Chapter 21

The three of them arrived at Xiushan Zhen after noon.

Yao Yulan was worried about the old and young at home, as well as the chickens and ducks, so she took an ox cart home by herself.

Du Ruo and Jiang Zhan planned to go on a big shopping spree.

After deducting the medicine, as well as the travel and accommodation expenses of over one tael, Du Ruo still had nine taels left from the silver earned by selling recipes.

This was a huge sum of money.

Du Ruo felt very confident: she bought a catty of rice, twenty catties of white flour, ten catties of coarse-grain pork, plus pork liver, tofu, and a basket of seasonal vegetables.

It wasn't that she wanted to be a spendthrift, but there were three growing children at home, and her own body was only just seventeen—all in the critical stage of growth; they couldn't do without nutrition.

After thinking about it, she went to the clothing store.

What Du Ruo was wearing were all the old clothes of her mother-in-law, Su Shi, from years ago; for her, at two hundred pounds, they were truly too small. Not to mention that they didn't look good, the key was that they were uncomfortable to be bound in, and she wanted to buy two sets that were a bit larger.

As a result, when she went in and took a look, she was in tears.

Let alone XXXL size, even L size was hard to find, and the styles were incredibly rustic.

Du Ruo sighed; the sorrow of a fat person.

There was no other way; after buying two pieces for each of the three little ones, she tore off a few pieces of cloth with more elegant colors at the fabric store next door, intending to go back and spend some money to find a woman in the village with good craftsmanship to customize two pieces.

The two of them carried the purchased items to the rice shop, moved them all onto the donkey cart, and then sat on it themselves.

The clerk who delivered the rice had a natural smiling face: "Sister, let this little brother sit on this side, and move the things over too; you sit on that end, so it will be just right and not easy to tip over."

Du Ruo gave a "hehe" twice: "... Big Brother, your brain is really sharp!"

Seriously, she wasn't that heavy; at the very least, there should be a ten-catty pork difference, right?

The donkey cart bumped along the mountain road and finally turned into Longquan Cun when it was dark.

Seeing a donkey enter the village, the dogs in the village smelled the scent and rushed out of the houses, wagging their tails.

*Woof, woof, woof. *

The barking of dogs came one after another, startling the donkey, which began to kick and spray rough breaths in a panic, and the cart it was pulling began to sway, almost throwing Du Ruo off.

Du Ruo hurriedly called out to drive those dogs away.

But she didn't notice that not far behind her, a pair of malicious eyes were staring fixedly at her.

That ugly monster Du Shi, actually bought so much delicious food back; where did she get so much money?

Jiang Lian'er carried a basket of pig grass and sneakily followed behind the donkey cart, her face as foul as if she had stepped on cow dung.

Originally, it had been agreed that once Du Shi entered the door, all the work of the eldest branch would be thrown to her; as a result, the work wasn't done, and it even caused Grandmother and Mother to have diarrhea for several days, and the medicine alone cost over one tael.

Because of this, Father scolded Mother miserably.

Du Shi, on the other hand, was fine and even bought a pile of delicious food back; why?

Jiang Lian'er bit her lip, her eyes turned, and she ran home.

In the courtyard of the old house, Yan Pozi was leaning on a bamboo couch, closing her eyes to rest, not knowing what she was thinking.

Her grandson's wife, Qin Shi, was squatting at the door picking vegetables with a huge belly.

"Zongbao's wife, you are about to give birth; don't do these chores for now, leave them for Lian'er to do when she comes back." Qin Shi was pregnant with the eldest grandson of the eldest branch, and Yan Pozi valued her very much.

Qin Shi agreed and stood up obediently.

Her belly was ridiculously large, while her arms and legs were as thin as chopsticks, looking just like a weaving shuttle that was pointed at both ends and thick in the middle.

"Where is Zongbao?" Yan Pozi asked.

Qin Shi shook her head and remained silent.

Seeing her like a wooden block, Yan Pozi felt annoyed.

"You are Zongbao's wife, how can you not even know where he went?" She lowered her old face and lectured: "Zongbao loves to play a bit, but since you married him, you should spend more effort on him and find a way to tie him at home."

Qin Shi's face remained wooden without a trace of expression, as if these words weren't said to her.

Yan Pozi wanted to lose her temper again, but her gaze fell on her protruding belly, and she held back.

"Alright, don't stand here, go into the room and lie down."

