Zhong Meixian took a look and ultimately decided to head home first.  

The family was reuniting with their long-lost relative—wouldn’t it be annoying if she, oblivious to the situation, barged in at this moment?  

Anyway, Luo Tian wasn’t leaving, and she wasn’t taking any of their food. Returning the items a couple of days later wouldn’t be a big deal.  

Zhong Meixian carried the things out but soon returned with them still in hand.  

Gu Yanli was in the yard plucking chicken feathers. When he looked up and saw his mother bringing the items back, his brow furrowed.  

Zhong Meixian, however, showed no guilt at all and retorted matter-of-factly, “Don’t look at me like that. Your mother isn’t so greedy as to take a walk outside just to bring these things back shamelessly.”  

“I still have some dignity to uphold.”  

Gu Yanli wasn’t doubting that. He was just worried his mother might have a soft ear and, after hearing a few persuasive words, decided to bring the items back home.  

But Zhong Meixian didn’t give him a chance to explain because she had just witnessed some juicy gossip and was eager to share it.  

Coincidentally, Wen Tang and Chi Yue were also in the yard. Zhong Meixian immediately adopted the tone of a storyteller: “Guess why I didn’t manage to give these things away?”  

Gu Yanli didn’t play along, but others did.  

Wen Tang and Chi Yue exchanged a glance—they knew there was gossip to be had.  

So, the two of them nodded eagerly like pounding garlic.  

Seeing she had an audience, Zhong Meixian launched into an animated retelling, embellishing the details as she went. “That educated youth Luo Tian—she seemed like such a generous girl, but turns out she’s had a hard life…” Standing in the yard, she recounted the whole story with added flair.  

When she mentioned that Luo family’s biological child was willing to stay in the countryside with Luo Tian, Wen Tang immediately shot Chi Yue a look: Your love rival is here too.

Chi Yue: It’s fine. There are plenty of fish in the sea. If not Lin Jingshen, there’s Xu Jingshen, He Jingshen. If he dares to betray me, I’ll leave.

Wen Tang: Good sis, don’t worry. You won’t be alone on your divorce journey.

Zhong Meixian had no idea the two troublemakers in front of her were already scheming about divorce in their minds. She just felt parched from all the talking.  

Wen Tang noticed and quickly ran inside to fetch her some water.  

Chi Yue also stepped forward to take the items from her hands.  

Only after the items were taken did Zhong Meixian realize she had been standing there holding them the entire time.  

Gu Yanli had long since gone to the kitchen to chop the chicken, showing no interest in the gossip outside.  

Wen Tang soon returned with water. “Mom, have some water,” she said, handing it over while eagerly asking, “Mom, is there more? What else did they say?”  

Zhong Meixian shook her head. “Nothing. Once I heard both girls say they weren’t leaving and their mother agreed, I didn’t stay any longer and came back.”  

After speaking, Zhong Meixian heard the rhythmic thud-thud of chopping from the kitchen and suggested, “Tangtang, since Yanli is cooking, why don’t you go help him?”  

She put on her most earnest expression—even if her daughter-in-law refused, she wouldn’t grab her hair or kick her, right?  

As it turned out, Wen Tang didn’t. In fact, she obediently nodded. “Okay, Mom, I’ll go right away.”  

Wen Tang went to the kitchen to help with cooking, while Chi Yue stayed in the yard chatting with Zhong Meixian.  

Chi Yue said, “Grandma, you know, these days, it’s not easy for families to marry off their sons, huh? There’s the betrothal gifts, the ‘three rounds’ of gifts, the ‘three sounds’…” She counted them off on her fingers for Zhong Meixian.  

Zhong Meixian glanced toward the kitchen, then quickly picked up her teacup for a tactical sip of water.  

In the kitchen, Gu Yanli saw Wen Tang enter. While continuing his work, he asked, “Why’d you come to the kitchen?”  

“Mom told me to come help you,” Wen Tang answered truthfully.  

“No need, I can handle it alone.”  

“Why don’t you go play with Jingshen’s wife instead?”  

But Wen Tang sat down by the stove. “I’d better help. Otherwise, I’ll just feel like a freeloader.”

Gu Yanli glanced at her, thinking she was wrong about that.  

She wasn’t freeloading at all—she had contributed a lot.  

It’s just that some things were better left unsaid.  

“Then you tend the fire, and I’ll cook,” Gu Yanli said, his voice slightly hoarse.  

“Mhmm!” Wen Tang agreed readily.  

But when she struck the match, it took several tries before it finally lit.  

In the end, Gu Yanli had to step over, encircle her with his arms, and guide her hand with his own. With one firm motion, the match ignited.  

Surrounded by his masculine presence, Wen Tang’s voice instantly turned sweet and breathy. “Thank you, gege!”  

That single sentence made Gu Yanli’s expression stiffen, and he could only mutter, “Speak properly!”  

Wen Tang continued in her sugary tone, “But I am speaking properly~”  

Gu Yanli: “…”  

But soon enough, Wen Tang did start speaking normally—  

“Ah! Help! Help!”  

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Three quick ladles of water doused the rapidly spreading flames in the straw.  

Zhong Meixian and Chi Yue, sitting in the yard, heard the commotion and rushed to the kitchen. The spot where the firewood had been piled was now soaked.  

Gu Yanli stood with a ladle in one hand, shielding a panicked Wen Tang behind him.  

Chi Yue: Your doing?  

Wen Tang: Not on purpose.  

Zhong Meixian: Didn’t even need to look to know who caused this.

Zhong Meixian: She didn’t pull my hair or kick me, but…

Just then, Gu Jinfeng and the others returned from the fields. Seeing everyone crowded in the kitchen, Gu Jinfeng came over. “What’s going on?”  

The kitchen reeked of burnt firewood. She peeked inside…  

Gu Jinfeng shot her mother a look: Her doing?

Zhong Meixian glared back: Who else could it be?

Setting down the ladle, Gu Yanli pulled Wen Tang aside to check her over. Once he confirmed she wasn’t hurt, he nudged her out. “Go wait outside first.”  

Wen Tang, still feeling guilty, insisted, “I really didn’t mean to.”  

“Mm. Go on, I’ll clean up.”  

Gu Juyuan and Lin Liansheng also peeked into the kitchen before silently retreating.  

Both men had the same thought: This new daughter-in-law of the Gu family is… something else.

First time in the kitchen, and she already set it on fire…  

It wasn’t just Gu Juyuan and Lin Liansheng who thought so—Zhong Meixian and Gu Jinfeng did too.  

So while Gu Yanli and Chi Yue believed Wen Tang’s claim that it was an accident, Zhong Meixian and the others were convinced it was a deliberate power move by the new bride.  

After Wen Tang went to the yard to wash her hands, Zhong Meixian whispered to her daughter in the kitchen, “Even if she didn’t like me telling her to cook, did she have to burn the kitchen down?”  

Gu Jinfeng pondered for a moment before saying, “You know what they say—a new official lights three fires?”  

Zhong Meixian: “Huh?”  

She didn’t get the connection.  

Then Gu Jinfeng mused, “A new official lights three fires—she’s a new bride, so in a way, she’s like a newly appointed official.”  

“Mom, do you think this was her first fire?”  

Zhong Meixian: “…”  

Oh no. The sky’s really falling now.

“Make way,” Gu Yanli said, carrying a stack of wet firewood past the two of them.  

Zhong Meixian looked at her son, then at the soot-stained stove. At her age, she suddenly felt like crying.  

“Then… when is she planning to light the other two fires?”