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

Chapter 5 The Widow's Temperament Changed
After being thoroughly exhausted from a beating, Tong Huaqiong returned to her room to continue cooking.

Because of the low grain yield in that era, in order to save food and fill their stomachs, most of the grains eaten by farmers were not hulled. Half a bowl of rice made Tong Huaqiong's throat sore and she couldn't bear it.

So he immediately took out some fine flour from home and made egg pancakes again, then treated Chen Sufen and Man'er to a hearty meal.

Chen Sufen and Man'er didn't dare to eat much, but Tong Huaqiong ate almost a whole stack of egg pancakes by herself.

Chen Sufen was so shocked by her mother-in-law's unusual behavior that she couldn't sleep all night.

I'm afraid my mother-in-law has been possessed by some kind of demon.

If such a fairy truly exists, then this fairy is good; she cannot bear to see her and Man'er suffer and has come to save her.

"Grandma, have an egg."

Tong Huaqiong arrived at the Gu family's house three days ago.

Every meal is torture.

She was very kind to Chen Sufeng and Man'er for the past three days.

This made Man'er no longer tremble while eating with Tong Huaqiong. Seeing her grandmother unable to eat, Man'er obediently handed her own egg to Tong Huaqiong.

"My dear grandson, you eat."

Tong Huaqiong stepped into the role of a grandmother and affectionately patted Man'er's head.

She's a girl after all; she knows how to care for others, unlike her grandson Yaozu who eats like a starving ghost, hoarding all the good food for himself.

Tong Huaqiong glanced at the unthreshed grains in the bowl and sighed, finding it difficult to swallow.

The Gu family is too poor; she even used up their only half-bag of flour.

"Grandma, I want to eat eggs too."

Yaozu stared at the egg in Man'er's hand, wishing he could snatch it from her.

The eggs that loser ate were all his, all his!

"If you want to eat, cook it yourself." Tong Huaqiong decisively refused Yaozu.

"I haven't had any meat for days, I can't stand it."

Gu Taohua picked at the rice in her bowl, looking displeased.

Normally, when there's something good to eat at home, she's always given priority. No matter how poor the family is, she's never short of food.

She can't stand eating communal meals with Chen Su-fen now; she feels she's lost weight from hunger in the past three days.

She also wanted to eat eggs, but her mother said that the eggs laid by the family's hens were for her sister-in-law and niece to nourish their bodies, and no one was allowed to have any.

Gu Taohua looked up and stared at her sister-in-law Chen Sufen's bowl, where there was an egg.

In the past, without her even having to hint, her sister-in-law would quickly peel the eggs and hand them to her. Now, with her mother keeping an eye on her, she didn't dare to take them, and her sister-in-law didn't dare to give them to her either.

"With all that muscle, you should get some rest. You're not going to starve anyway," Tong Huaqiong said fiercely to Gu Taohua.

Gu Taohua pouted in dissatisfaction.

Mother is really confused; she doesn't love her own daughter but loves her sister-in-law instead.

Sitting next to Gu Taohua, Liu Yue'e was also dissatisfied with her mother-in-law's change. Her eldest grandson was sitting right in front of her, yet she treated this worthless child like a treasure.

No wonder people say that being a widow for a long time can lead to psychological problems; in her opinion, her mother-in-law is one now.

Even though everyone was dissatisfied, they dared not say anything more.

Over the past three days, Tong Huaqiong beat the bamboo stalks in her house twice, even breaking their firewood sticks in the process, finally making them realize that Tong Huaqiong had changed.

At least no one dared to openly bully Chen Sufeng and her daughter Man'er like before.

Have a full meal.

Tong Huaqiong sat in the courtyard, deep in thought.

Since I've transmigrated into the body of this heartless widow and can't go back anytime soon, I have no choice but to grit my teeth and live here.

The only problem was that the Gu family's living conditions were really poor, and it exuded an air of decay.

Let me first talk about my family situation. We were a poor household, living in a few mud-brick houses and having no money.

Of course, the blame for this poverty still lies with the people. The original owner, Tong Dajiao, was a lazy woman who did nothing but work with a few bamboo shoots. All the housework fell on her stepson's wife, Chen Sufeng, and the daily expenses were covered by her stepson, Gu Dahan, carrying sandbags at the dock.

Even so, she still sent her youngest son to school, which led Gu Jingzhe to have the evil thought of selling his niece to pay for her tuition.

Tong Huaqiong decided that if she wanted to continue living here, she had to find a way to change things. Putting aside everything else, she couldn't stand the leaky mud house and the tough, dry millet.

For the past three days, she has tried to activate all the cheat codes in transmigration novels—systems, spatial abilities, all sorts of superpowers possessed by transmigrators—but to no avail.

Oh, she did manage to enter one of the spaces, but she could only look at the things inside and couldn't take them. She had reason to suspect that it was just a figment of her imagination.

She didn't even have the chance to turn her life around through marriage like other transmigrated women. She was a widow; who could she marry? And she had a bunch of children to support.

