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

Chapter 462: Long Hair, Short Knowledge
Gu Honglian was so dazed by the rubbing that she covered her head with her hands and squatted on the ground crying.

Grandma Gu doted on her daughter terribly; she couldn't bear to hit her grandson Gu Ruinian, but she could hit her daughter-in-law.

A slap landed on his face.

Jia, who was always respectable in front of the villagers, was slapped by her mother-in-law. Unable to bear it, Jia tried to hang herself, but was stopped by her daughter-in-law, Wei.

The villagers switched from being bystanders to mediators.

Grandpa Gu called out several times to no avail, and Grandma Gu even complained about him.

In front of everyone, he said it was all Master Gu's fault for agreeing to let Madam Jia take Gu Honglian's satin; otherwise, nothing would have happened.

Provoked by Mrs. Gu's words, Grandpa Gu lost his breath and fainted.

Everyone was in a panic.

Gu Taohua, who came to the old house to join in the fun, threw down the melon seeds in her hand and went to Grandpa Gu's side to pinch his philtrum.

She encouraged her aunt to cause trouble for the second wife, but she never expected to cause Grandpa Gu's death.

If the child dies, there will be a funeral and mourning period, which will be very troublesome.

Gu Jingzhe, who arrived later, helped up Old Master Gu and asked the bewildered Gu Fengnian to fetch a doctor.

Amidst the commotion, Grandpa Gu was carried to the bed.

“Old man, poor old man, you can’t leave. What will I do if you leave? And what about Honglian? She’ll be bullied to death.”

Grandma Gu was so frightened that she sat on the edge of the bed and cried.

“It’s all that slut’s fault. I made the second son divorce her. She still has the nerve to hang herself. Don’t stop her, let her hang herself.”

She hated Jia even more now; it was all because Jia wanted to pawn the satin that caused all this trouble.

Besides hating Jia Shi, he also hated Tong Huaqiong, hated that Tong Huaqiong only allowed Lu Zhaozhao to give Gu Honglian a bolt of satin, and hated that the eldest son's good days were not shared equally with the old house.

“My life is so miserable. My two daughters-in-law are unfilial. Eldest son, why don’t you just take me with you?”

When Tong Huaqiong arrived at the old house, Old Mrs. Gu began to cry for her deceased eldest son.

Upon seeing Tong Huaqiong enter, Old Madam Gu swallowed the words of scolding Tong Huaqiong.

Grandpa Gu has really passed away; she might have to rely on her eldest daughter-in-law for a living.

We dare not offend them too much.

Tong Huaqiong stood at the head of the bed and took a look.

Grandpa Gu lay on the bed with his eyes closed, fearing a sudden stroke or heart attack.

Given the current level of medical care, it's uncertain whether Grandpa Gu can be saved.

The doctor hasn't arrived yet, but let's not worry about that for now; we can't just watch him die. Tong Huaqiong went up and put a quick-acting heart-protecting pill in Old Master Gu's mouth, then instructed Gu Taohua, who was standing to the side, to fetch some water.

"What did you feed him? You poisonous woman."

Fearing that Tong Huaqiong might take the opportunity to poison Mr. Gu, Old Mrs. Gu went up and tried to put a gag in Mr. Gu's mouth.

Tong Huaqiong pushed Old Madam Gu aside and said sternly, "I'm saving him. If you think he's too long-lived, then take out the medicine."

Grandma Gu was intimidated by Tong Huaqiong's imposing manner, and she turned her head away, her hand hanging limply at her sides.

Gu Taohua handed a bowl of water to Gu Jingzhe, who then held Grandpa Gu and fed him the water.

When the doctor arrived, Old Master Gu had already opened his eyes.

"He was overcome by anger, but it's nothing serious."

The doctor examined the patient and reached a conclusion. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Especially for everyone in the old house, Old Master Gu was the pillar of the second branch of the family. If he were gone, neither the first branch nor the clan would even glance at the old house.

The reason why the eldest son's family can still deliver vegetables and meat to the old house is entirely because of the influence of Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu.

Gu Jingzhe paid the doctor two hundred coins for the consultation. After the doctor prescribed a few doses of medicine, he left the old house with his medicine box on his back.

