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

Chapter 610 Every word she said made perfect sense
Xu Xinghua looked at Gu Ruinian with a smile in her eyes.

I suppose he's on my side.

She liked the feeling of being completely obedient to her. She was still wondering whether to treat Gu Ruinian's leg, and what if the leg was healed and she couldn't handle it?

Old Mrs. Gu and Mrs. Jia were so angry they almost fell over.

"You haven't even come to our door yet, and you're already siding with outsiders. If I had known you were so useless, I should have drowned you at birth. You ungrateful wretch, an ungrateful wretch!" Old Mrs. Gu pointed at Gu Ruinian and began to berate him.

Grandpa Gu coughed twice.

The Xu family acted as if they hadn't heard anything.

Old Master Gu took a breath and said, "I can forgo the fifty taels of silver, but whose surname will the children born take?"

Xu Xinghua raised her eyes and interrupted Grandpa Gu, saying, "Of course, the surname is Xu."

Gu Youtian said, "We agreed that one of them would have the surname Gu."

Xu Xinghua insisted, "They all have the surname Xu."

Looking at Xu Xinghua's face, Jia wished she could pick out every single pockmark on her face.

No wonder she's become an old maid and no one wants her; there's a reason for it.

Madam Jia was thinking that once she married Ruinian, she would see how Ruinian would torment her as her daughter-in-law.

Then she remembered that it was because her husband, Ruinian, had married into her family, and she was so angry that her nails dug into her flesh.

Good heavens, why is her life so miserable?

Grandma Gu clapped her hands and said, "You don't mean you're only having one child, do you? If not, all the children will have the surname Xu. You've got such a big appetite, you'll probably burst!"

Not only did Old Mrs. Gu think this way, but the entire Gu family thought the same way.

The Xu family is simply bullying us.

The Gu family patriarch said to Xu Yong with dissatisfaction, "Does Xinghua mean her own idea or the Xu family's idea? My Gu family has raised her to adulthood and she hasn't contributed a single penny to the family. Now she's expected to go to your Xu family to help you carry on the family line, to help you be filial and take care of your parents in your old age. Isn't it only right that she should have a child with the Gu surname? We should have a conscience. If your Xu family acts like this, how can we even discuss this marriage?"

After a moment's thought, Xu Yong said, "The meaning of 'apricot blossom' is the same as my meaning."

The Gu family patriarch glared at Gu Youtian. How did this foolish nephew manage to negotiate? Now he's been put on hold here.

Xu Xinghua echoed the Gu family patriarch, saying, "Ruinian is currently lame and unable to earn money or support his family. He was reported for hoarding explosives, and the Gu family is also implicated. What can someone like that offer your Gu family? If he comes to the Xu family, we will help him treat his leg. If his leg heals, we will support his education. Either way, your Gu family will benefit. How come in your mouth it's our Xu family that benefits?"

"As for carrying on the family line, it was me who conceived and gave birth. What contribution did Gu Ruinian make? Our Xu family has sacrificed so much. Isn't it his duty to be filial to my parents?"

If it weren't for Xu Xinghua's usual sharp tongue and meanness in the village, Tong Huaqiong would have applauded her.

Everything she said made perfect sense.

Faced with Xu Xinghua's stubbornness, the Gu family members were momentarily at a loss for words.

Xu Xinghua raised her chin and said to Gu Ruinian, who seemed indifferent, "Ruinian, what do you say about whose surname the child should take?"

Fearing that Gu Ruinian and Xu Xinghua shared the same stance, Old Master Gu quickly interrupted, saying, "What can he say? My opinion is his opinion. One of your children must take the Gu family name. Not only that, but they must be raised in the Gu family. Otherwise, this is out of the question."

When Old Master Gu lost his temper, even Gu Youtian didn't dare to say a word.

He didn't expect Xu Yong to go back on the terms they had agreed on, and now he was angry and wanted to challenge the Xu family.

"Fine, since your Xu family has gone too far in bullying us, this marriage is off."

Gu Youtian stood up.

He had thought that having the clan members present today would quickly settle the marriage between the two families, but the Xu family rejected his conditions and wanted to renegotiate. Wasn't this a slap in the face?

