Chapter 381: What Did the Lotus Leaves Do Wrong?

Granny Guo was pleased to see that everyone had left.

She tore another duck leg off and placed it in her son Jindan’s bowl. "This is delicious. Eat this."

Jindan looked up, his mouth stuffed full, and mumbled indistinctly, "It’s delicious. I’ve never eaten so much good food before."

Granny Guo watched him with doting eyes. "Eat your fill. It’s all ours now."

When they had nearly eaten their fill, Granny Guo suddenly nudged the old man beside her. "When I first got here, I saw a lotus pond outside. Once you’re finished, go tear off a few lotus leaves. There’s so much food, it’d be a shame to waste it. We’ll wrap it up and take it home to savor."

Listening from the side, Gu Fei felt the corner of her mouth twitch. ’Well, at least you’re not planning on taking our bowls, too. But still, what did the poor lotus leaves ever do to deserve this?’

The old man was quite a character himself. Though his belly was already bulging, he still managed to shove a few more mouthfuls of food in his mouth before getting up to go tear off some lotus leaves.

Before long, the old man returned with several large lotus leaves.

Granny Guo and Jindan were stuffed to the gills and couldn’t eat another bite. Patting their bellies, they stood up and began dumping all the leftovers from the table onto the lotus leaves to be packed up.

Soups and sauces dribbled all over the table.

Everyone else had finished eating long ago and was sitting in the courtyard, drinking tea.

The Eldest Aunt held her teacup, her eyes fixed coldly on that family.

Seeing the trio finish packing, only to start looking around the courtyard for what else they could find, the Eldest Aunt’s gaze shot toward Zhaodi like a bolt of lightning.

Zhaodi received her mother-in-law’s death glare and quickly stood up. "Ma, let’s go home."

Granny Guo wasn’t ready to leave, her greed still unsated. She had a feeling she could still find something else to take from the courtyard.

Zhaodi pulled at her insistently. "Ma, let’s go. We’ve eaten our fill, it’s time to head back."

Her mother suddenly said, "I haven’t had my tea yet. I’ll leave after I’ve had a cup."

Zhaodi was on the verge of tears. "Ma, you can’t possibly eat or drink any more! You’ve eaten too much already. If you pour tea in, there’ll be no place for it to go!"

The Eldest Aunt then shot a look at Yougen. "What are you still standing there for? Escort your father-in-law and mother-in-law home."

Yougen, his face flushed red, stood up, grabbed his gawking father-in-law, and started dragging him toward the gate without a word.

The old man, clutching several lotus-leaf-wrapped bundles, cried out, "Slower, slower! The food I packed is about to fall out!"

Between the two of them, Zhaodi and her husband finally managed to drag the two elders away. But Jindan remained, standing in the courtyard with his eyes roving all over Gu Fei. Liu Fu saw this and quickly came over to pull him out.

Everyone in the courtyard let out a collective sigh of relief.

The Eldest Aunt then got up to leave. "I’ll let you get back to it, Sister-in-law. I still have things drying in my courtyard. The sun’s about to set, and I need to bring them in before the dew falls."

Taohua pulled Ju Hua up as well, bidding farewell to Mrs. Chen. "We’re heading home now, too."

Except for the Eldest Aunt’s husband, who was still drinking with Gu Zhang, her entire family had left.

Once outside, the Eldest Aunt walked faster and faster, and it wasn’t long before she caught up with the family of three, who were so full they could barely move.

Without so much as a greeting, she strode right past them.

When she got home, the Eldest Aunt’s face was like a sheet of ice. She ordered Taohua, "Go, get the bedding they used and that shabby bundle of theirs, and throw it all outside."

"Youde, go stand guard at the gate and tell Yougen not to let that family back in!"

Youde acknowledged the order and went to the gate, but the Eldest Aunt, still worried, followed him.

Just then, the family of three was approaching. Zhaodi and Yougen trailed behind with their son Gangzi, their heads hanging low.