Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 430, Return_1

Chapter 430: Chapter 430, Return_1

"Pang Ya, why have you gotten thinner again? Is the baby in your belly giving you trouble?" Seeing the slimmed-down face of Nanzhi, Mother Lin was filled with worry.

How could her daughter lose so much weight during pregnancy?

The shop was incredibly busy, and Nanzhi, not wanting to worry her mother, had not revealed her pregnancy news.

"Mum, I’m perfectly fine." Nanzhi tried to comfort Mother Lin, afraid that she’d start worrying for her.

"Besides, I’m only two months along. The baby isn’t causing me any trouble yet."

"You silly girl, you need to take more care of yourself."

"I know."

Sun Cui’s belly had grown bigger, but she was wearing loose clothes, so it wasn’t really noticeable.

The Lin brothers asked a few questions before going to help with the roast skewers.

Everyone found something to do until Shen Zhiyu and Xiaomi were done cleaning up and stepped out, making things livelier.

Yesterday, Nanzhi instructed her servants to set up a stove in the courtyard and had someone marinate a lamb early in the morning. The enticing aroma wafted throughout the courtyard, causing people’s stomachs to rumble.

"Pang Ya, do you have any plans for the future?" Perhaps it had been a long time since Chen Qiulan last saw her sister-in-law. Now that they were all sitting together, they started to catch up on some gossip.

"I don’t have any big plans, I just want to run the restaurant well," Nanzhi laughed with a hint of melancholy on her face.

"I feel like I don’t have any great talents. The success of my restaurant is only because a blind cat caught a dead rat. Now that I’m pregnant, I don’t really want to hustle anymore."

Listening to her downplaying her achievements, Chen Qiulan frowned, her face showing disapproval.

"Pang Ya, you mustn’t speak like that about yourself. From persuading the folks to overthrow Diniu back in the village, to warning everyone to store extra grains, all the good deeds during the journey of fleeing with nothing... if it weren’t for you, we would’ve been long turned into soil."

"If you don’t have the abilities, then what are we?"

"Yeah, Pang Ya, just running our small shop is already exhausting. But you have a whole restaurant. If you weren’t competent, how could everyone trust you so much?

"Even the folks in Yan City are fighting tooth and nail to work in your restaurant."

Sun Cui echoed from the side.

Aside from admiring her mother-in-law who treats her daughters-in-law like her own daughters, the person she admires next is her sister-in-law, Nanzhi.

The mother-in-law treats them equally, which is very rare. How many girls around them have been oppressed by their mother-in-law, and how many were abandoned by their mother-in-law when they fled the famine?

Nanzhi is not only smart but also decisive in dealing with problems.

Back then, when times were tough, she was the one who, despite her tears, scared off the invaders with an axe.

Even when they arrived in Yan City, she was quick to identify and seize business opportunities.

Had it been her, she probably would’ve backed down in fear and not seized the opportunity.

Nanzhi didn’t say anything and just continued smiling.

At least she is in a better frame of mind now, no longer denying herself unnecessarily.

It’s like when she sorted out the irritating matters with Hen Xiang, which opened up an emotional breakthrough for her.

"What are you guys talking about? Pang Ya, what part of the lamb do you want to eat? Tell me, I’ll cut it for you." Lin Yicheng knew his sister had been in low spirits recently, so he joined the conversation.

"I want to eat all parts."

"You certainly have a keen appetite. I’ll cut more for you later." Lin Yicheng laughed, causing Chen Qiulan and Mother Lin to chuckle along.

Observing her cheerfully bonding family, Nanzhi felt a surge of warmth in her heart.

These were the people she knew in this world.

Liao Da and Wang Sheng were chatting and working on roast skewers, while An Wazi and Lin Xiaoquan followed Zhiyu and the other children to loiter around the courtyard.

Lin’s father had roped Uncle Ping, Xu Chou, and Lun Daliang into a game of chess.

After about half an hour, Shen Wenchen rushed in.

"My father is back!"

Zhiyu, who was feeding the fish in the pond with the others, suddenly noticed a shadow falling over her. She looked up and saw her own father standing on the wall, looking at them.

"Uncle!"

Lin Jian had a closer relationship with Shen Wenchen, after all, Wenchen had given him pocket money regularly over the past two years. Seeing his generous uncle standing on the wall, he immediately waved at him excitedly.

"Zhiyu, where’s your mother?" Shen Wenchen greeted the children with a nod and then turned to Zhiyu to enquire about Nanzhi.

"Mother is in the front courtyard, everyone has arrived except for you!"

The little one grinned, watching his own father demonstrate his skill on the wall, feeling smug.

Only his father was this amazing!

"Yo, Wenchen is back!" Lin’s mother, who had been listening to her two daughters-in-law’s chatter, spotted Shen Wenchen and mentioned his return with a smile.

Nanzhi, following her mother’s gaze, also noticed the man standing on the wall.

Perhaps he had rushed back, his hair was a bit dishevelled, and some stubble had emerged on his chin. Nanzhi felt a bit of distress at the sight.

When Shen Wenchen saw that his little wife looked a bit better than a few days ago, he felt relieved.

He then jumped down from the wall, paid his respects to the elders, and went over to Nanzhi.

"How have you been these past few days?"

"With Ma Po looking after me, you don’t have to worry." Nanzhi smiled as she poured him a bowl of hot soup and handed it to him.

"Drink some hot soup to warm your body."

"Okay." Shen Wenchen accepted the bowl, and within a few moments, he had finished off the entire serving.

Nanzhi, being pregnant, couldn’t drink tea. Also, having soup every day was getting monotonous, so Ma Po started letting Ms. Zhao prepare different types of soup each day.

Indeed, as an old servant who managed to stay in the Town Master’s Residence, Ms. Zhao worked it out after thinking it over for two days.

Nanzhi didn’t object, since Ms. Zhao did indeed have culinary skills, and the soups prepared these days were quite delicious.

"This soup is good." Shen Wenchen rarely praised food.

After all, during their missions, they had consumed all sorts of things from grass roots to tree bark.

As far as he was concerned, anything that would fill his stomach was good. But the taste of this hot soup surprised him.

"It’s made by the cooks in the kitchen, I think it’s delicious too." Seeing the man in front of her, Nanzhi wore a faint smile on her face.

"I’ll go change my clothes so I don’t bring the cold back with me." Shen Wenchen said, reluctant to leave but concerned that he might have carried back a chill during his journey.

"No need, you just need to warm up by this heater, I want to watch you for a bit longer."

Nanzhi looked at him with a beaming smile, making Shen Wenchen blush.

"Since Nannan misses me, I’ll sit here and let Nannan watch me."

"Good."

The orange sunlight fell on the two, casting the tender affection in their eyes that made others envious.