Chapter 174 -

Chapter 174: Chapter

After Qinqin finished helping Yimei get ready, Yimei and Zhengyu headed out together for breakfast. Madame Bai, Madame Chen, and the young ladies had already prepared the morning meal, laying out the dishes on the long wooden tables.

Seeing Yimei walking slowly toward them with Qinqin supporting her arm, Madame Bai immediately stopped what she was doing. She walked over, her face full of warm concern. "Dear, I heard you caught a fever last night. Are you feeling any better this morning?"

Yimei smiled softly, keeping her voice calm and polite. "Don’t worry, Mother. I’m feeling much better now. I just need to rest my body a bit more."

Madame Bai led her over to a chair, and slowly, the rest of the family gathered around the table.

Members of the second branch also arrived and took their seats. Madame Liu looked at Yimei, noticing how pale her face still was.

"You look quite sick," Xiuying asked, blurting out the main question on everyone’s mind. "Will we still be able to go to the m shop today?"

"Of course," Yimei replied, offering a faint, mocking smile. "I’m the one who is sick, not you all. Why wouldn’t you go to work?"

Before anyone could say another word, Zhengyu reached out with his chopsticks and placed a freshly steamed dumpling onto Yimei’s plate. Keeping a completely serious expression, he continued piling different dishes onto her plate, pork ribs, steamed buns, and pickled vegetables filling it up so fast that Yimei didn’t even get a chance to lift her own chopsticks.

"Liu Feng will escort you all to the shop today," Zhengyu instructed in a stern, authoritative voice. "Just tell him what to do. You sit down, stay still, and don’t exert yourself."

Yimei tilted her head, staring at her husband in quiet amusement. Looking at him now, acting like a big boss, no one would ever guess how red, breathless, and flustered he had been under her touch just last night.

"If you say so, husband," Yimei murmured smoothly, taking a small bite of one of the dumplings he had piled up for her. "But who will take you to Grandmaster Zhang house today?"

Just then, Bai Kang walked into the main hall alongside his mother, Madame Zhao. "Good morning, everyone," he greeted cheerfully with a bright smile.

Zhengyu pointed his chopsticks straight at Bai Kang. "Bai Kang will take me to Grandmaster Zhang house today. In fact, from now on, he will be taking me everywhere."

Bai Kang, who had just taken a large gulp of water from a wooden cup, instantly spat it out in shock.

A shower of water sprayed directly across Bai Ruizhe’s face.

"You idiot! Watch your mouth!" Ruizhe groaned in disgust, wiping his face while his mother quickly handed him a clean cloth to wipe down his soaked robes.

"B-Brother Zhengyu... what are you talking about?" poor Bai Kang stuttered, looking completely terrified as Madame Zhao shook her head in fond exasperation at her son. "Where am I taking you?"

"What? Do you think my tutoring comes for free?" Zhengyu said plainly without a single stutter, picking up a tender piece of meat with his chopsticks. "You’ll push my wheelchair wherever I need to go. So go get yourself ready."

Madame Zhao let out a light laugh, while Bai Kang slumped into his seat as if he had just been handed a life sentence.

"Good morning, everyone!" An Yulan’s sharp voice cut through the air as she arrived alongside Bai Wenxiu and Bai Shishi. "How do you like our new dresses?"

The three girls twirled around in front of the family, showing off the new sets of clothes An Yulan had recently purchased for them.

Madame Zheng looked up from her plate, scoffed loudly, and shook her head. "Look at what you three are wearing! The family barely has enough money for proper meals, yet here you are spending coins on cheap, flashy outfits. You have no sense at all."

An Yulan rolled her eyes at Madame Zheng, folding her arms over her chest. "What do you know about fashion? Just because we are living in the southeast doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look nice! New Year’s is coming up, and so is the New Year Festival. We’re going to wear these outfits to the festival in town."

The three of them strutted over to take their seats at the table.

Moments later, Madame Bai and Rulan, along with Meiling and Bai Shu, arrived carrying the final dishes from the kitchen and joined the table.

"Wow, look at you three," Madame Bai commented with a polite smile, handing an empty dish to Madame Liu. "Are you off to a party or something?"

"Who would ever invite them to a party?" Xiuying sneered out of pure jealousy, folding her arms tightly. "They don’t even look decent enough to be seen in public."

Bai Shishi glared at her and smirked back wickedly. "Look who’s talking! The bitter girl whose own father almost sold her off!"

An Yulan and Bai Wenxiu burst into loud laughter at the insult.

"Shut your mouths, you brats!" Madame Liu snapped, instantly losing her temper as she defended her daughter. "How dare you make fun of your cousin like that? What utter rubbish!"

Xiuying’s face burned with pure rage. Driven mad by their mocking laughs, she suddenly grabbed a pot of scalding hot tea that Qinqin had just set down for Yimei. She stood up and splashed the hot tea directly over the three girls.

Sharp screams rang out across the room. Luckily, the hot liquid missed their faces, but it completely soaked and ruined their new dresses and scalded their hands.

Uncle Chengbang sat back, looking thoroughly pleased by the chaos as he nodded approvingly and popped a piece of meat into his mouth. Madame Liu smirked, looking equally satisfied that her daughter had fought back.

"You wench! How dare you!" An Yulan shrieked in rage. She, Bai Shishi, and Bai Wenxiu lunged forward together, grabbing Xiuying by her hair and preparing to beat her to a pulp right there on the floor.

Madame Zheng completely ignored the commotion, calmly feeding her young son, Bai Jun, who watched the chaotic brawl with wide, entertained eyes.

Yimei casually rested her elbow on the table, resting her chin in her hand as she watched the entire circus unfold with cool entertainment. Beside her, Zhengyu paid no attention to the flying tea or shrieking girls; he simply kept stacking more food onto his wife’s plate as if nothing else in the world mattered.

Madame Liu and Madame Bai rushed forward to pull the girls apart, shouting at them to stop fighting. Just as Madame Chen walked out from the kitchen, she saw her daughters being attacked and immediately charged into the chaotic brawl to join the fight.

[Host, it really is a chaotic morning here in the Bai family!] Nine chimed in Yimei’s head, practically popping popcorn. [Pass the tea, well, the tea that didn’t end up on their dresses!]