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

Chapter 17 Look how scared the child is!

"Mother, do you think my eldest sister can lend money to my second brother?" Gu Taohua asked.

"Then who knows."

Tong Huaqiong felt this was a difficult matter.

In Tong Huaqiong's memory, Gu Baishuang awakened after the funeral of the old man of the Gu family, and was completely disappointed with Gu Dashu and others, and from then on cut off all contact with the Gu family.

But it's all good, it lets Gu Dashu temper his fierceness with Gu Baishuang.

"Mother, don't you care at all about Yaozu being sent away?"

"Then what do you suggest we do? Why don't you go in her place?"

Gu Taohua shrank her neck in fright.

"Grandma, Auntie."

A soft, sweet voice came from inside. Man'er stepped through the door, her small basket on her back filled with grass.

"Man'er went to cut grass again."

Tong Huaqiong sighed almost imperceptibly.

Children from poor families mature early, and children born into poor families with wicked grandmothers are even more likely to take on heavy responsibilities from a young age.

"Cut grass to feed the pigs." Man'er ran to the pigpen, took off her basket, and called out a few times.

A four-month-old pig grunted and ran to the feeding trough.

Tong Huaqiong strode over, grabbed the basket on her back, and poured the grass into the pig trough.

"Man'er is really capable," Tong Huaqiong said.

The pig in the pigpen was bought by Gu Dahan, and it is usually fed by Man'er who cuts grass.

The piglets were happily eating in front of their troughs.

Braised pork belly, sweet and sour pork ribs, braised pig's head... The pig in front of her transformed into plates of delicious dishes, and Tong Huaqiong was so hungry for meat that she went crazy.

However, the thought of the pork from this era having a strong, unpleasant smell that even spices couldn't mask made Tong Huaqiong want to slaughter the pig she was raising.

But she doesn't know how to castrate pigs; if she accidentally kills one, it would be a huge disaster.

After all, buying a pig these days costs a lot of money.

Who knows how to castrate pigs these days? Tong Huaqiong plans to ask the knowledgeable village chief when she has some free time.

"Grandma, we'll grow this pig and sell it to pay for Uncle's schooling." Man'er blinked her big, bright eyes, interrupting Tong Huaqiong's thoughts.

Suddenly remembering that his grandmother had stopped his uncle from going to school, he changed his mind and said, "The money from selling them will be used to buy cakes and lamb legs for Grandma."

Grandma loves to eat mung bean cakes from town, and Uncle buys them for her every time he comes home. Man'er remembers that.

Tong Huaqiong patted Man'er's head and said, "Good girl, Grandma doesn't want it, use the money to make Man'er a pretty dress."

The child's clothes are too worn out.

When Man'er heard that Tong Huaqiong was going to make her a flowery dress, she smiled happily.

Just like the pink floral dress her aunt was wearing with butterflies, she wanted one too.

Tong Huaqiong saw that Man'er's forehead was covered in sweat, and realized how tired the child was, so she wiped the sweat from Man'er's forehead and then went inside to pour her some tea.

As I carried the teacup out, I saw the diligent Man'er already squatting in front of the washbasin, rubbing the clothes.

A pair of small hands vigorously rubbed Tong Huaqiong's clothes, her twin buns on her head rising and falling with the rubbing motion, and her little face was still covered in sweat. Tong Huaqiong felt extremely distressed and pointed at Gu Taohua, who was resting in the courtyard, and scolded, "What kind of aunt are you? You just watch your niece rub clothes, are you stuck to your bottom and can't move?"

Gu Taohua: "..."

Why am I being scolded again?

These past few days, my mother has been like a firecracker, ready to explode at any moment on her three biological siblings.

She also did some work, going to town with her mother to sell dried pancakes for half a day. She carried the entire basket of dried pancakes herself, and she ate four bowls of porridge in the morning and spent the entire day there.

She looks so thin when she looks in the mirror these past two days!
"Mom, I'm so hungry and tired right now." Gu Taohua looked aggrieved, lifted her bottom slightly, and then sat down again.

"Tired? Hungry? I'm not tired or hungry. I work myself to the bone to support the family, and you expect me to serve you? Go cook for me." Tong Huaqiong put her hands on her hips and shooed Gu Taohua into the kitchen.

Tong Huaqiong then moved the stool that Gu Taohua was sitting on next to Man'er and said to Man'er, "Man'er, put it down, I'll wash the clothes."

Man'er shook her head and said, "Man'er will rub it."

Child, you don't actually need to be so sensible!

Tong Huaqiong sighed and started washing clothes with Man'er.

This life is too hard!

Although Tong Huaqiong grew up in a small town, her parents owned a factory and her family was always well-off. They had a washing machine at home since she was a child, and she almost never had to hand-wash clothes.

When she was in high school, her parents' factory went bankrupt, and she thought she was going to have a hard time. But right around the same time, her family was relocated and the compensation money actually made them even wealthier. In addition, her parents spoiled her and never skimped on her money.

