Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 21.1

Lu Sheng remembered seeing Lin Shuqing on the very first day she transmigrated.

She had encountered a carriage on the road at the village entrance, and the person inside that carriage was Lin Shuqing.

However, she had only seen a profile then, so the impression wasn’t deep.

Qi Zhenshu noticed her look of realization and asked, “Do you remember who she is?”

She did remember, but Lu Sheng dared not say where she had seen her, so she said, “I just ran into her on the road a few days ago, but I didn’t know her then.”

“Mm.”

Seeing that she truly didn’t have much of an impression, Qi Zhenshu didn’t press further, though she vaguely felt that there was something amiss about Lin Shuqing.

“Are you heading home?”

“Yeah, I’m just buying a few wine jars and then I’ll go back.” Lu Sheng pointed to the pottery shop across the street, “Want to come along?”

“I have nothing else to do, I’ll join you.”

Lu Sheng picked out over a dozen small wine jars and paid a little extra for delivery, asking the shop owner to send them directly to her home.

Walking back, Lu Sheng was just thinking of something to talk about with Qi Zhenshu when she heard the latter ask, “Are you planning to brew wine with the miscellaneous grains you bought a few days ago?”

“You guessed it again,” Lu Sheng exclaimed in surprise.

“That’s not hard to guess.”

“Oh my, you’re so smart, will I be unable to keep any secrets from you in the future?”

Lu Sheng’s delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, feigning distress.

Qi Zhenshu’s eyes flickered. She looked at Lu Sheng and asked casually, “Do you have secrets you can’t tell me?”

Hearing this, Lu Sheng’s heart trembled, but she replied half-jokingly, “You said it yourself, it’s a secret, so I can only keep it to myself, how could I tell you?”

Qi Zhenshu raised an eyebrow, noncommittal.

“Oh right, I saw Ding Laizi and Boss Liao today.”

Lu Sheng changed the subject and recounted what she had overheard at noon to Qi Zhenshu, naturally omitting the part where she was almost discovered by Ding Laizi later.

Lu Sheng couldn’t immediately think of a solution and thought of asking her, “What should we do now? We can’t report it to the authorities, we don’t have any proof…”

Qi Zhenshu stopped walking and looked at her, her tone grave, “Don’t do such dangerous things in the future.”

“Huh?”

Lu Sheng was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized that it wasn’t surprising for someone as intelligent as Qi Zhenshu to figure that out.

Qi Zhenshu frowned, looking at her without speaking, as if waiting for her answer. Lu Sheng nodded obediently, “I got it.”

Soon after they arrived home, the wine jars they bought were delivered.

Lu Sheng went to find a cloth to prepare water for washing the wine jars. Qi Zhenshu rolled up her sleeves and walked over to her, “Let me help you.”

“That would be great!” Lu Sheng smiled happily.

In the past few days, she had felt a change in Qi Zhenshu’s attitude towards her.

Although the person still seemed cold and distant, the initial hostility and wariness were slowly dissipating.

Qi Zhenshu drew the water, Lu Sheng scrubbed, and even the little one who had just woken up came with a small cloth, offering to help.

The family worked together seamlessly, and the wine jars were washed in no time.

“Sweetie, you worked hard. What do you want to eat tonight, Mama will make it for you.”

Lu Sheng wiped the little one’s hands and kissed her cheek.

“Tangtang wants to eat chicken paste noodles.”

“It’s fried egg paste noodles, honey~” Lu Sheng pinched the little one’s face, correcting her.

“Tangtang wants to eat fried egg paste noodles,” Tangtang repeated, then looked at Qi Zhenshu nearby, leaned close to Lu Sheng’s ear, and whispered, “Mama, please don’t let Mother cook anymore.”

After she spoke, her little mouth was pursed tightly.

Lu Sheng understood perfectly and nodded knowingly, “I know.”

“Lu Qi, I heard what you said.”

Qi Zhenshu’s cool voice sounded from behind the two of them.

Tangtang quickly turned around, hugged Qi Zhenshu’s leg, and whined, “Tangtang didn’t say the food Mother makes isn’t tasty!”

