Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Chapter 385 - 204: The Incident

Li Changming saw his mother sitting under the dim oil lamp, a pancake stuffed in her mouth, staring at him in stunned silence. She clearly hadn’t expected anyone to show up at this hour. Although the cloth strips had been removed from her face, her slightly crooked nose was perched comically above her mouth, almost as if her sheer desire for the pancake had twisted it out of place.

He sighed inwardly and said softly in resignation, "Mother, even though this is our own home, you can’t be sneaking food. What kind of behavior is this? Meizi has kept count of these pancakes. You ate... Never mind. I’ll just say I ate them. How many did you have?"

Mortified with shame, Granny Hua hurriedly pulled the pancake from her mouth and said, "Two."

Li Changming shook his head. "Don’t eat any more. You won’t be able to sleep if you eat so much." With that, he drew some hot water and turned to head back to their room.

’He really had a headache when it came to his mother. It was one thing to manage her gossip and foolishness, but for a son to discipline his own mother just for eating a little extra... it didn’t seem right. And yet, he felt Meizi was in the right. This was so... Ugh. At most, he could just eat a little less himself.’

He had come to the kitchen to get some water to wash Meizi’s feet. She had been doing needlework by the lamp for so long that her feet had grown cold. Li Changming, who had been keeping her company and urging her to go to bed, had finally gotten up, promising to bring some hot water for her to soak them. Sleeping with cold feet was just too uncomfortable.

Back in their room, Li Changming insisted Meizi not move, since she had been sitting for so long. He gently washed her feet. Once they were in bed, he cradled her still-cool feet against his chest to warm them up. He had wanted to make the water hotter, but with his mother stealing food in the kitchen, he hadn’t felt comfortable staying there any longer and had to make do with just warm water.

Meizi gazed at her Changming with pure bliss, whispering cheerfully, "Changming, my mother helped me hatch a lot of little chicks. She said she’ll help feed them for now, and when we move to the mountainside, she’ll bring them to me. Juhua helped me hatch some ducklings, too. She said when I move over, she’ll give me a few to raise."

Seeing her so lost in dreams of their happy little life together, Li Changming smiled. "Don’t we already have plenty of chickens at home?"

Meizi shook her head. "Ah, we can’t count on what the family has. We won’t get much when the assets are divided. I also don’t want people to say you’re neglecting your mother, so we should leave more for them. We’ll just raise our own, that’s all."

Li Changming hugged her, silent for a long moment. He was truly speechless at having married such a wife; he had always cherished his good fortune. After a pause, he said, "I don’t have to work in the fields tomorrow. I’ll spend a few days properly fishing. If we can’t eat it all, you can pickle and preserve it."

Meizi grew excited at once. Her father hadn’t been fond of fishing, so she rarely got to eat it. Hearing Li Changming’s plan, she was especially delighted and immediately began discussing it with him. That night, her mind was filled with images of happily leaping fish as she drifted off to sleep.

Sure enough, the next morning, Meizi discovered that two of the pancakes were missing.

Li Changming told her that he’d gotten hungry while fetching water the night before, so he ate two of them. He’d meant to tell her, but they got to talking about other things and it completely slipped his mind.

Meizi believed him without a second thought. She assumed he’d gotten hungry from staying up late with her and quickly said he should eat more that night, or that she could leave something out for him to heat up if they stayed up late again.

Listening to the young couple’s conversation, Granny Hua felt incredibly guilty. Even with her son covering for her, she was still afraid Meizi would find out and make a fuss. Seeing that Meizi didn’t suspect a thing, she finally let her guard down.

But her self-control couldn’t last forever. Granny Hua managed to restrain herself for a few days, not daring to make a rash move. That day at noon, Meizi pan-fried some thin pancakes. Since Li Changming had gone fishing and still hadn’t returned by mealtime, Meizi left his portion in the pot to stay warm. After letting Granny Hua know, she tucked her needlework under her arm and went to her mother’s house for a chat.

The pancakes were made from white flour, formed into several layers. Each layer was brushed with a savory sauce and rolled out incredibly thin. She had learned how to make them from Juhua. Juhua had also said that when peaches and persimmons were in season, you could mash the fruit pulp and spread it between the layers of dough. The resulting pancakes would have a sweet, fruity fragrance and taste even better.

’When Juhua had said that, she was actually thinking of thin pancakes spread with durian. But who knew if durian even existed here? Best not to think about such impractical things and just use other fruit purees instead.’

Nowadays, Meizi was very diligent about all sorts of household tasks, from cooking and needlework to even tending the livestock. So, after learning how to make these thin pancakes, she had tried it once, making them for her parents-in-law and Li Changming to eat.