Therefore, the words "bitter days" do not exist in her dictionary.

I never expected that after transmigrating here, I would be surrounded by children and grandchildren, yet I would have to live a hard life.

Tong Huaqiong frowned, which in Man'er's eyes meant that her grandmother was angry again, how scary!
"Grandma, will you always treat Man'er this well?" Man'er raised her big, dark eyes and asked timidly.

Look how scared the child is.

The old hag Tong Da-jiao has left a deep scar on the child; even though she has become kinder, she still frightens the child from time to time.

Tong Huaqiong relaxed her brows and said with a kind expression, "Of course we will always be good to Man'er, not only always, but we will be even better."

"Grandma will make sure Man'er lives a good life, with meat at every meal and new clothes to wear every day," Tong Huaqiong said.

Man'er smiled happily.

Since her grandmother said so, she believed her. A few days ago, her grandmother brought her steamed buns and pastries when she came back from the county, which she loved to eat.

"Grandma, I like Grandma the way she is now." Man'er said innocently.

Tong Huaqiong wanted to facepalm. Who would like the old Tong Dajiao anymore?

"Grandma likes Man'er too." Tong Huaqiong scrubbed the clothes vigorously.

So, after Chen Sufeng got the sieve from Aunt Qin and returned home, she saw her mother-in-law and her daughter sitting together washing clothes.

The two, one big and one small, were chatting and laughing.

It was quite cozy.

The sight of the grandmother and granddaughter under the setting sun brought tears to Chen Sufen's eyes. She never imagined that she and her daughter would one day see the light at the end of the tunnel and win her mother-in-law's heart.

She heard the entire conversation between the grandfather and grandson.

My daughter asks her grandma if she will turn back to normal when she goes to bed at night.

Although she comforted her daughter by saying that her grandmother would continue to be well, she was still unsure, always afraid that her mother-in-law would revert to her old ways, acting domineeringly and abusing them to the point of death.

But from now on, she's stopped thinking about it. Anyway, every day her mother-in-law becomes nicer is a bonus.

"Mother, this is an egg pancake that Aunt Qin gave me. Why don't you have a piece of egg pancake to tide you over?"

Chen Sufeng was skillful and would often sew shoe soles for Aunt Qin. Aunt Qin felt sorry for her because she was always being mistreated by her mother-in-law, so she would always give Chen Sufeng food whenever she saw her.

This time is no exception.

Smelling the aroma of the egg pancakes, Tong Huaqiong realized that she had been trying hard to resist the delicious smell of the dry pancakes back in town, but now she was really overwhelmed by the aroma.

As the person at the top of the Gu family pyramid, it was a sign of respect for her daughter-in-law that she ate the egg pancake that Aunt Qin gave to Tong Dajiao.

But she can't bring herself to be shameless and eat alone; Man'er doesn't even get any.

“Peach Blossom is cooking. I’m not hungry. You and Man’er can have the egg pancakes,” Tong Huaqiong said.

"Mom, you rest. Put the clothes down and I'll wash them later." Chen Sufeng thought to herself that her mother-in-law had already worked hard selling dried cakes in town for most of the day, so she couldn't let her do the laundry.

"This is the last thing left. After you wash it, you and I will boil mung beans, grind them, and make mung bean cakes and mung bean pastries together," Tong Huaqiong said.

Chen Sufeng nodded, then handed the egg pancake to Man'er and said with a smile, "Man'er, you and Grandma can eat the egg pancake together."

This shows their determination to be filial.

Man'er took the egg pancake, and the aroma up close completely shattered Tong Huaqiong's will.

So when Man'er put a piece of egg pancake to her mouth, she ate it without hesitation.

It smells so good!

"Mother, about Yaozu..."

"Don't concern yourself with Yaozu's affairs," Tong Huaqiong interrupted Chen Sufen.

Chen Su-fen dared not mention it again.

"By the way, Mother, I just heard at the village entrance that Matchmaker Wang came to propose marriage for Xiaoyan from the Chen family. Will she gossip about our family outside?"

Matchmaker Wang was not someone to be trifled with, and Chen Su-fen was worried that she would spread rumors about her mother-in-law.

After all, the mother-in-law's move to break off the engagement with the Zheng family was too shocking!

What if the matchmaker Wang talks nonsense? Wouldn't that damage the mother-in-law's reputation?

"What did she say? That I'm an old cow trying to seduce the young master of the Zheng family? Let her say what she wants, I don't care, my reputation has always been bad anyway." Tong Huaqiong said indifferently.

Since her mother-in-law didn't care, Chen Sufen had nothing to worry about.

So he turned around and went to collect the soaked mung beans.

To Tong Huaqiong and Chen Sufeng's surprise, the news brought by Matchmaker Wang almost made their second daughter-in-law, Liu Yue'e, faint!
(End of this chapter)