The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 100 Severing Ties with Her Maternal Family

Chen Su-fen looked shocked.

Completely severing ties with one's parents will be criticized no matter where one goes.

She herself has never thought about completely severing ties with her family; the thought of those moral condemnations makes her scalp tingle.

But what her mother-in-law said wasn't wrong either. Everything in the house was earned by her mother-in-law. She was a daughter-in-law of the Gu family, and secretly transferring things to her own family behind her mother-in-law's back would be against her mother-in-law's wishes.

Going against one's mother-in-law's wishes is considered unfilial.

She was too embarrassed to mention it to her mother-in-law. The one or two taels of silver her mother-in-law had given her as a secret stash of money was also taken by her own mother and given to her brother.

"Sister-in-law, let's break it off. Let's cut it off cleanly and be done with it." Liu Yue'e kept stirring things up from the side.

Tong Huaqiong thought Liu Yue'e's performance tonight was excellent.

Liu Yue'e wasn't really concerned about Chen Sufen; she felt that having a Chen family relative who was a hindrance to the Gu family would affect their business.

She was furious. Her family had been so good to her. Her father and older brother had worked themselves to the bone farming and quarrying stones in the mountains, but when the Gu family prospered, they never offered to benefit from their success.

The Chen family nephew, whom we haven't contacted in eight hundred years, wants to work as a waiter at Peach Blossom Dessert Shop. Do they even deserve it?
Liu Yue'e felt somewhat fortunate about the environment in which she grew up.

She secretly planned that once Peach Blossom Dessert Shop opened and business picked up, she could talk to her mother-in-law about having her brother work as a shop assistant. Given her brother's honest and reliable nature, her mother-in-law probably wouldn't refuse.

“You are now a daughter-in-law of the Gu family. From the moment you married into the Gu family, the Chen family has nothing to do with you anymore,” Tong Huaqiong said again, then delivered another heavy blow to Chen Sufeng, “Not only do you want to sever ties with your family, but I also plan to sever ties with the Tong family.”

Chen Sufen was shocked, and Liu Yue'e's eyes widened.

If Chen Sufeng's contributions to her family were at a bronze level, then Tong Dajiao's contributions were at a king level.

The Tong family treated their daughter no better than the Chen family. What decent family would marry their young daughter to a widower with two children? Tong Dajiao's marriage to the Gu family was similar to Chen Sufeng's; both her parents accepted money from the Gu family for the sake of their brothers.

Tong Dajiao had a fiercer temper than Chen Sufeng. In order to transfer things to her parents' home, she dared to throw a tantrum, confront Old Gu directly, and defy her parents-in-law.

Why was the Gu family living such a tight life? Apart from Gu Jingzhe's studies taking up most of the money, most of the remaining food and money were transferred to the Tong family by Tong Dajiao.

After Old Gu's death, she recklessly embezzled from her maternal family for a period of time. If Tong Huaqiong hadn't transmigrated, this phenomenon would have continued until Gu Jingzhe became a high-ranking official in Shengjing.

"No wonder Mother hasn't mentioned the Tong family lately."

After realizing what had happened, Liu Yue'e sighed.

Chen Su-fen also realized what was going on.

That's right. I didn't realize it until I thought about it carefully. Ever since my mother-in-law was knocked unconscious and regained consciousness, she hasn't been to the Tong family's house even once, nor has she asked anyone to bring her anything.

In the past, the pastries would have been sent to the Tong family long ago. Now that the wheat is almost ripe, Gu Dahan and Gu Dashu have been scrambling to work for the Tong family.

“Why bring up their family? I was so foolish and blinded by greed before. I treated them so well, but I never got a kind word in return. Believe me or not, if I were to remarry now, my brother and my father would be eager to steal my dowry,” Tong Huaqiong said.

Liu Yue'e: "."

Chen Su-fen: "."

Tong Huaqiong now runs a business in the town, and everyone in the surrounding area knows about her peach blossom desserts.