Seeing her little clumsy self giving away the secret, Lu Sheng couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

The next moment, she received a sharp glance from Qi Zhenshu. Lu Sheng immediately explained, “I, I wasn’t laughing at you, I was laughing at Tangtang.”

“It’s no big deal if the cooking isn’t good. I’ll do it from now on.”

As soon as she said this, the face of a certain person turned even darker, though Lu Sheng didn’t notice the faint flush hidden beneath the ‘gloom’.

Qi Zhenshu glanced at her lightly. Lu Sheng cleared her throat and stopped talking.

She lowered her head, looked at the little one clinging to her leg, and said softly, “Lu Qi, have you finished practicing your calligraphy today?”

The little one instantly let go of her leg, drooping her head and muttering, “No.”

Qi Zhenshu put down her sleeves, slowly straightened her clothes, and turned to enter the study.

The pitiful little one looked expectantly at Lu Sheng. Lu Sheng cleared her throat and encouraged, “I’m going to make the fried egg paste noodles that Sweetie loves. Sweetie, keep up the good work!”

The little one sighed softly, lowered her head, and reluctantly followed Qi Zhenshu.

After tidying up the courtyard, Lu Sheng went to check on the fermentation progress of the (qū, fermentation starter/yeast).

Finding that white mold had grown on every piece of the qū, she shook the bamboo sieve, smoothed out the mold, and then placed the qū in a cool, ventilated place to air-dry naturally.

Once the qū were completely air-dried in three to five days, they would be ready for use.

Figuring the time was right, Lu Sheng prepared to cook, heading to the backyard to pick a cucumber.

The hens bought a few days ago, after ‘stabilizing their mood,’ had started laying eggs, yielding three to five eggs daily now.

The flour was rather coarse, containing both germ and bran. Lu Sheng sifted it a bit to remove some of the bran.

She kneaded the dough, rolled it into sheets, sprinkled a thin, even layer of flour, folded the sheets, and cut them into strips.

After slicing the cucumber and setting it aside, Lu Sheng prepared to light the fire and boil the noodles.

Opening the pot lid, a warm stream of steam rose. It turned out there was a bowl of braised turnip and rice still warm in the pot.

Lu Sheng was momentarily stunned, then realized, and a warm current flowed from her fingers, spreading to her heart, lighting up the joy in her brows.

She glanced towards the study across the way, where a tall, white figure was leaning over, embracing the small person beneath her. The large hand held the small hand, the motion gentle, flowing, and complete in one go.

The little one in the embrace instantly smiled brightly, looked up at the mother behind her, whose elegant and refined eyebrows slowly relaxed, and whose thin lips parted slightly in a faint smile as she smoothed the wisps of hair on the little one’s forehead.

Outside the window, the blue sky was deep and vast, the sun was bright, and the wind was gentle. The scene inside the window was warm and pleasant, beautiful as a painting.

Lu Sheng picked up a piece of turnip. It was light, refreshing, and carried a sweet, original flavor.

She muttered in her heart: The little brat has no taste!

Lu’er Village, North of the village.

Lu Guangzhi was playing with his bird stick, trying to coax the Hwamei in the cage to sing, but the bird kept pecking at the stick without opening its beak.

Lu Huaying rushed in from the courtyard into the main room, saying anxiously to Wang Xiufen, who was wiping a vase, “Mother, something bad has happened!”

Wang Xiufen’s hand shook, nearly dropping the vase.

She carefully placed the vase on the shelf, patted it lightly, and spat at Lu Huaying, scolding, “What’s with the frantic look, like a monkey!”

“I heard that the winery brewed a new batch of wine. The wine is as clear as water, and many people were rushing to buy it at the pier today!”

“What?!” Wang Xiufen tossed the rag aside. “How could they brew new wine right after we split the family?!”

“Mother, do you think my aunt did it on purpose?” Lu Huaying leaned close to her, frowning angrily, “Did she deliberately set a trap just to kick our second branch out of the winery?”

“No,” Wang Xiufen waved her hand. “The matter of Boss Liao demanding compensation is absolutely true. Xiao Liang even inquired about it with his son; there’s no mistake.”

“I’m not saying Boss Liao demanding money is false. Did Aunt intentionally use this to force us to split the family?”

