Chapter 128 -

Chapter 128: Chapter

The next morning, the freezing wind still blew outside, but the heavy snowstorm had finally stopped.

Down in the main hall, Madame Chen opened her eyes, her whole body stiff and sore from sleeping on the dirty wooden floorboards. An Yulan groaned beside her, holding her swollen, purple cheek, while her daughters and Bai Wenliang slowly dragged themselves up, shivering in their thin, dusty clothes.

Madame Chen rubbed her eyes and looked around the dim hall. Her eyes widened as she noticed something was very wrong.

Madame Bai, Rulan, and Meiling were gone. Madame Zhao and her twins, Bai Kang and Bai Shu, were gone as well. Even Third Uncle Bai Chenghao, Madame Zhang, and their son were nowhere to be found in the main hall.

Madame Chen’s face twisted into an ugly, furious frown. She stomped over to Master Bai and shook his shoulder hard, waking him up.

"Look!" Madame Chen screeched, pointing an angry finger at the empty benches. "They lied to us! They had money all along and went to book rooms behind our backs!"

She paced back and forth on the cold floor, her voice full of spite. "I could expect such a sly thing from Madame Zhang, but Madame Bai and Madame Zhao?! Imagine! Leaving us out here to freeze while they slept in warm beds!"

Master Bai looked at the empty hall, his pale face looking tired and defeated. He didn’t even have the energy to get angry. He simply let out a long, heavy sigh and rubbed his forehead without saying a single word.

Just then, footsteps creaked on the wooden staircase above. Madame Bai, Rulan, and Meiling walked down first, looking neat, warm, and rested. Right behind them came Madame Zhao and her twins, followed by Yimei, Zhengyu, Qinqin, and Liu Feng.

Madame Chen rushed right up to Madame Bai, her eyes wild with rage. "You hypocrite! You stood there yesterday acting like you had nothing, yet you quietly snuck upstairs to enjoy a soft bed!"

Madame Bai stopped on the bottom step, looking down at Madame Chen with cold, calm eyes.

"Yimei gave us her extra key," Madame Bai said flatly, her voice completely devoid of the soft, submissive tone she used to have. "If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at your own uselessness."

Without another word, Madame Bai walked right past her husband and Madame Chen, heading straight out the front doors toward the carriages.

The line of carriages stood waiting in the fresh morning snow. Everyone had gathered in the main hall, wrapped tight against the cold, ready to leave.

Unlike the others, Yimei had already paid the innkeeper for food before coming down. On the front counter sat three large, neatly tied packages of freshly steamed buns, hot roasted meats, and warm flatbreads.

Yimei picked up the first package and handed it over to Liu Feng to stash in her carriage with Zhengyu.

Then, right in front of the entire family, she picked up the other two heavy packages. She walked straight past Master Bai and Second Uncle, handing one package directly to Madame Bai and the other to Madame Zhao.

"Eat well," Yimei said, her voice clear and calm. "It’s a long road ahead."

Madame Bai took the food with a quiet, appreciative nod, while Madame Zhao bowed her head softly in thanks, quickly dividing the warm buns among her twins.

Second Uncle Bai Chengbang and Third Uncle Bai Chenghao barely blinked at the sight. Having quietly kept a bit of hidden silver for themselves, both uncles had already paid the innkeeper for their own private breakfast earlier that morning. They stood near the door, picking their teeth and looking completely indifferent to the rest of the group.

That left only Master Bai, Madame Chen, An Yulan, and Wenliang standing in the middle of the hall, empty-handed, stomach rumbling, and left with absolutely nothing to eat.

Madame Chen stared at the warm, steaming packages in Madame Bai’s and Madame Zhao’s hands, her jaw dropping in utter shock and disbelief. Her face turned red with pure envy, but after seeing Yimei’s sharp slaps from the night before, she didn’t dare say a single word out loud. She simply stood there shivering, clutching her empty stomach as the delicious smell of meat buns filled the cold air.

Beside her, Master Bai glared at the food, his hands shaking with anger and humiliation as his own daughter-in-law completely bypassed him without offering so much as a crust of bread.

Yimei didn’t even look back at them. She walked calmly out the double doors, stepping into the snow as Liu Feng pushed Zhengyu’s wheelchair toward their carriage.

Master Bai climbed into the carriage right after Madame Bai, Rulan, and Meiling. The small space was silent except for the heavy creaking of the wooden wheels as the carriage began to roll forward over the frozen road.

Rulan reached into the warm food package Yimei had given them, pulled out a soft meat bun, and held it out respectfully to her father.

"Father, please eat," Rulan said softly.

Master Bai didn’t take the bun. His dark eyes stayed glued to Madame Bai, who sat across from him looking out the small wooden window. He waited for her to turn around, take the food from their daughter, and offer it to him herself like she always used to do. He wanted her to show him respect, to comfort his bruised pride after everything that had happened at the inn.

Madame Bai didn’t move. She kept her gaze fixed on the passing white snow, her face completely calm and emotionless, acting as if he weren’t even sitting in the same carriage.

Seeing her absolute silence, Master Bai’s face flushed a dark, angry red. The humiliation of the past two days finally boiled over.

"Are you blind?!" Master Bai roared, his loud voice shaking the small wooden carriage. He slapped Rulan’s hand away, sending the warm bun rolling onto the dusty floorboards. "Your husband is sitting right here starving, and you won’t even look at me?! Is this how a dutiful wife acts?!"

Meiling flinched at his sudden shout, quickly pulling closer to her sister. Rulan quietly picked the clean bun off the floor, keeping her head down without saying a word.

Madame Bai slowly turned her head away from the window and looked her husband straight in the eyes. There was no fear in her gaze, no sadness, and no desire to soothe his anger.

"Dutiful wife?" Madame Bai spoke, her voice low, steady, and colder than the wind outside. "The wife you are looking for is back in the other carriage. Go ask Madame Chen to feed you."

Master Bai’s jaw dropped. "You—! How dare you speak to me like that?!"

"I am eating the food my daughter-in-law provided for me and my children," Madame Bai continued flatly, picking up a bun and handing it to Meiling. "If you want to eat, take what your daughter gives you. If you don’t want it, then starve. Do not yell in front of my daughters ever again."

Master Bai stared at her in utter disbelief, his chest heaving with rage, but Madame Bai simply turned her head back toward the window, completely ignoring him for the rest of the journey.