Chapter 45: Insatiable Greed

Ruan-shi's eyes were red, Chi Zhiqiu kept her head down without speaking, and Chi Ting Song and Wen Zhilan sat there sighing.

Shen-shi said in a deep voice, "Eldest daughter-in-law, although this matter is not your fault, it was still your Ruan Family who did it. We don't want to dwell on everything from before, but this time, the Ruan Family went too far."

Ruan-shi nodded: "Grandmother, I know. I'll go back right now and bring the things back."

Hearing this, Chi Zhiqiu hurriedly said, "No, you're still pregnant!"

"Then what do we do? They took everything. What will we eat? Grandmother, Father, Mother, it's all my fault, blame me."

"What's wrong, Sister-in-law?" Chi Nan Yi saw this scene and had already roughly guessed what had happened: "Why is Sister-in-law crying?"

"Little Sister." Ruan-shi looked at her apologetically: "My mother and two brothers took all the food from our home. What you bought back from town yesterday, they took that too."

"What does Sister-in-law think about this?"

"What do you mean, what do I think?"

Chi Nan Yi smiled and said, "I heard from Third Brother that the Ruan Family coming to our home to take things isn't just once or twice. Does Sister-in-law want to let them keep taking, or…"

Before she could finish, she heard Ruan-shi say anxiously, "Naturally we can't just let them keep taking! I wanted to stop them, but…" The rest of her words went unspoken, but Chi Nan Yi understood her meaning.

She simply could not stop the Ruan Family.

"Sister-in-law, I do have a way to settle this once and for all, but it might hurt the affection between you. I wonder if Sister-in-law would be willing?"

Hearing this, Ruan-shi was momentarily stunned, recalling what her mother had said today.

Without her maiden family's backing, life in her husband's home would likely be difficult from now on.

But if she didn't think of a way, with the Ruan Family coming a few more times, their winter rations this year would surely be snatched away bit by bit until nothing was left.

"Go ahead."

"The Ruan Family's behavior, to put it nicely, is coming to sponge off us. To put it bluntly, it's outright robbery, punishable by imprisonment. Of course, the Ruan Family is Sister-in-law's maiden family, so we can't actually let them go to prison, but a warning is still necessary. Otherwise, once they get used to holding their hand out to us, they'll likely cling to us for good."

"Pr… prison?" Ruan-shi couldn't help but worry: "Little Sister, you're just scaring them, not actually sending them to prison, right!"

Chi Nan Yi looked at the expression on her face and knew she was a pushover. No wonder the Ruan Family dared to come to their door again and again demanding things.

Even when they were plainly bullying her, she didn't dare say anything.

Chi Nan Yi shook her head. It wasn't just her who was a pushover—the entire Chi Family was probably a pushover.

"As long as they haven't done anything too excessive, we are still relatives after all, so naturally we wouldn't really send them to prison. But the things they took yesterday weren't cheap either. If it were reported to the authorities, even without imprisonment, they'd still get a beating with boards."

"Ah? This…"

Wen Zhilan, worried about Ruan-shi's pregnancy, said softly, "Yi'er, let's forget about today's matter. Your sister-in-law is with child. Don't let her get anxious and upset and harm the pregnancy."

Chi Nan Yi said nothing, but Chi Huai Qian couldn't suppress his anger.

"Coming to our house every few days asking for this and that—on what grounds? Do we owe them? No way. Those things they took were earned by Little Sister. We couldn't even bear to eat them ourselves, and they just swept them all off in one pot. Can you all stomach this? I can't!" Chi Huai Qian stood up and was about to head out.

"You brat, where are you going?" Wen Zhilan called him back and lowered her voice: "Your sister-in-law is still pregnant. If you go fight the Ruan Family now and something happens to the child, what then?"

"But!"

"From now on we'll just hide things more carefully so no one finds them. They took so much this time, I'd imagine they won't come again for a long while."

Chi Nan Yi sat to the side, smiling without speaking. They won't come for a long while? That remained to be seen.

A man's heart knows no contentment, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. This time they got such a great bargain—fine rice and meat both. Next time, it likely won't be as simple as just food.

Chi Nan Yi had originally thought the Ruan Family would wait at least two or three days before coming again. She never expected them to show up at their door the very next day.

Chi Nan Yi and Chi Huai Qian had been about to go to town to deliver medicinal herbs. Seeing those three familiar figures appear in the courtyard again, the two exchanged a glance. Chi Huai Qian silently re-tied the horse and returned to the courtyard to sit down.

By coincidence, the Chi Family was fairly complete today. Apart from Chi Huai Jin, who had gone to the school, everyone else was present.

Zhao Huilan led Ruan Dong and Ruan Jing inside, still a trace of grease at the corners of their mouths—it seemed they had been eating meat first thing in the morning.

Seeing this, Chi Huai Qian couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Auntie eats well! Grease dripping from your mouth—anyone who didn't know better would think you fell into an oil vat."

The smile on Zhao Huilan's face stiffened, and she hastily wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Ruan-shi's expression was somewhat unpleasant: "Mother, why have you come again?"

Hearing this, Zhao Huilan was displeased: "You child, is that how you speak to your mother? 'Come again'—what, you don't want me to come see you?"

"It's not…"

Before Ruan-shi could finish, they heard Chi Huai Qian say, "I say, Auntie, if you miss your daughter, she can go back to see you. Your family had better come less often! Our Chi Family is poor to begin with. Feeding the lot of us is already hard enough—we certainly can't afford to feed outsiders."

A flash of embarrassment crossed Ruan-shi's face.

Seeing this, Chi Nan Yi shook her head at Chi Huai Qian. He still had harsher words left unspoken and turned his head to the side.

The Ruan Family naturally knew they were unwelcome, but as long as they could get things out of it, they didn't care at all about the Chi Family's attitude.

Zhao Huilan smiled and said, "In-laws, I just came today to see Xiao Qin, and to offer congratulations to your Chi Family. She's pregnant now—she's a great contributor to your Chi Family. When she gives birth to a big fat boy next year, your Chi Family will have an heir!"

Wen Zhilan nodded with a forced smile.

Chi Huai Qian curled his lip: "Congratulations? Coming to offer congratulations empty-handed?"

"In-laws, I remember your third child used to be quite likable. Why is he so unpleasant to listen to now?"

"Exactly. My mother is his elder, after all." Ruan Dong lifted his chin: "Our little sister-in-law is also his sister-in-law. How can he talk like that?"

Seeing the Chi Family say nothing, Ruan Dong lifted his chin even higher.

Just then, a cold laugh came: "The old saying goes, speak human words to humans and ghost words to ghosts. I actually think there's nothing wrong with what my Third Brother said."

Chi Nan Yi's words made the Ruan Family's expressions instantly darken.

So she was calling their Ruan Family ghosts?

"You girl, how can you talk like that?" Ruan Jing said angrily: "You dare curse us! And here my mother was even thinking of having you marry into our family as my eldest brother's wife. Someone like you still wants to marry my eldest brother? Bah!"

"What?" Chi Ting Song rose abruptly, eyes wide as saucers: "What did you just say? What did you want to do to Yi'er?"