"Mom, I don't need help from my sister-in-law, I can do it myself."
Chen Sufen dared not let Liu Yueer help.
Otherwise, she would later complain to their mother-in-law, and it would be Chen Sufen and Man Er who would suffer.
Chen Sufen first placed the first bowl of rice in front of Tong Huaqiong, then one by one placed the remaining bowls in front of Gu Taohua, Gu Jingzhe, Gu Yaozu, and the few bad bamboos like Liu Yueer.
The remaining bowl was placed in front of Man Er, and finally, she picked up her own bowl and sat far away from the dining table in a corner.
In this family, like an old ox, Chen Sufen was not qualified to sit at the table.
"Come over here and sit," Tong Huaqiong called out to Chen Sufen.
Chen Sufen dared not sit at the table.
"Go get a stool for your sister-in-law." As soon as Tong Huaqiong picked up the chopsticks, she arranged for Gu Taohua, who was about to grab the eggs, to get a stool for her sister-in-law. She was unwilling to get up, knowing that if she left the table, Gu Yaozu would eat up all the scrambled eggs with chives.
"Sister-in-law doesn't need to sit at the table," Gu Taohua muttered, picking up the eggs to stuff them in her mouth.
With a "snap," Tong Huaqiong slapped Gu Taohua's hand holding the chopsticks, and the eggs spilled all over the table.
"If you won't do it, switch places with your sister-in-law."
Tong Huaqiong slapped Gu Taohua on the back again.
This fat girl's body was so thick with fat that it made Tong Huaqiong's hand hurt.
"Yaozu, go get a stool for your aunt," Gu Taohua shot a sideways glance at Yaozu.
Yaozu didn't dare disobey his aunt; he got up and brought a stool.
Chen Sufen didn't dare disobey her mother-in-law's words, and under Tong Huaqiong's knife-like gaze, trembling, she sat at the table.
"Everyone, hold off on eating."
Tong Huaqiong looked at each person's bowl of rice.
The bowl in front of her was thick, Gu Taohua's and Yaozu's bowls were as thick as hers, Gu Dashu's was a bit thinner, and Liu Yueer's was even thinner than Gu Dashu's.
When it came to Chen Sufen and Man Er's bowls, even Tong Huaqiong couldn't help cursing herself as a useless old woman.
Those two bowls of rice were as thin as water, the grains of rice so sparse she could count them at a glance.
Different bowls for different statuses at the Gu Family's dining table were rules set by Tong Huaqiong's original self, Tong Dajiao.
Tong Huaqiong was determined to break this broken rule today.
"Mom, what's wrong with you; are you going to let people eat or not?" Gu Dashu complained, blinking his eyes in hunger.
The dishes on this table were too plain.
He fondly remembered the feast the steward from the Zheng family had treated him to at Zui Qingfeng in the county a few days ago.
The fish and meat and good wine lingered in his mind.
He hoped that Man Er would get married soon, so he could become the shopkeeper at Zheng's shop, and then he could go to Zui Qingfeng every day to eat meat and drink wine.
"Sufen, pour everyone's rice back into the pot and stir it up, then serve it again," Tong Huaqiong said.
Chen Sufen thought she had misheard and didn't dare move.
She had been married into the Gu family for so many years, and the dining table had always had this rule.
"Sufen, are you daring to not listen to me?" Tong Huaqiong knew that being gentle and soft with Chen Sufen would scare her, so she continued with a commanding tone.
"No... Mom, I wouldn't dare..."
Terrified, Chen Sufen stammered, quickly pouring everyone's rice back into the pot, stirring it according to Tong Huaqiong's instructions, and serving it again.
Now everyone's bowl had the same amount of rice.
"How can you eat such watery rice?"
Gu Taohua complained, pouting.
Even though the rice was a gift from the Zheng family, it was offered to the Gu family; was Chen Sufen and Man Er worthy of eating it?
"You can't handle one meal of watery rice? Your sister-in-law eats it every day. Look at you, as fat as a stone pillar, you could crush a fat pig, yet you keep eating," Tong Huaqiong scolded Gu Taohua bluntly.
Gu Taohua gave Chen Sufen a resentful look, then picked up a large chopstick full of eggs and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Eat the dishes." Tong Huaqiong saw that Chen Sufen only lowered her head to drink the watery rice and dared not reach out to pick up the dishes, so she ordered her to do so.
Chen Sufen didn't dare reach out with her chopsticks.
Gu Dashu and Liu Yueer exchanged glances, wondering what was wrong with the old lady today, since her behavior was a bit unusual.
"Where are my and Aunt's boiled eggs?" Yaozu called out.
Chen Sufen almost forgot about the boiled eggs floating in the basin and quickly got up from the table, fetching them and handing one to Yaozu and one to Gu Taohua.
This was per their mother-in-law's rule, saying that the little aunt was a treasured guest in the family, and Yaozu was the heir of the Gu family, so both had an extra boiled egg with each meal to nourish their bodies.
"What about Man Er's?" Tong Huaqiong asked.
Chen Sufen mumbled, "Man Er likes pickles."
With a bang, Tong Huaqiong put down her chopsticks and told Gu Taohua and Yaozu, "Give your eggs to Man Er."
Gu Taohua naturally was not pleased.
At home, all the good food goes to her; otherwise, how could she eat so much like a stone block.
