Except for bidding a farewell to ancestors when getting married, a woman could not enter the main hall of the ancestral hall.

Thus, the so-called being grounded in the ancestral hall for one month was actually letting them stay in the wing of the ancestral hall for one month.

The ancestral hall of Sheng Family was extended and renovated just two years ago. Because it was guarded and maintained by specific servants, it looked new.

Even if the wing was rare to be used in a year, it was carved and painted with beautiful displays inside.

However, there were only some equipment for sacrifice, spare incense burners, and four treasures of study here. As for bedding, dressing table and so on, those were not available.

Fortunately, Senior Master Sheng cared about her granddaughters" fragile health and ordered someone to spread a pile of straw on the ground as a bed for them.

The spoiled sisters tried so hard to unfold the bedding on the straw and then made the bed.

Then, sitting on the mattress, they were motionless and could not understand, "Why grandfather let that son of a mistress supervise us…."

"And all the things for us will pa.s.s through his hands!"

"He will spit, and put sand, c.o.c.kroaches or laxative into things prepared for us!"

"Maybe he will beat us when there is no one watching!"

"What should we do?!"

Sheng Weiqiao and Sheng Weiwu looked at each other, not knowing what to do. They were too helpless for tears!

After a long while, they hadn"t figured out a method to deal with it before hearing the sound of footsteps out of the door. Then Sheng Shuihe pushed the door open and came in with a food container. Seeing their vigilant gaze, he greeted them in a good mood, "Since such things happened today, you must have no mood to eat. I, your kind brother, made some midnight snacks in the kitchen, lest you feel hungry in a long night!"

While talking, he opened the food container. The aroma of the eel noodles was immediately released: A large eel was steamed well, and its bones were all removed. Added by chicken soup, a dough was kneaded with those and rolled. Then, they were cut into noodles. While eating, the chicken sauce, ham sauce, and mushroom sauce would be added on top. Anyone could imagine how delicious it was!

The two girls had been a little hungry. Smelling the aroma, they swallowed subconsciously.

Just thinking of his "guarantee", although he served two bowls of noodles in front of them, they couldn"t eat them.

"Just help yourself. I"m leaving now." Sheng Shuihe said. Seeing this, he picked up the food container and said gently, "Also, I would stand sentry out of the door for fear of grandfather"s sudden coming, lest he found that I sent you some food!"

Then, he left slowly.

After he left, still, they looked at each other awkwardly, "What to do?!"

"At first, let"s check if there is sand, c.o.c.kroaches, or something else in the noodles." The eel noodles were very delicious. What"s more, Sheng Shuihe told the cook to boil some vegetables as toppings and sprinkle some coriander and chopped some green onions. The noodles were served in a light pink peony bowl painted with golden patterns, symbolizing wealth. It looked very delicious. After a while of struggle in her heart, Sheng Weiwu hesitated, "If there was no…."

"But what if he spat into it?" Sheng Weiqiao added, "We couldn"t see that, could we?"

Sheng Weiwu, "…"

After hesitating for a while, they made up their minds to put two bowls of noodles on the desk.

A moment later, Sheng Weiwu said, "Don"t you think that we should put the noodles in the corner? It is in my view now."

After a while, they said simultaneously, "We"d better put them outside. I can smell them in the room!"

After those two bowls of noodles were taken to the corridor, they opened the windows to allow the night breeze in and blew the aroma out. Finally, they felt relieved!

But!

Sheng Weiwu tossed and turned and then bit her fingernails. She couldn"t help whispering, "Second sister, I"m hungry!"

"Seventh sister, I am also hungry!" Sheng Weiqiao stared at the beam with her eyes wide open. Hearing that, she said helplessly, "We have to endure. Tomorrow, our parents will not leave us here!"

Sheng Weiwu nodded vigorously and murmured, "Tomorrow I will eat not only eel noodles but the kind of cake made from red bean flour, sugar, agar, etc., fried chicken with chestnuts, wild duck rolls, tofu and chub, the braised soft-sh.e.l.led turtle with sauce, simmered bamboo shoots, multi-layer steamed buns, puddings made of soaked beans, Suoyi cakes, fried shark fins with vegetables…"

"Seventh sister!" Sheng Weiqiao interrupted her, "If you continue murmuring those, we will be hungrier!"

Sheng Weiwu said obediently, "I"ll stop murmuring. Have a good night!"

The sound made by the straw when they turned over and over didn"t die away until daybreak.

After spending a hard time, it was dawn. They were very hungry. Suddenly, the door opened. Sheng Lanci led several servants in. Waving his hand, they set a table of 1/3 meters in diameter in the empty area, followed by maids flooding into the room. Delicious dishes appeared quickly on the table.

Mackerel, Stomach of beef, Jie sauce, Roasted meat, Fried Fish with honey, Mutton cooked in the northern tribe"s manner, The whole sheep with many delicacies in its stomach, Soft-sh.e.l.led turtle with various seasonings, Three hundred tongues of sheep and deer, Meat-and-egg b.a.l.l.s, Fried chicken with vinegar and chopped green onions, Fried eggplants with sugar and vinegar, Songhuang soup, Kebab, Chicken velvet, Fish cooked with wine, Swimming crab cooked with honey, Boiled pickled shrimps, Jellyfish with ginger and vinegar, Steamed slices of goose, Clam fried with diced pork, Braised pork leg, Cooked tofu made of chicken"s brain, Simmered trepang, Chicken wrapped with lotus leaves….

