Chapter 54: Leaving While Sniffling

In the crowd, Aunt Guihua’s family, Old Man Fu, and Village Head Wen all revealed identical triumphant smirks in the shadows!

Actually, they could have flatly denied it and claimed they figured it out themselves.

However, doing so might have caused Third Uncle Wen to overthink and end up blaming Wen Ye, which would not do.

Initially, Aunt Guihua planned to take the blame upon herself and claim she had accidentally let it slip.

Who would have expected Zhao Tiezhu to suddenly pipe up, saying he happened to be up in a tree that day and overheard them coaxing the recipe out of others.

Thus, he decided to play along and pretend he had eavesdropped on it.

After all, he was just a child—and such a destitute child at that—so no one would hold it against him.

With the surroundings still noisy and bustling, Wen Ye hurriedly spoke up, "We're all from the same village. Since the secret is out, let's all sell it together."

Everyone then returned to their respective stalls.

Third Uncle Wen sighed, looking deeply worried.

How could the recipe have leaked to so many people... Although everyone's cooking had its own subtle nuances, now that everyone's cold-dressed dishes tasted delicious, their own business was bound to be undercut.

Yet, rather than worrying about his family's business, he was more anxious about the main family's household.

Seeing him looking so crestfallen, Wen Ye asked, "What's wrong, Dad? Are you blaming me for not handling this well? Or do you think I shouldn't have let it go?"

Third Uncle Wen jumped in surprise, "What? I didn't!"

Wen Ye raised an eyebrow and said, "Then why don't you tell me what we should have done?"

With that, she stepped aside.

Third Uncle Wen looked up and saw Village Head Wen and some eight or nine other people immediately closing in around them, their expressions shifting. "We... we shouldn't have pressed the matter anyway. Tiezhu is a pitiful child, and the village head and the others didn't know..."

Wen Ye spread her hands. "Exactly."

Some things, no matter how well you do them or how you choose to handle them, will always leave someone dissatisfied.

Not to mention that Lady Fang and the main household would likely stir up trouble afterwards; it was better to let him make the decision.

With his shoulders drooped dejectedly, Third Uncle Wen returned to his stall.

Lady Fang and the others looked ready to pop their eyes out in fury—their business had just been carved up and shared away like this!

Lady Fang’s hands shook so badly she could barely hold her chopsticks. She couldn't even manage a smile and desperately wished she could flee the scene just like Second Uncle Wen had.

Yet, because there were still over a hundred pounds of vegetables left in the stall, she had to bite the bullet and endure it.

And this wasn't even the worst of it.

Because of this commotion, customers completely avoided their stall and rushed off to buy from the others instead.

Those who didn't know any better and wanted to buy from them were actually stopped by those who did: "That family has no integrity."

Lady Fang nearly vomited blood.

Because of this ruckus, Wen Ye’s family did even better than usual, selling out completely within a single hour.

Once they finished, they ran over to help Wen Yu'er’s family.

Wen Yu'er and the other three families also sold quite well. Moreover, they hadn't prepared a massive amount of vegetables—only a few dozen pounds per family—so they managed to sell out as well.

Only Lady Fang’s stall sold a meager ten pounds or so.

The morning market soon dispersed.

Wen Yu'er and Tiezhu's families had both arrived with pushcarts. Now that their goods were cleared, the ox carts belonging to Village Head Wen and Old Man Fu were empty. They invited Wen Yu'er’s family and Zhao Tiezhu’s mother and son to climb aboard the ox carts, joining Wen Ye and the others to form a small convoy on the way home.

The families chatted and counted their money as they walked.

Wen Yu'er said with a smile, "I've been counting all along... after deducting costs, we actually earned 120 wen today!"

Zhao Tiezhu chimed in, "I earned 98 wen."

Village Head Wen laughed heartily and joined in, "116 wen."

Old Man Fu added, "85 wen."

While it seemed modest compared to Wen Ye’s family, for them, earning eighty or ninety wen—or even a hundred wen—in a single day was more than enough to be thrilling.

After all, carrying heavy cargo all month only fetched 600 wen.

