Chapter 15

“What’s going on, Sister-in-law!?”

Ye Li and Bao Xiuxiu both came over reluctantly.

Li Fang even went to call Li Yanhong out, but Li Yanhong was very unwilling.

“Auntie, what are you calling me for? My hair’s not even done yet!” Li Yanhong’s hair had been singed by lightning, so she didn’t want to go out and see anyone for now.

“What do you mean ‘what for’? Fourth Brother’s here. Hurry up and fix yourself and go see him!”

“Zhan Tingxu is here?”

Hearing this, Li Yanhong was startled, then turned and hurried back to her room. “Wait for me a minute!”

Li Fang urged impatiently, “Hurry up!”

Li Yanhong quickly tied up her hair before daring to come out to see Zhan Tingxu.

But it was completely unnecessary — Zhan Tingxu didn’t care what she looked like and didn’t even glance at her.

Ye Li lazily asked, “So what do you need us for, Fourth Brother?”

Zhan Tingxu questioned in an icy voice: “I’m asking you — were you the ones who pushed my wife into the river?”

At these words, all the sisters-in-law froze.

Li Yanhong was so terrified she slipped back into hiding, not daring to face Zhan Tingxu.

Li Fang asked in confusion, “What are you talking about, Fourth Brother? You can’t just throw accusations around. Didn’t Yingying fall in by herself?”

The other sisters-in-law quickly chimed in:
“Exactly! She slipped in on her own — how could you blame us!?”

But when Li Yanhong heard this, she grew anxious, heart pounding, staying hidden inside for fear of being dragged out.

“Was it you or not? You know it in your hearts. You’d better own up yourselves, because if I find out later, don’t blame me for turning against you!”

Zhan Tingxu’s righteous words made all the sisters-in-law uneasy.

Still, Li Fang held her ground:
“If it wasn’t me, then it wasn’t me. Check all you like, just don’t pin it on me!”

The other two sisters-in-law echoed her loudly.

But in Zhan Tingxu’s eyes, every one of them was still a suspect.
Their denial didn’t clear them.

At that moment, Madam Lü (the brothers’ mother) came out and asked:
“What’s all this fuss? What happened?”

Zhan Tingxu explained his purpose to her.

Madam Lü was astonished: “What? Yingying was pushed into the river?”

“Yes,” Zhan Tingxu said, sweeping his gaze over the sisters-in-law. “I’m asking who did it.”

All of them lowered their heads guiltily.

Even if they were innocent, they couldn’t withstand Zhan Tingxu’s piercing stare — as if he would devour them alive.

Madam Lü’s face darkened as she glared at them:
“Whoever did it, stand up right now!”

But the sisters-in-law only glanced at each other.
No one stepped forward.

“If I ever find out who it was, she can forget about staying in this family!” Madam Lü declared coldly.

Li Yanhong secretly breathed a sigh of relief — lucky she wasn’t actually part of this household. Even if they knew it was her, they couldn’t do anything about it.

Since nothing more could be learned, Zhan Tingxu went home to cook. Before leaving, he said to Madam Lü:
“Mom, I’ll head back to make dinner.”

Madam Lü nodded. “Alright, go ahead.”

As soon as Zhan Tingxu left, the eldest brother complained to Madam Lü:
“Mom, why don’t you scold Fourth Brother? A grown man cooking and doing laundry all day — what kind of man is that supposed to be?”

But Madam Lü didn’t think it strange at all.
“Yingying’s health is poor. What’s wrong with Fourth Brother taking on a bit more?”

Li Fang immediately felt it was unfair:
“Then why can’t I stop working too, and let Eldest Brother cook and wash?”

The eldest brother shot that down right away:
“Don’t even think about it! I’m not doing that kind of work!”

Madam Lü glared at him impatiently.
“You’re you, Fourth Brother is Fourth Brother. If you don’t want to help, that’s your problem — Fourth Brother’s willing.”

“But it’s pathetic! He’s making all of us brothers lose face!”

Hearing that, Madam Lü rapped him on the head with her knuckles.
“You’re the one losing face! Just look at Yingying’s kids — so smart and well-behaved. Then look at your son, Er Gouzi — fourth grade and he still can’t memorize the multiplication table!”

The eldest brother argued:
“So what if he can’t? I didn’t understand it at that age either!”

“Yingying started teaching A-Ming, A-Liang, and Tingting when they were much younger than him,” Madam Lü shot back.

The eldest brother was momentarily speechless.
“That’s way too early!” he muttered.

Meanwhile, Er Gouzi was outside playing with cow dung, about to put it in his mouth when Li Fang shouted frantically:
“Stop! Er Gouzi, don’t eat that!”

Seeing her son’s silly antics, Madam Lü sighed deeply.
“I don’t remember you brothers being this dim when you were little.”

But the smartest had always been Zhan Tingxu — and the most capable too.
Sometimes his three older brothers even had to borrow money from their younger brother.

“Grandma!”

Er Gouzi ran over, grabbed Madam Lü’s clothes, and smeared cow dung all over her.

“Ugh, filthy! Take him to wash up!” Madam Lü said in disgust.

Li Fang dragged Er Gouzi to the well, twisting his ear until he yelped in pain.
“Mom, that hurts!”

—Meanwhile—

When Zhan Tingxu got home, he saw Meng Yingying picking vegetables in the yard while the kids helped.

“Mom, let me help you!”

Seeing how thoughtful the children were, Meng Yingying felt very pleased but still said:
“You just go play.”

Zhan Tingxu quickly took over.
“I’ll do it. You just fell into the river and haven’t recovered yet. How can you be working already?”

Meng Yingying let him take over.
“I can’t just not cook. When I saw you hadn’t come back yet, I thought you weren’t making dinner today.”

“I just interrogated the sisters-in-law,” Zhan Tingxu said. “None of them admitted to pushing you.”

Meng Yingying chuckled.
“Of course not — who would confess when you ask so directly?”

“Even so, I could read something from their expressions,” he said.

“Did you figure it out then?” she asked curiously.

Zhan Tingxu honestly shook his head.
“No.”

In fact, he suspected the culprit wasn’t one of the sisters-in-law at all — but someone else entirely.

“Besides those three, do you have any other enemies?” Zhan Tingxu asked.

Meng Yingying thought for a moment.

Only Li Yanhong — but Zhan Tingxu didn’t know about the book-transmigration secret, so she couldn’t explain.

So she just shook her head.
“Can’t think of anyone right now.”

After a pause, she asked:
“By the way, did you see Li Yanhong?”

“No. Why? Is it related to her?” Zhan Tingxu asked with concern.

Meng Yingying lowered her eyes.
“I’m not sure.”

“If you get any clue, tell me right away,” Zhan Tingxu urged.