Chapter 278: Want the Recipe?
Chapter 278: Chapter 278: Want the Recipe?
As time went on, the crowd in the department store didn’t shrink—it swelled, becoming a surging tide of people.
To avoid getting separated again, Jiang Moli had Lu Tingting hold Lu Nana’s hand, while she held Lu Qianqian’s. They also agreed to meet up at the cigarettes and liquor counter on the third floor.
After finally squeezing their way up to the third floor, a thin layer of sweat had broken out on Jiang Moli’s back.
Compared to the first and second floors, where the counters were so mobbed it looked like a riot could break out at any moment, the third floor was much quieter.
Jiang Moli led the three sisters from counter to counter, and they soon arrived at the gold jewelry section.
Perhaps because the New Year was approaching, there were quite a few customers picking out gold jewelry.
Jiang Moli pulled Lu Tingting into the crowd and, after pretending to look at a few pieces of jewelry, turned to her and asked, "Do you smell that? It smells like something’s burning."
Hearing her, several nearby customers subconsciously sniffed the air.
PFFFT.
Following the sound of a fart, a thick stench quickly filled the air.
Oh my god, the smell is dizzying!
Everyone nearby clamped their hands over their noses in disgust.
"Who was that? Farting in public, have you no decency!"
Jiang Moli clutched her stomach. "Sorry about that. I ate too much for breakfast, and my stomach’s a bit upset."
’To let out a stinker like that and not even move away, how obnoxious!’
『Disgust Value +6. 60,000 yuan credited.』
But no one was more furious than Lu Tingting.
She had taken the deepest breath and gotten the strongest whiff of the fart. The smell almost made her gag.
She pinched her nostrils shut with her fingers and glared resentfully at Jiang Moli. "What did you eat? How can your farts be so foul!"
Jiang Moli glanced at her. "What, you want the recipe?"
Lu Tingting almost died of anger.
Just then, An Hui and Fan Wenfang also arrived on the third floor. Lu Tingting immediately ran over to complain, "Grandma, you have to do something about Third Aunt! She farted in public, and it smells awful!"
Unexpectedly, not only did An Hui not scold Jiang Moli, but she instead showered her with concern:
"Did you catch a chill? Is your stomach upset? When we get home, I’ll have your cousin’s wife make you some radish soup. It’ll help with the gas."
"Okay."
Jiang Moli’s stomach really was a bit upset. She’d been eating a lot of snacks the past few days, and yesterday’s rich feast had been hard on her digestion.
Lu Tingting was about to die of anger.
In other families, mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law were like fire and water, but her grandmother doted on her daughter-in-law as if she were a precious treasure.
"Grandma, I want to eat pig’s trotters!"
An Hui sighed in resignation. "Fine, I’ll buy you pig’s trotters."
Not to be outdone, Lu Nana and Lu Qianqian also requested their favorite dishes, and An Hui agreed to all of them.
Before long, Xu Xiuzhen arrived on the third floor as well, with the two brothers, Lu Haoyu and Lu Chaoyang, in tow.
Once everyone had gathered, An Hui led the family to the women’s ready-to-wear section first.
As luck would have it, the moment they entered the shop, they saw Meng Wei looking at a wine-red corduroy jumper dress.
After everything that had happened, the relationship between the Meng and Lu families was nowhere near as good as it used to be.
The mother and daughter simply nodded a greeting and left.
An Hui didn’t mind much.
Originally, she had felt quite guilty, thinking her son had wasted so many years of the young woman’s life.
But after hearing the whole story of Meng Wei’s falling-out with Lin Jianfeng, she was actually glad her son hadn’t chosen Meng Wei.
’The girl had no sense of the bigger picture and no magnanimity. She truly couldn’t compare to Jiang Moli in any way.’
’Her son really had good taste after all.’
Looking at the sweet, pretty, and gentle Jiang Moli, An Hui’s satisfaction and affection practically overflowed from her eyes.
Lu Tingting had also taken a liking to the dress Meng Wei was looking at.