Since the Xu family had made him lose face in front of his entire clan, he had no intention of backing down.

Xu Yong slowly got up from his chair and said to Xu Xinghua, "Since the Gu family isn't sincere in their negotiations, let's go." Xu Yong was certain that the Gu family would come knocking on their door again.

If the Xu family doesn't take in a crippled, useless son, who will?
Xu Xinghua snorted and got up.

The Xu family members then followed them out of the house.

Grandpa Gu's face turned ashen; this was too much of a bullying.

The head of the Gu family sighed and said, "If they weren't really desperate to survive, which family would be willing to let their son marry into another family? If Ruinian insists on marrying into the Xu family, why does he have to go to the Xu family? I'm afraid that if the news of his marriage into the Xu family got out, people in Pingchuan County would be scrambling to get him."

Gu Ruinian had a blank expression.

Tong Huaqiong's lips twitched.

The clan chief was truly optimistic about Gu Ruinian's situation.

What kind of families would want their daughters to find husbands? It certainly wouldn't be a family like the Xu family. Xu Xinghua was unattractive and had a bad personality, so she remained an old maid and was unwilling to get married. They had no choice but to find a husband for her.

Other families seeking a son-in-law must all have daughters and want to find a poor but capable man to support the household. Gu Ruinian has nothing; he's not good at studying or working. What's the point of taking him in? We'd have to support him.

The Xu family has a son to support the household, and the reason for inviting Gu Ruinian over is purely so that Xu Xinghua will not be a burden to her brothers and nephews in the future.

Not only the clan leader, but also Old Master Gu and Gu Youtian failed to see this point, yet they still made demands on the Xu family.

No wonder the Xu family didn't accept the challenge.

The Xu family members walked through the Gu family's courtyard, and Xu Dabao ran into Gu Xiaoxue.

Since Gu Xiaoxue became a junior manager at Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop, she has become much more relaxed and dressed no differently from the girls in town, which made Xu Dabao stare at her.

Gu Xiaoxue used to be inexplicably afraid of Xu Dabao, but Tong Huaqiong told her that there was nothing to be afraid of about Xu Dabao; he was just as afraid of pain and death as she was of death.

"What are you looking at? Believe me or not, I'll gouge your eyes out."

Gu Xiaoxue was carrying a pair of scissors in her sleeve, which she had prepared in case she encountered Xu Dabao in the village.

She flashed the scissors hidden in her sleeve at Xu Dabao, who flinched twice.

A smile appeared on Gu Xiaoxue's face. Her aunt was right; Xu Dabao was also afraid of death and pain.

The laughter seemed eerily unsettling to Xu Dabao. He had initially intended to make a few jokes, but now he wished he could leave the Gu family's old house as soon as possible.

Xu Xinghua looked disdainful.

My cousin is hopeless; he can't even control a girl like Gu Xiaoxue.

"Da Bao, do you want Xiao Xue?" After leaving the Gu family's old house, Xu Xinghua asked Xu Da Bao with narrowed eyes.

Xu Dabao asked, "Do you have an idea?"

Xu Xinghua said, "You're really useless. Why don't you wait until it's dark and then catch her, and she'll become our Xu family's daughter-in-law?"

She was annoyed by the Gu family's attitude at the Gu family's house, which she attributed to the pockmarks on her face. Seeing Xiaoxue's smooth and beautiful face, she felt a deep jealousy.

Why are all the girls from the Gu family so beautiful? Gu Taohua, Gu Xiaocao, and Gu Xiaoxue are all stunningly beautiful.

It was all because of these pretty girls that she looked like dirt.

Xu Dabao was tempted for a moment, then said to Xu Xinghua, "Your idea is good, but I dare not. Do you know that Gu Xiaoxue is now Tong Dajiao's manager? If I offend her, Tong Dajiao can cripple me, believe it or not."

"Useless things."

Xu Xinghua rolled her eyes.

Thinking back to her childhood fight with Gu Taohua, and how Tong Dajiao stormed into the Xu family with a knife, Xu Xinghua felt a chill run down her spine for no apparent reason.