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Of course, the last person they could forget was Lao Fan.

That day, after Xia Zheng sorted out the Rice Flower Fragrance issue, he took Lin Yi and galloped off to "steal" Lao Fan back.

Saying stolen, it was actually just to avoid letting Zhao Hongde know their whereabouts and go back to leak them to someone.

What Xia Zheng wouldn’t know was that a particular vengeful old man had already thoroughly leaked all of his deeds.

Perhaps thinking of the future spectacle involving Xia Zheng, Lao Fan unusually didn’t throw a temper tantrum at him this time upon his return. This really scared Xia Zheng silly, as it was completely out of character for the old man.

However, after repeatedly confirming with Lin Yi that Zhao Hongde and the others hadn’t shown any peculiarities, Xia Zheng finally reluctantly breathed a sigh of relief.

On the day of the warming pot, Lin Yuan’s family got up early to wait for everyone to arrive. The first to enter were Loudmouth and Lan Hua mother and daughter, who immediately began helping Lin Yuan prepare the dishes for lunch that day.

As they put away the groceries, Lan Hua started gossiping with Lin Yuan.

"Hey, where’s your Young Master? Why haven’t I seen him?" Lan Hua said after peeling the dried outer layers off a cabbage and placing it in a large basin.

Lin Yuan gave her a look, ’your Young Master,’ not knowing who she was referring to.

Seeing her still too shy to admit it, Lan Hua chuckled and nudged her with her elbow, glancing at the next room and asking in a low voice, "What, still don’t want to admit it?

You’re not still pining for that Chen Zhu, are you?

Hmph, take my advice and stop daydreaming about him.

I heard from Shopkeeper Zhou that the autumn exams have been over for days, and that Chen Zhu still hasn’t come back, he must have failed and is too ashamed to return! "

"What does it matter to me whether he passes the exam or not?" Lin Yuan also peeled a cabbage and threw it into the basin, her face betraying no emotion. "Besides, if he really didn’t pass, he would have come back. Can someone like him really make his own way outside?"

It wasn’t that she looked down on Chen Zhu, but all he’d ever done since he was young was study, never having lifted a finger to do any household chores, let alone earn Silver.

Lan Hua nodded in agreement, "That’s true. Other than having a decent-looking face, Chen Zhu has nothing else to offer. If he really wanted to make money, he could go to one of those male prostitution houses— I bet he’d be a top card! Ow, why’d you hit me?"

Lin Yuan glared and slapped Lan Hua’s arm hard, warning, "Why do you think I hit you? Look at the rubbish you’re spouting. Prostitution houses, really? They let you work in town and this is the trash you bring back?"

Lan Hua knew she was at fault, swallowed hard, and hung her head weakly, "I... I was just saying, it’s not true."

"True or not, don’t you ever say that again!" Lin Yuan glared at her and seeing Loudmouth and Aunt Wang enter the kitchen, she dropped the subject.

However, Lan Hua’s words served as a reminder to Lin Yuan. Although the girl had always been blunt, speaking her mind, she never used to talk about such indecent things—she hadn’t even heard of such houses before.

It seemed that someone at the tofu shop couldn’t keep their mouth shut and was spreading nonsense. When she had time, she’d have to check it out, as such people could not stay in her shop.

Aunt Wang and Loudmouth were busy, one chopping meat and the other kneading dough for steamed buns. There were sure to be many guests at lunch, and if they didn’t start preparing early, they would likely make everyone wait.

And Lin Yuan had decided that at noon, it would be enough to just have a large pot of dishes and steamed buns.

But for the sake of festivity, she had specially asked Liuzi to buy some fine liquor from town.

Although she had some disputes with Meng Chunyan, she had to admit that the liquor from Meng Family Wine House was indeed quite good—so strong and fiery that just sniffing it stung her nose.