She held the dress up against her chest, asking for An Hui and the others’ opinions. "Is it nice?"
"It’s not bad. The style is nice, and the fabric is thick."
An Hui and Fan Wenfang both nodded.
’Meng Wei might not be a great person, but her taste in clothes isn’t bad.’
Lu Tingting twirled a couple of times in front of the mirror, feeling pretty good about herself.
"Do I look as good in this dress as Meng Wei would?"
Jiang Moli put an arm around her shoulder. "The moment you ask that question, you’ve already lost. You need to be more confident. Tell yourself firmly..."
As Lu Tingting waited with excitement and anticipation, Jiang Moli leaned in and said seriously into her ear, "...that you really don’t look as good in this dress as Meng Wei would."
Lu Tingting’s face nearly twisted with anger.
’What was I even expecting?!’
Seeing her granddaughter being teased by her third daughter-in-law again, An Hui felt helpless. "If you like the dress, just buy it."
Lu Tingting had really liked the dress, but Jiang Moli’s comment, "you really don’t look as good in this dress as Meng Wei would," completely extinguished her interest and desire for it.
"I don’t want it anymore! I’ll look at something else."
In fact, Jiang Moli hadn’t been lying.
Meng Wei had a slender waist, and dresses made her look graceful and elegant.
Lu Tingting was a bit rounder, and a one-piece dress would only make her look sturdier.
’One must learn to face their own shortcomings to become clear-headed and self-reliant.’
...
「Thousands of miles away, deep in a dense forest.」
Lu Cheng moved like an agile leopard, crawling forward through the thorny, overgrown woods.
Behind him followed a panting, middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man wore black-rimmed glasses and clutched a yellow leather briefcase to his chest.
Behind the middle-aged man was Jiang Peng.
He kept looking back as he ran, forming a protective vanguard and rearguard with Lu Cheng, sandwiching the middle-aged man between them.
Suddenly!
BANG! BANG! A few gunshots echoed from behind them.
"Get down!"
Lu Cheng roared the command at almost the exact moment the shots rang out.
Just as the three of them dropped to the ground, several bullets went WHIZZING past, right above their heads.
However, the middle-aged man was half a beat too slow and took a bullet to the thigh.
"Go!"
Taking advantage of the brief lull after the gunshots, Lu Cheng hoisted the middle-aged man up and took off running.
Jiang Peng reacted in a flash, running forward to grab the man’s legs and help carry him.
The two of them carried the man and ran nonstop for a few miles, finally managing to shake off their pursuers.
The middle-aged man’s wound needed to be treated, and they both needed to recover their stamina, so they had no choice but to find a cave to hide in.
...
After clearing away any tracks leading to the cave, Lu Cheng picked some thistle leaves, chewed them into a pulp, and applied the paste to the middle-aged man’s wound. He then tore a strip from his own clothing and used it to bind the injury tightly.
But even though he had stopped the bleeding, the middle-aged man still fell unconscious.
"Brother-in-law, what do we do now?"
If they went out, they would run into their pursuers. If they stayed trapped here, the middle-aged man would surely die.
"We’ll rest for half an hour, then we move. I’ll take point again to scout the terrain and find a path. You carry Dr. Gu and follow me."
Lu Cheng’s calm and composed demeanor was like a shot of adrenaline for Jiang Peng.
"Okay."
Looking at the young man’s spirited yet fearless face, Lu Cheng gave a knowing smile.
He reached out and patted his shoulder. "Don’t worry, we’ll definitely make it back. Your sister is waiting for us."
Just as Jiang Peng was about to nod, a faint RUSTLING sound came from outside the cave—footsteps on dry leaves.
Lu Cheng raised a finger to his lips, simultaneously pressing his body against the cave wall to hide and drawing the dagger strapped to his ankle.
Jiang Peng smartly followed his lead, pressing his own back tightly against the cave wall.
He didn’t have a dagger, so he picked up a rock the size of a clay pot and raised it high above his head, ready to brutally smash it down and splatter the brains of any enemy who entered.
As they held their breath in the silence, time seemed to stretch on infinitely.