Chapter 18

Shen Yue had been vomiting nonstop, but Shen Shuangyi didn't explain. She had already detected the loopholes in Zou Xuezheng's words.

After she finished using the pot, she left a note saying she had boiled dog fur in it, so it couldn't be used anymore.

If Zou Xuezheng saw that she had used this pot, and insisted that she had boiled something dirty in it, it meant Zou Xuezheng had taken a close look at the pot.

But when she was boiling the fur, she had kept an eye on the kitchen the whole time, and no one had come near it. That meant Zou Xuezheng had only gone in after she finished boiling the fur.

At that time, she had already thrown the note into the pot. But when she checked it again early this morning, the note in the pot was gone.

Given the depth of the pot and the location of the kitchen, even heavy rain overnight couldn't have blown the note away. It could only have been taken by someone.

Originally, Shen Yue didn't know who had taken it, but now she could be certain it was Zou Xuezheng.

Zou Xuezheng had taken a close look at the pot, found the note, and took it away.

Moreover, now Zou Xuezheng acted as if she was the only one who knew, so she must have taken the note away shortly after Shen Yue left.

Shen Yue didn't know why Zou Xuezheng would do this, and she didn't want to find out. Sometimes wicked women acted for no reason at all—they were just plain wicked.

Now Zou Xuezheng was certain Dong Nuo didn't know, which was why she was stirring up trouble there. But the production team knew, since Shen Yue had asked them to change the pot in the early morning, so there was no problem.

Shen Yue stood leisurely next to Shen Shuangyi, looking perfectly calm.

Seeing the unhurried Shen Yue, Shen Shuangyi suddenly felt his little sister, who he hadn't seen in so long, seemed a bit tougher than he remembered. He tried sounding her out, "You're sitting pretty comfortably there. You want me to help cover up your big mistake?"

Hearing Shen Shuangyi's words, Shen Yue didn't say anything, just glanced at him and ran over to stand next to Jiang Shiwen to keep watching the show.

Shen Shuangyi, whose face had been slapped: ......

Fine, he wouldn't get angry for his older brother's sake, but he definitely wouldn't protect this little rascal in this matter!

Jiang Shiwen, on the other hand, welcomed Shen Yue. He lowered his head and started eating melon seeds with her, saying, "Did you offend that woman? Why does she keep biting you?"

He didn't seem worried for Shen Yue at all, just enjoying the drama. Shen Yue didn't reply, but she also hoped Zou Xuezheng would stop singling her out and switch to someone else.

On the other side, Dong Nuo finally finished vomiting. Zou Xuezheng comforted Dong Nuo while helplessly looking at Shen Shuangyi.

Seeing Shen Shuangyi ignore her, she naturally turned to Li Xing. As expected, Li Xing immediately yelled at Shen Yue, "Shen Yue, you've gone too far this time! That pot doesn't just belong to you, it's everyone's! Why didn't you tell us after you used it for something that wasn't food? Look what you've done to poor Nuo!"

Then he looked meaningfully at Shen Shuangyi and said, "Bro Shen, you can't indulge the child too much either. She has to realize when she's wrong."

Shen Shuangyi yawned and turned his head. "How can you convict her with just one side of the story? Did you even ask Shen Yue?"

【Yeah, I really can't stand these two anymore. I saw with my own eyes the note Shen Yue wrote yesterday. Is this woman blind or what, spouting nonsense like that?!】

【I don't think this is so simple. Shen Yue must have left a note yesterday. Zou Xuezheng probably didn't know the production team changed pots in the middle of the night, so how could she be certain Dong Nuo didn't see Shen Yue's note?】

【Fuck, the more I think about it, the more terrifying it gets. Isn't this supposed to be a survival reality show?】

【Is there anyone who was in Zou Xuezheng's livestream last night who can say something? I'm so nervous.】

【The cameras were off at night, no one could see clearly.】

【Relying on others isn't as good as relying on yourself. Mystery solved—Zou Xuezheng went into the kitchen shortly after Shen Yue left last night, but we can't see if she took the note.】

【Don't go conspiracy theorizing. Maybe the pretty lady was just being nice. Why would she mess with a kid?】

Unable to find a motive for Zou Xuezheng, the barrage of comments could only speculate without substantive evidence.

Hearing Shen Shuangyi's words, Shen Yue was a bit surprised. She had thought her second brother would dislike her more, but unexpectedly he was speaking up for her in this situation. Shen Yue felt a slight stirring in her heart. She had been planning to watch the drama a while longer, but since Shen Shuangyi had said that, she took out the note she had written for the production team to see in the early morning and handed it to Shen Shuangyi.

Seeing Shen Yue's note, the smile on the corner of Shen Shuangyi's lips grew more smug.

"Oh, I already know what really happened. No more vomiting over there. Let me read this out: Compensation request: The pot was used to boil dog fur and needs to be changed." Holding the note, Shen Shuangyi looked towards the production team, very certain. "This should be a request for compensation from you. You've already changed the pot?"

Only then did the production team respond, "Yes, changed."

Shen Shuangyi asked again, "When was it changed?"

"4 AM."

Hearing this time, Dong Nuo finally stopped vomiting, since he didn't get up to wash until 6 AM, by which time the clean pot was already there.

Zou Xuezheng patted Dong Nuo's hand and barely kept her expression from crumbling. She hadn't expected Shen Yue to resolve the pot change issue so quickly. She had planned to use this matter to establish a contrast with herself, but that was clearly not going to work now.

She had to make repairs, fast.

Zou Xuezheng reacted swiftly, immediately apologizing to Shen Yue, "Oh, that's what happened. I'm sorry, I didn't know the pot had already been changed. Since this child Shen Yue wasn't explaining earlier, I assumed...I'm sorry, I was biased. Yueyue, I hope you can forgive big sis."

Shen Yue didn't speak, still maintaining an expression as emotionless as before.

Now Zou Xuezheng was both admitting fault and passing the buck, forcibly shifting the crowd's attention from her to Shen Yue.

In Shen Yue's memories, her big sister had given her training. She understood clearly that Zou Xuezheng's "can you forgive big sis" had directly transferred responsibility to her.

If she forgave Zou Xuezheng, she would be the one at a loss while Zou Xuezheng would gain a reputation for admitting fault. But if she didn't forgive her, Shen Yue would be the ungrateful one while Zou Xuezheng had shown a kind heart.

To deal with this situation, there was only one solution—fight magic with magic.

So Shen Yue scurried behind Shen Shuangyi and hid.

Shen Shuangyi reacted perfectly, directly telling Zou Xuezheng, "Stop pressuring her, you scared her."

Hearing this, Shen Yue gave Shen Shuangyi a big mental thumbs up.

Good second brother, I underestimated you before. No one's better at messing with people.