She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 97 - 96 Compromise

Chapter 97: Chapter 96 Compromise

Lady Xu, although not explicitly stating that Ye Zi gave the stall to Qi Cheng because she looked down on Lady Han, preventing her from getting involved, did make her meaning clear in her words. Even if Ye Zi looked down on Lady Han, Lady Han couldn’t afford to offend Ye Zi either, as she also had children. At the very least, Sanshun and Qi Jiaer got along well, and as of now, Sanshun was Qi Jiaer’s favorite playmate. Perhaps one day, for the sake of Qi Jia, Ye Zi might take care of Sanshun.

Everyone knew that Lady Han and Ye Xinyan were at odds, but Lady Han was not willing to bear the blame and stubbornly said, "Let’s not talk about things that are so far in the future. Who knows what will happen later? Who dares to guarantee that the path for the second branch of the Qi family will always be smooth? Elder Sister, are you trying to placate me, so that you can let go of the rice tofu stall and give it to Qi Cheng alone?"

After countering Lady Xu, Lady Han then said to Qi Yougui, "Father, our family has always been living tightly; you can’t just favor your eldest son and eldest grandson whenever there’s a slight advantage to be had. When you assigned Chengzi to work for the Second Uncle’s family, my Dagen and Shunzi, as well as the others, weren’t idle either; they were all busy with our own family’s affairs."

Seeing Lady Han relentless and making a fuss with his parents, Qi Dagen found it utterly unreasonable and blurted out, "Enough, it’s always you making a fuss. The rice tofu is the Second Uncle’s business; does he need to consult your opinion on who he wants to give it to?"

Lady Wang frowned tightly, although Lady Han was always trying to outdo others, her words weren’t completely unreasonable. Now things were tricky, as their old man and Qi Younian were only worried about the third family’s involvement in the ownership of the breakfast stall; they did not expect that the third family wouldn’t even be aware of the issue before their own family began to argue about it.

Qi Yougui sighed silently and said to Dagen, "Alright, stop scolding your wife. It was I who assigned Chengzi to help your Second Uncle’s family with some heavy work. I will make the decision today; we won’t care who Ye Zi wants to give the rice tofu stall to anymore, let’s consider it a business for the grandchildren of our main family. When we separate the families in the future, all the grandchildren will have a share."

Lady Han was still unhappy, as it would be unfair for Qi Cheng and his wife to manage all the family business. But she was silenced by a fierce glare from Qi Dagen and didn’t dare to speak, although her expression remained indignant.

Qi Yougui paid no attention to Lady Han’s discontent and continued, "Younian’s family will no longer be involved in the rice tofu business. Just having Chengzi and his wife won’t be enough to handle it, so let Shunzi and Chengzi from Dagen’s family take over in the future."

Seeing an opening, Lady Han followed up with a question, "Just Shunzi by himself? The eldest brother’s family contributed two people. Besides, how can the three of them handle all the work?"

Qi Yougui’s face darkened, "Your Ershun is still young; what now? You want to meddle in the younger generation’s business as well? If they’re too busy, let Ercheng go over to help. The money they make will all be saved by your mother. We don’t covet the grandchildren’s few taels of silver."

Lady Han did indeed have this intention; if she could work at the rice tofu stall, wouldn’t all the children have to listen to her? Then, she would have her way with the business, just like her own business.

Qi Yougui spoke sternly, "Your Second Uncle said that Ye Zi set up the rice tofu stall, and the capital was also Ye Zi’s own. Ye Zi said it was a matter between the younger generation. I am willing to put my old face on the line and include your three children in this small business. If there is still anyone dissatisfied, we can give up on this business."

Lady Han’s face stiffened; this was not her intention. If the main family gave up on this business, it would mean that not only would Qi Cheng lose out, but her family would be left with nothing as well.