Seeing those, Sheng Weiqiao walked with fast pace toward them subconsciously. She was going to pick up the nearest Swimming crab cooked with honey with ivory chopsticks. However!

At the moment!

Sheng Shuihe came out from somewhere they didn"t pay attention to. He snickered and slapped the ivory chopsticks off her hand, "Want to eat something delicious?! Have you asked for my approval?"

With the sound of "Bah, Bah, Bah," he spat into each dish on the table with lightning speed!

Sheng Weiqiao couldn"t believe what he saw just now. She burst into tears because of sorrow…

When crying with much grief, she wondered why her father didn"t comfort her or give that son of a mistress a rollicking. Then she felt that she was shaken hard by someone, "Second sister, second sister. Wake up! Wake up! Why are you crying? Are you all right? Second sister, don"t scare me…."

She said the last sentence in a sobbing tone.

Sheng Weiqiao opened her eyes suddenly. It was daybreak, but the door was still closed.

There was no father, no servants, and no maids serving meals. What"s more, the place when the table in her dream was set had nothing but spotless green bricks, reflecting the dim morning light shone through the window. It seemed like frost. What a desolate scene!

Sheng Weiwu, wearing only the underwear-like clothing, was holding her shoulder nervously. The seven-year-old girl was obviously frightened by her, tears rolling in her eyes.

"I"m okay. I just had a dream," Sheng Weiqiao held her sister in her arms and comforted her, "I dreamed that dad brought us a table of delicacies. When I was about to eat, that son of a mistress spat into all of them…."

Although it was a dream, Sheng Weiqiao still felt the indescribable pain. She was about to cry again as she spoke while Sheng Weiwu stopped crying. Wiping her tears with a grudge, she said fiercely, "I hated that son of a mistress! After this, we must make him experience the feeling of being trapped in the ancestral hall. No delicacies. No drinks!"

"Good idea!" Sheng Weiqiao clenched her fist and said with hatred, "We will spit into his dishes every day!"

"Also mixing with sand!"

"And with laxative!"

"Forget about c.o.c.kroaches. They are too dirty to touch, even if it is for putting into his dishes!"

"Stupid, we can let our maids do that!"

"Right! My second sister is the smartest!"

However, the beautiful fantasy collided with the harsh reality. When they were discussing ways to torture Sheng Shuihe and carelessly cleaned up themselves beside the water vat in the yard, they turned around and saw the smiling face of Sheng Shuihe. He said, "You got up? Good! Cooks have made wontons with chicken soup today. I stole two bowls of wonton as well as a few steamed buns with vegetables and beans stuffing when n.o.body noticed. Eat before they get cold!"

When saying, he had taken the dishes out of the food container and put them one by one on the stone table in the yard. The soup base was filtered through gauze for several times. It was filled in a black-glazed bowl with wide rim and cony hair patterns. The soup looked as clear as pure water with cloud-like wontons floating on the soup. The stuffing was as small as a fingernail, and the wrapper was as thin as the cicadas" wing. There were also some chopped green onions as toppings and some silk-like cooked eggs in it.

With only one glance, they could not stand the attraction of the delicacies after one night"s torturing.

While Sheng Shuihe saw that two bowls of eel noodles in the corridor, he said with regret, "Why didn"t you trust me? I"ve told you that I would not spit, or put sand, c.o.c.kroaches or laxative into the noodles. You could have just eaten with no worries!"

"Go away!" Sheng Weiqiao shouted. She could no longer bear it. She grabbed the front of his jacket and pushed him out, shouting angrily, "Who told you to deliver the food? Ask someone else to do this, or we will not eat! Let"s see whether you can take responsibility if we are ill out of hunger!!!"

"You must think twice. If someone else was sent to bring you food, unlike me, they dare not to do against Senior Master!" Sheng Shuihe persuaded them with sad facial expressions, "At that time, you will have to eat only vegetable and tofu dishes with rice, without even a drop of lard. If so, I can"t help laughing just thinking about it… Oh no, I feel distressed! I was so distressed that I said it wrong!"

I knew the son of a mistress was not a kind one!

Sheng Weiqiao was burning with anger. She pulled and kicked him. Sheng Weiwu also came to help her sister. They beat and cursed him out. Back in the yard, seeing dishes of wonton with chicken soup and vegetable-and-dried tofu steamed buns, they were so furious that they threw them on the ground, saying, "I don"t believe that dad, mom, and grandfather can leave us here with no food and drinks?!"

It proved that their parents and grandfather would not do such things indeed. So, half-day later, a servant came to deliver them food.

Although the servant sent the same as Sheng Shuihe predicted, vegetable and tofu dishes with rice, the two hungry sisters ate them with a good appet.i.te, "The vegetable is delicious, and the tofu is also delicious! Huh, that son of a mistress said that there were only vegetables and tofu available. Anything wrong with these?!"

They didn"t know Sheng Shuihe was standing outside near the wall. He rubbed his chin with one hand and thought that although the two spoiled girls definitely couldn"t stand vegetable and tofu dishes after a few days… it was too slow!

With his hands down, he showed a mysterious smile, "Even though I was cheated here, fortunately, my sisters are still young to be taught!"

He could teach a gangster who killed people like flies and committed all manners of crimes like a little white rabbit, not to mention two innocent girls.