The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

Chapter 521: Chapter 508: Carry The Blame

“OK, let’s do braised cabbage.” Mrs. He felt somewhat embarrassed about her misunderstanding with Zhuang Yonghe earlier, so naturally, she decided to cook according to his preference this time.

“Let me help you kindle the fire.” Zhuang Yonghe also got up, helping Mrs. He raise the curtain.

“You have been busy all morning, take a break. I will call you when the meal is ready.” Mrs. He tried to stop him.

“Whether I’m warming myself here or in the kitchen, it doesn’t make any difference.” Zhuang Yonghe headed towards the kitchen. “And by the way, you didn’t finish your sentence earlier. You mentioned that there was something you wanted to discuss, but I didn’t understand…”

“It’s nothing much, just that I was fetching water at the tofu mill today and saw a sheep grazing on the wheat seedlings. It took me quite some time to shoo it out… I thought I’d give you a heads-up and also remind others to keep an eye on their livestock, so as to prevent any conflicts over damaged crops…” Mrs. He stuttered as she made up a lie.

Despite this, she couldn’t help but sigh.

Even though Zhuang Yonghe had asked about her concern, she still had not fully expressed her thoughts.

“Really?” Seeing his wife’s blushing face, Zhuang Yonghe found it hard to believe her.

“Of course, why would I lie? If there were really something, wouldn’t I tell you?” Mrs. He lowered her head and dug out a cabbage from the cellar. “Ok, hurry, get the tofu that we fried yesterday, cut it into pieces, and braise it with this cabbage and some pork. Mingliang loves this dish.”

Zhuang Yonghe sighed and went to fetch the tofu.

Seeing Mrs. He’s earlier hesitation and her blushing face, he recalled her story about fetching water at the tofu mill and chasing the sheep out of the wheat field…

Upon closer observation, Mrs. He’s eyes seemed a bit red, as if she had been crying.

Could it be that she was initially suspicious because of the rumors outside, and then happened to see the widow Liu leaving the village in the morning, so she wanted to question him?

That was a close call…

Zhuang Yonghe patted his chest, feeling a sense of relief.

It was good that after thinking for so long, he felt that he should clarify things with Mrs. He regarding this matter. If he had continued to hide it and waited for Mrs. He to ask, no matter what he said then, he feared that she would not trust him.

If it had come to that, life at home would be unbearable.

It seemed that maintaining a marriage required honesty, and everything should be discussed openly. This way, there would be less to worry about.

No matter what outsiders say, as long as a couple stays united, what is there to fear?

With these thoughts, Zhuang Yonghe couldn’t help but smile. He took the fried tofu, and continued to help Mrs. He prepare the meal.

—-

After Zhuang Qingning returned home, she had a hot flatbread that she made in the morning, along with a bowl of hot and sour rice noodles.

After finishing her meal, she began her arduous task — sewing shoe soles.

After studying for a while, Zhuang Qingning finally found a suitable position for her thimble. She held the thick needle threaded with hemp rope, took a deep breath, and strongly punctured the thick soles of the shoes.

The needle went in more smoothly than she had anticipated, and pulling it out was also effortless.

Zhuang Qingning sighed with relief after completing the first stitch, and she couldn’t help but raise the corners of her mouth.

Sewing the soles turned out to be much smoother than expected.

It seemed that the system did favor her. It gave her the task of sewing soles instead of embroidering, since sewing shoe soles required more strength. Her power-up did come in handy for this task.

As for the problem that the soles needed to be evenly sewn, and the stitch lengths needed to be consistent…

Zhuang Qingning thought for a while. She picked up a small bamboo stick and dabbed some rouge from the box, carefully dotting it evenly on the sole.

As long as she followed where the rouge was dotted, even if the stitches were slightly skewed, the overall appearance would be very uniform, and not unpleasing.

If she returned this to Mrs. He later, it would be decent enough for Mrs. He to use it for Zhuang Yonghe’s shoes, and it wouldn’t go to waste.

How smart I am!

Zhuang Qingning bit her lip, lowered her head, and continued to repeat the mechanical movements of threading and unthreading the needle.

After a cup of tea’s time had passed, there was already a small area of sewn soles as the fruit of her labor.

Not bad at all.

It seemed she had been wrongly accusing the system. This task seemed challenging at first glance, but it wasn’t particularly difficult in practice.

[…]

[What if I say I forgot you were a super-powered girl, would anyone believe me?]

[Normally, sewing shoe soles is a challenging task. It’s difficult to pierce the needle through the soles; too much force could break the needle, and too little could fail to puncture the sole. Many people have to use an awl for assistance. And after this step, there’s also the challenge of pulling the needle out. It’s not easy to grip a smooth and slippery needle, and sometimes a needle can get stuck.]

[Due to these difficulties, sewing shoe soles is considered a tough task. I thought the host would struggle, but I forgot that she had superhuman strength and could pierce rows of needles with a single slap…]

[My oversight…]

The system lamented for a while, but since it had just been praised by Zhuang Qingning, it decided not to recognize its mistake to prevent its favorability from dropping.

After a long thought, the system chose to take the blame and carried it on its back obediently.

After all, it wasn’t the first time it had taken the blame, and besides, this time it was an innocent mistake.

Zhuang Qingning, unaware of the system’s thoughts, continued to sew the shoe soles with great enthusiasm.

—-

The government office was incredibly busy in the afternoon.

Given the time of year, there were many petty thefts and disputes arising from unsuccessful debt collections. The officials were occupied with these matters every day, patrolling the streets more often and hardly having any rest.

Ding Gaochang’s dark circles had deepened in these past few days because of these disturbances and mainly because of the case of the Ma family massacre.

In the Ma family’s manor, sixteen out of seventeen people, including both family and servants, were poisoned and killed at home. Only a girl named Hongyu was missing.

With an entire family tragically killed and only one survivor, even if Hongyu wasn’t the murderer, she should at least know something. Moreover, as the sole survivor of this case, any investigations into potential conflicts and enemies of the Ma family had to start with her.

Unfortunately, Hongyu had been missing ever since the massacre at Ma’s manor.

Ding Gaochang led a search and finally found Hongyu in her uncle’s house.

Though they had located her, Hongyu was currently in a state of frenzy, only laughing and eating mindlessly.