Yu had a sharp tongue, his words of concern came out sounding different.

“What are you going up the mountain for? To make trouble?”