Chapter 11: Something Must Be Wrong

The small cottage of the third branch had no soundproofing, so the shouting from the Luo family was naturally heard.

The five of them sat together.

"Ye girl... this isn't right..." Lin’s face turned pale.

Eldest Third Wen and his sister Wen Lan were extremely worried and dared not pick up their chopsticks.

"What’s there to fear? Even Granny hasn’t said anything. We’ll just eat our meal," Wen Ye said without a trace of fear, for she knew that Madam Fang and Granny Wen were surely scheming something.

For the sake of their scheme, they would endure anything!

Lin and Wen Lan exchanged glances, surprised to find the main hall unusually quiet, with no one coming to cause a scene.

They didn’t dare to go to the main hall either; that would draw even more attention.

Seeing Wen Ye already eating, they nervously picked up their chopsticks.

Wen Ye ate while expressing disdain.

Madam Luo must have thought they were about to leave soon and didn’t want to show kindness to the third branch, so the dishes tonight were completely bland, without a hint of oil or fishiness.

There was a boiled pumpkin, steamed eggplant, and some pickled vegetables.

...

The next day, it was the second branch’s turn to do the chores.

Eldest Third Wen didn’t dare slack off and still took Wen Chui to the field early in the morning to tend the crops.

Lin had nothing to do after washing clothes, feeling restless and uneasy.

Approaching noon, she went to the kitchen to help but was driven out by Madam Fang.

When the meal was ready, Madam Fang came to the cottage with a smile:

"Third brother, sister-in-law, in a few days we’ll be dividing the family property. Don’t bring your meals back to your room anymore; it feels awkward."

"The second sister-in-law is right," Lin replied anxiously, afraid of making a mistake that would jeopardize the division.

Wen Ye curled her lips slightly. At Lin’s urging, the five of them awkwardly entered the main hall to sit together with the first and second branches and Granny Wen.

Wen Ye glanced at Wen Liyue not far away.

Wen Liyue met her gaze and glared back.

Since returning from town, Wen Liyue had felt unwell all over—no clear cause, just discomfort and listlessness. She hid in her room all day, refusing to come out and even had Madam Fang bring her meals.

Luckily, Granny Wen’s injury had allowed her to slack off.

Today she was feeling a little better and joined everyone for the meal.

Seeing the heroine of the story so listless, Wen Ye felt reassured.

...

Soon the dishes were brought out.

Today Madam Fang had brought home a pound of pork belly, stewed tenderly with green beans. Even before being set on the table, the aroma was intoxicating. She also made a milky white bone broth and three vegetable dishes—a rather sumptuous meal.

Madam Luo and Eldest Wen looked at the dishes, mouths watering. Seeing the "outsiders" of the third branch sitting there, they felt slighted.

Madam Fang smiled and said, "Third brother, third sister-in-law, we were careless a few days ago when we arranged a match for Lan without fully understanding. Today’s meal is a compensation for that."

Lin and Eldest Third Wen were taken aback.

For the past two days, they had thought the first and second branches had teamed up to sell out Wen Lan.

But after the family agreed to divide property yesterday and gave them an acre of land, and with Madam Fang’s repeated soft words, they began to doubt.

Perhaps they had misunderstood; maybe the second branch truly didn’t know the other party was the old man...

Wen Liyue snorted indignantly, having insisted several times that her mother wouldn’t do such a thing!

Madam Fang turned and went back into the kitchen, this time bringing in five bowls of sweet boiled eggs.

They were sprinkled with goji berries and red dates, and the sweet fragrance was noticeable even before they were placed down.

"Here you go." Madam Fang placed the five bowls in front of the five members of the third branch.

Madam Luo was instantly infuriated by this gesture: "What’s this? Why only five eggs for them?"

Wen Mei stiffened her face: "The eggs belong to the family; why do they get all the portions?"

"Exactly," Wen Liyue muttered as well.

Madam Fang glared at her and then said, "These eggs aren’t from our family; I met my mother this morning while buying meat, and she gave them to me. If the eldest sister-in-law wants some, she can ask her own family."

The first branch was speechless.

"Third brother’s family is about to leave soon, and I can’t bear it, so I cooked a few eggs for them," Madam Fang said gently, pushing the bowl toward Wen Chui with a warm smile, "Chui, eat quickly! You still need to grow! Ye and Lan, you two eat as well."

Urged by Madam Fang’s soft voice, Lin and Eldest Third Wen were deeply moved.

Even Wen Lan felt a warmth in her heart. Wen Chui looked at the sweet soup in his bowl and swallowed hard, about to eat.

"Thank you, second aunt," Wen Ye smiled and picked up the bowl in front of her, placing it before Granny Wen.

"Second aunt is so kind to us; I’ve decided to be a dutiful granddaughter-in-law. This is a gift of filial respect to Granny."

The third branch members felt too embarrassed to eat after hearing that.

Wen Lan hurriedly pushed her bowl toward Madam Luo: "I—I also want to show filial respect to eldest aunt."

Lin and Eldest Third Wen followed suit, placing their bowls before the couples of the eldest and second branches.

Madam Fang and Granny Wen’s expressions instantly darkened.

Granny Wen’s face stretched long: "Second sister-in-law told you to eat, so eat! Why all this pushing? This is care for you."

Wen Ye sneered, "I get stomachaches from sweets. I’ll have the broth instead."

Seeing the third branch about to eat, this little brat caused trouble again, and Granny Wen’s anger surged: "If I tell you to eat, then eat! What nonsense are you spouting?"

"I told you, I can’t eat sweets; it gives me stomach pain! Is Granny trying to kill me?" Wen Ye slammed the table and stood up.

"Or are you really trying to poison us? Second aunt never gave me anything good before, and suddenly she brings a bowl of sweet eggs. What’s the meaning of this? Poison?"

Granny Wen and Madam Fang’s faces turned ashen. Madam Fang hurriedly said,

"Oh, Ye girl, what nonsense are you talking? Oh, you can’t eat sweets? I never knew. Since you can’t eat them... then don’t. Heh."

"Heh," Wen Ye returned a cold laugh.

"Since Ye girl is offering them as a filial gift, I’ll eat it," Madam Fang said to Granny Wen with a smile.

Granny Wen’s face stiffened. Though it wasn’t poison, she feared it might harm her health, so she dared not eat.

Thinking this, she placed the sweet eggs before Wen Liyue: "My teeth have been hurting lately; you eat it, Liyue."

"Ah!" Wen Liyue quickly agreed.

But inwardly, she hesitated. Though she didn’t believe her mother would poison her, after seeing the third branch’s reluctance, she found the bowl of sweet eggs strange.

Madam Fang, seeing Granny Wen setting Wen Liyue up, was secretly angry but dared not stop it, smiling, "Your granny gave it to you; eat quickly."

"Yes, yes, eat quickly!" Madam Luo, afraid the third branch would snatch it back, immediately stabbed an egg with her chopsticks and bit into it eagerly.

Eldest Wen and Wen Mei were overjoyed and started eating as well.

"Eat up! Chui, have some meat," Madam Fang said, serving Wen Chui a piece.

Eldest Third Wen and Lin exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat guilty.

If even Wen Liyue ate the sweet soup, it couldn’t be harmful.

Wen Lan also felt sorry for Madam Fang, her expression awkward, and she gave Wen Ye a chopstickful of green beans.

Wen Ye ate while casting a cold smile toward Madam Fang.

No intuition was needed—the sweet eggs were definitely problematic! They had been tampered with!

What more could the third branch want?

Her eyes flickered as she thought of something, mocking even more: She understood now—these schemers truly had no intention of letting go!