With a somber face, Lady Wang chided Lady Han, "Daughter-in-law, let’s end today’s matter here. Even if we don’t mention it, you should know that even though Chengzi was assigned to work by your father, if Chengzi were to work unwillingly and resentfully, it’s unlikely that Ye Zi from the Second Branch family would think highly of Chengzi."

"Let’s just say that Chengzi helped the Second Branch with some work in exchange for this profitable business. Our family has already gained such a huge advantage from this exchange. The next time Ye Zi has any matters, you should refrain from saying too much."

Lady Wang was guarding against future troubles. Over these days, she had noticed that the Ye Zi from the Second Branch family was no ordinary character.

Fearing that the Second Branch might claim a share of the Qi family’s land and property, she had never shown a friendly face to Ye Zi. Yet, the woman seemed utterly oblivious, her words and actions betraying no sign of having been slighted while also not overtly cozying up. In fact, she was far from naive. Presumably, she refrained from squabbling with Lady Wang out of respect for the old man.

The situation with Lady Han was different, though. With Ye Zi, Lady Han had no standing whatsoever. It was evident from their daily interactions that Ye Zi couldn’t bother to maintain even a superficial relationship with Lady Han, who disdained Ye Zi for being an outside Abandoned Wife, just as Ye Zi paid little attention to her. This time, Ye Zi intentionally gave the business to Qi Cheng, which clearly meant to sideline Lady Han’s branch.

Today, Lady Han had forcefully interjected herself, which would likely make her even less favored by Ye Zi. Even if there were benefits in the future, her family might not see any of it.

Lady Wang felt some anxiety regarding her second son, Qi Dagen and his branch. From the handover of the rice tofu stall, she had already seen Ye Zi’s dislike for the Second Branch family. If Lady Han continued to be restless, it might harm her son and grandsons.

When Lady Wang warned Lady Han, she wanted to convey that should there be any good fortune in the Second Branch family, Ye Zi and Qi Younian would be making the decisions, and Lady Han would have no grounds to create a fuss, nor should she bother. If things continued this way, leveraging upon the friendship between Sanshun and Qi Jiaer, perhaps their grandchildren would not be despised by Ye Zi.

Of course, Lady Han could read between the lines, but she remained unimpressed. As of now, the rice tofu stall seemed to be the Second Branch family’s greatest benefit. As for the future, who could tell? If Ye Zi was truly capable, she wouldn’t have been divorced by her husband’s family and forced to rely on her impoverished and lonely Second Uncle, arriving at Clear Water Village with a donkey cart full of broken and worthless goods.

Even having been cast aside by her husband’s family, if she possessed other significant skills, she might as well have set up shop in the prefectural city, which was much livelier than the county city. Now that she had started with a rice tofu stall, even if she opened a snack shop, she would merely be selling rice tofu and baked buns, simply avoiding eating in the wind and drinking the dew.

The mother-in-law thought she had secured a good deal, but did she really expect the Second Uncle to hand over the rice tofu snack shop to the main family branch? She herself held no such expectations.

...

Neither Qi Yougui nor Qi Younian expected Lady Han to meddle so abruptly, but Ye Xinyan knew what kind of person Lady Han was. Could such a person really watch benefits fall into the main family’s lap without any consequence to herself?

She didn’t believe it.

When she had first returned with her grandfather and Nanny Jin, the matter of a few baked buns was enough to catch Lady Han’s attention. She had managed, through direct and indirect remarks, to take those buns off their dining table. Now it was about the rice tofu stall, which was thriving with business, netting a clean profit of seven or eight taels of silver a month. How could Lady Han let that pass?

Even though Ye Xinyan had a clear understanding and anticipated Lady Han would fight with Qi Cheng over the rice tofu stall, what she didn’t expect was that even if Lady Han grabbed half the business, she wouldn’t feel the slightest gratitude towards her. Far from feeling like she owed anything to the Second Branch family, she believed instead that they held ill will against her, and that she had righteously fought for her share.