For the first time, Aunt Leng felt her sister-in-law’s stupidity was simply maddening.

But she held her tongue and didn’t say a word.

’I already gave the meat to that girl; I have to at least leave a good impression, right!’

’Otherwise, it would all be for nothing!’

Third Aunt Leng followed Aunt Leng to a bend in the road, where she finally threw off Aunt Leng’s hand and started to lash out.

"Second Sister-in-law, why did you just give my share of the pork to Gu Jiaojiao?"

Aunt Leng paused. "What’s this ’yours’ and ’mine’? The family hasn’t been divided. All the pork belongs to the Leng Family."

Third Aunt Leng was speechless.

Fine.

’She wasn’t wrong about that.’

"Then why did you give the pork to Gu Jiaojiao?"

She had fought with several other people for ages just to get her hands on that pork fat. She had been planning to render it into lard, which would have lasted them for quite a while.

And now...

All that effort for nothing.

Seeing Third Aunt Leng’s furious expression, Aunt Leng couldn’t help but frown.

’How can my sister-in-law be so dense?’

’She can’t even figure out something so simple.’

What else could Aunt Leng do? Since their households hadn’t been divided, they were still one family. She could only patiently explain it to Third Aunt Leng.

"I’m doing this to get on Gu Jiaojiao’s good side, aren’t I? Have you forgotten what our sister-in-law said? She told us that if we can get Gu Jiaojiao to forgive us for what we’ve done in the past, she’ll find jobs for Qiushou and Man Cang in the County Town."

"Just think about it. If they really get jobs, they’ll be making over ten yuan a month. How much pork fat couldn’t you buy with that?"

Third Aunt Leng was speechless again.

She looked her sister-in-law up and down. ’Since when did she get so smart?’

’When you put it that way, it does make some sense.’

But she still felt like she’d gotten the short end of the stick.

But after thinking it over carefully, something still felt off.

"But what if she doesn’t forgive us? Then we’ll have suffered a huge loss for nothing."

At this, a proud smile touched Aunt Leng’s lips. "Didn’t Jiaojiao just forgive me? She’s the one who hasn’t forgiven *you*."

"Third Sister-in-law, you must have been too petty. That’s what made Jiaojiao unhappy."

"Don’t be so stingy. I think that Jiaojiao girl is actually pretty nice."

"If you try a little harder to be on your best behavior, you might get her forgiveness soon enough!"

As she spoke, Aunt Leng puffed out her chest.

A smug look on her face.

Third Aunt Leng’s heart sank.

She was usually the one who came out ahead. But this time, even though she hadn’t really done anything, she felt she’d been silently wronged.

She had no idea what Gu Jiaojiao was thinking, forgiving her other sister-in-law so easily but not her.

That young girl seemed innocent, but her mind was remarkably sharp. She wasn’t easy to fool at all.

After some thought, Third Aunt Leng decided she still needed to get Aunt Leng on her side.

She repeated the two sentences that had become something of a mantra for her.

"Second Sister-in-law, you and I are the real family here. Don’t be fooled by Gu Jiaojiao. She just wants to turn us against each other."

"If she doesn’t forgive me, it’s the same as not forgiving you. We’re one family—there’s no difference."

In the past, Aunt Leng had always thought that line of reasoning made sense, but today, it sounded strangely off.

Still, after mulling it over, she couldn’t find anything wrong with the logic.

After a moment of silence, Aunt Leng finally spoke.

"Well then, Third Sister-in-law, you’d better hurry up and try harder. Don’t hold me back."

’We’re all one family, after all.’

’If Gu Jiaojiao doesn’t forgive her, it’s the same as not forgiving me.’

’This sister-in-law of mine... isn’t she holding my son back?’

Third Aunt Leng was speechless.

’Wait, that’s not what I meant at all!’

She had been hoping Aunt Leng would help her figure out how to get Gu Jiaojiao to forgive her quickly.

Third Aunt Leng wanted to say more, but they had already arrived home.

Aunt Leng pushed the door open and went inside.

Third Aunt Leng could only swallow the rest of her words.

...