My whole family sucked my blood; after being reborn, the little cook went on a killing spree.

The candlelight flickered slightly.

Feng Shi recounted everything that had happened during the day, without missing a single word.

"Sir, I've thought about it a lot, and something doesn't seem right. Of those hams, nineteen were coated with sour water to make them look slightly moldy, and eleven were just a cover-up. Even if she has sharp eyes, she couldn't possibly tell that clearly, could she?"

The man sat at the table, toying with a golden abacus in his hand.

"So, you could have earned 225 taels and received 150 taels in compensation, but now you only have 17 taels left?"

Feng Shi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "They'll make up the remaining seventy taels tomorrow. But I'm not sure if we should still accept this shipment..."

He was adept at this kind of thing. He would find a scapegoat, go through the accounting process on the surface, destroy the goods, and then secretly transport them out to sell.

In this way, one can make huge profits without any investment, and those scapegoats can even pay an additional amount of silver to avoid punishment.

Lin Mao was the scapegoat this time.

The hams that had been coated with sour paste could be washed clean and sold without any problems; each ham weighed a full ten taels! Even the spoiled ones could be sold for four or five taels after some processing.

Unfortunately, things almost got ruined today.

"I'm not sure if she noticed or not. There are so many people watching today, I'm afraid we'll be targeted when we're shipping it out."

"It's alright."

The man chuckled softly. "She must have found out. If she really was trying to save someone, she should have exposed him on the spot, but she didn't."

Not only did they not receive any, but they also forced Feng Shi to impose severe torture.

That's so interesting.

"Also, don't let that person die. Go and investigate that young lady surnamed Su as well."

"Yes."

Having eaten and drunk her fill, Su Wanning hurriedly bid farewell and returned to the Lin family.

Aunt Wang is really talkative, but she doesn't want to reveal too much, so she can only pretend to be taciturn. It's really tiring!

However, it was also very rewarding.

During the meal, Aunt Wang mentioned that her granddaughter had a lovely name, Gu Chunxiu.

Gu Chunxiu lived in the city, and when she came back, she called Aunt Wang's mother-in-law and her own great-grandmother "Grand Ancestor," saying that this showed more respect.

Therefore, the Xu family and the Li family should also be related by marriage.

The Xu family ancestor did not come from the palace, but she did know of one surnamed Li!

When she first entered the Imperial Kitchen, she always heard that there was a cook named Li who was highly valued by the late emperor. While ordinary palace servants were to be released at the age of thirty, cook Li was specially ordered to stay in office until she was forty-five before being released from the palace.

When they left the palace, they were also rewarded with land and houses, as well as countless gold, silver, brocade, and delicacies.

But what happened after that, no one knows anymore.

Connecting all these points, Su Wanning felt more confident when facing this ancestor.

The Lin family's house was newly built. In order to gain a good reputation in the village, in addition to the main house of Lin Mao and his wife, there were three other identical large houses, one for each of them.

Li's smile was forced, but she wisely refrained from asking Zhao the镖头 (bodyguard) any further questions. "Wan Ning, have you eaten? Your aunt has prepared your room."

He pointed to the westernmost room, which was cold and damp, just like in his previous life.

Su Wanning went into the kitchen and took an axe.

With his left hand, he smashed open the locked room in a few quick movements. "Auntie, can't we stay in this room?"

"This...this is for your sister."

She moved so fast that Li was stunned. Only after Su Wan Ning kicked the door open did she rush to block it, saying, "Wan Ning, this room wasn't prepared for you."

"What's the difference? They're both new, they look the same from the outside, why differentiate between hers and mine?"

Su Wan Ning threw the axe on the ground. "Uh? Aunt?"

In her past life, she didn't care which room she lived in; she would stay wherever Li told her to. But after living there for a while, she found that the west room was unbearably hot in the sun, and it was also damp and leaky when it was cloudy or rainy. Her wrists often ached because of this.

It was next to an outhouse and a thatched hut, and it was smelly and filthy.

The main house was occupied by the Li couple, followed by Lin Jiabao's room, while the middle room was always locked and was prepared for Lin Yuwei.

It was by chance that Li unlocked the door and started cleaning, and that's when she realized that the room was much better than the one she lived in.

Not only are there tables, chairs, wardrobes, beds, and desks, but the floor is also paved with bluestone slabs, which are clean and dry, without any muddy smell, making it a comfortable place to look at.

She comforted herself, thinking that her own daughter was different, and how could she compare to her?

Ha, how ridiculous, why does she even want to compete?

She had already spent her money on the house, so she could stay in whichever room she wanted. If she hadn't been disgusted that those two rooms had been occupied by animals, she wouldn't have bothered to break the locks.

"It's not much different, you can stay if you want."

Seeing the axe gleaming coldly, Li turned and ran. She had almost forgotten that this brat was strong when she was little. She must have injured her hand and been traumatized. She was afraid she might chop herself up!

At this moment, Lin Jiabao, who had gone out to borrow money, also returned.

The mother and son went into the main room.

Su Wanning squatted down at the entrance of the main house and listened carefully.

"Mother, I asked around, and she's the only one who came back first."

"Do you think Zhao the镖头 and his men accidentally killed someone? Is the one who came back now a ghost? I have a feeling she's gone mad."

"How could that be? Doesn't she still know she's hungry?"

"Then let's wait two more days. As long as one of them returns, we'll know what happened. As for the money, if all else fails, we can borrow it from Master Xiong. Once we see Chief Escort Zhao, we won't have to worry about paying it back."

"Then I'll get up early tomorrow to go see Master Xiong, and bring Tao'er back to help you. By the way, Mother, does your head still hurt? Let me take a look... This wound seems to be healing quite well? Is that medicine really effective?"

"It's definitely a good thing. She doesn't know anything, and she's probably thinking about me. Wait, she just scared me with an axe..."

The two of them whispered to each other as if they were delirious.

Su Wan Ning found the conversation boring and was extremely sleepy, so she went back to her room, locked the door, and slept until the sun was high in the sky.

Jiang Tao'er's soft voice could be heard from outside.

"Mother, what's wrong with her? It's already this late and she still hasn't gotten up?"

They're not even married yet, and he's already calling her "Mom." How affectionate!

Su Wanning slowly put on her clothes.

Then she heard Li reply, "Don't worry about her, she's sick right now. Is the food ready? My head is starting to hurt again."

"It's ready. Didn't she say she wanted to eat wontons yesterday? I made wontons especially for her."

Jiang Tao'er was somewhat excited.

It seems these wontons were made with great care by her; I wonder what kind of filling they contain?

Su Wan Ning had slept well and was in a good mood. She opened the door with a smile, "Oh, who is this? He's really handsome."

Jiang Tao'er blushed and tugged at Li Shi, "Mother~"

"This is your future sister-in-law. You can just call her Tao'er."

Li hesitated, wondering whether to ask Su Wan Ning for the miracle drug. She deliberately rubbed her head and said, "Ouch, my head."

But Su Wan Ning acted as if she hadn't heard, and only looked at Jiang Tao'er, frowning and saying, "Aunt, she's not even married yet and she's already rushing to our house to cook for you, and she keeps calling me 'Mom.' People who know her will say that you two are destined to be together, but people who don't will think she has some serious illness."