TFWYH – Chapter 118 I Almost Believed It

Poor Tang Wan, being so carefree, didn’t notice anything unusual about her handsome husband. When she saw he had finished eating, she simply gathered up the bowls and chopsticks and left the room.

Ling Yu watched her retreating back, something faintly stirring in his eyes—but after a moment, his expression returned to calm.

No one but Ling Yu himself knew that something about him was off.

For example, when he was a child, he loved catching little bugs, threading them with his mother Jiang’s needles, and roasting them over a fire—watching them struggle, die, and release that burnt smell…

Or later, when he grew older, he once caught one of the family’s chicks, plucked all its feathers, and cut its body into neat pieces, one part at a time.

Ling Yu himself didn’t even know why he did these things. He only knew that when he did them, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

Eventually, he had to admit to himself—deep down, he was someone who liked destruction.

Destruction calmed his mind.

The more beautiful a person or thing was, the more he wanted to destroy it.

But once, when he was dismembering a rat, Ling Cangshan happened to see him.

He would never forget how, in that instant, his cheap father’s eyes toward him completely changed.

From that moment, Ling Yu realized—this wasn’t normal!

Later, when he was abducted by human traffickers, someone rescued him and taught him how to disguise himself.

It was as if an evil demon had draped itself in the skin of an exiled immortal.

Over time, even he almost believed it—that he really was just a normal person!

Ling Yu frowned slightly, rubbing his aching brow.

……

The next morning, the whole family went to town, leaving little Ling Chen at home to watch the house.

Once they arrived in the city, they split up.

Li Dashan, Ling Sheng, and Zhang San and Li Si still went to sell beef jerky, while Ling Yue, after preparing the day’s batch of pig offal at the shop, left with Tang Wan, leaving Madam Jiang, Aunt Yang, and Widow Hong to mind the stall.

Every day, Tang Tiansheng delivered the pig offal, so Ling Yue didn’t have to worry about that at all.

But today, after delivering it, Tang Tiansheng didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he stayed to help Madam Jiang greet customers.

When things got a little quieter, Madam Jiang finally asked what was going on.

Tang Tiansheng scratched the back of his head awkwardly:
“Well… about that beef jerky, I was wondering if I could take a few packs to sell too. What do you think, Auntie?”

Beef jerky was too popular now—it had practically become the daily snack of the middle and upper classes.

Yesterday his wife mentioned that she also wanted to take a few packs to sell. She said they should start saving some money, since sooner or later they’d have children, and they needed to think ahead for them, and besides, she could help share the family’s burden.

He thought An-shi was right. After all, she was idle at home anyway, so having a business was a good thing!

Madam Jiang thought it was nothing serious and immediately gave him twenty packs.

“Yue’er said the price for you is ninety-five copper coins a pack. You can sell them for one hundred or one hundred twenty—it depends on your own ability. She only charges you ninety-five.”

“Thank you, Auntie!” Tang Tiansheng beamed, reaching to pay right away.

But Madam Jiang didn’t accept it:
“We’re all family, no need for that. Just pay after you sell them. That’s how Dashan and Shengzi do it too. If you can’t sell that many, just bring them back.”