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

Chapter 51 Being Ridiculed

"Second brother, third brother!"

“My mother and I are here.”

Gu Taohua stood up and waved to Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe.

"Mother, sister."

The two men quickly pushed the flatbed cart to Grandpa Xu's cart.

Gu Taohua didn't even need to shout; she was too conspicuous sitting there, and Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe had already noticed her.

Because business was booming, Peach Blossom Desserts achieved initial success, so Tong Huaqiong was in a good mood when she saw her two adopted sons.

“Mother, my third brother and I deliberately took a detour through town, hoping to run into you and my sister,” Gu Dashu said.

The two brothers initially went to the vicinity of Su Shi Yuan (酥食园), but couldn't find anyone there. Just then, they encountered someone asking about peach blossom desserts, and the old lady selling wontons nearby said she had already closed her stall. So the two brothers, with their little piglet in tow, went to where Grandpa Xu had parked his car.

"You two are quite fast walkers. You just happened to catch up with your sister and me packing up and heading home."

Tong Huaqiong glanced at the piglet on the flatbed cart. The piglet grunted a few times, and perhaps it was Tong Huaqiong's imagination, but she felt that the piglet flinched when it met her eyes.

Poor little boar, we'll make it up to it with a few good meals when we get home.

In addition to feeding it the freshest grass, we also mix in wheat bran and corn.

"Oh my, it's the Great Heat! Where have you and your brother come from? Did you buy some new piglets?" Aunt Wang asked, glancing at the pigs on the flatbed cart.

Everyone looked at the flatbed cart, their eyes filled with smiles.

The piglet looked rather large and seemed listless, lying languidly on the flatbed, occasionally letting out a soft grunt.

It's obviously a sick pig.

Gu Dashu is all talk and no action, while Gu Jingzhe is so bookish he's gone crazy. These two brothers are a useless duo. They probably got ripped off when buying the pig, ending up with a sick one and still feeling pretty good about it.

"This isn't a newly purchased piglet."

Tong Huaqiong quickly interrupted Gu Dashu, saying, "This is my family's old pig. It hasn't been eating well lately, so I asked the two brothers to take it to Pingchuan to see a veterinarian."

Tong Huaqiong didn't want the villagers to know that her pig had been castrated, so she made up an excuse to cover it up.

However, Tong Huaqiong's fabricated words still caused a small-scale disturbance.

What?
See the vet.

The people on the bus found it unbelievable; it was too much of a waste to take a pig all the way to Pingchuan County for medical treatment.

In Qinghewan, most people would go up the mountain to gather some herbs and boil them when they got sick. Only when they couldn't bear it any longer would they call the village doctor. Nobody would go to Pingchuan for treatment.

Let alone a pig.

Widow Tong's actions are increasingly beyond comprehension.

Since Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe were pushing the flatbed cart, there was no need for Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua to ride in Grandpa Xu's carriage.

Today, there were more people on Grandpa Xu's bus than usual. Tong Huaqiong, who had been standing all day selling cakes, could barely stretch her legs while sitting on the bus.

Today, let her two sons take her back home. She's an old mother, and it's only right that her sons take care of her.

Anyway, Grandpa Xu didn't come back, and the fare wasn't paid, so there's no need to argue.

Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua jumped off the carriage.

"Mom, you packed up your stall pretty quickly." Gu Jingzhe said with a smile as she carried her own things from Grandpa Xu's car.

The fact that the stall was being cleared out quickly meant that business was good, and he was very happy for his mother and sister.

"Business was great today, not a single pastry was left. Now the whole town knows about Peach Blossom Desserts," Gu Taohua happily boasted to her two older brothers.

She had originally intended to tell her two brothers how much money she had earned that day, but after looking at the people in the car, she kept quiet.

