Chapter 16: What is Pei Fuzhu after?

However, his mouth was still stuffed with food at the moment. He covered his mouth with his chubby little hands, worried that the food might fall out, so his words came out muffled.

Lingxi subconsciously poured him a cup of warm water and handed it to him, lest the little one choke.

Immediately after, Lingxi realized what little Minghui meant, and her eyes widened in shock.

What a coincidence; it was a good thing she had already spoken to the old lady about her and Gu Si earlier, otherwise...

But, in an instant, Lingxi felt it was strange.

"Why is Grandma asking about this now? Didn't she say she would wait until she was done with the busy season?"

Some time ago, Aunt Pei Er mentioned that her family had a brother-in-law who was lazy and gluttonous, and she didn't think highly of that family. Although the old lady said she would wait and see at the time, in reality, if there were other options, she wouldn't choose that family again.

Little Minghui shook his head, indicating he didn't know. "I heard Great-Grandma muttering to herself in the room, saying that even if she had to marry you off, she would definitely pick a good family for you."

Little Minghui didn't actually understand why such a wonderful Little Aunt had to get married at all!

Otherwise...

"Little Aunt, wait for Minghui. When Minghui grows up, I'll marry you."

By then, he would have endless cakes to eat!

Just thinking about it made him happy.

Lingxi: "..."

Ah, this...

That wouldn't be very appropriate!

Lingxi truly couldn't hold it back this time; she was amused to no end by little Minghui.

***

There was plenty of meat at home today, and since Lingxi had specifically asked for braised pork, and it was the height of the farming season, the family was indeed quite tired and needed a good boost. The old lady made a rare exception to be extravagant, and dinner was exceptionally sumptuous.

Braised pork, garlic greens, two-grain flour pancakes, and meat soup—the whole family ate to their heart's content.

Lingxi and the others were eating in the kitchen.

Feeling unusually happy, Lingxi planned to go back to her room to get some apples and pears for everyone to share.

Unexpectedly, just as she reached the door of the east wing where she lived, she saw Pei Fuzhu coming out of her room, and the two bumped into each other face-to-face.

Lingxi: "..."

!!!

She subconsciously took a step back, looking at Pei Fuzhu in shock.

At this hour...

Shouldn't she be back home eating?

Even if she wasn't eating at her own house, she shouldn't be in her room!

Pei Fuzhu's expression also froze instantly, a look of guilt flashing across her face. But it was only for a split second; Pei Fuzhu reacted quickly and swiftly composed herself.

Lingxi only felt that Pei Fuzhu's expression was wrong.

Before she could think too much, Pei Fuzhu spoke up.

"Lingxi, you weren't in your room? I thought you were here. Hey, you should have said so earlier! If you had, I would have gone straight to the kitchen to find you, and I could have saved myself quite a bit of walking!"

Lingxi felt a bit bewildered.

Sweat had already broken out on Pei Fuzhu's forehead. Suddenly thinking of something, her eyes lit up. She pulled Lingxi to the side and lowered her voice.

"Lingxi, don't say that your sister doesn't think of you when there's good news!

I heard that our Little Aunt is going to introduce a suitor to you. He's a worker in the city, and a permanent employee at that.

I specifically asked around, and that's why I came to tell you.

They say the man is good-looking and filial. If you marry him, you can move to the city and eat government-supplied grain. Who knows, he might even be able to arrange a job for you. You'll be a city person from then on—how glorious that would be!

You must seize this opportunity!"

Calculating the time, in her past life, the Little Aunt had also spoken to the family about introducing a suitor to Lingxi around this time.

She had thought of this on the spur of the moment, and now she felt that marrying Lingxi off to the Gu family's third son was fine too. She, Pei Fuzhu, was definitely going to marry that man eventually, so she would just leave Gu the Third to Pei Lingxi.

That was a permanent city worker!

Lingxi: "..."

Hadn't her Heavenly Father already sent her Fourth Brother to her?

Could it be that meeting Fourth Brother today was a last-minute whim of the Heavens, and they hadn't had time to tip off Pei Fuzhu yet?

When facing Pei Fuzhu, Lingxi tried to speak as little as possible, always carefully keeping a low profile, and this time was no exception.

Let her talk if she wanted to!

At this moment, hearing Pei Fuzhu praise that person to the skies, she hesitated for a moment, then suggested to Pei Fuzhu in a weak tone.

"Then... why don't you marry him?"

Such a good person—why didn't she, Pei Fuzhu, marry him instead?

She already had her Fourth Brother!

When Pei Fuzhu heard her words, the expression on her face twisted instantly, and the way she looked at Lingxi was as if she wanted to tear her apart.

But, only for a brief moment, and then she forced a smile again.

"Lingxi-er, stop teasing your sister. That's a suitor Little Aunt prepared for you. If I had any ideas, wouldn't Grandma tear me apart?"

She was worried that if Lingxi really said something to the old lady and introduced Gu the Third to her, it would be like her past life—the old lady, though regretful, would still agree.

She hurriedly added another sentence.

"My marriage is something my Heavenly Father worries about!

As for you, don't you always want to be a city person? What a great opportunity!"

She knew that Pei Lingxi was determined to get into the city.

Pei Lingxi had always believed her father wasn't dead and wanted to leave the small mountain village to go find him outside.

In her opinion, why bother looking? In her past life, the man she married was powerful and influential, and hadn't he failed to find him too?

Pei Fuzhu was preparing to pull Lingxi to talk a bit more when she saw Pei Xuan striding over from afar. Her expression stiffened slightly, and she quickly told Lingxi she had something else to do before walking away at a fast pace.

Lingxi felt that this "Heavenly Father's favorite daughter" was strange. She shook her head and entered the room, but the next instant, seeing the situation inside, her expression changed instantly.

She walked quickly into her inner room, her gaze sweeping across the room.

Seeing that there were traces of things being rummaged through everywhere, her face turned very ugly.

Lingxi had a good memory; although things had been put back in their original places after being moved, these tiny changes did not escape her eyes.

Pei Xuan had entered the room intending to ask Lingxi if she wanted to go catch cicadas with him.

Seeing Lingxi searching around with a grim expression, and then connecting it to the position Pei Fuzhu and Lingxi had been standing in just now, he vaguely understood something.

"What is it? Did Pei Fuzhu take something of yours?"

"What?"

Pei Yu was carrying a large parcel on one shoulder and a basket in his other hand. Just as he reached the window of Lingxi's room, he heard what was said inside and asked with some curiosity.

Pei Yu was big and tall, looking somewhat like the eldest brother. Unlike the eldest brother's gentle nature, he had an honest-looking face, though the sharp glint that occasionally flashed in his eyes made no one dare to underestimate him.

Seeing it was him, Lingxi was pleasantly surprised.

"Oh, Second Brother, you're home!

Have you eaten?

It's nothing major. Just now, while we were eating, Pei Fuzhu came into my room. I don't know what she was looking for, but I didn't lose anything."

"Not yet. I'll just eat something later; I'm not hungry, I haven't stopped eating the whole way back."

He had bought a few steamed buns at the state-run restaurant and eaten them all the way back.

Lingxi didn't see that anything was missing. Finally, she put the counted money back into the box, completely unable to figure it out.

What exactly did Pei Fuzhu want?