Severed ties and living in a dilapidated house? No worries, the poor thing has a space.

The food was served, and the dishes looked ordinary and unremarkable.

The waiter slung a rag over his shoulder and boasted, "Our Jufulou's dishes are unique in Qingshan City. I guarantee you'll want to eat them again after you've tried them once."

"Oh?" Fang Yu scoffed inwardly. "If you speak so well, then I'll have to have a good taste of it."

"Please enjoy your meal, miss. I'll go and attend to the other guests. Just call me if you need anything."

People were coming into the store in a steady stream, and Fang Yu also picked up her chopsticks and started to taste the food.

Although she had never eaten at Tianxianglou before, she could tell the difference between the food at Jufulou. Perhaps it was because she had eaten too many delicacies and couldn't tell the difference.

She tasted every dish, and they were all the same.

In this way, there will be no worry about not making money in Qingshan City.

"Don't you have eyes? Get out of my way!"

A burst of cursing came from the doorway. Fang Yu looked up and saw that the newcomer was a spoiled brat who held a jade fan and exuded an air of arrogance that looked down on everyone.

"Young Master Zhang, it was my fault for being so careless and accidentally offending you. I'll leave right away!"

The one apologizing was an ordinary citizen, while this纨绔子弟 (spoiled brat) known as Young Master Zhang was clearly very satisfied with the obsequious attitude of these people.

Zhang snorted coldly: "You're smart enough to get out of here!"

The waiter immediately stepped forward, bowing and scraping: "Young master has arrived, please come upstairs."

As Zhang Shicong went upstairs, the man who had been so obsequious suddenly turned disdainful and spat on his back.

"Pah! What a piece of trash, he's just showing off his power because he's the son of the governor."

After finishing his rant, the man forcefully flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

The governor's son?

This identity caught Fang Yu's attention.

She still remembered that the two men who tried to snatch the medicine from Xin'er yesterday claimed that their master was the son of the governor's mansion.

She paid the money, got up, and followed the man out.

"Please wait a moment, sir. I have a question for you."

The man stopped, clearly still angry, but seeing that Fang Yu was a frail woman, he softened considerably: "Young lady, what would you like to ask?"

Fang Yu didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "Brother, you clearly hate that governor's son, so why are you so respectful to him?"

The man got angry just talking about this, hands on his hips: "We are just ordinary people. The mountains are high and the emperor is far away. The governor's mansion has power and influence in this Qingshan City. How dare we not respect it?"

Fang Yu's question seemed to give the man an outlet for his frustration, and he began to ramble on and on.

"That Zhang Yunting Shi Cong is tyrannical and domineering, forcibly abducting women and committing all sorts of evil deeds. He is simply an absolute beast."

"What a lousy Jufulou restaurant! And what kind of chef is he? The food he makes is absolutely inedible. He's just using threats and inducements to force us to eat at his restaurant, otherwise we're considered to be going against him..."

So that's how it is. Now she finally understands why Tianxianglou's business is so bad. Just for what his lackey did to Xin'er yesterday, that man deserves to be torn to pieces.

Fang Yu then asked, "Does the governor really allow his son to act so recklessly?"

The man shook his head, no longer wanting to say anything more, but still reminded her, "Miss, if you encounter this person in the future, it's best to stay away from him."

If he were to actually encounter her, Zhang Shicong should pray that he doesn't provoke her.

It was getting late, so Fang Yu changed direction and went to the general store she had visited yesterday.

She took out the half-bag of dried tea seeds and asked, "Shopkeeper, do you have any more of these here?"

The shopkeeper recognized her and immediately stood up, apologizing profusely, "The waiter yesterday made a mistake and packed the wrong thing. This isn't dill. You've come to return it, so I'll get you a replacement right away."

"No," Fang Yu said. "I know this isn't dill, I just wanted to buy some more, do you still have any?"

The shopkeeper was slightly surprised, but also somewhat relieved. He had been tricked into bringing this product to the shop, and it was impossible to sell. Yesterday, the shop assistant had made a mistake and was scolded by him. He never expected that this would turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

He asked, "How much do you want, young lady? I have plenty."

Fang Yu wanted to buy more, but unfortunately, she was short of money.

However, I bought a large bag of things and hurried to the city gate to find Uncle Liu.

I got back to the village earlier than yesterday. The dilapidated courtyard was empty; neither my mother nor Xin'er were there.

After putting away the things she had bought, she planned to go out to look for them.

"There's a fight going on by the river, hurry and go check it out."

The people they met on the road talked as they ran toward the river.

Fang Yu had a gut feeling that something must have happened to her mother and Xin'er, so she hurried to the riverbank.

Earlier, Li and Fang Xin were washing clothes by the river.

The laundry job was found by Aunt Jiang in the city through Li's request. There were quite a lot of clothes, so they spent a long time washing them.

Just then, a strange, sarcastic voice came from behind.

"I was wondering how someone could be so lucky to find prey one after another. Turns out they were stealing other people's. They said they didn't want to marry him, but then they turned around and stole the prey that the other person had worked so hard to hunt."

Just by hearing the voice, Fang Xin knew who it was: Bai Xiaoxiao, the one who spoke rudely on the mountain that morning.

Fang Xin put down the clothes in her hand, turned around and looked back, mimicking Bai Xiaoxiao's sarcastic tone: "Who do we have here? It turns out to be someone who says the grapes are sour because they can't have them."

Bai Xiaoxiao's face immediately turned pale, and she put her hands on her hips: "That's still better than you pretentious people. It's already spread outside that the Lin family offered a dowry of thirty taels to marry your sister. You clearly agreed but then went back on your word at the last minute, complaining that the dowry was too small. Then you went and stole the game that Lin Wu had hunted. You have no shame!"

"With your sister's short-lived appearance, she would only be worth a few taels of silver at most if sold to a slave trader. Yet she dares to ask for an exorbitant amount, indulging in wishful thinking and playing hard to get. It's truly an eye-opener."

"What nonsense are you spouting? I'll tear your mouth apart!" Fang Xin's forehead flared with anger, and she rushed forward to hit her.

As Li stood up, she pulled Fang Xin aside, glanced at the clothes in the wooden basin, and said, "Xin'er, it's getting late, we should go home."

When Li said this, she glanced angrily at Bai Xiaoxiao. It was none of anyone else's business to judge her daughter's temperament.

She only stopped it because she didn't want to argue with the younger generation.

Seeing that Fang Xin was being held back, Bai Xiaoxiao assumed they were feeling guilty and became even more unscrupulous: "Everyone knows about this, it's not just me who said it. Being kicked out and then putting on this show of severing ties, it's hilarious."

Fang Xin was really indignant: "Mom, don't pull me, I'll go and tear her mouth apart."

"Come on, who's afraid of who?" Bai Xiaoxiao deliberately provoked them. She knew that the Fang family mother and her two daughters had been kicked out and had lost their support, so she figured they wouldn't dare to make a move.