Chapter 15

Lan Yun’er turned over in her bed and sighed in comfort. Her mother-in-law’s scolding was absolutely right—Cao Yunxia and Huo Junda definitely deserved it! Ten minutes later, Huo Jincheng returned. As he got back into bed, Lan Yun’er yawned and pretended to be tired, asking, “What happened, Jincheng? Did something happen? I think I heard Mother-in-law and Big Sister-in-law’s voices.”

Huo Jincheng lay down beside her. Hearing her question, his eyes flickered slightly. As he wrapped his arm around her, he said, “It’s nothing, go back to sleep.”

Lan Yun’er responded with an “Mm,” yawned again, and nestled closer to him. Despite the comfort of his arms, she couldn’t fall asleep immediately. However, after half an hour of holding her, he finally drifted off to sleep.

As dawn broke, Lan Yun’er woke up. She dressed quickly, looked over at Huo Jincheng who was still sleeping soundly, and raised an eyebrow. She tucked him in gently, then made her way toward the door. After washing up quickly in the courtyard, she entered the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

Last night’s dinner had been cooked by her second sister-in-law, Zhong Cuitao, but the food was barely edible due to poor cooking skills and rough ingredients. So, if she wanted to eat something decent, she had to cook it herself.

As soon as she entered the kitchen, she saw the ingredients on the stove. A slight smile appeared on her lips, a hint of pleasure in her expression. These ingredients were plants from the mountains, which she had asked five birds to gather for her the previous night. They could be used as seasonings. Although there were seasonings available in the market, the Huo family was poor, and their kitchen only had salt. For some dishes, just salt wasn’t enough to bring out the flavor. That’s why she had asked the birds to gather these ingredients for her.

After tying her apron, she cleaned the plants and wild vegetables she had picked and began preparing breakfast. Her main dishes today would be wild vegetable salad, wild vegetable cakes, and wild vegetable soup.

The early morning kitchen felt cold, but Lan Yun’er found it peaceful and pleasant.

Just as she finished preparing the food, voices came from the courtyard. Cao Yunxia looked at Zhong Cuitao and scolded, “Why are you only up now? If you’re just getting up, when are we going to eat breakfast?”

As soon as Cao Yunxia opened the door, she saw Zhong Cuitao hurrying toward the kitchen, clearly just having gotten up. Zhong Cuitao paused, glanced at Cao Yunxia, whose face was covered in bruises, especially her lips, which seemed to have been bitten by something, making her lips puffy and swollen.

But Zhong Cuitao didn’t dare to say anything about it. She lowered her head and spoke in a small voice, “I overslept, so…”

“Overslept? Are you a pig?” Cao Yunxia interrupted angrily. “I see you’re nothing but a pig, useless, and dumb!”

Zhong Cuitao bit her lip, lowered her head even further, and quietly said, “I’ll go make breakfast.” She turned to head to the kitchen.

At just the right moment, Lan Yun’er came out holding a plate of wild vegetable salad. She looked at Zhong Cuitao and smiled slightly. “Second sister-in-law, breakfast is ready, you don’t have to worry about it.”

Zhong Cuitao was surprised. She looked up at Lan Yun’er and asked, “Xiaoyun, how come you’re up so early today?”

Lan Yun’er used to be the last to wake up, but today not only had she woken up early, but she had also made breakfast. This was truly surprising.

Lan Yun’er said, “It’s usually you making breakfast, and you’ve worked hard for so long, so from now on, I’ll help out too.”

This was just a casual remark, but to Zhong Cuitao, it was deeply moving. Her eyes became moist, and she spoke in a choked voice, “Xiaoyun, you…”

“Ah!” Cao Yunxia’s voice suddenly rang out, full of sarcasm, as she glared at Lan Yun’er. “So, you can cook too? I thought someone like you, a young lady, only knows how to live a life of luxury and wouldn’t bother with cooking!” She paused for a moment before adding, “You suddenly cooking—are you trying to poison us? You want to kill everyone with poison, huh?”

Lan Yun’er slightly turned her head, looked at Cao Yunxia’s bruised face and swollen lips, and raised an eyebrow with a smile. She suddenly exclaimed, “Oh my, big sister-in-law, what happened to your face and lips? You look terrible!”

Cao Yunxia, who hated being called ugly, gritted her teeth and stormed toward Lan Yun’er. “Lan Yun’er, you’re calling me ugly?”

Lan Yun’er’s eyes flickered with coldness as she was about to dodge, but at that moment, Huo Jincheng’s voice suddenly rang out. “Big sister-in-law!”

Huo Jincheng’s voice was calm and deep, carrying a coldness that made people shiver. Cao Yunxia froze at once.

She turned to see Huo Jincheng coming out of the room. His hair was messy, but it didn’t affect his appearance at all. In fact, it gave him an untamed, handsome look. Among all the brothers in the Huo family, Huo Jincheng was the most good-looking.

Cao Yunxia was jealous of Lan Yun’er not just because of her beauty but because Lan Yun’er had married the most handsome man in the Huo family. Cao Yunxia often imagined that if she had married Huo Jincheng, her life would have been perfect. But unfortunately, Lan Yun’er, that “bitch,” had married him instead. What qualifications did Lan Yun’er have to marry someone like Huo Jincheng?

Her gaze fell on Huo Jincheng for a moment, and then she said, “Jincheng, did you hear what Lan Yun’er just said? She said I’m ugly, she called me ugly! Is that something a sister-in-law should say? How can she be so disrespectful!”

Cao Yunxia hoped that Huo Jincheng would scold Lan Yun’er for her. But instead, Huo Jincheng walked over to Lan Yun’er, glanced at her, and said to Cao Yunxia, “Yun’er only spoke the truth. Big sister-in-law, why are you making such a big fuss?”