Chef Hua
Chapter 298: Episode 173 Bad Luck

Chapter 298: Episode 173 Bad Luck

Having stepped out of the Meng Family’s courtyard and taken two steps forward, Guan Rong confirmed that old Lady Meng likely couldn’t see her anymore. It was only then that she came to an abrupt halt, let out a long breath from deep within her chest, and felt a delayed sense of fear.

It seemed that... she had argued with her mother-in-law just a month after getting married...

Alright, let’s not even mention since getting married, ever since she arrived at Fire Knife Village, in this past year, she had hardly ever been involved in any verbal squabbles with anyone, not even with Guan Rong, hardly ever openly arguing with her. But today, she just let all her anger out in one go.

She wondered what it would be like when Meng Yuhuai came back in the evening. Although she really didn’t want to put him in the middle as if he was a filling in a steamed bun, but... the way old Lady Meng fabricated and insulted Hua Xiaomai and Jing Taihe like that, she truly couldn’t suppress her anger!

...Forget it, she didn’t want to argue, but still ended up arguing. Mulling over it now was useless. When he returned in the evening, things would become clear. For now, she should focus on the restaurant, as it was already getting late.

Although she thought as such, she still ended up standing in place for a while longer before slowly dragging her feet forward.

After taking a few steps and being about to pass in front of the neighboring Guan Family’s courtyard, Hua Xiaomai couldn’t tell if it was intentional or not, but she glanced inside and caught sight of a pair of slightly swollen eyes.

Today, there was a thin layer of sun, a rare sight in the winter, which was probably why Guan Rong had been moved outside by her mother and was sitting alone in the courtyard.

It suddenly dawned on Hua Xiaomai that she hadn’t seen Guan Rong for four or five months, nearly half a year. The sudden sight startled her.

Guan Rong, who was naturally frail, looked completely deformed after being sick for several months. Her previously tall figure seemed much shorter sitting in a bamboo chair. Her arms rested on the armrests like two bamboo poles cut in half, with layers upon layers of clothing, but the sleeves were empty. With a gust of wind, they flapped about.

As for her complexion, there’s even less need to describe it: it was both pale and green, with dark brown circles under her eyes. She looked as if she had been dug up from the ground, a sight so startling in the daylight it could make one’s heart skip a beat.

Her illness must have lasted three or four months by now...

Hua Xiaomai remembered the last time Guan Rong and her mother plotted to ruin Meng Yuhuai but ended up falling ill themselves. Luo Yuejiao, like someone who had found sensational news, ran chattering about it to Hua Xiaomai. In the end, she even took sinister pleasure in adding, "She won’t die, will she?" Back then, Hua Xiaomai had half-seriously scolded her. But today, seeing Guan Rong in such a state, the same thought surfaced in her mind.

This woman, she really seemed like she wasn’t going to live much longer.

She was not a generous person and didn’t feel the slightest sympathy for this little white flower who had repeatedly harmed her. Even now, as she saw her in such a pitiful state, the only thing that came to her mind, besides the phrase "You reap what you sow," was a feeling of misfortune.

That’s right, after quarreling with her unreasonable mother-in-law, she happened to see such a person as she came out. She only felt it was ominous. Did Heaven really think her morning hadn’t been disheartening enough and intentionally pushed out this life-threatening "friend" to thoroughly disgust her?

Guan Rong naturally saw Hua Xiaomai as well, or perhaps it was more accurate to say, with only a wall separating the two households, she could easily hear every commotion in the Meng Family’s courtyard without exerting any effort, and then she waited, watching outside, specifically for Hua Xiaomai to appear.

The gaze from the girl outside the door was very cold. She lightly curled her lips, intending to show a smile, but as the curve only managed to form halfway, Hua Xiaomai had already turned her head away and walked off with big strides, looking at her as if she were an extremely dirty thing.

Guan Rong gripped the bamboo chair’s armrest tightly, her teeth sinking deep into her pallid lips, devoid of any blood, while her eye sockets turned bright red.

...

Perhaps because she had had an argument early in the morning and wasted too much energy, after arriving at the small restaurant on the east side of the village, Hua Xiaomai was in a bad mood all day.

By chance, this morning, Xu Ershun had delivered several fathead carps, and from the market, a few dozen pounds of fine mutton had been brought over. Remembering her decision from the previous night to make a soup pot, Hua Xiaomai had to perk up and carefully explained to Zhou Yunyun how the two kinds of soups should be prepared with their ingredients.