The two bad bamboo finally quieted down.
The room was instantly shrouded in silence, with only the sporadic sobs of Chen Sufen breaking it like scattered firecrackers.
Tong Huaqiong tried hard to search her memory for Tong Dajiao.
In the previous life, after struggling in vain, Chen Sufen ran to the Zheng Family to beg them to release Man Er, but of course, they refused.
Tong Dajiao brought Gu Dashi and others to capture Chen Sufen back to the Gu Family and ordered her stepson Gu Dahuan to divorce her.
After being divorced with nowhere to go, Chen Sufen jumped into a well and committed suicide, while Gu Dahuan went mad and eventually froze to death on the streets after the divorce.
If any of Tong Dajiao and her pack of bad bamboo had not gone astray, the entire family wouldn't have been forced to ruin and death.
Tong Huaqiong looked at Man Er with a complicated expression.
Man Er was shivering uncontrollably.
Tong Huaqiong felt she should be shivering instead.
This girl was a hidden boss indeed.
In a former life, Tong Dajiao and her three bad bamboo never thought that young widow Man Er would set fire to kill everyone in the Zheng Family at the age of ten and then disappear.
When she appeared again in front of the Gu Family, she had become the most favored Imperial Concubine.
Imperial Concubine Man Er naturally embarked on a path of revenge.
She repaid the suffering imposed on her and her parents by Tong Dajiao and her ilk a thousand-fold.
Gu Jingzhe's downfall was always driven by her behind the scenes.
Thinking about Man Er ordering the bloody heads of all Gu Family males to be thrown into Tong Dajiao's arms made Tong Huaqiong shiver uncontrollably.
This was a deity not to be provoked!
"Man Er has become so thin, give her an extra egg tonight." Tong Huaqiong couldn't help but say when she saw Man Er's frail arms and legs.
This fearsome deity, she had to maintain well from the start.
"Why should she? She's already part of the Zheng Family, why would she eat our food?" Gu Taohua jumped up, thinking if Man Er ate an extra egg, she'd have one less.
Gu Dashi pressed Gu Taohua down, unable to suppress a smile.
He understood his mother's intent, which wasn't just about Man Er being too thin but also trying to steady big sister-in-law Chen Sufen.
Tong Huaqiong didn't bother with the two bad bamboo, staring at Chen Sufen and said, "Sister-in-law, do as I say."
Chen Sufen and Gu Dashi had thought the same thing.
This is the end, once her mother-in-law showed even a hint of goodwill, both she and Man Er would suffer.
Like the last meal before an execution.
"Mother, please, don't send Man Er to the Zheng Family. If you let her stay, I will serve you faithfully for life; if one lifetime isn't enough, I'll repay you in the next one as a beast of burden." Chen Sufen started to beg and cry.
"Grandma, I don't want to go to the Zheng Family. I can pull weeds, cook, sew clothes… Man Er will work hard at home… work to earn money for Uncle's schooling and let Yaozu eat meat. I won't eat eggs, just drink porridge… don't make me go… boo hoo hoo…" Man Er cried with Chen Sufen.
Man Er was still young and didn't understand why her grandmother insisted on sending her to the Zheng Family.
Yaozu said she was being sold to the Zheng Family, and only by selling her could Uncle go to school, and Yaozu have meat to eat.
She didn't want to go, didn't want to leave her mother.
She could help her mother make soles to support Uncle's studies and save the goodies for Yaozu to eat.
"Alright, stop crying. Man Er won't go to the Zheng Family." Tong Huaqiong made a final decision.
Chen Sufen's sob stopped, not believing her mother-in-law would be so kind.
It must be to keep her calm for now.
"No. Mother, we've already taken the Zheng Family's silver." Gu Taohua's eyes widened.
"Mother, are you out of your mind? If Man Er doesn't go to the Zheng Family, will they let us off?" Gu Dashi had a face full of disbelief.
"Grandma, if Man Er doesn't go to the Zheng Family, I won't get to eat meat." Yaozu said, drooling.
"Eat your father's leg."
"Look at your greedy boy, thinking of eating meat; he might end up eating prison food."
