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

Chapter 268 Why is he the one eating meat?

"Aunt Tong, I beg you, please give Chunni and me a way out."

“My mother-in-law and Fugui just want to exchange Chunni for money. If Chunni and I can both earn money, they definitely won’t give Chunni to the mentally challenged boy as a child bride for the sake of money.”

"Only you can save Chunni and me now. Please hire Chunni and me to work. I can do any dirty or hard work."

Fearing that Tong Huaqiong would not be willing to hire her, Cao knelt down in front of Tong Huaqiong with a thud.

Chunni also knelt down.

She knew that this was putting pressure on Tong Huaqiong.

But she really had no other choice; her only option at the moment was to work as a hired help at Tong Huaqiong's house.

If she had any other choice, she wouldn't have come to Tong Huaqiong for help.

Tong Huaqiong said, "I can hire you to work on my land, but I can't guarantee that Tian Fugui and Granny Luo will change their minds and not let Chunni become someone else's child bride."

From Tong Huaqiong's perspective, Cao still harbored illusions about Tian Fugui and Granny Luo.

She thought that Chunni was beaten because she was a "money-loser," and that her situation would change if she and Chunni could earn money.

The Cao family will likely be disappointed.

However, Cao's willingness to take this step and not want her daughter to become a child bride already shows that she is more insightful than other women in the village.

In the Qinghewan area, many girls were child brides from a young age. For example, Cao's mother-in-law, Granny Luo, was a child bride. They were brainwashed from childhood to be worthless and had to sacrifice for their brothers in their own family and for their sons and grandsons in their husbands' families.

They not only demand this of themselves, but also drag their daughters-in-law, daughters, and granddaughters down with them.

It's hard to change.

Compared to them, Cao Shi doted on her son but was also reluctant to part with her daughter, and Tong Huaqiong was willing to help such a Cao Shi.

Moreover, seeing Chunni's pitiful state, Tong Huaqiong couldn't bear to let her become a child bride for a mentally challenged boy.

When Cao heard that Tong Huaqiong was willing to hire her, she was so excited that tears streamed down her face. She choked up and didn't know how to thank Tong Huaqiong.

She pulled Chunni to kowtow to Tong Huaqiong, but Tong Huaqiong stopped her.

To be honest, as someone with a modern soul, Tong Huaqiong still couldn't stand the way people here kneel down all the time.

"Aunt Tong, thank you. I know you don't need any hired help. You only agreed because you took pity on Chunni and me. Just assign me any work, I'll give you half the wages, and you don't even need to provide meals," Cao said, crying.

Chunni cried along with her and said, "Grandma Tong, I can cut grass for the pigs and I can farm."

Cao patted Chunni's head and said to Tong Huaqiong, "Chunni is still young, so we don't need to pay her wages."

Tong Huaqiong said, "Since we've hired you, if you do a good job, your wages will be the same as other employees. As for Chunni, let her gather pig feed for the pigs first."

Who says she doesn't need help? The corn is about to be harvested, and she needs manpower for the twenty or so pigs in the pigsty.

As for Chunni, forget about child labor.

To put it bluntly, Chunni does the same work at home. Even if she doesn't come to Tong Huaqiong's place to work, she would go elsewhere to work, or she would have to work like a child bride. This is a fact that Tong Huaqiong cannot change.

She came to work for Tong Huaqiong, and Tong Huaqiong would at least give her easy work. If she performed well, she could learn a trade like Liu Yue'e's niece, Liu Xiuxiu.

That depends on Chunni's fate.

"But you also need to know that this is not a shelter, this is a place to work. Let me make this clear from the start: if your husband and mother-in-law come here to cause trouble for you and Chunni, I can protect you for a while, but not in the long run. If that trouble interferes with my work, I will fire you."

Cao nodded: "Of course."

