"Dad, I didn't mean to harm the Wei family," Ye Zhinan averted Ye Shenyan's gaze.
She thought she was right, but still felt afraid.
"The Weis are greedy for money and will surely reap what they sow. I just hope you don't fight fire with fire. They're not worth it."
As Ye Shenyan spoke, his eyes glinted with a rare cold light.
Ye Zhinan was taken aback and then remembered something. "Dad, why were you really demoted to this bitter - cold place? I used to be afraid of touching on your sore spots, but it seems there's more to it considering what's happened recently."
Ye Shenyan was stunned. A flicker of hesitation flashed in his eyes, but the next second he let out a long sigh. "You'll have to know eventually."
After saying that, he walked back into the house. Ye Zhinan followed him in and then closed the door tightly.
A gust of wind blew, kicking up dust that stung people's eyes. But after the gust passed, the world seemed clean and white.
After Ye Zhinan learned the reason, she immediately promised Ye Shenyan that she would clear his name.
"I once thought it would be nice to live away from the worldly affairs here, but I won't bear an unjust charge for the rest of my life."
Ye Zhinan never liked things to be unclear or ambiguous, no matter what they were.
The night was deep and it was deathly quiet outside. The slightest sound couldn't escape one's ears.
Ye Zhinan couldn't fall asleep. Tossing and turning in bed, suddenly there was a soft sound outside the window. She immediately rolled over and moved closer to the window.
"Asleep?"
Qin Yihuai's deep voice came from outside the window.
Thinking of what happened that night, Ye Zhinan felt inexplicably blocked and didn't reply immediately.
"Then I'll leave this here."
After saying that, it seemed something was placed by the window. Ye Zhinan watched as the dark figure outside gradually walked away, and then immediately opened the window.
As soon as she poked her head out of the window, she met a pair of deep - set eyes.
"You're still here?"
"Yeah. I couldn't just leave."
Qin Yihuai pointed to the window frame. Sure enough, what he was holding couldn't stand steadily.
Ye Zhinan grabbed the thing and was about to close the window when she felt something blocking the window.
"Doesn't it hurt?"
She looked at Qin Yihuai in surprise as he blocked the window with his hand, but the man remained expressionless, as if his hand was made of stone.
"Did you just come to bring me something to eat?"
"I was the one who caught Wei Shishi destroying your family's fields that day."
Ye Zhinan's eyes flickered when she heard this.
Qin Yihuai continued, "I'll find out the truth about Lord Ye's unjust accusation!"
"How do you know?"
Thinking of what her father told her, Ye Zhinan suddenly looked at him warily. "We'll handle our family's affairs ourselves. We don't need your help!"
"You don't trust me?"
A look of disappointment flashed across Qin Yihuai's eyes but disappeared in an instant. "The other side is very powerful..."
"What's your purpose?"
"I..."
Qin Yihuai pressed the jade pendant in his bosom. Suddenly, there was a sound of a door opening nearby.
"Who's there?"
Ye Yingfeng came out of the house. Seeing a dark figure flash past his sister's room, he grabbed a wooden stick and chased after it. But the figure ran too fast and he didn't catch up. Suddenly realizing something, he rushed back to Ye Zhinan's door.
"Nannan, are you okay?"
Ye Zhinan let out a lazy yawn from inside the room and then opened the door. She looked at the person in front of her in surprise. "Brother, what are you doing with a wooden stick in the middle of the night?"
Ye Yingfeng sized his sister up and down and then peeked into the room. After making sure everything was okay, he said, "It's okay. Go back to sleep!"
Ye Zhinan complained and quickly went back into the room. Looking at the malt candy left by Qin Yihuai, she felt inexplicably melancholy.
She wasn't the only one feeling melancholy. Lu Yanlai was annoyed that Wei Shishi was stealing customers, so she simply closed her shop.
As a result, the Wei family's shop was doing especially well.
Finally, Wei Shishi couldn't hold on anymore. She went home and begged the eldest mistress for a break.
But she was of low status. With just a few words from Concubine Ten, she was sent away.
"Mom, can't you talk to Dad? I'm exhausted every day but earn so little. Even if you don't feel sorry for me, you should feel sorry for the money!"
Wei Shishi volunteered to watch the shop because she wanted to manage the accounts. Who knew that Concubine Ten wouldn't even let her get involved. In desperation, she had to beg her mother.
"Shishi, your mother has no status. If your father would listen to me, why would he have brought me to this bitter - cold place?"
Seeing her mother start to complain to her, Wei Shishi left home to find some peace.
When Ye Zhinan got home from work, she happened to see Wei Shishi coming out of her house dejectedly. She wanted to avoid her, but the other woman came up to pick a fight.
"Oh, I wondered which village woman it was. It's actually Miss Ye."
A chill flashed in Ye Zhinan's eyes. She glared at the other woman fiercely. "Aren't you supposed to be watching the shop? How do you have the time to gossip here?"
Just thinking about the shop made Wei Shishi angry. She had worked so hard to attract so many customers, but not only did she not get a single cent, but she was also blamed.
Ye Zhinan's words were like a thousand swords piercing her heart.
"What shop? You're just jealous of me, so you came up with that seemingly profitable business to cause me trouble, right?"
Wei Shishi put her hands on her hips. Her face was fierce, looking just like a shrew.
"If it weren't for your aunts begging me, I wouldn't have bothered. What? It's not profitable?"
If it weren't profitable, Wei Shishi wouldn't be so angry. The problem was that she watched helplessly as a lot of money slipped into Concubine Ten's pocket.
Ye Zhinan knew very well that the other side had made a lot of money. It was also she who silently reminded Concubine Six that there must be something wrong with Wei Shishi's hard work. Unexpectedly, Concubine Six was very good at adding fuel to the fire and told Concubine Ten. The result was predictable.
She suppressed her joy and put on a confused look. She continued, "I wanted to teach you all how to do it back then, but you guys didn't want to. Otherwise, you wouldn't have so many problems if you did it yourself."
Do it herself!
A light flashed in Wei Shishi's eyes.
Those aunts had this in mind. They were afraid that if she learned the craft, she would dump them.
Wei Shishi snorted.
Even if she didn't know how to do it, she could still dump them.
Thinking of this, she turned around and went back to the Wei family. Ye Zhinan watched her leaving figure. Her long eyelashes covered the faint chill that flashed in her eyes.
Two days later, Ye Zhinan heard the news that Wei Shishi had quit.
Lu Yanlai vividly told her how the shopkeeper of the Wei family's shop had run away with the money and the account books.
"Do you think the shopkeeper and Wei Shishi left at the same time? Could they be in cahoots?"
"Maybe," Ye Zhinan didn't seem very interested in this matter. "You can start selling smoked fish now."
A glint of joy flashed in Lu Yanlai's eyes. "So you've been waiting for this moment?"
Ye Zhinan didn't answer.
On the first day the smoked fish was launched, not only were all the stocks sold out, but also a lot of orders were placed. At this time, the Wei family's shop was in decline because there was no shopkeeper and no Wei Shishi to attract customers.