Chapter 58: Supreme Intelligence Breeds Destruction

Feeling deeply chilled, Third Brother Wen let out a sharp cry:
"Second Brother... Are you planning to sell the recipe too? That is our family's only source of income! We don't even have a house or any farmland of our own; we rely entirely on this little trade to survive."
"With so many other families already joining in, there's hardly any profit left. And now, you actually want to sell the recipe to a tavern!"
The three people who had been fighting all came to a halt. Old Madam Wen and the couple from the eldest branch stared at Second Brother Wen in utter astonishment.
Second Brother had never mentioned selling the recipe to any tavern! Nor had he consulted the family about it... Was he planning to keep all the profits for himself?
Second Brother Wen’s expression shifted uncertainly. How on earth did the third branch and that dead girl find out about this?
He hastily denied it: "I didn't..."
Wen Ye sneered: "Shall we go down to the tavern and confront them face to face?"
Second Brother Wen glared at her with a gloomy face.
"Oh, so that's how it is, Second Brother!" Lady Luo sprang to her feet. "No wonder you knew my eldest brother had sold his recipe—it turns out you were planning to sell yours all along! And now that you couldn't pull it off, you're taking your anger out on me."
She had originally taught the recipe to her maiden family hoping to give them an extra way to make a living, but by the time they managed to whip it up, several other stalls had already popped up in town, making it impossible to turn a decent profit. Her eldest brother, deciding to go all the way, had simply sold the recipe outright.
That was what had triggered this whole chain of events.
Clutching at it as if she had caught him in the act, Lady Luo continued, "Fine, it was my fault for teaching it to my family. But you wanted to sell the recipe without giving us the slightest hint, not even telling Mother. What is this? Are the two of you trying to swallow the profits all by yourselves?"
"Second Brother!" Old Madam Wen roared, staring at him with deep disappointment.
Panicking inwardly, Second Brother Wen wiped the sweat from his forehead: "No... it's not that I wanted to keep it secret, it's just that—selling the recipe was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Yes, a spur-of-the-moment decision. When I went out with Mei and the others this morning, I mentioned looking for odd jobs in the county seat. But we couldn't find anything."
"Then, seeing that business was so bleak and we couldn't keep it going anyway, I figured we might as well sell the recipe. That's why I went to the tavern just to ask about the going rate."
Only then did Old Madam Wen's expression soften. Besides, since he was her favorite son, now that she had an excuse and a way to save face, she decided not to press the matter further.
Third Brother Wen, however, felt a chill in his heart. Business at the old family homestead might be failing, but his own family's business was still doing quite well!
Wen Yu'er voiced what Third Brother Wen was thinking: "Uncle Duoliang, your business might be sluggish, but Aunt Ye's family is doing rather well and can still keep making money. If you actually want to sell the recipe, aren't you cutting off the very livelihood of Aunt Ye's family?"
With a tragic expression, Third Brother Wen said, "Second Brother... how could you treat us like this?"
Feeling somewhat guilty, Second Brother Wen hurriedly shifted the blame: "Third Brother, I—I haven't even started on you yet! That recipe was already sold by Ye a long time ago! I asked around at Decai Tavern in the county seat this morning, and the shopkeeper said they already had the recipe—it was sold by Ye! She sold it ages ago! What kind of malicious intentions does she have?"
Third Brother Wen was stunned, staring at Wen Ye in disbelief.
Wen Ye let out a cold laugh: "Oh, you petty thieves are allowed to sell it, but I, the original owner, can't? Besides, Decai Tavern is in the county seat; selling it to them won't affect anyone's business here. What's the problem?"