“Think about it, when we brought up splitting the family that day, she agreed so readily. I keep feeling something is off.”

“Usually, she would absolutely refuse, but this time, as soon as Father mentioned it, she agreed. Did she have this plan all along?” Lu Huaying analyzed to Wang Xiufen, counting on her fingers.

“I didn’t expect this!” Wang Xiufen slammed the rag hard on the table. “You scheming Lu Laosan (Third Lu)! So you’ve been waiting for me here!”

“Before, when our family was doing well, you were clinging to us, unwilling to split. Now that my maiden family is in trouble, you want to kick us out? It won’t be that easy!”

“Mother, let’s go demand an explanation right now!” Lu Huaying said indignantly, “We must get our share back!”

Wang Xiufen’s eyes darted around, then she waved her hand, “Let’s wait a little longer. Now is not the time to go. We’ll go argue after they’ve settled Boss Liao’s debt.”

“Yes, that thousand-plus taels can’t be counted against our share.”

Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!

The Hwamei, annoyed by Lu Guangzhi’s poking, flapped its wings and chirped loudly.

Wang Xiufen grabbed the rag from the table and threw it directly at Lu Guangzhi, “Bird, bird, bird, all you do is play with your bird all day! People are walking all over us, and all you know is playing with your bird!”

“Shrew!” Lu Guangzhi cursed softly, picked up the birdcage, and walked out the door.

Morning light broke through the sky, covering the land in a warm hue.

‘Sister.’

‘Sister.’

‘Sister.’

It was the same old tree, the same group of sparrows, and Lu Sheng, whose sweet dream was disturbed and was struggling to get up.

“What is it?”

She rubbed her eyes and asked helplessly, looking at the sky that had just turned pale outside.

Seven or eight sparrows stood on the branches outside the window, chirping non-stop after hearing her reply.

‘Sister is awake!’

‘Sister, get up quickly!’

‘Sister, we caught the cat!’

‘Sister, go deal with it quickly.’

“Shh, I’ll go take a look right now, keep your voices down, okay.” Lu Sheng grabbed the outer robe from the head of the bed, put it on, and headed out.

‘You stinky cat, little master finally caught you.’

‘Let little master peck you to death!’

‘Dare to bite little master’s butt, little master will pluck out all your cat fur! Let you also taste the feeling of having a bare, naked butt!’

‘Let you know why the autumn wind is so cold!’

As soon as she stepped into the woods, Lu Sheng heard the smug chirping of a certain parrot, accompanied by the wild cat’s sharp and angry snarls.

Since she set up the trap, a certain vengeful parrot had been guarding this tree around the clock, except for returning home to eat.

It turned out it was to retaliate against this enemy immediately.

Yu Ling (The Parrot) flapped its wings, flew high, then quickly folded its wings and swooped down to peck at the sack in the hole, followed by the cat’s sorrowful cry from inside the hole!

‘Meow~~! Meow~~~~~~!’

She hadn’t realized, this little thing was quite mischievous, knowing to use the acceleration of the dive to increase the force of its beak attack.

“If you peck any more, I won’t be responsible if the sack tears!” Lu Sheng said with a laugh.

‘Sister, you’re here!’

Yu Ling flapped its wings, flew to Lu Sheng, its crest feathers standing tall, shaking its bird head.

‘Sister, quickly help me deal with this stinky cat!’

Lu Sheng untied the rope from the tree and asked it with a smile, “How do you want me to deal with it?”

Hearing human movement, the wild cat struggled fiercely with low growls.

‘Meow! Meow! Meow!’

Lu Sheng tightened the opening of the sack and held it further away from herself.

‘Pluck all its cat fur!’

‘And pluck out its teeth and claws!’

‘So it can never catch birds again!’

“You certainly dare to think.”

Although Lu Sheng was not a great philanthropist, she also had no preference for mistreating cats.

‘Sister, how about we stew it!’

“Stew it for you to eat?” Lu Sheng squinted at it.

‘No, no, cats are stinky!’

“Alright, don’t worry about it anymore. Leave it to me. I promise it won’t be able to harm you or the little sparrows again.”

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