Fu Wenwen glanced at Wang Hu, unsure how to explain. "This... fate? I never thought the world could be this small."
Fu Wenwen couldn't help but smile. This twist of fate was truly strange. She also wondered what Lin Feng would think if he ever found out her true identity.
To be honest, she hadn't cared before; she even thought it wouldn't matter if he knew. But now, she felt a trace of apprehension.
"Will you let him know who you are? If he finds out your identity, he..." Wang Hu looked at Fu Wenwen, a light in his eyes that even he hadn't noticed.
"That, I don't know. We'll just have to take it one step at a time!" Fu Wenwen chuckled lightly, casually picking up a ledger Wang Hu handed her and flipping it open.
"..." Fu Wenwen stared at the words and records in surprise.
"This is also why Chen Long was able to control Fengcheng. He paid them tribute every month," Wang Hu told Fu Wenwen. "I'm not very literate, only knowing a few characters, but I understood the numbers and the process below."
"Chen Long receives four batches of goods every month. After selling them, he keeps twenty percent of the money, and the rest is all submitted as tribute. Even that twenty percent alone is already..." Wang Hu gestured to Fu Wenwen, pointing to the last page. The figures on it astonished even her.
"And they've already formed a production chain doing this..." Wang Hu explained to Fu Wenwen, dividing a stack of ledgers into six piles.
Fu Wenwen looked at Wang Hu, then at the ledgers.
If Lin Feng got these ledgers, he would have concrete evidence, but...
How to give it to him?
Suddenly appear and say she wanted to give him a big surprise?
Fu Wenwen shook her head, sighed softly, and glanced at Wang Hu beside her. Suddenly, a spark of inspiration lit up her eyes.
Wang Hu suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
Fu Wenwen patted Wang Hu. "I have a glorious mission for you, and only you can do it!"
"..." Wang Hu looked at Fu Wenwen helplessly, and Fu Wenwen grinned.
Wang Hu looked at the pile of ledgers in front of him and suddenly felt like he had dug his own grave.
"What should I do?" Wang Hu sighed heavily, looking at Fu Wenwen, and agreed. "Your man is no ordinary person. I can't just suddenly reform and say I want to serve the country, can I?"
"..." Fu Wenwen was also thinking. Hearing Wang Hu's words, they both paused and looked at each other.
Fu Wenwen smiled.
Wang Hu wanted to slap himself. Why did he say that?
To go from a black market rogue to a model youth?
...It would be laughable.
"How will he easily believe me?" Wang Hu tried to struggle a bit more.
Fu Wenwen thought for a moment. "Then say I asked you to go?"
"...Will he believe it?" Wang Hu sighed inwardly, realizing there was no escape.
"If he wants to see me, then agree to it and set a time for the evening," Fu Wenwen said after some thought.
"Alright," Wang Hu nodded and agreed.
After Fu Wenwen and Wang Hu made their arrangements, as soon as she opened the door, she saw a basket already filled with vegetables. Liu Fang looked at Fu Wenwen and smiled lightly. "Heroine, this is for you today. I was just about to bring it to you when I saw Xiao Liuzi bringing Lin An here, so I guessed you had arrived."
"Perfect, so I just put it in your basket," Liu Fang said with a smile.
Fu Wenwen looked at the vegetable basket, which also contained two strips of pork belly. Fu Wenwen nodded with a smile.
"Mom, are we leaving?" Lin An happily ran over when he saw Fu Wenwen come out, covered in sweat from playing with Xiao Liuzi.
Seeing Lin An sweating, Fu Wenwen wiped his forehead and chuckled lightly. "Yes, we should go home. Say goodbye to Uncle and the others."
"Goodbye, uncles and aunties!" Lin An waved to Liu Fang and the others, grinning broadly.
"Xiao An'an, remember to come and play with us again!" Xiao Liuzi waved, watching Fu Wenwen carry Lin An away from the black market.
"Did you have fun playing with the uncles?" Fu Wenwen asked Lin An with a smile on the way back.
Lin An nodded. "Uncle took me on adventures. It was fun."
Fu Wenwen ruffled Lin An's head, holding his hand and carrying the vegetable basket home. Lin Feng and Peng Tao were still discussing matters. Fu Wenwen told Lin An to wash his hands and play, while she went to the kitchen to start cooking.
With the stoves Liu Fang had sent, she could use one for steaming and the other for stir-frying. Fu Wenwen discovered the convenience of the stoves was their portability.
When she cooked, not wanting the greasy smoke to fill the house, she carried the stir-frying stove out to the yard.
Since there was meat today, Fu Wenwen used the rendered fat from the pork to stir-fry the vegetables. This made them tasty without being too oily, and the stir-fried greens would also have a meaty aroma.
When it was mealtime, sounds of cooking began to emanate from every household. Fu Wenwen's stir-frying blended in with the others, and the aroma of rice and savory dishes wafted through the air.
Normally, everyone was accustomed to the smells of cooking from their neighbors, and it was nothing special. But today, a bold fragrance suddenly intruded. Although it was just vegetables, it was different, exceptionally fragrant.
Then, it seemed a second dish was stir-fried, and a rich meaty aroma spread in all directions. This time, no one could mistake it – it was undeniably the smell of meat.
"Whose house is that! Not even a festival, and they're cooking meat. Truly wasteful..." Aunt Qu muttered to herself as she stir-fried, smelling the rich aroma of the meat.
"Mom, did you cook meat? It smells so good!" Zou Xiaomei, smelling the meat, thought it was their own cooking. But when she went to the kitchen, it wasn't.
"No. It's not a holiday, why would we cook meat? Aren't you fat enough without meat?" Aunt Zou gave her daughter a look of exasperation.
"Mom, smell that. Whose house is cooking meat? It smells really good!" Zou Xiaomei was used to her mother's scolding and let it go in one ear and out the other.
"It does smell quite good. This technique doesn't seem like the way those few women cook; their dishes aren't this fragrant," Aunt Zou sniffed, analyzing the aroma. It indeed had a certain level of skill.
"Mom, could it be that sister Fu cooking?" Zou Xiaomei thought about it. She knew how the other aunts cooked – they were reluctant to use oil or seasonings, and their meat aroma was clearly different from this.
And the only new resident nearby was the beautiful sister's house, whom she had visited today, Zou Xiaomei guessed.
"Why are you so curious about her today? Do you like that new neighbor, little Fu, that much?" Aunt Zou asked curiously.
She knew her own daughter best. Seemingly carefree, but actually very sharp, she rarely took such a liking to anyone. Intelligent, and clearly taking after her mother.