She finally understood that here, she could only rely on herself and these wicked bamboos. "Grandma, let me massage your back."

Man'er stood behind Tong Huaqiong.

In the past, Tong Huaqiong always made Man'er massage her back and legs, so whenever Tong Huaqiong sat down in a chair and got into a position, Man'er would reflexively clench her fists.

"No need," Tong Huaqiong said kindly.

Man'er asked with teary eyes, "Grandma, did Man'er make you angry?"

Tong Huaqiong: "..."

There was nothing that could be done; Man'er's fear of her wouldn't disappear anytime soon.

"Man'er, you didn't make me angry, so you don't need to be so afraid of me in the future." Tong Huaqiong's expression became even more benevolent.

Man'er smiled; she liked her grandmother now.

Chen Sufen, who was sweeping the yard, felt a chill run down her spine.

When it was time to send Man'er to the Zheng family, Tong Huaqiong had the same kind and gentle look in her eyes.

She always felt that her mother-in-law was up to no good, just waiting for her to lower her guard before making a big move.

For the past three days, Chen Sufeng has worked even harder, even staying at her mother-in-law's door at night, rushing to serve her whenever her mother-in-law makes a sound.

Pour water, empty the chamber pot, cover with a blanket...

Just to make her mother-in-law comfortable, she managed to prevent her from changing her mind about keeping Man'er at home.

Tong Huaqiong glared at Gu Dashu, who was huddled in the corner sunbathing, and shouted, "Gu Dashu, how can you, a grown man, lie around like a corpse in broad daylight? Are you blind? Can't you see your sister-in-law working all day? Get up and sweep the yard. After you're done sweeping, chop that pile of firewood."

Gu Dashu's buttocks were still swollen from being whipped, but he endured the pain, stood up, and took the broom from Chen Sufeng's hand.

Chen Sufen silently moved a stool to the side of the laundry tub, sat down, and began washing the family's clothes.

Tong Huaqiong glanced at Gu Taohua and shouted, "Gu Taohua, you're such a grown man, and you still let your sister-in-law scrub your underwear? Aren't you ashamed? Just because you're all fat doesn't mean you can think you're a pig! Get out here right now, and after you finish scrubbing these two big basins of clothes, you can forget about eating."

Gu Taohua rubbed the red marks on her arm from being whipped, and reluctantly went out of the house to wash clothes.

Chen Sufen picked up the buckets to fetch water.

Liu Yue'e was eating melon seeds by her own doorstep when she was afraid that her mother-in-law's fire would burn her, so she quickly crouched down and tried to escape.

He was caught and scolded by Tong Huaqiong.

“You’re both daughters-in-law of the Gu family, look at your sister-in-law, and look at yourself. Are those sunflower seeds in your mouth? You’re always cracking them open, how come you don’t knock your teeth out? You go fetch me water right now.”

Liu Yue'e could only put the melon seeds in her pocket and, with tears in her eyes, take the burden from Chen Sufeng's shoulders.

"And you, Yaozu, if you ever dare to call Man'er a worthless piece of trash again, just you wait! I'll tear your mouth apart!"

Gu Yaozu looked at the fire poker in his grandmother's hand, covered his buttocks, and nodded hastily.

It wasn't until this point that Tong Huaqiong felt a little relieved.

The only good thing about this era is that filial piety prevails. A few bad bamboos are no longer a problem. Once a mourning cap is put on them, they dare not disobey Tong Huaqiong.

As long as you listen to her, she is confident she can correct it.

"Mother, give me a break. These past few days you've been hitting and scolding us. Are you just putting on an act to fool my sister-in-law so you can easily send Man'er to the Zheng family, or have you really changed your ways?"

After Gu Dashu finished sweeping the yard, while Chen Sufeng went to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables, he shamelessly asked his mother.

When Man'er, who was standing next to Tong Huaqiong, heard about the Zheng family, her face turned pale with fright.

Tong Huaqiong gave Gu Dashu a flick on the forehead.

"Screw you. I told you Man'er isn't going to the Zheng family, and I'm not going! You heartless bastard, you're even eyeing your niece. If you envy the Zheng family's good life, you might as well go and be their son."

Gu Dashu thought to himself, "That heartless rotten turtle is just cursing himself."

"But Mother, we've already accepted two hundred taels of silver from the Zheng family. Do you think they'll let us off the hook?"

"Just return the silver."

"Mother, you're thinking too simply. What kind of family is the Zheng family? If they stomp their feet, the whole Pingchuan will tremble. The news of their eldest son's marriage has already spread. If you return the money and don't give it to them, do you think they'll let us off the hook? Do you think they'll let our third brother off the hook?"

According to him, Man'er should be sent over there.

Gu Dashu looked worried; anyone who didn't know better would have thought he had good intentions.

Tong Huaqiong frowned.

However, what Gu Dashu said was true.

The Zheng family is not an easy family to deal with. Having suffered such a great loss, they certainly won't let it go easily.

Properly resolving the Zheng family's affairs is the most urgent matter at present.

(End of this chapter)