Even an egg per meal is not enough for her, let alone giving one to Man Er; that's out of the question.
"Mom, you said it yourself, daughters need to be spoiled. If my family doesn't let me have the best food, who will care for me when I get married?" Gu Taohua said as she peeled an egg.
"As the eldest grandson of the Gu Family, this egg should be Yaozu's."
Liu Yueer definitely didn't want her son's egg to be given to Man Er, and she cast a fierce glare at Man Er.
Useless girl, trying to steal her son's food, unworthy!
"Man Er won't eat, Man Er will have pickled vegetables." Man Er nervously added a piece of pickled vegetable.
"The title of Gu Family's eldest grandson is useless, even if he's an ancestor, this egg is not for him to eat."
Tong Huaqiong shot a pair of rolling eyes at Liu Yueer.
"So you're not listening to me now, are you?"
Tong Huaqiong then slammed the bowl down hard, snatching the eggs from Gu Taohua and Gu Yaozu's hands to give to Man Er and Chen Sufen, then knocked away Gu Dashu's chopsticks reaching for the scrambled eggs with chives and brought the whole plate of eggs over to herself and Chen Sufen.
"You eat cabbage and pickled vegetables, this plate of eggs is for Sufen, Man Er, and me."
Gu Yaozu had never suffered such a grievance.
As the Gu Family's eldest grandson, he had always been favored, with the best food and clothing only after Gu Taohua. On any normal day, the eggs would be shared between him and his aunt.
But tonight, his grandmother snatched his egg for a useless girl — how could he tolerate that?
His eyes darted around, his mouth pursed, and immediately he opened his mouth wide and started bawling.
"I want eggs, I want eggs."
Liu Yueer, heart aching for her son, immediately tried to snatch the egg from Man Er but recoiled under Tong Huaqiong's sharp gaze.
Chen Sufen, to avoid conflict, was about to hand her egg to Yaozu but was intercepted by Gu Taohua, which made Tong Huaqiong so angry her liver hurt.
Yaozu, after crying for a while, noticed his usually doting grandmother remained unmoved, so he started targeting Man Er.
"Give back my egg."
"Why give my egg to a useless girl."
"You useless girl, go be a young widow at the Zheng Family..."
The words "useless girl" and "widow" ignited Tong Huaqiong, leading her to slap Yaozu's face with a couple of loud smacks.
"No-good bad bamboo, you deserve to be cut in half."
Tong Huaqiong recalled Gu Yaozu's past life's end with a wave of satisfaction.
"Who's the useless girl? Who are you calling a widow?"
Tong Huaqiong picked up the feather duster nearby and struck it toward Gu Yaozu's head.
Gu Yaozu's dry wailing turned into wet crying from the beating.
Liu Yueer urgently tried to protect him.
Gu Dashu pushed Liu Yueer aside, held Gu Yaozu in place, and allowed Tong Huaqiong to beat him. Although Gu Dashu was not a great person, he was still filial to his mother. After all, his son's words were like stabbing at his widowed mother's heart.
Being a widow raising the three siblings wasn't easy.
Anyone who dared to stab at their widow mother's heart deserved a beating, even if he was a son.
"Just because you've grown something down there, you think you're somebody now? You think you're going to bring honor to the ancestors? If the ancestors knew they had a descendant like you, they'd be so angry they'd die in King Yan's arms."
"Black-hearted, worthless spawn. I'll teach you for not being good, I'll teach you for bullying Man Er."
Tong Huaqiong pulled down Yaozu's pants and used the feather duster to whip it across Yaozu's buttocks.
Gu Taohua, eating her egg, watched her nephew getting beaten, and Tong Huaqiong let out a howl as the feather duster shifted its target to Gu Taohua's forehead.
"I'll teach you to eat! I'll teach you to eat! You lazy glutton who does nothing all day but eat, you're worth less than a fat pig, at least a fat pig can be slaughtered for meat during festivities. What good are you? How come you don't just eat yourself to death never moving around?"
Half of the egg Gu Taohua was holding dropped to the ground as she got whipped.
She, who had never suffered even a finger's touch since childhood, was being lashed with a feather duster for the first time.
Ouch, it hurts like hell!
"Mom, are you crazy or what?"
Gu Taohua screamed out loud.
"I am crazy; if I weren't crazy, I wouldn't be beating you. A bunch of worthless seeds raised into such shameless scoundrels, a whole house of bad bamboos that can't grow well. Whipping you is nothing."
Tong Huaqiong cursed as she waved the feather duster around.
"And you, Gu Dashu, with your brain struck by thunder, and your despicable nature. Doing nothing all day, dreaming of becoming the Shopkeeper with your niece's help. Are you dreaming your ancestors' dreams?"
"And this wife of yours is no good thing either. You two are a match made in hell. Ganging up to bully the elder family, pulling off shameless, lawless acts. I'll whip all you dogs to death."
Not only did she beat Gu Yaozu and Gu Taohua, but she also started hitting Gu Dashu and Liu Yueer.
A few bad bamboos scrambled around the house, chased by Tong Huaqiong.
Tong Huaqiong, in madness, hit whoever she could catch, swapping the feather duster for a fire poker when it wasn't enough, and chased a few bad bamboos out into the yard with it.
Every one of them, hit hard on their shoulders, backs, thighs, and butts.
The entire Gu Family was plunged into a wailing chaos.