The villagers caught the meaning and nodded in agreement.
The expressions of Second Brother Wen and the others turned ugly.
Everyone present finally understood: Wen Ye had anticipated that the old homestead would try to sell the recipe, so she had sold it to the county seat ahead of time, completely blocking off the old homestead's route to cashing in on her recipe.
All they could say was that this girl was shrewd to the core! And she had right on her side, too.
Second Brother Wen was so infuriated he nearly keeled over backward. That familiar, maddening sensation was back again!
When was the last time it happened?
Ah, right, the last time was when they had finally gotten their hands on the third branch's recipe and were raking in money hand over fist every day. But a mere two days later, several new stalls popped up out of nowhere and ruined their business!
And now she had cut him off at the pass when he tried to sell the recipe!
Wherever they went, she blocked their path! How could there be such a sickening, chest-tightening, infuriating little wretch of a girl?
Driven mad with rage, Second Brother Wen blurted out, "You wretched girl, how dare you sell the recipe..."
Wen Ye: "Did you expect me to wait around for you to sell it?"
Second Brother Wen: "You have no family loyalty!"
Wen Ye: "You have no human decency! You use my recipe to make money and still want to sell it behind my back! In your dreams!"
Second Brother Wen: "You've been guarding against us all along! Plotting against us!"
Wen Ye: "If I hadn't guarded against you, would I just wait for you to tear a chunk of flesh off me?"
"Oh, heavens! I'm going to die of anger! I'm going to die of anger!"
The villagers burst into uproarious laughter. "People want to eat the meat they earned themselves, and you get mad just because you can't take a bite out of it. Who acts like that? Besides, she didn't ruin your business; she just sold it in the county seat and got what she rightfully deserved."
Seething with rage, Second Brother Wen stomped into his room, slammed the door shut with a loud bang, and buried his head in the sand like an ostrich.
Wen Ye and the others were in high spirits as they walked home, chatting and laughing.
Quite a few villagers walked along with her, showering her with praise for her cleverness.
Ergou's mother asked, "Ye, how much did you sell that recipe for?"
Wen Ye frowned slightly: "Well... what do you think?"
"Is it thirty taels?"

With a troubled look on her face, Wen Ye replied, "Around that, I suppose. But our family still needs to build a house and buy some farmland, so there won't be much left over."
Ergou's mother and the other villagers had initially felt a twinge of envy, but upon remembering that her family didn't even own a house or a plot of land, and that all that money would just go toward those basic necessities, their envy quickly faded.
Third Brother Wen sighed all the way home, feeling utterly wretched inside. Part of it was the chill he felt toward the old homestead, and part of it was something else...
While Ye was undeniably clever, she was perhaps a bit *too* clever. Always scheming against people and overthinking everything, it made her feel a little unsettling to be around.

That afternoon, when Lady Lin and Wen Yuan returned home and heard about what had happened, they both let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Wen Ye had outsmarted them and sold the recipe first; otherwise, the old homestead would have managed to tear another chunk of flesh out of them.
The whole family was quite happy, except for Third Brother Wen, who remained miserable.
Staring right at him, Lady Lin said, "You saw it for yourself! You kindly taught them the formula so they could make a living. And what did they do? They even wanted to sell the recipe behind our backs and cut off our livelihood. Are you going to be this foolish next time?"
Knowing he was genuinely in the wrong, Third Brother Wen quickly conceded, "I won't, I won't."
Lady Lin looked quite satisfied.
After a moment of thought, Third Brother Wen looked anxiously at Wen Ye: "Ye, from now on, you must consult your mother and me about everything. You can't just go acting on your own authority."
Wen Yuan and Wen Lan looked slightly displeased at that.
Putting down her chopsticks, Lady Lin retorted, "What do you mean, acting on her own authority? That's called having a good head on her shoulders, and being smart!"
Third Brother Wen muttered, "There's a saying that goes... excessive cleverness harms its possessor. Overthinking everything and constantly straining your mind is bad for your health."
Startled, Lady Lin looked at Wen Ye and said, "Well, there is some truth to that saying. Don't strain your mind too much in the future, Ye."
Wen Ye smiled sweetly and nodded, acting as obedient as could be: "Okay, okay!"
She heard them loud and clear, but actually following through with it was out of the question.
In an era where people ate you alive without spitting out the bones, if she didn't use her brains and exhaust herself scheming, the only thing waiting for her was being sold off! Given her looks, who was she supposed to rely on for protection? Count on a bunch of big-headed simpletons like them?