Her mother had warned her not to flaunt her wealth, and she remembered it well. "Isn't this Jingzhe? I heard you've stopped studying. Tsk tsk tsk, you're the first scholar in our village to pass the imperial examination. You're destined to be a top scholar and an official. You're different from us. Can your hand that holds a pen lift a hoe?" A young man about the same age as Gu Dashu looked Gu Jingzhe up and down, and said with a half-smile.

The other passengers on the bus looked at Gu Jingzhe with surprise, sarcasm, and disdain in their eyes.
Gu Jingzhe used to be not very enthusiastic towards the villagers, but he was at least polite. However, after passing the imperial examination, he became arrogant and looked at the villagers with his eyes downcast.

His face was full of pretentious air, as if he thought, "We're different, I'm going to be an official someday!"

Tong Huaqiong remained silent, wanting to see Gu Jingzhe's reaction.

“Brother Wang, you’ve misunderstood. My family is just a farming family, and I’m no different from everyone else. To be honest, a hoe is a bit heavier than a pen, but you get used to it after handling it for a while.” Gu Jingzhe picked up a bag of flour and looked at the young man surnamed Wang, seemingly oblivious to the strong sarcasm in his tone.

The young man surnamed Wang felt a moment of disappointment and embarrassment.

This was different from what he had imagined; he thought Gu Jingzhe would be furious.

Tong Huaqiong carefully observed the reactions of the others, and several people also showed disappointment in their eyes.

These people were just waiting for Gu Jingzhe to get angry so they could take the opportunity to kick him while he was down and ridicule him.

Unexpectedly, Gu Jingzhe not only didn't get angry, but calmly accepted the sarcasm he had just made, leaving them at a loss for what to do.

"Dear brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts, please stop making fun of me. I really am not going to study anymore. I'll be farming like everyone else, and I might go out to work in the future. If you make fun of me, you'll be making fun of yourselves too," Gu Jingzhe said seriously.

The man surnamed Wang who started the trouble was speechless.

Gu Jingzhe's candid attitude made the other villagers feel a little embarrassed.

"Jingzhe is a literate person after all. He can take things in stride and let them go. Even if he didn't study and did something else, he would still be a successful person," an old lady remarked.

"Yep."

"Yes Yes."

Then someone echoed that.

We all live in the same village. Offending Gu Jingzhe won't do us any good. What if he becomes rich?

Don't say it's impossible. Widow Tong's peach blossom dessert became a hit in the whole town in just a few days. Who knows where the peak of the Gu family is waiting?

It's better to leave each other some leeway so that we can get along better in the future.

Gu Jingzhe stopped talking and, together with Gu Dashu, carried all the things Tong Huaqiong had bought onto their own flatbed cart and arranged them neatly.

"You did very well."

"Do not be elated by external gains, nor saddened by personal losses."

Tong Huaqiong patted Gu Jingzhe's hand and smiled as she offered him some encouragement.

Gu Jingzhe had already gotten used to his mother's recent string of witty remarks, so he smiled and said, "Mother is right."

Tong Huaqiong jumped onto the cart, holding onto the shaft, which startled the pig so much that it squealed even louder.

Sharing a vehicle with pigs was a first for me.

On the flatbed cart, pigs took up a lot of space, Tong Huaqiong was slumped on the cart occupying a large area, and there were still half a cart of purchased goods. Gu Taohua stood in front of the cart, raising one foot to consider where she should sit.

"Peach Blossom, you're getting on the bus too?" Gu Dashu asked in a panic.

The car was already packed full; with Gu Taohua's stone-like figure, it would probably tip over if she were to be run over.

"if not."

"I've been shouting all day and I'm exhausted. Second brother, do you really expect me to walk all the way home? You're so heartless!"

Gu Taohua punched Gu Dashu with both fists, almost knocking him off his feet.

"Ouch, whose hand is that?!"

Tong Huaqiong was watching Gu Taohua and Gu Dashu bickering with a smile when she heard a gasp from Grandpa Xu's oxcart.

(End of this chapter)