「More than ten days later, around noon.」
Ms. Chen was roasting soybeans at home, a tempting aroma wafting out from the courtyard.
Fang Cheng paced hesitantly at the kitchen door before finally making up his mind and stepping inside.
Watching Ms. Chen roast the soybeans, Fang Cheng opened his mouth and stammered,
"Mom, I... I want to give the Fuquan family some... some grain! Just—just one sack."
"What? You want to give our grain to someone else? A whole sack?" Ms. Chen's voice instantly rose. She spun around to face Fang Cheng, a look of pure astonishment on her face.
"Th-then half a sack."
Ms. Chen's shout made Fang Cheng jump. On any other day, he would have simply complied. Whatever his mother said, went, and he never dared to argue.
But the thought of Yingzi from the Fuquan family going hungry gave him the courage to press on, his words still halting.
Hearing this, Ms. Chen's first thought was that her eldest had grown bold enough to defy her.