Chapter 192 - Nightmare (1/2)

Qian Wen could no longer refuse the little fellow’s kindness and took a piece of chicken about the size of his thumb. He placed the meat into his mouth and carefully tasted it. The meat melted into his mouth and revealed a flavor that he would never be able to forget in his lifetime. Even when he passed the imperial court examinations in the future and was able to eat roasted chicken frequently as well as other delicacies, he could still never taste the flavor he once had…

Yu Xiaocao watched the little boys contently and felt immense satisfaction when she saw how happily her younger brother was eating. She couldn’t resist temptation and pinched his plump face. Little Shitou puffed up his cheeks and perfunctorily resisted, “Second Sister, I’m not three anymore. I’m now a student of Rongxuan Academy, so stop pinching my face. If other people see, I’ll lose face in front of them!”

“I pinch your face because I love you. It’s not like I want to pinch any strange person’s face ah! I now understand why there’s this saying: ‘when a son grows up he doesn’t want his mother anymore’. You haven’t even become an adult and have only gone to school, yet you don’t want me, your second sister, anymore, eh? How disappointing!” Yu Xiaocao twisted her head to the side and forcefully opened her eyes wide. She let the feeling of disappointment rise in her and managed to blink out a few tears as she looked accusingly at her younger brother.

Little Shitou immediately panicked and quickly put down his rice bowl. He rushed over to his second sister and hugged her arm, lightly swinging as he said, “Second Sister, you’re still my Second Sister! You will always be my good Second Sister. Don’t feel sad, I was the one who was wrong. Pinch me, pinch me however much you like…”

Qian Wen had noticed Xiaocao’s crafty actions and couldn’t help but shake his head inwardly. Although Yu Fan was clever and quick-witted, he was truly no match for his second sister’s little tricks and antics.

Xiaocao blinked her eyes, and the tears in her eyes flowed down her eyelashes onto her cheeks. A sad expression surfaced onto her face, which, when paired with the tears, made her look extremely desolate. Little Shitou almost burst into tears, and he continued with a sob in his voice, “Second Sister, don’t cry. In the future, I won’t do this again. Don’t be upset over me…”

Little Fatty Sun butted in and shoved his round, plump little face in front of Xiaocao. He loudly proclaimed, “Second Sister, don’t be sad. If Little Shitou doesn’t recognize you as his sister anymore, I’ll take his place! Look, you can pinch me all you want. I bet my face feels a lot better than Little Shitou’s!”

Xiaocao couldn’t help but let out a peal of laughter. She rubbed Little Shitou’s face and ruffled Little Fatty Sun’s hair as she said, “I was only scaring you guys, don’t take it seriously! Quickly eat more...it’s not early anymore, I still need to go back to Dongshan Village. Shitou, study well and I’ll come by tomorrow to take you home.” Tomorrow was when Shitou’s weekly break started.

Little Shitou now knew he had been tricked again by his second sister. He sniffled a couple of time and met Xiaocao’s eyes with a solemn look. He vowed, “Second Sister! Don’t worry, I will always be your Little Shitou!!”

This promise of his had been engraved deeply in his heart. Even after he became the youthful top scorer in the imperial examinations and famous throughout the land, whenever he saw his second sister shamelessly acting up, he always reverted back to his usual reaction…

Before Xiaocao could feel touched, Little Fatty Sun butted in again, “Second Sister, I will always be your Little Fatty Sun too! In the future, when you make delicious food, don’t forget to bring a portion for me ah!!”

Xiaocao pinched Little Fatty’s face, who was slightly taller than her. She didn’t know whether she should laugh or cry as she replied, “Don’t worry! Even if you don’t call me ‘Second Sister’, I’ll still bring your portion along!! Alright, I’m heading out. If I leave any later, I won’t be able to get home before it gets dark!!”

After waving goodbye to Little Shitou and his friends, Xiaocao went back to the melon stand. Lady Fang’s carriage was already ready to go. Xiaocao’s family’s two carts had just enough room to hold all of the necessities of daily living that she had bought earlier.

When Madam Zhang saw the two carts full of goods, she turned green with envy. There was a large sack of white rice, a large sack of wheat flour, and also a piece of fatty pork that weighed at least five catties. In addition, there were some fine articles of daily living that she had never even seen. She suspected that the contents of these two carts had to be worth at least ten taels. Sure enough, the family members of officials were never stingy with their spending habits.

However, the fortune teller did say that her family was going to produce an official. Once her son passed the examinations, she would also be considered the mother of an official. When that happened, she could easily walk around with her pockets full of money…

Since the carts were stuffed full of goods, their speed naturally became slower. By the time they got to Dongshan Village, the moon had just peeked through the tree line. When they passed by where Madam Zhang lived, she refused to get off the cart because she still hadn’t got ahold of the money she wanted.

“Grandmother, two hundred taels is a lot of money, so you must give us some time to get it all together!! It’s already late tonight, if there’s anything else you need to say, can’t it wait until tomorrow? We can get it done then!”

Madam Zhang had been out and about since dawn and it had taken her several hours to walk into town. She also spent a lot of time waiting outside the melon stand and couldn’t bear to spend a little money to eat lunch. After throwing a giant tantrum, she didn’t have much energy left in her body. She thought for a bit and decided that if Yu Hai wanted to renege on his promise, she would make him pay! Realizing she wouldn’t get anything today, Madam Zhang finally got off the cart and went back home.

Lady Fang watched the old lady as a feeling of resentment slowly rose within her. She sighed lightly, “Xiaocao, there’s nothing wrong with spending some money to fix a problem. However, doing this will only encourage certain people to become even more shameless. In the future, they’ll continue to do the same thing to get money out of you, and that will not be good!”

Yu Xiaocao had seen a golden light burst out of the multicolored stone on her wrist when Madam Zhang finally came off the cart. It had shot towards Madam Zhang’s head. When she heard her godmother’s worried comments, she grinned craftily and replied, “Godmother, don’t worry! The money that she wants...she won’t be able to get a single copper! Just wait and see what unfolds next ah!”

That night, a sneaky figure surreptitiously crept out of the east room of the old residence. A small golden colored kitten looked at the person contemptuously and proudly raised its head as it followed from behind.

[We’re going out to see a nice play, not to pretend to be thieves, okay? Is it necessary to act this mysterious?] The little divine stone sniffed with disdain.