Chapter 423 Hint

Chapter 423: Hint

Lu Jin’an had finally had enough and stepped forward, slapped Su Jiao hard across the face.

Driven by rage, the blow was forceful, sending Su Jiao crashing to the ground with a loud *smack*, followed by her pained scream.

Ai Xiaoqing’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction, and she stopped crying.

Lu Yazhi gaped, her hand no longer clutching her chest.

Su Jiao’s eyes brimmed with tears as she slowly looked up at Lu Jin'an. "You hit me?"

"You hit me for that bitch? Boo-hoo... We haven't even been married that long, and you're already betraying me. Have you forgotten what you promised me before?

"You said you'd always protect me, that I was special to you, that you wouldn’t let anyone bully me. And now you hit me for this ugly cripple? Boo-hoo-hoo~"

Lu Jin'an’s heart ached at the sight of Su Jiao's tear-streaked face. "It’s not—Jiao Jiao, I didn’t mean to!"

As he moved to help her up, Ai Xiaoqing immediately crawled toward Su Jiao. "Jiao Jiao, are you okay?

"Oh, Jin’an, even if Jiao Jiao was wrong, you shouldn’t have hit her so hard. Look, you’ve split her lip!"

She weakly raised her hand, attempting to touch Su Jiao’s mouth with the back of her fingers.

Su Jiao violently swatted Ai Xiaoqing’s arm away, her eyes burning with hatred. "Stop pretending to care!"

With that motion, Ai Xiaoqing let out a fake *"Ow!"* and rolled onto the floor.

Su Jiao froze.

Only when Lu Jin'an growled through gritted teeth, "Su Jiao, you’re hopeless!" did she snap back to reality.

"Ai Xiaoqing, you whore! You belong on a stage—such a talent for acting! Now I understand why someone sliced up your face and severed your tendons. Sob... Why weren’t they crueler and just stabbed you to rid the world of your evil?"

Su Jiao sobbed bitterly. "Lu Jin'an, are you blind? She’s putting on an act! I didn’t even touch her!"

But no matter how she defended herself, no one cared.

Lu Yazhi rushed over, joining Lu Jin'an in helping Ai Xiaoqing up with over-the-top concern.

"Xiaoqing, are you alright? You’ve suffered so much. Such a shame for our family, truly a disgrace!" Lu Yazhi muttered, shooting a disapproving glare at Su Jiao.

Su Jiao stared at her mother-in-law and husband, at the home she had once entered with such hope, her heart turned to ice.

Ordinarily, she’d have stormed out without a second glance. But seeing Ai Xiaoqing’s smug, taunting gaze, she refused to back down.

She would stay. Even if it cost her everything, she’d take that bitch down with her.

Her eyes turned cold as she locked onto Lu Yazhi. Ai Xiaoqing thought she had the upper hand because of her past "favors" to Jin’an?

Well, Su Jiao had an ace up her sleeve.

If they pushed her too far, she’d drag them all down with her.

Wang Xiaocui’s shop (Xiaocui Delicacies) officially opened for business.

After the shop had burned down, Qin Gu helped find people to renovate it. With white walls and cement floors, all they needed was to set up the pre-made tables and stools, customize a signboard, and it was basically ready to open.

Su An had spent nights preparing over a dozen snack varieties in advance. She also had a signboard made and printed numerous flyers, plastering them on walls and lampposts.

She even handed out flyers for a whole day at the nearby school entrance.

On the opening day, everything was half off, and customers could also take them away. This promotion attracted a lot of customers.

That day, Su An and Ren Shan were also helping in the shop. It was packed, and all four were scrambling to keep up.

Liu Cuihong started off shy, but later, she was too busy to even feel nervous, working like crazy.

More people meant more trouble.

A woman toting a veggie basket passed by the shop and stopped to look at the red notice posted at the entrance.

"Half off? So I can get two for the price of one? And take them away?" she muttered, then peered inside.

Sure enough, folks were leaving with takeout in foam containers.

She stood at the entrance for a while, then asked Ren Shan, who was handling payments, "Hey, what’s this 'braised eggs' dish? And what's the filling in those big fried dumplings?"

Ren Shan smiled briefly, then dropped it, her eyes flashing with sarcasm. "Whatever the filling is, you can't afford it anyway. You don’t have the money."

The proud woman turned red with anger. "What’s with the attitude? I just asked what the filling is. Just answer the question—whether I can afford it or not is my business."

Ren Shan kept her sneer and turned to serve another customer. "Hello, sister, what would you like to eat?"

The veggie-basket woman was livid and reached into her pocket for money. "I’ll show you—I’m getting my food today!"

As she reached in, she grabbed a hand—one that was pulling out her handkerchief-wrapped money.

"Help! Thief! Stop him! Someone’s stealing money!"

At her shout, several customers inside rushed toward a thin, hat-wearing man who had been keeping his head down.

The thief reacted quickly, yanking his hand free from the woman’s grip, ducking through the crowd, and bolted like lightning.

A few gave chase but only made it six or seven meters, but he was too fast, so they returned, cursing.

Su An came out from the back after hearing the commotion. "Ma’am, so sorry about that. It’s crowded today—please check if you’ve lost any money."

"Everyone, be careful. The shop is packed today, so stay alert in case we miss anything..."

The woman quickly unwrapped her handkerchief to check and sighed in relief. "Thank goodness I grabbed him when I did. A little later, and it would’ve been gone."

She turned to glare at Ren Shan, about to say something, but Ren Shan just stared back coldly.

"Think you’re better than me, brat? Watch me buy it. Give me two tea eggs, two big fried dumplings, and two of that braised egg thing—I’m taking them away," the woman declared haughtily.

Ren Shan switched gears fast, flashing a sycophantic grin. "Of course! For the dumplings, would you like leek and egg filling or pickled radish and sour bean filling?"

"One each."

Su An, clueless about the earlier spat, thought Ren Shan had been rude based on the woman’s words. She patted Ren Shan’s arm and reminded her, "Shanshan, the customer’s always right."

Ren Shan didn't explain and replied honestly, "Understood, An'an-jie."

By evening, when the family was tidying up the shop, the woman from the morning came over.

"Hello, we're closed for today."

The woman nodded with a smile, "I'm looking for someone."

Then, she called out to Ren Shan, who was wiping tables inside, "That young lady."