Chapter 73

“Yaoyao, what are you doing?”

Zhang Qiufeng was stunned to see Ye Yao carrying out a basin of boiled vegetables from the kitchen.

She had specially stewed some meat today.

These past few days, she and her daughter had been out shopping frequently, and both the house and their meals had become noticeably better.

Ye Yao stared at the steaming pork belly on the table and couldn’t help but swallow.

“Mom, you go ahead and eat. I’ll just have this.”

She was on a strict diet now. No matter how tempting meat was, she couldn’t touch it—it was too high in calories.

“But why?”

Zhang Qiufeng frowned deeply. They used to be too poor to afford good food, but now that they finally had money, she refused to eat?!

“Mom, I’m losing weight.”

After saying this, Ye Yao carried her small bowl and didn’t even dare to sit at the table. Instead, she went to eat outside in the yard.

Zhang Qiufeng watched her, feeling deeply distressed. It was just a few pieces of meat—her daughter’s appetite had already shrunk, so eating a little wouldn’t hurt, right?

But she only thought this to herself. Since her daughter was determined to lose weight, she decided not to cook such fatty meat in the future.

“Mom, how much money do we have left?”

After dinner, mother and daughter sat on the heated brick bed. Ye Yao yawned.

Without hesitation, Zhang Qiufeng pulled out a small accounting notebook from under the bedding.

She never used to keep track of their expenses—there was no money to track in the first place. But now things were different.

“We have 638 yuan left.”

These days, she felt like she was living in a dream. All the things they once couldn’t afford were now in their home.

But they had also spent a lot of money. However, Ye Yao kept telling her that money was meant to be earned, not just saved, and that they should buy what they needed.

Ye Yao nodded. “Got it.”

—-

“Ye Yao-jiejie, I want some candy!”

“Me too, Ye Yao-jiejie!”

By evening, Ye Yao was surrounded by a group of children in the courtyard, all begging for candy.

She had unknowingly become the “boss” of the kids. But in truth, the children were more interested in the sweets in her pockets than in her.

She didn’t mind. In the past, no one in the courtyard talked to her, and she was constantly shunned. The kids might be young and unaware, but their parents were shrewd. If they allowed their children to follow her around, it meant they were genuinely starting to accept her.

One day, she would become someone in this courtyard who was not only liked and respected but admired!

“Alright, of course, you can have some candy—but first, you have to answer a question. Do you think jiejie is pretty?”

Ye Yao asked with a straight face, without a hint of embarrassment.

“Pretty!”

The children answered in unison.

Ye Yao’s eyes curved into a smile as she pulled out a handful of milk candies from her pocket.

“Your fiancée is really something else, looking for validation from a bunch of kids.”

Not far away, Zheng Lu teased Li Cheng and Huang Ying as they walked back from work.

A trace of ridicule flickered in Huang Ying’s eyes. “She can only fool these kids into saying what she wants to hear. It’s pretty embarrassing.”

After saying that, she turned to glare at Zheng Lu.

“Does she not have a name? Stop calling her ‘fiancée’ when talking to Cheng-ge.”

The word “fiancée” was downright unpleasant.

Zheng Lu looked helpless. Was he not even allowed to joke anymore?

At that moment, Ye Yao, who was in the middle of the group of children, spotted them—especially Li Cheng.

For a brief moment, the smile on her face froze. Should she pretend not to see him?

But he had helped her last time, so ignoring him would seem petty.