C17 Chapter 17

Chen Yongxing shrugged. “He was just here, saying he wanted to catch some Eight-foot Insect and eat it.” He walked a few steps toward Chen Yongnian and lowered his voice. “Big brother… did my sister-in-law get rattled and lose her mind or something?”

Chen Yongnian didn’t like the way his brother put it.

Sure, Wan Qiqi had been acting a little strange these past couple of days, but he didn’t think she’d gone crazy. It was more like she just hadn’t quite come back to herself yet.

Besides, wasn’t she better like this than before?

He gave Chen Yongxing’s shoulder a light pat. “She’s your sister-in-law. Don’t talk nonsense.”

Even though he didn’t know what Wan Qiqi planned to do with the Eight-foot Insect, he felt she must have her reasons.

Half an hour later, Wan Qiqi came back from outside, still carrying her basket. Inside was a big crab, lying perfectly still.

Mrs. Wang returned as well. In the basket she carried was half a sack of old rice and some sunflower greens. Looking closer, there were also two or three eggs tucked inside.

Wan Qiqi had Chen Yongnian get the fire going, getting ready to steam the crab. When she turned her head, she spotted Mrs. Wang. “Mom, I’ll cook tonight. You go rest!”

Mrs. Wang looked startled by the kindness and couldn’t help walking over to take a look. The moment she saw the crab in the pot, she stopped her at once. “Qiqi, what are you doing? You can’t eat that Eight-foot Insect!”

Wan Qiqi had heard that line at least ten times today and didn’t feel like explaining anymore. “Mom, it’s really good. Trust me!”

Mrs. Wang was about to say more, but Lee Chongniang pulled her into the main room.

Peeking through a narrow crack, the others watched the oldest son’s family bustling around outside.

Chen Yongxing rested his chin in his hand and muttered, “Sister-in-law looks like she knows what she’s doing. Kinda seems like she can actually cook.”

“I think so too.” Chen Yongliang couldn’t help feeling excited.

What did Eight-foot Insect even taste like?

Watching thick white steam billow from the pot, Wan Qiqi felt satisfied.

She’d kept out of everyone’s sight while she prepped the crab. Steamed like this, it shouldn’t smell fishy, and once she mixed up a dipping sauce, it ought to taste great.

Just thinking about it made Wan Qiqi’s mouth water.

But then it hit her—crab and wild greens alone wouldn’t fill her up. And crab was “cold” food; you couldn’t eat too much of it, and it was best for pregnant women to avoid it altogether. That made things tricky.

On top of that, she was out of white rice. So what was she supposed to eat as a staple?

All of a sudden, she remembered the locked chest in the house. It seemed like even Chen Yongnian didn’t know what was inside. She could trade for a few more things and pretend she’d stashed them away!

With that, Wan Qiqi hurried back to her room. Going by memory, she dug out the key and opened the chest.

Inside was a set of wedding clothes—the ones the original owner had worn when she got married—and a single hairpin. Wan Qiqi remembered it: Chen Yongnian had bought it after doing backbreaking work in town, saving up his wages for months.

Holding the hairpin, she couldn’t help thinking Chen Yongnian had genuinely been good to the original owner. Too bad she hadn’t known how to appreciate it.

Other than the wedding clothes and the hairpin, the chest was empty. It was obvious the original owner had been truly desperate when she’d gone back to her parents’ place to borrow grain.

Wan Qiqi opened the system shop and stared at the grain section for a long time before finally deciding to trade for 22 pounds of brown rice.

But the chest could only hold so much. She couldn’t keep pulling things out of it forever. If only the shop’s coins could be turned into cash whenever she wanted!

“Ding! Use 200 coins to unlock the cash-out feature?”

“...” Wan Qiqi was speechless. Even unlocking the feature cost money?

But she needed it.

“Yes.”

As soon as she answered, the page refreshed. Next to the coin balance, a new Cash Out option appeared.

She’d made 640 coins selling crabs today, and now more than half of it was gone. After the brown rice and everything else, she was down to 387 coins.

She hesitated, then decided to cash out 200 coins first and keep the rest. At least cashing out didn’t come with an extra fee.

In the blink of an eye, a handful of coins appeared in her palm—heavy and solid, oddly satisfying.

She found a coin pouch, tucked them away, and carried the rice out of the room.