The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

Lin Guixiang glanced at Sun Tao, then at the child, but ignored him and went to tidy up herself.

Sun Chengbao, huddled in the corner, rolled his eyes, looking at this and that, touching his stomach which was aching from hunger, and silently lowered his head.

He should have resisted when his grandmother asked him to come; he shouldn't have come at all. This woman doesn't care about him, and neither does his father.

Lin Guixiang was halfway through tidying up when she felt someone watching her from time to time. She knew it was Sun Chengbao, so she stopped tidying up, turned around, greeted Sun Tao, said she was going to buy something, and went straight out.

When Du Mingxian and Liu Ya returned in the afternoon, Lin Guixiang had indeed bought some things that the family needed and greeted them warmly.

Both of them responded with a very indifferent tone and then went back to their respective rooms.

Ling Silang didn't go out in the afternoon. When Du Mingxian returned, Ling Silang had already cooked the porridge. Before leaving, Du Mingxian said that she wanted to drink it.

"You're back. The porridge is ready. I'll make two side dishes and then we can eat."

"it is good."

Du Mingxian was resting in a chair when there was a knock on the door. Ling Silang was chopping vegetables. She got up to open the door and found Guo Chen standing outside.

"Is something wrong?"

"Madam Ling, thank you for your trouble today, Brother Ling. This is a small token of my gratitude; please accept it."

Du Mingxian refused to accept it and turned to look at Ling Silang. Ling Silang had already stopped what he was doing and looked at the wrapped pastries that Guo Chen handed over. "Take them home and eat them yourself. It's inconvenient for you to cook for yourself."

"How can that be? You have to have it, you have to have it." Guo Chen stuffed the things into Du Mingxian's arms, turned around and left without daring to delay.

Du Mingxian turned around, holding the things, somewhat helplessly, "What's wrong? What help are you giving Guo Chen?"

While chopping vegetables, Ling Silang recounted what had happened at noon. Du Mingxian found it amusing, saying, "A grown man, yet he has a kind heart."

Ling Silang walked over and glanced at the pastries. "These pastries are quite expensive. The noodles I cooked weren't worth that much. I just happened to have cooked too much porridge, so I'll give him some."

"Okay, take two more steamed buns."

"Ah."

After the dishes were prepared, Du Mingxian took out five steamed buns that she had cooked earlier from her spatial storage. They were still steaming hot when she took them out.

Ling Silang served a large bowl of porridge, two steamed buns, and some side dishes, then carried the tray over.

Du Mingxian heard Guo Chen's voice declining over there. A short while later, Ling Silang returned and brought back all the empty bowls and other things from the house.

"This guy is pretty honest."

Du Mingxian didn't comment; she hadn't had much contact with them. "Let's eat quickly."

"it is good."

The two were eating when they heard a child crying, coming closer and closer.

The two looked up and exchanged a glance, then continued eating. Immediately afterward, there was a knock at the door. "Ling family girl, Ling family girl?"

Du Mingxian quickly finished the porridge in her bowl. She had just eaten the steamed bun. Then she got up, wiped her mouth, and went to open the door.

Lin Guixiang held Sun Chengbao's hand, and Sun Chengbao cried his heart out.

The door opened, and Lin Guixiang looked troubled. "Sister Ling, could you give some of your porridge to Chengbao? I'll cook a meal and come back later. The child can't go hungry. That's why he started crying and couldn't wait to eat, as soon as he smelled the aroma of your food."

Du Mingxian stared at Sun Chengbao without saying a word, looking down at him.

Sun Chengbao was really hungry. Not only was he hungry, but the woman had also pinched his inner thigh hard. It hurt so much, it really hurt.

Seeing that Du Mingxian just stood there without saying anything or mentioning how pitiful the child was, Lin Guixiang felt a little resentful, but her face showed her embarrassment.

"I...I went out to buy some things this afternoon and came back late. I'm a stepmother, and if the child keeps crying like this, he'll definitely get hurt. I'm sorry to trouble you, Ling family sister."

Du Mingxian then slowly spoke, "This is the capital, not your hometown. It's still early. Go out of the alley, turn left, and walk a couple of steps forward. There's a small eatery there that sells porridge. They have all kinds of porridge you want."

"you……"

"The child can't go hungry, hurry up and go, the fried food at that snack shop is delicious too."

"I know there are some over there, but I was thinking that your house is close to mine."

"I don't run a snack shop here, you'd be better off buying from a store."

"We all live in the same courtyard. Your husband just delivered food to the neighbors. What's wrong with giving our kids a bite?"

"Young Master Guo delivered a package of pastries to our family this afternoon. They must have cost at least several hundred coins to buy. That's why we deliver food to people."

Lin Guixiang wanted to turn against him, but then she thought of Ling Silang's appearance and the fact that they lived in the same courtyard. They had just gotten along, and it wouldn't be good to turn against him now.

"Lin Guixiang." Sun Tao stood at the entrance of the Sun family's house, his face gloomy. "Chengbao is starving. Take him outside to buy some food."

"Okay, okay, I was wrong. I thought we were all traveling and should help each other out whenever possible."

Du Mingxian ignored her rambling and didn't care what the other person meant. She turned around, lifted the curtain, went inside, and closed the door in one smooth motion.

Seeing that she wasn't angry after coming in, Ling Silang was relieved. "Would you like to eat some more?"

"I'm not eating anymore." Thinking about what Lin Guixiang had done earlier, "This courtyard will probably never be peaceful again."

"Let's observe first. If the child makes a big fuss, even if we don't say anything, others will."

"Hmm." Thinking of Sun Chengbao's face, "That child probably didn't eat lunch. He wasn't crying from hunger just now. He was probably hit from behind by Lin Guixiang."

"You can tell?"

Du Mingxian nodded slightly, "Usually, when a really hungry child starts crying, he won't just stand obediently at the door, but will rush straight into our room."

"But the Sun family's child, when he cried, kept his hands covering his legs, and there was no extreme longing for food in his eyes, he was just crying, so it must have been in pain."

"This Lin Guixiang is quite interesting. She's a stepmother who came to the capital for the imperial examination. It would have been fine for the couple to come, but why did she have to bring the child along?"

"Perhaps it's inconvenient at home." This was the most reasonable reason Ling Silang could think of. There were no elderly people at home, and no one to take care of the children, so he had no choice but to bring the children with him to the capital.

"Probably, never mind, it has nothing to do with us. But that Sun Tao..." Thinking of what Sun Tao did today, Du Mingxian shook her head, "He's not a good person."

Ling Silang hadn't really noticed. "I'll observe it tomorrow."

"Yes, no need for special plans. Just take care of your own things first, and then we can talk about other things."

"I know, how are things on your end?"

Du Mingxian sighed deeply, "It's still the same. My performance is definitely good enough to get into the inner courtyard, but there's been no movement. However, I've observed that no one has entered the inner courtyard recently."