CHAPTER 646: EPISODE 343: NO NEED TO WORRY

The door wasn’t shut tightly, and outside, the faint sounds of Old Mrs. Meng and Mrs. Feng talking could be heard, apparently thanking her for her help today and graciously inviting her to stay for a meal.

Meng Yuhuai was amused by Hua Xiaomai’s impudent behavior, saying, "Are you still young?" but without any delay, he truly wrapped her up in his arms and bundled her tightly in the bedding.

Hua Xiaomai had been sleeping for most of the day and finally broke out in a sweat. Her neck was sticky, and her hair was a tangled mess, clinging to her cheeks and ears. She wasn’t fussy about it and just rubbed all the beads of sweat onto Meng Yuhuai’s clothes, drank down the entire bowl of warm water with his help, and felt somewhat relieved in her throat, but her head was still a bit groggy and she was too lazy to talk. Regardless of what Meng Yuhuai asked her, she would just respond vaguely with "Mhm, ah."

Meng Yuhuai reached out to wipe her forehead and sighed, "Regardless of whether we see a doctor tomorrow, we should still prepare a bowl of Guizhi Soup later. Your fever has subsided somewhat now, we should take this opportunity to eliminate all traces of your illness—that aside, you should tell me what exactly happened in Zhenwei Garden? I heard from Mother that two swindlers came?"

Hua Xiaomai picked at the front of his clothing with her fingers, furrowing her brow, "Can we not talk about that?"

The thought of the morning’s events alone made her feel a surge of frustration rush to her head and she really didn’t want to mention it.

However, Meng Yuhuai was not willing to let her off the hook so easily, looking down he straightened his expression, "How can we not talk about it? When you encounter trouble, instead of thinking about how to solve it, are you just prepared to muddle through? That’s not like you."

"I just find it bothersome!" Hua Xiaomai became more irritated and clicked her tongue, "In any case, those two have been sent packing and Zhenwei Garden didn’t suffer any losses, isn’t that good enough, what else do you plan to do?"

Meng Yuhuai looked at her for a long while before suddenly breaking into laughter.

"You fall ill and start acting like a child. If we don’t get to the bottom of this and find out who’s causing trouble, what’s to stop them from trying their luck again later? I heard from Mother that Peace Uncle was quite agitated with you about this, could it be that you’re angry with him?"

"Why would I be angry with him?" Hua Xiaomai looked up at him without a second thought and said, "Yes, his attitude was indeed not good, and I do need to find an opportunity to talk it out with him, but when all is said, it’s not a big deal. He’s been in business for many years and considers Silver Coin far more important than others; it’s natural for him to be flustered over such a big deal falling through. In the end, he was looking out for the Sauce Garden, and I wouldn’t be mad over that."

She turned to cough twice, then continued, "You said we should catch the one behind this—cough, I think, nine times out of ten, it’s our competitors. In the whole Tong’an Prefecture, there are only five to seven shops that specialize in sauce trade, and we have almost no interactions with most of them, except for Wan’s in the east of Fuzhe County City and Antai Garden in the Provincial City, with whom we had disputes. Ever since the bad reputation of Wan’s using old rice for sauce came to light, they’ve been severely weakened and are likely too busy to care about us, but that Antai Garden..."

"Wait a moment."

At this point, Meng Yuhuai’s expression suddenly became stern, interrupting her.

"I remember that Antai Garden is related to Song Jingxi, right?"

Hua Xiaomai paused, "...what are you getting at?"

"Just had a sudden thought," Meng Yuhuai shook his head, "Never mind, leave this to me. Just focus on getting yourself well. With you ill, little Walnut has turned into a child who eats at everyone’s house."

Hua Xiaomai was pleased with the first half of his statement and jokingly replied, "Then I really won’t bother with it anymore," but as soon as the words came out, she realized something was amiss and immediately raised her eyebrows.

"So your kindness and concern today were all for the sake of your son? Do you have no conscience, Meng Yuhuai? I’m sick like this..."

Meng Yuhuai laughed heartily, got up to tuck her back into bed, said nothing, and headed towards the door.

"Hey!" Hua Xiaomai punched the cotton, grinding her teeth with annoyance, "I haven’t finished talking yet and you’re leaving; at least let me know what’s happening with the Escort Agency."

It was odd, how this couple happened to experience troubles at the same time.

Meng Yuhuai didn’t stop walking and headed straight out. Before closing the door, he turned, smiled at her, and said.

"That, you don’t need to worry about either."

...

From that day on, Meng Yuhuai moved back home from the Escort Agency, but because he was busy, he still left early and returned late every day.