Chapter 242: Missing an Egg

Chapter 242: Chapter 242: Missing an Egg

If Wen Xiu could barely tolerate her third daughter-in-law’s stubbornness, she absolutely detested her second daughter-in-law’s incessant pot-stirring. She couldn’t stand it for another second.

She pointed her finger at Fang Juxian and scolded, "Get out! And don’t you ever come back. I can’t stand the sight of you. Don’t think I don’t know you were the one who put them up to secretly selling those wild fish. The Zhang family must have had eighteen lifetimes of bad luck to let a troublemaker like you marry into the family. What good does any of this do you?"

"Oh, Mom, don’t say that. Wasn’t it something you said earlier that caused this whole misunderstanding? Now that it’s cleared up, we can just move on." Fang Juxian offered an awkward, placating smile, completely ignoring Wen Xiu’s order to "get out." Instead, she shamelessly tried to save face. "Mom, don’t be angry. It’s not worth ruining your health over me. Okay, I’ll just go to the kitchen and see if I can help Little Sis with anything."

With that, she shot Zhang Weihong a look and slipped out of the main hall. As soon as she was out of Wen Xiu’s sight, she spat on the ground and muttered, "So what if you have a little stinking money? Hmph. Big deal. Look at how high and mighty you act... If you were broke, I wouldn’t deign to show up even if you got on your knees and begged me."

Back in the main hall, Zhang Weihong, having received Fang Juxian’s signal, saw that their first plan had already failed. He knew it was time to move on to their backup plan. He changed his tone, looking at Wen Xiu with a pleading expression. "Mom, if we really can’t come back to the farm, then we won’t push it. But you can’t just stand by and watch me and Third Brother hit a dead end, can you? Mom, my dear mother, please, do us a favor and lend each of our families some money. What if we start our own small-scale ecological farm to become self-reliant?"

"Lend you money to start a farm?" Wen Xiu laughed coldly, her gaze shifting from her second son to her third. "Third, is that what you want, too?"

"That’s right. Second Brother and I already discussed it." Wen Xiu’s laugh made Zhang Weimin’s scalp tingle with unease, but the thought that money would let him live a comfortable life quickly overshadowed everything else. He nodded eagerly.

"Then tell me, where do you plan on selling these pigs and fish you raise?" Wen Xiu asked, looking at her two sons with a smirk. "You both know that everyone around here sources their pork from us, whether for their own use or for retail. If you open your own farm, do you really think you’ll be able to sell your pork and fish anywhere nearby?"

"We can sell our pork and fish to your farm," Zhang Weihong replied, clearly having prepared for this question. His answer was quick and matter-of-fact. "We’re all family. Are you really not willing to give us a little support?"

"It’s not like you haven’t worked on the farm before," Wen Xiu said, staring at them. "Let me ask you just one thing: can you commit to not using commercial feed, just like our farm? Can you commit to being even more meticulous than someone raising pigs at home—cutting fresh fodder every day and giving them nutritional supplements on a regular schedule?"

"Of course, we can," Zhang Weihong replied, though his voice lacked conviction.

"Then how do you explain what the two of you have said to people on more than one occasion? ’Tending to these pigs is harder than serving our own ancestors. Who raises pigs like this nowadays? It’d be so much better to just use commercial feed; they grow faster, and it takes less time.’ What’s that all about?" Wen Xiu sneered. "Did you think your father and I wouldn’t find out just because you said it in private, far away from us? I suggest you give up on this idea of starting your own farm and selling the meat to us. Even if you did, the quality of your pigs would never meet our standards. We have no desire to tarnish our own brand, and we won’t make an exception for anyone."

"..."

Zhang Weihong and Zhang Weimin were stunned into silence. After a long moment, Zhang Weihong spoke, his face a mask of misery. "If we can’t do this and we can’t do that, then what are we supposed to do? We’re not cut out for running a business... A business..." His eyes suddenly lit up. "That’s it! Mom, why don’t you lend us the money to open a franchise store instead? We can definitely handle a simple job like managing an existing meat bun shop."

’Opening a franchise store would be great,’ he thought. ’It’s profitable, and running a bun shop means we could eat big meat buns every day, trying all the different kinds.’ His niece’s recipe really was amazing; he felt like he could eat those buns for a year straight without ever getting sick of them. At his words, Zhang Weimin and Guo Xiuying’s eyes also lit up. They were clearly on the same page as Zhang Weihong. They all gulped, then nodded repeatedly as they looked at Wen Xiu with expectant eyes.

"You make it sound so simple." Wen Xiu scoffed. "Where do you think you’d even open a franchise around here? And do you have any idea what the requirements are, besides the initial investment? Countless people have pulled strings and come begging for an opportunity. Even for families with powerful connections, your eldest brother has never once bent the rules."

Wen Xiu looked at her two sons and found the whole thing ridiculous. ’It’s no wonder I look down on them,’ she thought. ’Just look at how they were drooling a moment ago. If I actually agreed to this, their store would probably be the first franchise to go bankrupt.’

She shook her head. "Give up. Based on your character alone, your eldest brother would never grant you a franchise slot."

Zhang Weihong, Zhang Weimin, and Guo Xiuying’s faces flushed red, then went pale. ’How infuriating!’ they thought, fuming. ’So what if we can’t open a franchise? Why did she have to bring our character into it? Is she just trying to humiliate us? What’s wrong with our character anyway? Hmph. It’s better this way. Who’d want to wake up early and go to bed late every single day, not to mention giving most of the profits to the company? Those people begging to open a franchise must have rocks in their heads...’

No one spoke. For a time, the room was filled only with silence.

"The noodles are here! If you don’t eat them now, they’ll get all clumpy. Come on, eat up." Breaking the awkward silence, Zhang Minzhen and Fang Juxian arrived just in time. Zhang Minzhen placed the tray she was carrying on the table, motioning for everyone to eat.

Everyone’s eyes lit up at the sight of the noodles. They were served in a rich, fragrant chicken broth, and on top of the thin noodles in each bowl sat two glistening, golden-yellow fried eggs.

"Ah—"

Suddenly, Guo Xiuying shrieked, her voice so shrill with displeasure that you didn’t need to see her face to know she was furious. "Little Sis, how come everyone else has two eggs, but Tianci’s bowl only has one?"

"Eat it or don’t. If you’re not going to eat, then all of you can get out!" Wen Xiu was so furious she felt she might keel over. ’Do they think I’m a pushover or something?’