TFWYH – Chapter 10 I Want to Take a Gamble

Ling Yue found that communicating with Tang Wan was really difficult.

“Does Mom know? Did she agree? Is she okay with me opening a shop?” I’m only twelve years old! I’m still a baby! And you’re just giving me money to spend so freely?

What if we lose money?

Tang Wan paused for a moment, then bluntly said, “We won’t tell her!”

Ling Yue: !!

Are you serious?!

Aaaaahhhh!

She was going crazy!

Ling Yue didn’t want to do it. She was scared. She was still a child—why did she have to bear such a huge responsibility?

But Tang Wan’s next sentence made her hesitate.

“Embroidery hurts the eyes. Mom can’t keep doing it.”

Ling Yue fell silent.

Of course she knew.

Every night, she slept in the same room as their mother and younger brother. Once she and her brother were asleep, their mother would quietly get up to work on embroidery.

Her eyes had been getting worse and worse!

Seeing that she was softening, Tang Wan added, “You try first. If it works, we’ll tell Mom. She’ll give up embroidery to help you.”

Ling Yue took a deep breath, and her expression turned determined: “Alright. I’ll try. So, what are we going to sell in the shop? There are a lot of laborers at the docks—they don’t have much money. If we’re going to sell food there, it has to be something like dumpling noodles.”

“Nope! We’re selling pig offal!”

“???”

Are you serious?

Isn’t that basically poop?!

You want to sell poop?!

Ling Yue was completely overwhelmed!

Tang Wan didn’t explain much, only said that Ling Yue should go to town with her tomorrow.

Ling Yue was dazed.

Big sister-in-law must be joking, right?

Yeah!

She has to be joking!

Hahaha…

Not funny at all.

Because of Tang Wan’s sudden inspiration, Ling Yue couldn’t sleep the whole night. She tossed and turned in bed, completely restless.

Tang Wan was suffering too!

She didn’t know what was up tonight, but when she came back into the room after her bath, her beautiful husband wasn’t asleep. He wasn’t even turned away from her—instead, he was sitting up in bed, gazing at her with an inquisitive expression that made her hair stand on end.

Just as Tang Wan was thinking about what to do, her beautiful husband calmly said, “Thirsty.”

Hearing that, Tang Wan immediately poured him some water.

After drinking, Ling Yu elegantly wiped the corner of his lips and added, “It’s hot.”

Tang Wan blinked and quickly grabbed the palm fan nearby to cool him down.

Ling Yu raised an eyebrow in surprise. After a moment of thought, he said again, “Can’t sleep.”

Tang Wan paused, then cautiously asked, “Want to hear a story?”

When she was a robot, she had seen that when human children couldn’t sleep, parents would often tell them bedtime stories.

And before long, the little ones would start snoring!

It worked!

“Tell me one,” Ling Yu’s brows lifted slightly, seeming genuinely interested.

He was incredibly beautiful to begin with—especially those peach blossom eyes, always looking gentle and moist with emotion.

His handsome features were like a gathering of all the world’s elegance. His faint smile was like ripples gliding across water.

For a moment, Tang Wan was completely mesmerized.

But then, in the next instant, her beautiful husband’s smile faded, and a flash of disgust passed through his eyes.

Tang Wan snapped out of it instantly, rubbed her nose, and felt a little embarrassed.

She quickly changed the subject: “Um… the story. A long time ago, during the late Northern Song dynasty, the imperial court…”

“Northern Song?”

“A fictional era!”

“Go on.”

“Oh. During the late Northern Song dynasty, the emperor was foolish and incompetent, eunuchs held power, and the people were living in misery…”

Tang Wan started telling him the story of Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh).

Whether it was one of the Four Great Classical Novels or other traditional classics, she knew plenty.

But what Tang Wan hadn’t expected was how unreliable this body turned out to be.

