Chapter 53: He Is Just a Child

Page 1/3

Mrs. Fang could no longer bear it. She put down her chopsticks and stepped forward, her voice trembling as she said, “Third Brother, if you don’t control her, how can you face Mother? Mother has raised you for over thirty years... Of course, you’re filial—you even shared the recipe with us, letting us brew the soup to help out with the household expenses.”

“But Ye actually taught the recipe to outsiders... Third Brother, she’s cutting off your livelihood! Severing the lifeline for us and Mother!”

As she spoke, tears began to flow.

Together with her were Second Uncle Wen, Wen Liyue, and Wen Mei; the four of them looked at him with a mixture of indignation and pity.

Passersby in the town, seeing the commotion, stopped eating breakfast and shopping to gather and watch.

They listened, confused.

All they knew was that the young girl had set up a stall and made money; her father was filial and shared the method with his mother and brothers.

But the girl was unhappy and taught outsiders, stealing business from her own grandmother and uncles.

Even though the business started because of her, she was unfilial, blurring the lines between family and strangers—how thoughtless!

Wen Third Brother’s mind was in turmoil, unsure of what to say.

“Step aside, I’ll speak!” Aunt Guihua suddenly stepped forward, pulling Wen Third Brother behind her. “Everyone, come and see! Come and see!”

She pointed toward Wen Ye and Wen Lan:

“There are two beautiful young girls in Qingshui Village who were abused by their grandmother and elder uncles since childhood. Finally grown up, they were schemed against and nearly sold to a dental shop.”

“Luckily, they were clever and escaped, dividing the family. But they didn’t receive a single patch of land, a single penny, or a single grain of rice. The whole family of five was driven out.”

“It’s me, an outsider, who lent them a house to live in. It’s me, an outsider, who brought them grain and rice! The girls barely thought up a business selling cold dishes, and before they could earn a few days’ money, their father gave the recipe to the old mansion.”

“Our family has been struggling with money lately. The girls thought, since the recipe was already out, why not teach us too, so we could repay the kindness. Tell me, where is the unfilial act? Where is the confusion of family and strangers? Where is the thoughtlessness?”

At the right moment, Wen Ye wiped away tears that didn’t exist:

“Father wants filial piety; as children, how could we stop him? But Aunt Guihua and Uncle Shengli have been as kind as mountains to us. What’s wrong with repaying their kindness?”

“And I never intended to rob the old mansion’s business. Everyone knows we usually sell 300 jin.”

“Today I only made 150 jin, just to give Aunt Guihua’s family a share to sell. If the old mansion runs well, it can even snatch some business.”

Page 2/3

Wen Third Brother heard his daughter’s understanding words and felt a deep guilt that drained the color from his face. He stammered, “Ye... ”

Wen Lizheng spoke at the opportune moment: “Duoshi, you owe the Shengli family such a great debt. Even if you, as parents, don’t remember, you can’t stop Ye from repaying it for you!”

“And Duoliang, your family has bullied the third branch for over ten years and is still taking advantage now. Ye hasn’t blamed you even once. How dare you make a fuss?”

The four from the old mansion blushed deeply, embarrassed.

Onlookers suddenly understood and saw the contempt on Wen Second Uncle and others’ faces.

“So that’s it, what do you call that?”

“Taking advantage and then acting innocent! Getting greedy for more!”

Wen Second Uncle angrily said, “Fine... if she wants to repay kindness, then what about them? She even taught three more stalls! She’s trying to ruin our business!”

Wen Third Brother was stunned, looking at Wen Ye with a bitter feeling in his heart.

A small voice spoke up: “We’re not taught by Sister Ye!”

It was nine-year-old Zhao Tiezhu: “We heard the recipe ourselves and experimented on our own.”

Wen Second Uncle roared, “Nonsense! Is the recipe like a dog’s bark in the village? You say you heard it, so you heard it. That little she-devil Ye taught you on purpose to spite us.”

Mrs. Fang said, “Yes, we have done wrong before. But Grandmother did not wrong her. Now Grandmother is cared for by our two branches... She’s so spiteful she doesn’t even care about her own grandmother’s wellbeing! It was Ye who leaked it to them. Third Brother, open your eyes and see!”

Wen Third Brother was overwhelmed by the noise, pursing his lips, unsure what to say.

“Hahaha, someone did teach me, but it wasn’t Sister Ye—it was you!” Zhao Tiezhu suddenly laughed out loud. “I saw it all. That day you were tugging at the door.”

“At the time, I heard Aunt Fengjuan say the family was so poor they couldn’t feed themselves and said we couldn’t cut off the schooling of two students.”

“Then Uncle Duoshi was coaxed into revealing the recipe. I was picking bird eggs in a tree not far away!”

“What?” Wen Second Uncle’s face changed drastically. So it really wasn’t that damned Ye who taught them? They had been eavesdropped on?

Zhao Tiezhu even repeated Aunt Fengjuan’s words, and Wen Second Uncle had no choice but to believe it.

That day, someone was in the tree!

Zhao Tiezhu shrugged: “My family is also starving... Seeing you all making a fortune, I wanted to set up a stall too, to drink better soup.”

Old Fu Leader clapped his hands: “Ah, so that’s how you got the recipe? If I had known, I wouldn’t have messed around with you. But now that it’s set up, we can’t just lose money!”

Page 3/3

Wen Lizheng also looked at Zhao Tiezhu with reproach.

The old mansion group was dumbfounded. This boy must have eavesdropped on the recipe and, fearing their reproach, told Lizheng and Old Fu Leader to drag them down with him!

Wen Second Uncle was furious: “You thieves! You’re not allowed to sell! Not allowed—”

Zhao Tiezhu said, “Didn’t you coax it out too? And I didn’t even use your so-called recipe—just listened to what to add, then went home and experimented. The recipe isn’t even the same as yours.”

Wen Second Uncle was so angry he nearly toppled over and rushed to fight Zhao Tiezhu.

Wen Lizheng and Old Fu Leader quickly held him back. “He’s just a child! Why stoop to fighting a child? Have some shame!”

Wen Ye quickly intervened: “Stop, stop fighting! We must be tolerant and magnanimous, pitying the poor and young. Second Uncle, how can you fight a child?”

“His grandparents and father are dead, and his mother can’t speak well; can’t you be a little kinder?”

“I’m the original owner of the recipe, and I’ve decided not to pursue it!”

Saying this, she comforted him like a gentle, considerate older sister: “Tiezhu, it’s okay, Sister doesn’t blame you.”

“Little Sister Ye, you’re truly so kind, like a fairy.” He looked at her, moved.

The crowd nodded, praising, “The young girl is beautiful and kind-hearted—truly rare!”

Wen Second Uncle staggered, clutching his chest, nearly coughing up blood: “You, you, you all...”

Wen Lizheng sternly said, “Shut up! Ye has already let it go; what are you, a peddler, still making a fuss for?”

“Hey, you all! You all—You’re killing me! Killing me!” Wen Second Uncle couldn’t bear it and lost control.

He cursed “killing me” as he ran wildly into the crowd!

There was no choice—he couldn’t win by arguing, nor fight against four at once, so he could only vent by running madly away.