Cao did indeed harbor fantasies about Tian Fugui and Granny Luo. She thought that if she and Chunni worked for Tong Huaqiong to earn money, they wouldn't neglect their household chores. Perhaps, considering the money they could earn, her in-laws wouldn't send Chunni to be a child bride.

As for Chunwang, she and Chunni saved all the money they earned for Chunwang's future marriage.

Chunwang will understand when he grows up.

Cao wiped away her tears and stood up.

"Take this medicine." Tong Huaqiong handed the medicine to Cao Shi and instructed her on how to use it. Cao Shi naturally expressed her gratitude upon receiving it.

Tong Huaqiong and Cao agreed that she could come to work in their fields the next day.

Cao was overjoyed; she couldn't wait to start earning money.

After Cao took her leave, Tong Huaqiong shook her head and sighed.

I'm afraid Cao's thinking is too simplistic.

Tong Huaqiong wasn't afraid of Tian Fugui and Granny Luo causing trouble at her house.

Today, Tong Huaqiong is also the most capable person in Qinghewan, especially considering her experience and achievements against Granny Yan and Xu Yong, they probably wouldn't dare to do that.

No matter how capable Tong Huaqiong was, she couldn't openly interfere in their family affairs here. She could only provide Cao Shi and Chunni with work opportunities and temporarily protect them.

It's unrealistic to expect Cao Shi and Chunni to leave the Tian family right now. As the saying goes, the economic base determines the superstructure; only by having a foundation can one talk about independence.

In fact, Tong Huaqiong had another trick to keep Cao Shi and Chunni out of the Tian family's control.

She left it at that for now, because even if she did speak up, the Cao family wouldn't accept it at this stage.

Cao took Chunni away from Tong Huaqiong's place, thinking she had found a solution to prevent Chunni from becoming a child bride.

She felt happy, and the places on her body where Tian Fugui had injured her no longer hurt.

Fearing that her mother-in-law and Tian Fugui would be unhappy, she took Chunni to turn over the vegetable garden. After turning over the garden, she washed the clothes in the house and swept the house and yard inside and out.

After finishing all that, Cao and Chunni were exhausted and their bodies ached all over. In addition, the pain from their wounds made them cook a little slower.

Just as dusk was falling, Chunwang returned home from outside. When he got home and saw that the food was not ready yet, he exclaimed, "I'm starving! Why isn't the food ready yet?"

Fearing her son would go hungry, Cao said, "There's leftover meat from yesterday in the pot, you eat it first."

He then instructed Chunni to bring the meat to Chunwang.

Chunwang said fiercely to Chunni, "You didn't steal any food, did you?"

Chunni shook her head.

Chunni remembered what Tong Huaqiong had said: they were all the same kind of people. Why was Chunwang allowed to eat meat, while she was beaten half to death for eating just one piece of meat?

Yeah, why should we?

She has been cooking and doing housework since she was a child. She couldn't even reach the stove, so she had to stand on a stool to cook.

Chunwang doesn't have to do anything, yet he eats and dresses well, and even bullies her at home.

Chunni touched the scar on her forehead.

That scar was left because Chunwang pushed her down and she hit her head on the stove because she was cooking too slowly.

Why?

A nameless anger surged within Chunni, and she picked up a fire poker beside her, intending to beat Chunwang.

Chunwang picked up a large piece of fatty meat and ate it with great satisfaction, oil dripping from the corner of his mouth, and said, "Yaozu can eat meat every day. If only our family's meals were like Widow Tong's."

Chunni gripped the fire poker tightly in her hand.

"You worthless piece of trash, what are you doing standing here watching me eat jerky? What, you want some? You think you're worthy?"

Chunni raised the fire poker.

Cao quickly intervened.

Chunwang frowned and said, "You worthless wretch, are you trying to hit me with that firewood stick?"

Cao comforted Chunwang, saying, "Why would your sister hit you? You've misunderstood."

Chunwang glanced sideways and continued eating meat, saying as he ate, "She dares to hit me, but Dad and Grandma will beat her to death."