After practicing the Unsurpassable Martial Arts for a while, Ning Shu stopped. Her body was already covered with sweat, so she got some water to wipe herself down before starting on making the tofu.

  It was barely even three in the morning. Ning Shu had ground the paste until around ten last night, but she had to wake up again at three in the morning to start a fire and start making the tofu. As soon as the sky lightened a bit, she’d have to head out to sell the steaming hot. This meant that Zhu Suniang couldn’t even get six hours of sleep.

  Ning Shu made some dougan to sell as well. She tossed a couple Sichuan peppers on top of the tofu before pressing all the water content out of it. The resulting dougan was pretty good, it tasted nice and dense and sold pretty well with the tofu. The price was even slightly higher than tofu.

  Ning Shu lifted the pole in preparation to head out, but Mother Zhu struggled up from her bed and leaned against the door as she said, “Suniang, send Yanqiu another telegram, alright? I want to see him.”


  Ning Shu saw that Mother Zhu’s face was slightly pale and she looked very weak, so she nodded and said, “Alright.”


  After Ning Shu headed out, she locked the door. The only ones in the house was a child and a sick woman after all, what if someone actually went in?

  Perhaps it was because she had practiced the Unsurpassable Martial Arts and had managed to improve the state of her body a bit, because she was able to walk fast while carrying the tofu today, and it also wasn’t as hard.

  After she finished selling the tofu, she headed to the post office. The person at the front desk said, “There’s a telegram for you.”


  Ning Shu glanced at it. It was a reply from Zhu Yanqiu. The content was that he was too busy with his studies to go home. At the end of the letter, he told Ning Shu to send him some money. His tone wasn’t very good. He was probably annoyed because she hadn’t sent money the last time he asked.

  Ning Shu grinned and sent another telegram to Zhu Yanqiu, the content being that your mother was severely ill and wants to see you, so hurry and come back.

  Ning Shu paid the telegram fee. In this era, it costed a lot to send telegrams. They charged by the character, so after this, most of the money she had earned from selling tofu was gone. Most people would only send telegrams if there was something really important. Most of the time, they’d simply write letters.

  After leaving the post office, Ning Shu went to the butcher’s to buy meat. She had to improve the family’s food. They had to have meat at least once a day. Furthermore, she herself was always very hungry because of practicing the Unsurpassable Martial Arts.

  Originally she had been planning to eat the fasting pills, but when it occurred to her that her situation would only worsen as time passed and that food would become increasingly scarce, she thought that it was best to save the fasting pills.

  When she got home, she handed the telegram to Mother Zhu who was lying on the bed. “Mother, Yanqiu said that he’s busy with his studies and might not be able to come back this year.”


  Mother Zhu looked at the telegram without saying anything. Her face was a bit pale and she looked very disappointed. Ning Shu said, “I sent him another telegram.”


  Mother Zhu asked, “Yanqiu needs money. Have you sent him money?”


  “I’ve sent it,” Ning Shu lied without blinking an eye. Zhu Yanqiu should give up dreaming of getting a single penny from her.

  Mother Zhu turned over on the bed so that her back faced Ning Shu. Her breathing was a bit rough. She was probably silently crying.

  Ning Shu didn’t say anything and simply left Mother Zhu’s room to return to her own room. She saw that Zhu Siyuan was currently sitting on the bed eating honeyed fruits and dougans. When he saw Ning Shu come in, he climbed off the bed and greeted her childishly.

  He was almost about to turn three, but he had never seen his dad before. After Zhu Suniang died, Zhu Yanqiu had Zhu Siyuan live with him. It was his child after all.

  At ten years old, he had been right in the middle of his rebellious age. Zhu Siyuan hated this father of his and that hero in a headdress Fang Feifei so he insisted on doing everything that pissed Zhu Yanqiu off. He was like a child that was beyond saving. No matter how Zhu Yanqiu whipped him, it was useless.

  At that time, Zhu Yanqiu had already won success and recognition. He was a senior military officer with several thousand troops under his command. He could pretty much build his personal fiefdom, so Zhu Siyuan’s destructive power was a bit large. He made use of Zhu Yanqiu’s influence to cause trouble everywhere.

  Zhu Siyuan hated this father of his to the bone. His mother had been so devoted to him, yet all she had gotten in exchange was being heartlessly abandoned.

  The father and son were like enemies that could not exist under the same sky. Zhu Yanqiu had pulled out his gun several times, tempted to just shoot Zhu Siyuan, but in the end, he wasn’t able to bring himself to do it.

  A person that had abandoned his wife and son had managed to obtain success and respect in the end.

  Ning Shu patted Zhu Siyuan’s head. From now on, the two of them would live their own lives. Zhu Yanqiu can just go to die. She was going to raise Zhu Siyuan into a good young man with dreams and aspirations, then have him climb to a position so high that his dad would have to salute to him.

  If you hate someone, then just climb higher than him so that you can dictate his fate.

  #comment: Yah, Ning Shu is finally raising another milkbun!

  Remember, correct links are in the comments section of the chapter announcement posts!