"Where is my second brother?"

Tong Huaqiong glanced around. Gu Ruinian was huddled in a corner, Gu Fengnian and Wei Shi were standing in front of Old Master Gu's bed, Gu Honglian was wiping away tears in fright, and Jia Shi was standing by the door frame crying aggrievedly. Only Gu Youtian was nowhere to be seen.

“Father has gone out to find work,” Gu Fengnian said.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Logically, I shouldn't interfere in this matter, but look at how you've made the old man so angry over a piece of satin that you've gotten chicken eyes all over it. Who will outsiders laugh at? They'll laugh at our whole family."

"This piece of satin was a gift from Zhaozhao to Honglian, a token of her affection, and you've all ruined it. My sister-in-law and nephew pawned my sister-in-law's satin; it's incredibly shameful. If word gets out, my second brother, as the head of the old family, should be leading the men out to work and earn money. How can you cheat the girls in the family out of a piece of satin? You're always using Ruinian's studies as an excuse to cheat this person and that person. Today you cheated out of a piece of satin, what will you cheat out of tomorrow?"

“Ruinian is not young anymore, and it’s time to think about the family. No one will stop you from studying, but a family can’t make way for you just because you’re studying, right? Does the whole family have to give up their things just because you’re studying? There are many people in this world who have worked as laborers or farmhands because of poverty and have studied on their own. I’m not saying that you should go work or farmhands, but that you can’t sit at home and wait for the whole family to sacrifice for you.”

As the eldest son's wife of the Gu family, Tong Huaqiong spoke these words without any politeness.

Upon hearing this, Jia's face turned pale; was this a dig at her, or at her son?

Gu Honglian called out "Sister-in-law" in a sweet voice, realizing that her sister-in-law understood her and knew to stand by her side.

Unlike her second sister-in-law, who dragged the whole family down with her, how could she have been so blind as to follow her second brother and parents in bullying her eldest sister-in-law?

When Old Madam Gu first heard Tong Huaqiong speak up for Gu Honglian, implying a condemnation of Jia Shi, she was displeased when she heard Tong Huaqiong start attacking even her beloved grandson, Gu Ruinian.

With Grandpa Gu awake and the doctor saying he was fine, Grandma Gu regained her composure and said to Tong Huaqiong, "Our whole family is happy to support Ruinian's education."

Tong Huaqiong said, "Whether you like it or not is none of my business. Today it's a bolt of satin, tomorrow it's Honglian's betrothal gift, and the day after tomorrow it's your and the old man's flesh and blood. You can offer whatever you have."

Gu Ruinian stood in the corner, clenching his fists.

Women in ancient mountain villages were often described as having long hair but limited knowledge.

What does she know? She's only so proud because of her son and daughter.

Gu Ruinian felt the silver in his pocket and realized it was still there. He took a deep breath, relieved that Gu Honglian hadn't taken it.

Grandpa Gu coughed weakly twice.

Upon opening his eyes and seeing Tong Huaqiong there, he took advantage of his momentary fainting spell to try and make demands of his eldest daughter-in-law again.

"Eldest son's wife, you're here too."

Grandpa Gu coughed for a while.

"I'm old and useless now," Grandpa Gu sighed.

Tong Huaqiong looked at this nominal old man. Although he was in his fifties by today's standards, he still looked like he was in good health.

I wonder what demands I'll make of her now.

Tong Huaqiong remained silent.

Grandpa Gu said, "Both sons are my flesh and blood. Jingzhe is studying at Wanliu Academy and is engaged. Even if I die now, I will be happy to see my eldest son in the afterlife. But I can't die. I still have a whole family of children to support. You saw how the family is arguing like this over a piece of satin. It's all because we're poor. If we had money, Ruinian would never have angered Honglian over a piece of satin."

Tong Huaqiong could not agree with this statement.

You said your family was so poor that it was understandable that they pawned the satin that Lu Zhaozhao had given to Gu Honglian in order to save their lives and for basic necessities like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

But what was Jia's purpose in doing this?
This was for Gu Ruinian's selfish reasons.

Tong Huaqiong then asked, "So?"