Chapter 132

Fan Qian and his son felt relaxed as they left.

“I never thought it would be so easy, easier than we expected,” Fan Erzhu sighed.

Fan Dazhu grinned smugly, “Second Aunt turned out to be quite naive~”

They hadn’t even needed to use the excuses they had thought of; everything had unexpectedly gone smoothly.

As the crowd dispersed, the elders like Old Man Xu, Grandpa Fan, and Uncle Wang stayed behind.

Uncle Wang sighed heavily and praised Shuiqing, “I know your efforts are all for the harmony of the village, giving face to that person.”

Anyone with eyes could see that it had been dug up by someone.

They were all farmers in this village. If they couldn’t tell the difference between what was dug up by a hoe and what was dug up by pests, they would have wasted their efforts over the past few decades.

Grandpa Fan’s face was full of embarrassment.

If he hadn’t known who dug it up before, he could still tell now that Fan Qian had spoken.

His daughter-in-law was giving face to her big uncle’s family and her own family!

He apologized awkwardly, “I’m sorry to have troubled you, daughter-in-law.”

“No trouble.” Shuiqing spoke sincerely, without any reluctance.

She was looking forward to Fan Qian’s family enjoying themselves.

In the eyes of the elders, this was true generosity!

For the sake of the family, for the Fan family, for the reputation and harmony of the entire village, she was willing to suffer a little!

Old Man Xu promised, “We can’t let the villains become more arrogant. If we find out who did it, we’ll report to the old village chief and let him handle it. We can’t let these pests have it easy in our village!”

Grandpa Fan gritted his teeth, “Yes, we can’t let the good people always suffer.”

“A single mouse dropping can spoil a pot of soup. Our village may be poor, but we can’t tolerate thieves and troublemakers.”

They already knew who had done it this time, but catching them red-handed… those people wouldn’t admit it even if they were beaten to death.

And Shuiqing was deliberately letting them off the hook, which was fine for now.

But there couldn’t be a next time. If there was, it would show they hadn’t learned their lesson, and they would have to be severely punished as a deterrent!

Shuiqing smiled lightly, seeming indifferent.

The more magnanimous she appeared now, the more fiercely Fan Qian’s family would retaliate later, and the more these village elders would support her.

She didn’t mind.

Because soon, not just them, but the entire village would know who stole the potatoes~

·

When Fan Qian and his family returned home, the kitchen was already filled with the aroma of cooking.

“Smells so good.” Fan Sanzhu licked his lips.

Sun Jinhua came out with a large basin of potatoes, her eyes smiling as she heard her son’s words, nodding towards the main hall, signaling them to wait there for food.

Fan Sanzhu grinned widely and hurriedly ran to the main hall.

The others were afraid of being too slow and missing out, so they followed one after another at astonishing speed.

Fan Zhaodi, who was walking behind, carried a large bowl of mixed dark noodles and white cabbage paste. The outer wall of the pottery was hot, and she had to put it down from time to time to rub her hands before continuing.

She watched her older brothers rushing eagerly to the main hall, her eyes lowered, continuing to carry the hot pottery.

By the time the mixed dark noodles and white cabbage paste was placed on the table, the large basin of potatoes was almost gone.

“Mom, Grandma, these potatoes are so delicious, soft and fluffy, better than dark noodles!” Fan Sizhu commented as he ate.

“Just a bit too little. Mom, this isn’t enough to eat.” Fan Dazhu stuffed his mouth full and complained.

Sun Jinhua looked at them lovingly, feeling sorry, “Blame me. I was afraid of wasting it the first time I cooked, so I didn’t make too much.”

Fan Sanzhu spoke up for Sun Jinhua, “It’s not Mom’s fault. It’s just that these potatoes are so delicious, no, it’s Mom’s cooking that’s delicious. That’s why we’re eating more than usual!”

“Mom, you’ve worked hard. Come on, eat quickly,” Fan Erzhu didn’t even lift his head, vaguely saying to Sun Jinhua.

Sun Jinhua’s face immediately broke into a smile.

The whole family crowded around the table, scrambling for the large basin of potatoes, not even sparing a glance at the plain noodle soup on the side.

Sun Jinhua thought to herself that indeed, these noodles couldn’t compare to the potatoes!

Compared to the potatoes, the noodles were so unappetizing that they were almost impossible to swallow.

The potatoes she casually cooked were devoured with gusto by the family, praising her cooking skills.

Her sons were really good to her!

Glancing at her short and thin daughter, she saw her tiptoeing alone, scooping out the plain noodle soup from the ceramic basin.

She’s so clueless!

While her brothers knew the potatoes were delicious and all went for them, she was still scooping out that plain noodle soup, so foolish and naive.

Sun Jinhua moved her eyes away in annoyance, about to pick up her chopsticks to grab some potatoes, but when she looked again, they were gone!

Gone?

That entire big basin of potatoes was gone?

Fan Qian wiped his mouth and suggested, “Next time, make more. This isn’t enough.”

Fan’s mother’s bowl was almost overflowing, and she insincerely urged Sun Jinhua, “You should eat quickly too.”

Sun Jinhua: Eat, eat, eat!

What about her? She’s really out of luck!

“Well, isn’t there still the plain noodle soup? Start with that, and we’ll make more for tonight,” Fan’s mother protected her bowl of rice, saying casually.

Sun Jinhua stared straight at her mother-in-law, showing no intention of eating the plain noodle soup.

She had only eaten a few pieces. Why should she drink the plain noodle soup? This was her home; she was the mistress and deserved her share!

Fan’s mother felt uncomfortable under her gaze, seeing that none of her grandchildren were yielding their potatoes. After a tense standoff, she relented, “Alright, I owe you this! Split it with you, I won’t starve you!”

Sun Jinhua snorted through her nose, thinking if someone has to die first, it’ll be you.

Still feeling unsatisfied with the small bowl she had been given, Sun Jinhua poured all the broth left in the potato basin into her bowl.

She instructed the head of the household, “Dig more next time!”

Fan Qian nodded.

The second family was indeed cunning. With such delicious food, they secretly hoarded and ate it without informing even their closest relatives.

If she had told him, during this period, he would have gone to dig some back to save several months of grain.

It’s really unkind.

Except for Fan Zhaodi, everyone was extremely satisfied with the meal, patting their bulging stomachs and letting out comfortable belches.

The plain noodle soup with cabbage had hardly been touched. Fan Zhaodi tiptoed again and scooped herself another bowl.

Her aunt had told her to eat more. Only by eating more could she grow up and be better herself.

She remembered.

Seeing her daughter hadn’t even gotten a piece of potato, Sun Jinhua turned a blind eye to her second bowl of plain noodle soup.

Forget it. Her sons were full and didn’t want more, so if her daughter wanted a second bowl, let her have it.

As Fan’s mother was about to scold her, she felt a slight discomfort in her throat. Thinking she’d wait a bit until it felt better, she planned to give this lazy, gluttonous girl a piece of her mind!

But as she waited, instead of getting better, her throat started to hurt even more.

Her mouth and throat felt like they were on fire, as if needles were being jabbed into them, a pain that kept increasing layer by layer.