Especially for Zhao Tiezhu, who previously couldn't even scrape together 100 wen in a whole month, earning 98 wen in a single day was enough to keep him and his mother happy for a month.

Wen Ye smiled and said, "Uncle Shengli, Aunt Guihua, I officially want to thank you both here. Thank you for helping us through our hardest times before. I just butchered some meat and bought a chicken; you must all come over to my house for lunch today!"

Wen Yu'er and the others beamed. Aunt Guihua hurriedly replied, "Alright. But I'll make it clear right now: once we finish this meal, your family won't owe us a thing anymore. Don't go talking about favors and gratitude ever again."

"I'll listen to Auntie in everything," Wen Ye said with a smile, a flash of mischievous amusement in her eyes as she glanced at Village Head Wen and the others. "Uncle Village Head, Grandpa Fu, Tiezhu, would you like to come over for lunch too?"

Aunt Guihua immediately chimed in to stir up excitement, "That's right, go have a drink with Shengli!"

Village Head Wen’s eyes flickered as well, and after a moment of hesitation, he nodded. "Hmph... my mouth has been watering for meat anyway, so... I suppose I won't stand on ceremony."

Old Man Fu, Zhao Tiezhu, and the others readily agreed as well.

Wen Ye smiled brightly. The old crone was bound to come cause trouble later, so she had to keep Village Head Wen and the others around to maintain peace in the household!

As the group walked along amid laughter and chatter, a donkey cart following closely not far behind was dead silent—it carried Lady Fang and her companions.

...

Lady Fang and the others returned to the old family homestead.

Second Uncle Wen was nowhere to be seen; he hadn't even come back, god knows where he had wandered off to vent his madness.

Old Lady Wen predictably demanded the money pouch.

Wen Liyue handed over the shriveled, nearly empty pouch and tearfully recounted what had happened in town.

Old Lady Wen was infuriated to the point of a near-stroke, "That wretched girl actually taught our recipe to outsiders! And those thieves! Scoundrels!"

With that, she stomped off intent on tearing into Wen Ye, but Lady Fang blocked her path.

"They've already bought off the village head. What advantage could we possibly gain by going there now? We'll just end up completely humiliated! We'd better swallow our anger for now."

Furious, Old Lady Wen let out a sharp "crack" and slapped Lady Fang across the face. "Endure, endure, endure! Aside from telling me to endure, what else do you know?"

Seeing Lady Fang struck, Madam Luo felt a surge of secret satisfaction and said with barbed sarcasm, "You took charge of the household business for just two days, and look what a ghostly mess it's become. And to think Mother praised your competence every single day—turns out you're utterly useless after all."

Lady Fang’s expression turned dark as she gritted her teeth and spat, "If you want to go pick a fight, go right ahead!"

Old Lady Wen could never stomach such insubordination and immediately dragged Madam Luo with her, marching aggressively toward Wen Ye’s house.

As soon as they reached the entrance, they saw Village Head Wen and Wen Shengli's group sitting there, chatting about something amidst hearty laughter.

Before Old Lady Wen could even speak, Village Head Wen stood up. "Duocai's wife, you've come just in time. You really need to rein in Duoliang and the others; stop letting them stir up trouble every single day!"

Old Lady Wen was so angry she nearly passed out. They were the ones who had suffered a grievance, yet she was being told to go back and discipline her most cherished second son?

With no other recourse, Old Lady Wen glared at Third Uncle Wen. "Third one, aren't you going to say something?"

Third Uncle Wen frowned. "What is there for me to say? Mother, you tell me—what should I say?"

Old Lady Wen froze. She wanted to curse Wen Ye for being unfilial, but the girl had literally given the recipe to them.

She wanted to curse them for teaching outsiders, but those people were benefactors—that was simply returning a kindness.

She wanted to accuse Wen Ye of condoning Zhao Tiezhu's theft of the recipe, but the boy was still a child! Besides, they had even brought the village head along to take the blame, and her magnanimity couldn't be faulted either!

In short, she was completely in the wrong on every single front!

Realizing this, Old Lady Wen let out a wailing cry and stalked off in tears.

She had arrived in a fury, only to leave in tears.