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

Tong Zhijie, having his knife taken away, angrily pointed at Gu Dahan's nose and said, "Since when did it become your place to be in charge of this family?"

Tong Zhijie didn't take Gu Dahan seriously at all.

How can my aunt's stepson compare to him?
He shares the same surname as his aunt, so even if Gu Dahan or Gu Dashu were here, they wouldn't dare stop him from catching chickens.

Dad is right. What's wrong with him eating one of Aunt's chickens? As long as Aunt is around, he should get a share of the Gu family's food.

Thinking this, Tong Zhijie grabbed a hen and pulled it out of the chicken coop.

The hen flapped wildly in Tong Zhijie's hands.

Gu Dahan is most familiar with the chickens, ducks and geese in his home. Tong Zhijie caught a laying hen, which would contribute at least one egg to the family every day.

Gu Dahan was heartbroken.

Gu Dahan said to Tong Zhijie, "This chicken lays eggs, so no one can eat it."

Tong Zhijie completely ignored Gu Dahan and was about to leave with the chicken. When Tong Zhaodi saw that her younger brother had caught the chicken, she turned around and went into the kitchen to boil water to remove the chicken feathers.

Tong Zhijie ignored Gu Dahan's advice, which angered Gu Dahan.

Gu Dahan grabbed Tong Zhijie's wrist, freed the hen, and put it back into the coop. The hen squawked and hid in the nest.

Gu Dahan threatened Tong Zhijie, "I'll hold you accountable even if a single feather is missing from my chickens."

Tong Zhijie was pampered and delicate, while Gu Dahan was very strong. When Tong Zhijie's wrist met Gu Dahan's palm, he cried out in pain.

Instantly, the Gu family's courtyard descended into chaos.

"Da Han, what are you doing? Are you trying to kill someone?" Tong Fusheng sat up from the recliner.

Hearing her son's cries of pain, Wang crawled out from the main house and rushed to Gu Dahan's side, banging her head against him.

He slammed the car in the air while yelling, "So what if he ate one of his aunt's chickens? You're just a stepson, what right do you have to interfere in their aunt-nephew relationship? Have you gotten too big for your britches to dare to lay a hand on my Zhijie?"

Gu Dahan couldn't stand Wang's persistent pestering and let go of her hand.

This stepmother-in-law is even more difficult to deal with than my previous stepmother.

Tong Zhijie's hand was swollen from being squeezed by Gu Dahan, and Wang was heartbroken.

She had never even hit the Tong family's precious son, yet he was pinched by her sister-in-law's stepson.

Can she tolerate this?
Wang clapped her hands and jumped up and down, striking at Gu Dahan. Gu Dahan had been trained under Tong Dajiao when he was young, and he skillfully dodged the blow as soon as he saw it.

Wang couldn't stop herself and fell to the ground, pulling Tong Zhijie down with her.

Tong Zhijie leaned against the chicken coop and fell down, crashing into the fence with a loud bang. The chickens inside the coop were so frightened that they flapped their wings and flew away in all directions.

Several chickens were so frightened that they lost control of their bladders, and their droppings landed on Wang and Tong Zhijie's bodies and faces.

Tong Zhijie wiped away the chicken droppings, on the verge of tears.

He was the son of a respectable and handsome scholarly family. His hair and face were always slicked back, and his clothes were always fashionable. But now they were all covered in chicken droppings.

Wang's hands were also covered in chicken droppings.

When Gu Dahan saw Wang Shi fall, he thought that she was his stepmother's sister-in-law and his elder, so he should show her some respect and went to help her up.

Wang was so angry that she smeared chicken droppings on Gu Dahan's face.

Gu Dahan held his breath and endured it.

Tong Fusheng sat on Tong Huaqiong's recliner, seemingly unfazed by the farce.

As long as the farce doesn't affect Tong Fusheng, he can ignore it.

However, he was still unhappy when his son was "bullied" by his sister's stepson, and he loudly scolded Gu Dahan.

“Uncle, it’s not that I don’t want Zhijie to kill the chicken, it’s just that my mother said it shouldn’t be killed. If you want to eat, I’ll cook for you,” Gu Dahan said to Tong Fusheng. This was despite Tong Huaqiong’s explicit statement that she intended to sever ties with the Tong family.

