Chapter 9: Teaching a Lesson to the Troublemaker

Ye Xin Ran and Chang Ping looked outside and saw Aunt Zhang hurrying over.

“You silly child, why are you starting a fire so early? You kids don’t even know how to cook, isn’t that just a waste of firewood?”

Before she could finish, Aunt Zhang spotted Ye Xin Ran walking out of the kitchen.

She immediately asked, “What are you doing here?”

Ye Xin Ran couldn’t help but chuckle in exasperation. “This is my kitchen. Why wouldn’t I be here if I wanted to?”

“You? You know how to cook?” Aunt Zhang clearly didn’t believe her.

Ye Xin Ran shot her a cold glance. “How would you know I don’t? Have you asked around about me?”

Aunt Zhang was momentarily at a loss for words. “Do I even need to ask? You’re a lady from a rich family…”

“And what about it? Rich ladies can’t cook?”

From what Chang Ping and Chang An had said yesterday, Ye Xin Ran had already figured out that this Aunt Zhang was no saint. She saw no need to be polite.

“Aren’t you being rude, young lady? I came here out of the goodness of my heart! If it weren’t for me, these three children would have starved to death by now!”

“Out of the goodness of your heart? You didn’t get paid?”

Ye Xin Ran shot back, “If you got paid, it’s not called helping, it’s called employment. Xiao Huai’an hired you to cook for the kids. Isn’t it your job to do so? Aunt Zhang, it seems you’ve forgotten your role.”

Since starting work at the Xiao household, Aunt Zhang had never encountered someone so blunt.

Even Xiao Huai’an himself had never spoken to her in such a tone.

She wanted to lash out, but when she thought of the piece of meat in the kitchen, she decided to endure it for now. Once she secretly got her hands on it, she could deal with this woman later.

“Oh, I was just making a casual guess. If you can cook, that’s even better!

If I get too busy in the future, you can just cook for yourself, can’t you?”

With that, Aunt Zhang lowered her head and started walking toward the kitchen.

Ye Xin Ran, however, stepped forward and blocked her way.

Aunt Zhang looked up, surprised. “What are you doing!”

Ye Xin Ran replied, “No need to wait for you to be busy. I can cook for myself starting now.”

Aunt Zhang narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t you understand? I’m telling you that from now on, the Xiao family doesn’t need you to cook anymore.”

“You…”

Aunt Zhang had initially thought the new bride couldn’t cook and had come over to mock her and make her back off.

But now, this bride was outright dismissing her?

Aunt Zhang couldn’t accept this and put her hands on her hips, saying, “Xiao Gong Zi hired me! What right do you have to drive me away?”

“Because I’m the mistress of this house!”

Ye Xin Ran also put her hands on her hips. “From now on, I’m in charge of everything here. If you don’t leave, are you waiting for me to make you leave?”

Aunt Zhang was furious, and just then, she saw little Chang An running over barefoot.

The child seemed half-asleep, rubbing his eyes and calling, “Auntie, Auntie!”

Aunt Zhang quickly scooped him up and pretended to fuss over him. “Oh dear, why are you running out bare foot? What if you catch a cold? Grandma Zhang feels so sorry for you!

Chang An, tell me, isn’t Grandma Zhang’s cooking your favorite?”

Chang An was startled when he was picked up and immediately woke up.

He shook his head. “Auntie, I like Auntie’s cooking the best!”

Aunt Zhang’s fake smile froze. Upon hearing this, her expression changed drastically. “What did you say?”

Chang An grew even more scared and reached out his small hands toward Ye Xin Ran, shouting, “Auntie, Auntie, save me!”

Chang Ping reacted swiftly, darting forward and snatching Chang An from Aunt Zhang’s arms.

Ye Xin Ran picked up a broom from the ground. “Aunt Zhang, I’ve said everything I need to. If you’re not convinced, feel free to wait for Xiao Huai’an to come back and take it up with him.

But while you’re at it, you might want to explain the matter of how the second child got beaten up.”

“I…”

Aunt Zhang’s palms started sweating.

She hadn’t expected Chang Ping to tell Ye Xin Ran about that incident.

It had been so long, and he hadn’t told Xiao Huai’an, why would he tell this woman?

Still, Aunt Zhang stiffened her neck and retorted, “I was disciplining the child for Xiao Gong Zi!

Children need correction when they make mistakes, especially when they steal food at such a young age!

Stealing needles when they’re small turns into stealing gold when they’re grown! I was only doing it for the good of the Xiao family.”

Hearing Aunt Zhang’s self-righteous explanation, Ye Xin Ran’s face turned cold.

“Stealing food? Then let me ask you, whose food was he eating?”

“It was…” Aunt Zhang faltered.

“It was Xiao family food!” Ye Xin Ran answered for her.

“This is the first time I’ve heard that eating one’s own food can be called stealing.

Or is it that you’ve taken over this household and think it’s your own?”

Aunt Zhang was completely stunned by Ye Xin Ran’s questions.

This woman’s voice wasn’t loud, nor was her tone aggressive, but every word she spoke landed like a hammer, striking at the heart of the matter.

Cold sweat broke out on Aunt Zhang’s back as she tried to think of a way to deal with Ye Xin Ran. What she didn’t notice was that Chang Ping, standing behind her, was already in tears.

Chang Ping hadn’t expected that after this incident was exposed, Auntie would stand up for him.

That day, he had been so hungry that he secretly took a freshly steamed bun from the kitchen.

But he had only eaten half of it before Grandma Zhang slapped him.

As she hit him, she scolded him, saying he was a disgrace to the Xiao family, that stealing a bun as a child would lead to stealing bigger things as an adult.

She claimed that the Xiao family’s poor behavior was a blight on the village and threatened to report them to the village head to have the entire family expelled.

Chang Ping had been terrified.

He feared that Grandma Zhang would tell others about the incident and tarnish his second uncle’s reputation. Crying, he begged her not to say anything.

Since then, Grandma Zhang had frequently withheld food from him and Chang An, but he didn’t dare tell anyone.

Grandma Zhang had warned him that if he spoke out, she would report to the village head and brand Xiao’s second child as a thief.

Now, with the truth finally revealed, the heavy weight on Chang Ping’s heart was lifted.

“I didn’t steal it! I didn’t steal it! I’m not a thief!”

Tears streaming down his face, Chang Ping looked up at the sky and wailed, his voice growing hoarse.

Ye Xin Ran’s heart ached as she listened to the entire story.

She walked over, hugged Chang Ping tightly, gently stroked his head, and said softly:

“That’s right, you didn’t steal anything. Everything you ate was bought for you by your second uncle, it was yours to eat. How could that be stealing?

If you ask me, the real thief here is someone else!”

As she spoke, Ye Xin Ran turned her gaze to Aunt Zhang.

Aunt Zhang looked flustered.

“Who’s a thief? I’m not someone with sticky fingers!”

“Smack!”

Before she could finish her sentence, Ye Xin Ran delivered a solid slap to Aunt Zhang’s face.

“I initially thought you were just greedy for some small benefits, but I didn’t expect you to be so shameless, bullying an innocent child because of your age. That slap was for Chang Ping!”

“You, how dare you hit me!”

Aunt Zhang had never suffered such humiliation before. She reached out, intending to grab Ye Xin Ran by the hair.