The Tong family might not be unaware of this; she had anticipated that the Tong family would eventually come to the Gu family demanding a share of her business.

She guessed it would be after the wheat harvest.

Previously, Tong Dajiao would send her son with his own food to help with the wheat harvest at the Tong family's house. This year, he didn't go, so the Tong family would definitely be puzzled and angry, and would come to the Gu family to ask her for an explanation.

She wasn't afraid of the Tong family coming to her door. As an only child raised in modern times, she wouldn't be a "brother-supporting demon" or a "sister-supporting demon."

Besides, she's not Tong Dajiao; what does the fate of the Tong family have to do with her?

"So Sufen, I'm severing ties with the Tong family, and you have to sever ties with the Chen family too. Let's make the most of our lives together," Tong Huaqiong said.

Influenced by Chen Sufen, who was still wavering, Chen Sufen gritted her teeth and said, "I will listen to my mother. I will never have anything to do with the Chen family again."

“However, when your parents pass away, I will allow you to return home to wear mourning clothes,” Tong Huaqiong added.

Chen Su-fen felt slightly better.

For someone from ancient times, being willing to completely sever ties with one's maternal family was already a breakthrough, but if one's parents died and one did not attend their funeral, Chen Sufeng probably could not accept it.

Therefore, the thoughtful Tong Huaqiong specially added an agreement for Chen Sufen.

It's simply to lessen her guilt. Once her guilt is reduced, she won't face moral condemnation from the Chen family.

This also reaffirmed the determination to sever ties between Chen Su-fen and the Chen family, meaning that you cannot have any contact with the Chen family until your parents die.

"Mom, why don't I see any baked pastries today?"

After deciding to sever ties with the Chen family, Chen Su-fen composed herself and began focusing on her own family.

She didn't smell any aroma when she got home, so she assumed that Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua were too tired from setting up their stall, and that Liu Yue'e couldn't handle the workload at home, so the pastries hadn't been baked.

Tong Huaqiong shook her head and said, "I don't plan to set up my stall for the next three days."

Chen Sufeng looked surprised and asked, "Why? Is Mother worried about the work in the threshing ground? Dahan and I can handle it."

With the wheat almost ripe, Chen Sufeng naturally thought about the wheat field.

Before the wheat harvest, the threshing floor needs to be cleared to facilitate the subsequent threshing and drying of the wheat.

Tong Huaqiong said, "That's not the reason. Your third brother has already cleared part of the wheat field today."

Liu Yue'e chimed in, "Mother and Dashu were robbed by the owner of Su Shi Yuan on their way back today. They even stole our pastry recipes."

"What?" Chen Sufeng was so shocked that she completely forgot about her family.

"That damned Manager Feng!"

Liu Yue'e recounted Tong Huaqiong's ordeal to Chen Sufen, cursing through gritted teeth as she spoke.

Chen Sufeng's face turned pale upon hearing this. She knew that Gu Dashu and her mother-in-law were both alright, only that the pastry recipe had been handed over. She said, "If the recipe has been handed over, then so be it. As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn."

"The more this is the case, the less we should be afraid of Su Shi Yuan."

One second Tong Huaqiong was inwardly cursing Chen Sufeng for not being decisive enough in treating her family, but the next second she was impressed by Chen Sufeng's treatment of Manager Feng.

She had a more open-minded perspective than Gu Dashu, Gu Taohua, and Liu Yue'e.

Chen Su-fen didn't ask Tong Hua-qiong what to do next, because she trusted her mother-in-law and believed that Peach Blossom Dessert Shop would definitely continue to operate.

“Su Fen is right. What does a recipe matter? The most important thing in business is people. With people around, we can come up with even better recipes. It’s impossible for Peach Blossom Desserts to shut down just because of Su Shi Yuan’s coercion,” Tong Huaqiong said.

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself, "Let Manager Feng of Su Shi Yuan be smug for three days."

She was determined to vent her anger today. She didn't know if Su Shi Yuan could be defeated, but she wanted Manager Feng to leave Yan Guan Town.

(End of this chapter)