Gu Dahan wasn't sure if Tong Huaqiong truly thought that way or was just saying it out of anger.

Especially Tong Zhijie, who had lived in the Gu family for several years, was treated like a son by Tong Huaqiong.

Even if Tong Huaqiong severed ties with her brother and sister-in-law, she couldn't possibly abandon Tong Zhijie.

Therefore, Gu Dahan was quite uneasy about Tong Zhijie's hand being pinched until it was swollen. His softened tone when entertaining Tong Fusheng was also a way of apologizing.

Tong Fusheng said he wasn't in a hurry, and pulled Gu Dahan aside to ask him all sorts of questions, the main one being whether Tong Huaqiong had really opened a shop in town.

Gu Dahan was very honest. Knowing that he couldn't hide this matter, he told the truth.

"Why are you all alone at home? Where did your wife and Dashu Taohua go?" Tong Fusheng asked.

"I went to work at a shop in town," Gu Dahan said.

This sentence made Tong Fusheng's eyes light up.

The fact that the shop needs so many people to help shows that the sister's shop is quite large.

The shop was quite large, bringing in silver every day, which would provide Tong Fusheng with the funds for next year's imperial examinations. Tong Fusheng even considered asking Tong Huaqiong for some money to go to the capital. He felt that the reason he had always failed the imperial examinations and hadn't even become a Xiucai (a lower-level scholar) was simply because of his bad teachers. If he went to the capital and studied under a famous teacher, he was sure he could pass the examinations all the way up from Xiucai to Jinshi (a higher-level scholar).

So what if someone is old and becomes a Jinshi? Jiang Taigong could get a good future even at eighty, let alone him who is only fifty.

Wang asked Tong Zhaodi to boil water and then pulled Tong Zhijie to the yard to wash him.

Upon learning that the Gu family members were all helping out at the shop, he decided to send Tong Zhijie and Tong Zhaodi to the shop as well.

"Brother Dahan, I see there's no food left in the kitchen. What are you planning to do to feed my parents and Zhijie?" Tong Zhaodi searched the entire kitchen and found nothing but flour, so she asked Gu Dahan.

Gu Dahan then remembered that there were no vegetables at home and said, "There are no vegetables at home, I'll go to the field and pick some."

Since the family opened the shop, Tong Huaqiong and the others have been eating lunch there. If they arrive early, they'll eat dinner at home, and every time they do, Tong Huaqiong buys chicken, duck, fish, and meat in town to take home.

Gu Dahan often eats just a simple meal at home, so there are no dishes in the kitchen.

Tong Fusheng asked Gu Dahan, "We've arrived. You said you'd prepare some chicken, duck, fish, or meat? Giving us only vegetables is too meager."

Gu Dahan said with a troubled expression, "I would like to buy chicken, duck, fish and meat to treat you, but I don't have a single penny on me."

Gu Dahan did not lie to Tong Fusheng.

During this period, Tong Huaqiong gave money to the first and second wives privately, but Gu Dahan didn't touch the money; it was all in Chen Sufeng's hands.

Gu Dahan really wanted to go to the village to buy some chickens, ducks, and fish, but he didn't have the money.

Tong Fusheng knew the Gu family's situation very well; his sister would never give money to her stepson.

Tong Fusheng sighed, took out two taels of silver from his pocket, handed it to Gu Dahan, and said, "Go to the village and buy some meat, vegetables, and wine."

Gu Dahan accepted it without hesitation.

After Gu Dahan left, Wang said to Tong Fusheng with dissatisfaction, "Have you lost your mind or something? Why give him money to buy vegetables? Our family only has two taels of silver in total."

Tong Fusheng lay back on the recliner and said, "What do you know? This money is just a temporary payment from me. We'll buy some food and wine and eat. When my sister comes home, I'll ask her for it back. Can she refuse? It's all my sister's money anyway."

Wang understood immediately after thinking about it.

That's right, that's indeed the case.

When my sister-in-law comes home, she will definitely make up for the two taels of silver.

They can not only enjoy a delicious meal, but also do so without spending their own money.

Just like when her brother-in-law held his funeral, the Tong family paid for the burial, and her sister-in-law not only made up for it but also gave an extra five taels. (End of Chapter)