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

After saying that, Tong Huaqiong ignored Tong Zhijie.

She wasn't like Tong Dajiao; she had absolutely no liking for this cheap nephew.

Tong Fusheng and Wang were secretly alarmed; their sister was even having a problem with her most beloved Tong Zhijie.

"Zhijie, if you're not going to eat, then clean up the dishes," Tong Huaqiong ordered Tong Zhijie directly.

Tong Zhijie raised his head and looked at Tong Huaqiong in disbelief.

He's never even washed a pair of chopsticks in his life, and now you want him to do chores?
He wouldn't do that.

Gu Dashu chimed in, "Zhijie, I'm not trying to be mean, but all this food was prepared by your mother and sister, and you just sat there and ate without doing anything. Shouldn't you have cleaned up and done the dishes afterward?"

Liu Yue'e chimed in, "Uncle, Aunt, I'm not saying this to be mean, but you two spoil Zhijie way too much."

Wang said, "What kind of man goes into the kitchen? My Zhijie is a scholar, after all, and he's destined for great things."

Tong Zhijie and Gu Jingzhe started their education together. Gu Jingzhe had already become a student of the first level of the imperial examination, while Tong Zhijie didn't know many characters and just spent his days aimlessly in the private school in Heilong Village.

Gu Dashu scoffed, "You want to do big things? You can't even wash a pair of chopsticks, what big things can you do?"

Gu Dashu retorted sarcastically, "Like an uncle?"

Tong Fusheng was so angry upon hearing this that he almost vomited blood.

Is this a sarcastic remark about him taking exams his whole life and never even becoming a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations)?

"Great Heat, what are you saying? I didn't do well on the exam because my family was poor and couldn't afford a good teacher, and also because the examiners were blind. You know, my essays as a child student were praised back then, and people even said I had the potential to be the top scholar."

Tong Fusheng was immersed in the glory of the past.

Tong Huaqiong sneered, "Forget it, even a student in his twenties barely passed the imperial examination."

Tong Huaqiong's enigmatic smile made Tong Fusheng feel inferior.

Gu Dashu may not know his background, but how could his own sister not know?
The girl used to be very proud of her brother, who was a student who had passed the imperial examination, and hoped that he could pass the exam and lead the whole family to success. Therefore, she never refused his requests.

Could it be that the reason for your sister's change of heart is that her son passed the imperial examination last year, and she has found a new purpose in life and wants to abandon him?

Thinking of this, Tong Fusheng felt a little flustered and forced himself to suppress his dissatisfaction. He still needed his sister to give him money to study in the capital.

He would then take Tong Zhijie to the capital to find a famous teacher; he refused to believe that he and his son were inferior to Gu Jingzhe.

Tong Huaqiong said to Tong Fusheng, "Brother, let's leave the reading for tomorrow. I'm tired after a long day. Why don't you take Zhijie and tidy up the table first?"

Tong Fusheng raised his eyelids and glanced at Wang Shi and Tong Zhaodi.

Wang said calmly, “Your brother doesn’t know how to do chores, and neither does your nephew. Let Zhaodi help Sufeng with the work.”

Tong Huaqiong's face darkened.

Wang was instigating Chen Sufeng.

Chen Sufeng wanted to clean up, but she dared not without Tong Huaqiong's order.

Tong Huaqiong said to Wang Shi, "Sister-in-law, you and Zhao Di should tidy up together. Su Fen has been working hard all day and needs to rest."

Wang's eyes were opened.

Back in the Gu family, it was always Chen Su-fen who did the work.

The sister-in-law could do whatever she wanted to Chen Sufeng, her stepson's wife.

In the past, when her sister-in-law went to Heilong Village to help them with their work, she would always take Chen Sufen with her.

After helping the Tong family with the farm work, Chen Sufeng would also help them cook and sweep the yard.

An awkward atmosphere descended upon the room.

Tong Fusheng spoke up, saying, "Why are you ordering my nephew's wife around? You and Zhaodi, clear away the bowls and chopsticks."

Wang stood up and, together with Tong Zhaodi, took the dishes and chopsticks to the kitchen to wash. Tong Huaqiong, from beginning to end, showed no intention of asking her family for help.

Wang gritted her teeth in the kitchen; she wanted to lash out at her sister-in-law.

