Quickly wear salted fish, she won by lying down

Chapter 1745 The Country Girl Looked Down Upon 66
When Grandma Li was a girl in her maiden home, she naturally didn't have much money. So when she suddenly had so much money, it was like winning the lottery. She couldn't help but spend it extravagantly. In addition, she was eager to get along with everyone after entering the family, so she naturally responded warmly to the enthusiasm of Cao Shi and Li Yuan Niang.

Seeing how kind the two men were to her after she gave them gifts and money, she quickly integrated into the royal household and couldn't help but feel happy.

So in the days that followed, the families of Li Erlang and Li Sanlang in the second branch of the family got along very well. Along with Li Yuanniang, these people often got together to eat and drink—using Li San's grandmother's money—and then gathered together to scold Linlang and his wife. They lived a carefree and happy life.

Until Grandma Li ran out of money.

Although Grandma Li's estate was quite successful, the estate manager would only send the money before the Lunar New Year. Apart from the 500 mu of estate, she didn't have much dowry money. After all, her family had already given her 500 mu of estate as part of her dowry, so how could they give her much more? Even the wealthiest merchants wouldn't give their daughters too much as a dowry, letting them take it to their husband's family and benefit someone from another family. After all, this dynasty wasn't like some dynasties that had a custom of lavish dowries. This dynasty didn't have that rule. A dowry of over ten thousand taels of silver was already quite good, and it was only given because of the influence of the royal family.

Because there wasn't much cash left, it couldn't withstand being plundered by Cao Shi, Li Yuanniang, herself, and even Li Sanlang. Naturally, it was quickly plundered away.

If she takes all the money from her parents' home, it's one thing to do it once or twice, but if she keeps going back to get it, not to mention her brother and sister-in-law, even her parents will probably think that her in-laws are greedy. Even if she's using your family's influence, she can't treat our house like a wishing well and come over to take money every day.

These people had gathered together because they could take advantage of Grandma Li, but now that they couldn't, their relationship naturally cooled. Although they weren't exactly estranged—after all, they still wanted to form an alliance to exclude Linlang and her husband—they weren't as close as before.

Unfortunately, they ostracized Linlang and her husband, but Linlang and her husband didn't care at all, which made them feel somewhat regretful.

In Linlang's opinion, their alliance would dissolve sooner or later because Li Sanlang was the second son of the legitimate wife. When Zhao Shi passed away, he would inherit Zhao Shi's private savings. Even if Zhao Shi's private savings were small, she would still have some money. In addition, Li Sanlang's grandmother was a wealthy merchant's daughter. Li Erlang and his wife, as well as Li Yuanniang, could not get anything from their birth mother. It would be good enough if the other party did not take their money and give it to the Cao family.

In comparison, given Cao's jealous nature, seeing that Li Sanlang's family seemed to be even wealthier than Linlang and her husband, she would definitely be unable to bear it—Linlang was wealthy, but not as ostentatious as Li Sanlang's grandmother, and people felt that Linlang's money was dwindling with every expenditure, while Li Sanlang's grandmother owned an estate and earned several hundred taels of silver every year, so her money wouldn't be dwindling, and might even be increasing, something Cao did not possess.

Given her personality, it would be strange if Grandma Li had a fixed amount of money to spend every year, not envious and jealous.

Linlang speculated that over time, Cao might become even more jealous of Granny Li, because in her mind, Granny Li had more money than Linlang, which would definitely make people more jealous.

This won't be long. It's estimated that by the end of the year, when the good fortune from Granny Li's estate arrives, Cao will be unable to bear seeing Granny Li enjoying a life of luxury, buying beautiful clothes and jewelry.

Leaving aside the year-end matters, even right now, they have their own things to worry about. For example, Cao Shi and Granny Li San still have to contend with their husbands' concubines, unlike Li Yu, who hasn't taken any concubines yet. Linlang has far fewer things to worry about, unlike them, who have many things to worry about. And because Granny Li San is out of money, Cao Shi can't get any more money out of her, so she now has to find ways to make money. So, she has a lot on her plate.

Grandma Li was also dumbfounded.

She suddenly had a lot of money, like she had won the lottery, so she spent it lavishly. Now that she has spent all the money, she suddenly feels like she can't go on living. After all, she lives a very comfortable life at her parents' house where they are wealthy.

Even someone like Cao Shi, with her privileged background, couldn't live without money, let alone Grandma Li, who had always lived a life of luxury. She couldn't take it anymore.

Unable to bear it any longer, Grandma Li, though not foolish enough to sell the estate deed for money, took some of the jewelry her family had made for her wedding and had her servants pawn it to get silver so she could continue eating and drinking.

However, this time, after experiencing the hardship of being penniless, Grandma Li suddenly realized the benefits of money. So this time, she exchanged her jewelry for cash. When she was eating and drinking well, she no longer invited Cao Shi and Li Yuanniang to come and enjoy themselves with her. Instead, she enjoyed herself alone. After all, inviting the two of them would mean ordering a few more dishes, and the dishes in that big kitchen were all incredibly expensive. Every time she invited Cao Shi and Li Yuanniang, she would have to order a few more dishes. With her limited money, she would run out of food in no time, which was definitely not feasible. So Grandma Li stopped inviting the two of them.

So, before the end of the year was even over, the alliance among them collapsed. Cao Shi and Li Yuanniang, seeing that Li San's grandmother had been short of money for a few days and then suddenly had money again, assumed that Li San's grandmother had gone to her parents' home to ask for money again. They were waiting for Li San's grandmother to invite them over so they could continue to eat and drink and receive some gifts, allowing them to take advantage of her. However, Li San's grandmother didn't invite them and just ate and drank in her own courtyard. This made Cao Shi and Li Yuanniang very unhappy.

Some people are like this: they should be satisfied when they've taken advantage of others, but when someone stops letting them, even though it's perfectly reasonable, the other person immediately starts to hate them and thinks they're no good.

This is a classic case of "a little kindness is appreciated, but too much kindness breeds resentment."

The situation is similar for Cao Shi and Li Yuanniang now.

Seeing that Granny Li had money again, using it to have the main kitchen prepare all sorts of delicious food and bring it to her courtyard, but not inviting them to eat with her, while they ate the same set meals provided by the main kitchen for the entire household, they were immediately filled with anger.

It's not that the rations in the manor are bad, but the food cooked in large pots is just so-so. The food that Grandma Li pays to have the main kitchen cook for her is definitely much better. Cao Shi and Li Yuan Niang knew this when they used to eat with Grandma Li.

Just thinking about how delicious it would taste, while he was eating the bland, rationed food in the mansion, even though it had meat and soup, still made him furious. He felt that Granny Li was no good either. She said that everyone should ostracize Zhou Linlang and her husband, but she was living such a good life without inviting them. So it was only the other way around, that they had to suffer.