Thinking of the pile of frustrating things at home, and those white-eyed wolves of the second branch, Yan Pozi felt a fire burning in her heart, but she didn't know who to vent it on.

At this moment, the courtyard gate was suddenly pushed open with a *bang*.

Yan Pozi was startled, and when she saw who it was, she scolded unhappily: "What are you doing being so rash? Were you chased by a dog?"

"Grandmother, Du Shi, Du Shi is back!" Jiang Lian'er ran until her hair was disheveled and said panting.

Yan Pozi's expression became even uglier: "So what if she's back? Do you expect me, this grandmother, to beat a gong and drum to welcome her?"

"No, Grandmother, I just saw Du Shi buy a lot of good things outside! That rice looks like it must be over a hundred catties, and it was delivered to the house by a donkey cart! And white flour, and meat, and cloth, and a lot of vegetables!"

Thinking of that donkey cart full of delicious food, Jiang Lian'er swallowed her saliva.

Yan Pozi's blade-like brows furrowed.

All these things, calculated, wouldn't be less than two taels of silver.

Although Du Shi was the daughter of the Assistant Magistrate, she had always been raised in the countryside and was not favored; when she married over, she didn't even have a dowry of a quilt. Where did she get so much money?

Yan Pozi was full of suspicion.

After thinking for a moment, she said: "Lian'er, these two days you go to the second branch more often and see how they are living."

Jiang Lian'er was overjoyed: "I know, Grandmother, I will definitely find out everything clearly!"

So what if she bought so much delicious food? When Grandmother makes a move, whether it's meat or eggs, won't it all belong to our family? Ha.

"Take the meat and eggs in first, be careful not to drop them." Du Ruo climbed off the donkey cart with difficulty, too tired to move.

Jiang Zhan agreed and carried the things in to call people.

The next second, Jiang Cheng rushed out, followed by Jiang Wan and Tie Dan; seeing so many things on the donkey cart, they were all dumbfounded.

Du Ruo smiled: "What are you still standing there for? Move them in."

Jiang Cheng finally came to his senses and, without asking, hurriedly helped his second brother move everything into the house.

Du Ruo gave the rice delivery boy a small tip to thank him for his help.

After sending the rice delivery boy away, Du Ruo immediately had Jiang Cheng lock the courtyard gate; after all, there was so much grain at home now, she had to be on guard.

At the dinner table, Jiang Zhan told his younger brother and sister about what happened in the past two days, leaving the two little ones stunned.

Especially Jiang Wan, whose eyes were particularly bright.

"Second Brother, did you really see the Thirteenth Prince? Is he very good-looking? Is he better-looking than you?"

Jiang Zhan gave a bitter smile: "Such a noble figure, how could we commoners easily see him? I only saw the Thirteenth Prince's carriage."

Perhaps one day in the future, when he passes the imperial examination, he will have the fate to meet him in the capital.

After the meal, Du Ruo collapsed directly on the bed.

She was truly exhausted these past two days—running back and forth to the county, first seeing her husband Jiang Li and getting angry; then encountering that prince with such a grand display, kneeling for a long time and getting heatstroke; the most unlucky thing was meeting that scumbag Du Ren Mei.

That hypocritical face made her want to vomit.

And he didn't even think about what Du Mingzhu had done to her; even with that, he still wanted to whitewash it? Don't bother; it won't be whitewashed in this lifetime.

Fortunately, she earned money and bought medicine for detoxification, otherwise...

Huh? Du Ruo suddenly thought of something and hurriedly sat up, starting to call the system: "Little Tong, come out!"

The virtual screen in front of her slowly unfolded, and the system turned into the appearance of a cartoon little lucky doll, twisting its little butt and scattering a handful of flower petals toward the sky.

"Congratulations to the host for exceeding the first task; Little Tong gives you a like!"

"Enough, don't do these fancy things." Du Ruo rolled her eyes: "Didn't we agree that there would be a newbie grand gift pack when the task is completed? Take it out quickly."

"You woman really have no sense of fun; can't you be a bit more excited? A bit more enthusiastic? Let my vanity inflate a bit?"

Du Ruo was speechless: "What vanity does a robot need? Do you have a heart?"

"..." The system waved its little fat hand in a bad mood, and three identical medicine boxes immediately appeared on the screen: "Draw it yourself; whichever one you draw is the one. However, this system wants to remind you that you have a one-third chance of drawing an empty box, and a one-third chance of drawing a super prize; it depends on your luck."