But just now, Tong Fusheng secretly gave her a look, telling her to be patient. They still didn't understand why their sister-in-law was so cold to them. In any case, now that their sister-in-law had opened a shop and had money, their goal was to get money.

I have to make my sister-in-law happy.

Despite trying to reassure herself, Wang remained unsettled.

In the past, it was always the younger sister-in-law who fawned over her, the older sister-in-law; now it's the other way around.

Wang Shi and Tong Zhaodi were washing dishes in the kitchen, while Tong Fusheng and Tong Zhijie were chatting with Tong Huaqiong's family in the main room.

Although it was called a chat, it was actually Tong Fusheng who did most of the talking.

From crops in the fields to chickens, ducks, and geese.

Tong Fusheng finally couldn't hold back any longer and questioned Tong Huaqiong: "I sent you two messages the other day, but you didn't go back to check. I thought you were held up by something. I just wanted to come to Qinghewan to take a look. Everyone said you opened a shop, but I didn't believe it. It was that guy from your village who said so."

Tong Zhijie continued, "Grandma Yan said that my aunt owns a very large pastry shop in town."

Tong Fusheng nodded and said, "Yes, that's what that old woman said. She lives in the same village as you, so she probably wouldn't lie to me."

Tong Huaqiong had no intention of hiding it, and said, "That's right, I opened a pastry shop."

Tong Fusheng looked Tong Huaqiong up and down a few times. This younger sister actually had the ability to open a shop. How come he hadn't noticed it before?

“Then you should have asked someone to go home and tell me that I’m waiting for you to harvest wheat during the Great Heat. You didn’t come or even say a word. My family doesn’t have enough manpower to harvest wheat. After a rain, two acres of wheat rotted in the ground,” Tong Fusheng said.

“Your family has a total of five mu of land. You, your sister-in-law, Zhijie, and Zhaodi, the four of you can’t even harvest all five mu?” Tong Huaqiong asked. “Is it because you and Zhijie didn’t even go to the fields? You can’t blame me for that.”

Tong Fusheng said, "I am a scholar, how can I go to the fields? Wouldn't that be beneath my dignity?"

As Tong Huaqiong had guessed, Tong Fusheng and Tong Zhijie did not go to the ground.

Tong Fusheng and Tong Zhijie were both well-fed and plump, clearly the kind of people who would never do farm work.

The five mu of land depended entirely on Wang Shi and Tong Zhaodi, and with the added expectation that the mother and daughter, along with Tong Huaqiong, would bring people along, they were not very proactive in harvesting.

That wheat deserves to rot in the field.

Gu Taohua muttered to herself, "He's spent his whole life taking the imperial examinations and he's still just a 'child prodigy'? What a joke."

Tong Fusheng angrily said, "What nonsense are you spouting, you little brat? Don't look down on students who have completed the preliminary examinations. I'm the only one who has completed the preliminary examinations in the entire Black Dragon Village."

Gu Taohua shrugged dismissively.

Tong Fusheng suppressed his anger and steered the conversation toward Tong Huaqiong's shop, asking, "You, a woman, are doing business in public. Aren't you disgracing the Gu family's status? You should know that there's always trouble around a widow's door. You should be avoiding trouble, not going out to meet it. Smiling at customers in the street from your shop only makes you a laughingstock."

Tong Huaqiong said, "What status do I, a widow, need? Brother, don't worry. Even if I get into trouble, Lao Gu won't be angry enough to come back to life."

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself that Tong Fusheng wasn't showing concern for her at all; he was clearly using psychological manipulation to make her believe that she couldn't be a "career woman." If she went along with him, Tong Fusheng's next words would definitely be that he would take over the shop as the eldest brother, and she could go home and enjoy a "laid-back" life.

She's not Tong Dajiao, why should she listen to Tong Fusheng?

"How much silver does your shop bring in a day?" Tong Fusheng asked.

coming.

Tong Huaqiong smiled, finally getting to the point.

"Brother and sister-in-law, it's getting late. Are you going back home or staying here?"

Tong Huaqiong didn't respond to Tong Fusheng's words. Seeing Wang Shi come out of the kitchen, she smiled and asked Tong Fusheng and Wang Shi about their plans for the future.

She knew that Tong Fusheng and Wang Shi would definitely stay, so asking this question was a clear message to them that she didn't welcome the Tong family. (End of Chapter)