Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

For dinner, there was one piece of sorghum bread and one bowl of porridge for each person, and not a single sc.r.a.p more.

With Gu Yunshen present, Gu Ruoqing did not dare to say anymore, so she had to let it go!

Gu Qingyao washed the bowls and chopsticks. She placed all the fish, meat, and pheasant in her inters.p.a.ce before she left the kitchen. She did not even leave the fine grain behind.

1

In the future, Zhang Xiaohui would not be able to take a single sc.r.a.p of food from the family. Anyway, she had already told her father the truth. Her father would certainly cover for her.

Gu Qingyao even locked the kitchen door when she left.

It was not yet dark, so she went to the vegetable plot and continued to pick radish sprouts. These could be cooked, salted, then dried to make preserved vegetables. They were eaten as pickles in winter and were quite tasty.

After she had picked two baskets of sprouts, the sky had started to darken and Zhang Xiaohui returned.

They two of them ran into each other as they entered the courtyard.

Zhang Xiaohui's expression grew ugly when she saw Gu Qingyao. The young 15-year-old girl before her had just begun to develop, and was a real beauty.

Even though she was a peasant girl, she had a lingering charm that Zhang Xiaohui detested. She was uneducated, so she could not describe Gu Qingyao's air. But as she looked at Gu Qingyao, she sensed that she was like a young girl from the city, and this made Zhang Xiaohui despise her.

4

Because Gu Ruoqing did not have this air.

The sky was slowly darkening and the girl was returning from the fields. Sweat was dripping off the tip of her nose, and her little face was flushed. Zhang Xiaohui especially detested her soft, white skin.

When Gu Qingyao saw Zhang Xiaohui, she raised her brows. Zhang Xiaohui had returned just in time for dinner.

Zhang Xiaohui currently looked a little pathetic. Her clothes were creased and she looked exhausted. Gu Qingyao knew without asking that she had gone back to her natal family and done some work for them.

Although she had worked hard all day and brought so much food back, she had not eaten a single mouthful herself. Instead, she had hurried back to the Gu family under the cover of darkness, just in time to eat dinner.

Gu Qingyao inwardly laughed coldly, but did not say anything. Instead, she just carried her baskets and went in.

Zhang Xiaohui was enraged. But she was exhausted and did not want to quibble with the little b.i.t.c.h. She thought she might as well fill her belly and have a good sleep first.

But when she reached the kitchen door, she saw that it was locked.

Zhang Xiaohui was shocked. “Why did you lock the door? Don't you know I haven't eaten?”

She glared at Gu Qingyao who was sitting next to the well, her eyes spitting fire.

Gu Qingyao smiled. “Didn't you go back to your natal home? I thought your mother would certainly give you a warm welcome since you brought so much food back! A filial daughter like you is rare!”

“You…”

Gu Qingyao had hit her where it hurt and Zhang Xiaohui immediately grew angry. “Brat, how dare you talk to me like that?”

Gu Qingyao did not say anything. Gu Yunshen walked out of the house, glanced at Gu Qingyao and said, “Go into the house and rest! Have an early night. I'll wash these.”

Gu Qingyao glanced at her father and obediently went in.

She could hear her father dealing with Zhang Xiaohui behind her. Gu Qingyao could hear Zhang Xiaohui's yells from the house. Then her father said a few simple words, and there was silence.

1

She held the keys to the kitchen. Silence meant that her father had dealt with Zhang Xiaohui, and she would not be having dinner tonight.

Gu Qingyao was in a good mood. The sky had turned completely dark now. She went to her living inters.p.a.ce to cook, preparing food for herself and Mo Beihan when they go up the mountain the next day.