Tong Huaqiong grabbed a pillow and whipped Gu Dashi in front of her.
Having not eaten for three days and after whipping her son, Tong Huaqiong was even hungrier.
"Old lady's hungry, go make me food." Tong Huaqiong shouted, breathing heavily.
Once she was full, she'd see how to deal with these three bad bamboo shoots.
Gu Taohua and Gu Dashi didn't lift their butts an inch.
Anyway, all household chores were Chen Sufen's responsibility, plus a Man Er.
Chen Sufen, hearing her mother-in-law was hungry, had no time to continue pleading and got up quickly to cook in the kitchen.
Man Er followed behind Chen Sufen; she wanted to help light the fire.
"Mom really changed her mind about sending Man Er to the Zheng Family?" Gu Taohua quietly asked her second brother, Gu Dashi.
Gu Dashi gave Gu Taohua a knowing look.
"Mother is that kind-hearted? I'm now also understanding, she wants to keep big sister-in-law calm. When she's off guard, we'll send Man Er to the Zheng Family. That day when big sister-in-law made such a fuss, the steward from the Zheng Family was not happy, saying the Zheng Family didn't want to hear crying at a joyous occasion, so they postponed Man Er's wedding. Once big sister-in-law is not paying attention, we'll send Man Er to the Zheng Family, and once the raw rice is cooked, even if she wants to make a scene, it would be pointless."
Gu Taohua pursed her lips and muttered, "Shouldn't have told big sister-in-law in the first place, should have sent her to the Zheng Family directly."
…
Dinner was ready.
Tong Huaqiong got out of bed and sat at the table.
Except for stepson Gu Dahuan who was sent to carry cement at the dock by Tong Dajiao and Gu Jingzhe who was studying at the private school in town, all the Gu Family bad bamboo were gathered around the table.
Chen Sufen and Man Er, one big and one small, were busy working.
"Taohua, I'm telling you, the material sent by the Zheng Family is really nice. The village head's wife said it's the latest material from the south, no wonder your outfit feels so light and soft."
A somewhat unfamiliar young woman sat at the table, pulling the clothes and discussing the fabric sent by the Zheng Family with Gu Taohua.
Tong Huaqiong searched in her mind; this bad bamboo was Gu Dashi's wife, Liu Yueer, also adept at eating, lazing, and bullying Chen Sufen.
She often slandered Chen Sufen in front of her mother-in-law, and had spent the past three days, while Tong Huaqiong was unconscious, gossiping about neighbors until meal time before returning home.
On the table were a large bowl of stewed cabbage, a large bowl of braised winter melon, a plate of salted shredded vegetables, and a dish of scrambled eggs with chives as the sole semi-meat dish.
Man Er bowed her head setting the chopsticks, while Chen Sufen served the meal.
"Are you all dead, letting a child serve me? I had a blackout for three days, and you all didn't even hand me a pair of chopsticks?"
"Are you all stomachs? Sitting at the table without moving, just waiting for a child to serve you. What a shameless bunch."
Tong Huaqiong, full of anger at these bad bamboo, seeing them so at ease waiting for food, slapped the table hard with a resounding bang.
Man Er was so frightened she dropped the chopsticks all over the ground.
"Not you, don't be afraid." Tong Huaqiong's temper flared, her voice a bit too loud towards Man Er.
Man Er almost kowtowed in fright, but was held up by Tong Huaqiong.
Tong Huaqiong took Yaozu, sitting beside her, by the scruff, lifted him off, and had Man Er sit in the chair instead, saying, "From now on, Man Er eats here."
Seeing her son pulled out from the core seat at the table, Liu Yueer felt indignant but didn't dare to protest against Tong Huaqiong's displeased gaze.
This old bag, losing her mind from the fall, going crazy, mixing personal and impersonal. Even if the girl was to be the Zheng Family's daughter-in-law, she shouldn't surpass her own grandson.
"What are you staring at, go help your big sister-in-law fetch bowls." Tong Huaqiong shouted at Liu Yueer.
Liu Yueer lifted her butt, left the table unwillingly.
Chen Sufen happened to be passing a bowl to Tong Huaqiong and trembled at the sight of her mother-in-law's gaze.