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

"Just admit it!"

Why would Xu Lingxi give him this money!

She gestured with her chin towards Su Wan Ning, "Qing Fang, go and give all this silver to Madam Su."

"Yes."

Qingfang was tired and handed the tray to Su Wanning. "Madam Su, the Lin family still owes you eighty taels. This is just enough to pay it off. Now that they have no more debts, they can finally hold their heads high."

"This isn't appropriate. My aunt's family has lost their land and they're not having an easy time either."

Su Wan Ning looked quite troubled.

Li was stunned.

"That's my family's money! Why should I give it to that...?"

She swallowed the rest of her sentence, but Su Wan Ning's face had already turned cold. "Aunt, I've been thinking of you in every way, and yet you're here cursing me!"

"I didn't!" Mrs. Li shook her head repeatedly.

"Wan Ning, how could you say that about your aunt? She didn't mean anything by it."

Lin Mao watched as Su Wan Ning said no but held the tray tightly in her hand. His anger flared up, but he couldn't afford to break off relations with her. He forced a smile and said, "But as you know, we scraped together every penny we could, and almost lost this house. We just managed to pay off Master Xiong's debt. Now we really don't have a single penny left."

If anyone were sensible, they would have respectfully handed over the money long ago.

Lin Mao paused, but Su Wan Ning seemed not to understand. He could only say again, "Isn't your IOU for a year? We still need this money to buy medicine and food. Once we've saved enough, we'll definitely pay you back as soon as possible."

"Pooh!"

Wang Chunxiu rushed out, "Wan Ning, don't believe him! Keep the money!"

Xu Lingxi urged, "Alright, hurry up and put the silver away, let's go to the estate quickly."

"Yes, Madam Su, don't forget that your shop cost a lot of money. You spend money on far more things than the Lin family."

Qingfang also advised, "Only when people are free of debt can they sleep soundly. You don't want your aunt and uncle to be unable to sleep, do you? Otherwise, your aunt will have to climb over the wall at your shop in the middle of the night again!"

"Oh well."

Su Wan Ning slowly put the silver into her purse, keeping one tael at the end, and gave it to Li Shi along with the IOU. "Aunt, from now on, we can just talk directly if you need anything. Please don't climb over the wall in the middle of the night anymore. You're getting on in years; what if you fall and get hurt?"

The group arrived quickly and left just as quickly.

The onlookers dispersed, and Wang Chunxiu chased after Su Wanning, asking what happened with climbing over the wall.

Su Wanning said with a troubled expression, "She's probably just worried about me."

"She's definitely trying to steal something!"

Wang Chunxiu, still cursing, returned to the Lin family home, shouting, "You shameless family! They run a shop, and you climb over the wall in the middle of the night, always watching what their kids are doing! Aren't you afraid their parents will come looking for you in the middle of the night? Bah!"

Lin Mao and Li were already furious; they were truly watching helplessly as the meat that was about to be in their mouths flew away.

But no one can argue with Wang Chunxiu's sharp tongue!

With a livid face, he took the silver tael and the IOU and slammed the courtyard gate shut.

"Go and find out what happened to Manager Feng!"

Lin Mao was very uneasy. He asked Jiabao to follow Zhou Laoshi, and sure enough, the investigation revealed that things were just as he had guessed.

It was a lie that Zhou Laoshi had something going on at home; the real reason was to make him take the blame! The ham wasn't actually spoiled; it had been coated with something and secretly smuggled out to be sold under the guise of being destroyed.

The two had done this countless times; the dried goods shops in the city were their hideouts for stolen goods.

Originally, the plan was for Jia Bao to use this opportunity to connect with Steward Feng and join the group, which would ensure a steady stream of money in the future. However, before they could even raise enough money, Xiong Qi beat Jia Bao up repeatedly.

They had no choice but to harden their hearts and threaten Feng Shi with this matter, demanding one hundred taels of silver to pay off the debt first.

Miss Xu only said that Manager Feng made a mistake and had to pay compensation, so this matter must have been exposed because of the ham incident, but she didn't let Jiabao actually go and complain!

The more Lin Mao thought about it, the more uneasy he became. He gave Li Shi a hard shove, "What are you dawdling about? Go see how the Li family is dealing with Feng Shi. If he recovers and misunderstands that Jia Bao complained, we're finished!"

"Ouch, don't touch me, my head hurts so much!"

Li touched the back of her head.

The strands of hair tug at the scalp, feeling like a thousand needles piercing it at once.

She withdrew her hand, only to find it covered in hair!

Startled, she cried out, "Honey, quick, am I bald on the back of my head?!"

"Why are you making such a fuss!"

Lin Mao was worried that Jia Bao would incur Feng Shi's jealousy, and was reluctant to talk to Li Shi. But upon closer inspection, he felt a chill run down his spine. "You, you...your injuries were all healed, weren't they?"

The wound was about the size of a thumb, and it had already scabbed over.

Now it looks like it's rotten, it has expanded outwards by twice its size, and all the hair around it has fallen out!

"I don't know, it hurts so much, it hurts when I move, it hurts even when I don't touch it."

Ms. Li cried. She had felt an itch on her scalp that morning, and now it was getting more and more painful, with a stinging sensation drilling into her brain.

"Bear with it, we need to get to the county seat quickly!"

Looking at the wound, Lin Mao felt pain all over his body, so he quickly borrowed a car, and the two prepared to go to the county town.

Just as they stepped outside, Lin Jiabao returned with Lin Yuwei's letter. "I just received a letter yesterday, and here's another one today? Is this urgent, sister?... What are you two up to?"

"Never mind, let's read the letter first!"

Despite the pain, Li quickly glanced at the document. "We really need to go to the Li family first. Jiabao, you take care of this. Also, send the prescription to your sister as soon as possible."

The three had no choice but to split into two groups.

Su Wanning and Xu Lingxi had already arrived at the Li family's house.

On the way, Xu Lingxi had already explained Feng Shi's matter in detail.

"So you specifically chose eighty taels?"

Su Wanning had no idea how tender her gaze was when she looked at Xu Lingxi.

"That's right, the ancestor originally said he would give one hundred taels."

Xu Lingxi was lucky she didn't have a tail, otherwise she would have been wagging her tail high. "I didn't want to give them a single extra coin, and you still gave them an ounce or two? You're too soft-hearted!"

Su Wanning didn't say anything, and carefully arranged all the ingredients and seasonings she had brought.

That's when they found one of the large food boxes.

"Look what I brought you."

"What?"

Xu Lingxi opened the food box and exclaimed, "It's a mille-feuille! You made a mille-feuille! You're amazing, my Ning!"

Inside the food box was a stack of round cakes.

A few mulberries are sprinkled on top.

Xu Lingxi took a knife and cut it in half from the middle, revealing an almost perfect side cut.

Each layer of pastry is as thin as a cicada's wing, milky white and exuding a faint sweet fragrance, with deep purple mulberry jam and delicate white cream, each layer distinct and separate.

"It was made last night, so the taste probably isn't as good anymore. Try it first and see how you can improve it. We'll make some new ones later and send some to our ancestors too."

Su Wanning said with some regret, "There's not much fresh fruit this season, and even less that can be made into jam."

Xu Lingxi had already stuffed a large mouthful into her mouth and stood up excitedly. "There's lots of honey-glazed fruit paste on the estate! I'll send someone to get it!"

He said that one sentence and then went back to eating in silence.

The smell made her want to cry.

Su Wan Ning sat quietly to one side. She felt that Miss Xu was also a person with a story. Why was she so obsessed with food?