Chapter 7: Get Lost, Don't Come Around Looking for Handouts Anymore

"Grandma, I'm cooking today, just wait and eat!"

"Since there's plenty of meat, we can send some to Big Aunt and Little Aunt later!"

Sheng Wanqiu said this because her Little Aunt lived in town, and she could take the opportunity to see what the situation was like there and if there were any profitable businesses she could start.

"That's fine! It's rare that you still remember your aunts; they’ve always been very fond of you." Grandma Sheng looked at Sheng Wanqiu with an approving gaze.

And so, Sheng Wanqiu pulled out all the stops. She chopped the rabbit into small pieces, blanched them in a pot, and added a splash of rice wine to enhance the flavor and remove the gamey smell. This rice wine was brewed by every household; it had a hint of sweetness but a very strong kick.

Next, Sheng Wanqiu scooped out the blanched rabbit meat, cleaned the pot, added oil and old ginger, and then tossed the meat in to stir-fry.

Sheng Huai'an watched her nimble movements while tending the fire, his eyes filled with confusion. His sister seemed to be getting more and more capable.

Once the stir-fry was fragrant, Sheng Wanqiu added a spoonful of aged bean paste, another splash of rice wine, chili peppers, and prickly ash leaves. After a quick stir, she added water, a pinch of salt, and began to stew it over high heat.

"Little brother, keep an eye on this. I'm going to see if there's any garlic in the backyard."

Sheng Wanqiu wiped her hands and turned to the backyard. There was a small plot of land there that Grandma Sheng usually tended, growing scallions, garlic, and greens.

Sheng Wanqiu plucked a few stalks of garlic and walked back to the kitchen while trimming them.

"Wanqiu, does the injury on your head hurt?" A clear, male voice rang out.

Sheng Wanqiu looked up to see a refined-looking, though not particularly handsome, young man standing before her. He was about 1.73 meters tall and dressed quite cleanly. Unlike the other villagers, whose clothes were covered in patches, he wore a washed-out cyan long gown. One look told you he was a scholar. He was currently looking at her with an expression of concern.

"Don't talk nonsense. If you had a hole smashed into your head, tell me, would it hurt?"

"If you're fine, get out of the way. I have cooking to do!"

Sheng Wanqiu looked impatient. The moment she saw him, she knew exactly who he was.

This man was the person all the young girls in the village liked: Bai Haoyu. He was a scholar who had already passed the *tongsheng* exam and was said to be taking the *xiucai* exam this year.

The original Sheng Wanqiu had also liked him, and whenever she had something good to eat, she would send it to him.

But this Bai Haoyu had always been indifferent to her, strictly following a "three-no" policy: no initiative, no refusal, and no responsibility.

He was a total "central air conditioner"—a flirt who treated all the village girls this way. Sheng Wanqiu knew why he was here; among the group of aunties gossiping under the tree on her way back, his mother had been one of them.

He must have known she had rabbit meat and came to mooch.

What a shameless man. And he calls himself a scholar—he really has no shame.

"Wanqiu, are you blaming me for coming to see you so late?"

"I only just found out. You know how it is—I'm at home studying every day, and the imperial exams are coming up. If I had known earlier, I definitely would have come sooner."

Bai Haoyu tried his best to put on a soulful expression as he looked at Sheng Wanqiu. He knew this was the look she liked best.

"The calculation in your eyes is practically overflowing. You'd better put that away!"

"The past is the past. I can't be bothered with you now. If I see you, this refined scoundrel, hovering in front of me again, I'll break your legs!"

"Get lost! Stop trying to freeload. Who are you putting on that 'I'm barely surviving' act for? If you can't survive, go die! All you do every day is swindle ignorant girls. You're absolute trash!"

Bai Haoyu was stunned by Sheng Wanqiu's outburst. What was wrong with her today? Was she possessed? How could she talk to him like this?

"Wanqiu, how can you say such things?" Bai Haoyu’s lips trembled as he looked at her, feigning deep grievance.

"In the future, address me as Miss Sheng. If I hear you call me by my name again, I will definitely break your legs!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Sheng Wanqiu picked up a thick wooden club from the ground and swung it.

Seeing this, Bai Haoyu realized that if he didn't run, this crazy girl would really do it. He turned and bolted, shouting back at her as he ran

"I'm telling you, Sheng Wanqiu, don't regret this later!"

"Regret your head, you big idiot! You'd better take a detour when you see me, or I'll pluck your hair bald sooner or later and make you a monk! Bah!"

Fearing that this madwoman would really attack him, Bai Haoyu ran away as fast as he could. He decided he would never forgive this wretched girl. She must have damaged her brain when she fell, which was the only reason she would dare treat him like this.

It was absolutely infuriating!

When he returned home, his younger brother and sister saw that he had nothing in his hands, and their faces fell.

"Brother, where's the rabbit meat? Didn't they say Sheng Wanqiu caught a wild rabbit?" Bai Xiaolian looked at her older brother with great disappointment.

Usually, whenever Sheng Wanqiu had something good, she would send it to her brother. What happened today? How could he come back empty-handed?

"Brother, I want meat! I want meat!"

Bai Haoyu's younger brother, Bai Haowu, was only seven years old—the youngest in the Bai family. Bai Jiangshi doted on this youngest son so much that he had become incredibly arrogant, acting like a little tyrant at home. Seeing his brother return empty-handed, he immediately started rolling on the ground in the courtyard.

Bai Jiangshi, who was cooking in the kitchen, heard her youngest son's crying and immediately dropped her work, trotting out.

"What's wrong? Xiaowu, get up quickly. We'll have meat for lunch, don't throw a tantrum!" Bai Jiangshi hurriedly helped her youngest son up and comforted him softly.

"Mom, what meat? Brother didn't bring any meat back at all!" Bai Xiaolian stomped her feet in anger.

Only then did Bai Jiangshi notice her eldest son standing to the side, looking empty-handed and with a very ugly expression on his face.

"The Sheng girl didn't give you any meat?"

There was a hint of blame in Bai Jiangshi's tone. If you asked who her favorite son was, it was definitely the youngest, but the one she relied on was this eldest son, who was a good student and already a *tongsheng*.

She knew her eldest son was a good student and handsome, fair and clean. Many young girls in the village liked him. She usually pretended not to know, but she never went soft when it came to collecting the benefits.

From time to time, village girls would scramble to help her with chores, bringing dried vegetables one day and grains the next. The most generous of them all was Sheng Wanqiu from the Sheng family. Whenever she had something good, besides giving some to her own brother, she would give the rest to her eldest son, and then they would naturally enjoy the benefits together.

"Mom, I don't know what's wrong with that wretched girl today. Not only did she not give me meat, but she also tried to hit me. If I hadn't run fast, she would have broken my legs." Bai Haoyu was also furious.

He, a dignified scholar, had been mocked by such a shameless village girl. How could he not be angry!