As she kept telling the story, she started getting sleepy…

By the time she got to the part about Lu Zhishen uprooting the willow tree, she couldn’t resist her drowsiness anymore and fell asleep.

What she didn’t know was that, after she fell asleep, her beautiful husband looked at her with growing curiosity.

Those pitch-black pupils, like deep pools, shimmered with a subtle glow in the faint moonlight—

That night, Ling Yue slept terribly. She was filled with anxiety and got up before dawn.

When she got up, she saw Jiang-shi sleeping leaning against the bed, still holding the unfinished embroidered handkerchief in her hands.

Ling Yue pursed her lips, and the uneasiness in her heart turned to resolve.

She quietly got out of bed and gently laid her worn quilt over her mother’s shoulders.

Then she went outside to start her chores.

Washing clothes, gathering firewood, fetching water, cooking.

By the time she finished, the sun had risen—dawn had fully broken.

Only then did Jiang-shi, her children, and Tang Wan wake up one after another.

The three of them walked into the kitchen and froze when they saw the food already prepared.

Jiang-shi asked, “Yue-er, when did you get up? Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Not long ago. I’m going into town with big sister-in-law today, so I got up earlier. I’ve already done all the chores. If we’re not back by noon, you and big brother and little brother eat without us—don’t wait.” As Ling Yue spoke, she scooped out a bowl of rice porridge and picked up two wild vegetable pancakes, handing them to Tang Wan. “Sister-in-law, this is for big brother.”

Yesterday, Tang Wan had bought lots of fine rice and flour and divided it among them.

Truth be told, the taste of white rice was amazing, but they couldn’t bear to use too much. So she ground some rice into powder and made rice porridge.

Now, the whole room was filled with a sweet and fragrant aroma.

Ling Yue wanted her family to eat like this every day. She wanted them to live a better life.

Tang Wan also found the smell delightful. She quickly took the food to Ling Yu.

Meanwhile, Ling Chen had already been drooling, staring longingly at the steaming porridge on the table.

“Come eat, Ah Chen,” Ling Yue called out, scooping him a big bowl.

Ling Chen couldn’t wait to sit down, hugging the cracked bowl and gulping down a mouthful. His eyes squinted in satisfaction.

He glanced to the side and saw Jiang-shi still frozen in place, so he waved her over.

“Mom? It’s sweet and delicious—come try it!”

Jiang-shi snapped back to her senses and ignored him, instead looking nervously at Ling Yue. “You’re going into town with your sister-in-law? For what?”

“To buy things. Sister-in-law can’t carry it all by herself.” Ling Yue looked calm and natural. When she saw Jiang-shi still looking unsure, she teased, “Mom, are you worried sister-in-law’s going to sell me or something? Don’t worry—she won’t. If she wanted to sell me, she would’ve done it already. Don’t worry.”

After all, Tang Wan already had fifty taels. Why would she need to sell her? She wasn’t even worth that much.

Today’s trip to town was for something serious.

They just had to keep it from Jiang-shi for now.

Even so, Jiang-shi still felt uneasy. Just as she was about to say something, Tang Wan returned, and she had to swallow her words.

During breakfast, Jiang-shi was distracted and restless, constantly worrying about her daughter.

Tang Wan had changed for the better these past two days, but Jiang-shi was still uneasy.

She was afraid her daughter would go and never come back.

She wanted to find a moment to talk to her daughter privately, but Ling Yue didn’t give her the chance. After eating, she and Tang Wan each carried a basket on their backs and headed out.

Jiang-shi was worried sick and went to find her son.

To be honest, she was still worried that Tang Wan might sell Ling Yue.

And truth be told, Ling Yue herself was worried about that too.

Because Tang Wan had said before… that she was going to sell her.

But she had had enough.

She didn’t want to see Jiang-shi work herself into exhaustion anymore. She didn’t want to see her family go hungry.

She wanted to help.

She wanted to hold up this family!

She wanted to take a chance!