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

Chapter 715 Picking up people is for the wheat harvest

Gu Honglian wanted to consult Tong Huaqiong for further advice.

Tong Huaqiong had already gone too far with her kind words, and when Gu Honglian arrived at the entrance of the weaving workshop and saw Tong Huaqiong's figure, she was too afraid to go in.

If only her sister-in-law could accompany her to the Fan family, the Fan family would surely not dare to bully her out of respect for her sister-in-law.

But she also knew that she could only dream about it.

"What's wrong? Hasn't Fan Tong come to pick you up yet?" Tong Huaqiong asked as she saw Gu Honglian strolling around the entrance of the weaving workshop.

Gu Honglian shook her head, holding back her tears, and asked, "Sister-in-law, what should I do if Fan Tong really doesn't come?"

These past two days, Grandma Gu and Grandpa Gu have been worrying with her, even considering the idea that Fan Tong's failure to come to pick her up would be a slap in the face, and that they should just send Gu Honglian back.

Tong Huaqiong said, "He will come."

"Honglian hasn't gone back yet?" Zhao Shi, carrying a sickle, went down to the field to harvest wheat. When she saw Gu Honglian, she greeted her and said with a smile, "Your mother-in-law is very reasonable. She let you go back to your parents' home not long after you got married."

Zhao was unaware of Gu Honglian's experiences at the Fan family.

They still thought Gu Honglian's mother-in-law was a good person. It was wheat harvest season, and every household was busy harvesting. But the old lady of the Fan family wouldn't let Gu Honglian go to the fields and wouldn't allow her to come to her parents' home to live a quiet life.

It is clear that the Fan family is not as bad as the rumors suggest.

Gu Honglian forced a smile, but her heart was filled with bitterness.

“Speaking of the Fan family, someone from the Fan family has arrived.” Zhao pointed towards the village entrance and said, “Honglian, isn’t that Scholar Fan who’s here to take you home?”

Gu Honglian glanced towards the village entrance and, sure enough, saw Fan Tong, dressed in a blue long gown, walking towards the village.

When Fan Tong saw Gu Honglian and Tong Huaqiong standing together, he happily went to the entrance of the weaving workshop and first bowed to Tong Huaqiong, saying, "Greetings, sister-in-law."

Tong Huaqiong looked Fan Tong up and down and asked, "Are you here to pick up Honglian?"

Fan Tong was secretly delighted.

Tong Huaqiong had never paid any attention to him before, but now she was willing to talk to him and quickly said, "Yes, I'm here to pick up Honglian."

Tong Huaqiong chuckled coldly twice and looked over at Gu Honglian.

Gu Honglian's eyes showed both excitement and grievance.

Zhao joked, "Scholar Fan must be missing his wife, rushing here to pick her up."

Fan Tong smiled awkwardly, wanting to continue chatting with Tong Huaqiong, but was interrupted by Gu Honglian.

"Your parents are waiting for you at home."

Fan Tong had no choice but to reluctantly follow Gu Honglian toward the old house.

Once out of Tong Huaqiong's sight, Fan Tong's face fell.

"You're just being willful. What kind of new bride runs off to her parents' home so soon after getting married? The wheat is ripe, and your mother, elder brother, and sister-in-law are waiting for you to come home to harvest it. In previous years, your mother and sister-in-law had to harvest the wheat and do housework, which was very hard work. This year, you married into the family, and we thought that having another person to help would make the work in the fields easier, but you ran off to your parents' home without even saying goodbye."

"Your mother only scolded you a couple of times, your sister-in-law only scratched you a few times, and I only slapped you twice. Why are you holding a grudge? Why are you so petty? My mother was widowed when she was young and it wasn't easy for her to raise me. My sister-in-law is the same; she married into the Fan family at sixteen, bore children for the Fan family, and managed the household. Why can't you be more understanding of them? Why do you have to be so temperamental and make things difficult for them?"

"Don't get cocky just because I came to pick you up. If it weren't for the wheat at home that needed harvesting and the meals that needed cooking, I wouldn't have come to pick you up at all. Go back the way you came."

Fan Tong sternly rebuked Gu Honglian.

Gu Honglian was stunned. She thought Fan Tong had come to apologize to her, but she didn't expect him to come to criticize her.

Originally, all her resentment towards the Fan family disappeared the moment she saw Fan Tong, thinking that she would go back after being coaxed by Fan Tong.

Fan Tong's accusations came at me like a bucket of cold water.

"Why didn't you dare say such nonsense when you saw my sister-in-law just now? Don't you think I'm easy to bully?" Gu Honglian's eyes reddened, and she couldn't help but retort.

"Brother-in-law is here. Why are you standing at the door talking? Come in and sit down." Jia Shi quickly came out when she heard someone talking outside. "Father and Mother are waiting inside."

When Jia heard Fan Tong reprimand Gu Honglian, she was secretly pleased and wished Fan Tong would immediately beat Gu Honglian. Fan Tong softened his expression and followed Jia to the main room.

Gu Honglian followed resentfully.

"The son-in-law has arrived." Old Master Gu's expression was not good.

Grandma Gu also looked unwell.

The two elders were almost overwhelmed when the people finally arrived after three days of waiting.

I have no choice but to put on a show for my daughter's future.

Fan Tong bowed to Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu, and said directly, "Honglian has been away from home for three days. It's wheat harvest time now, and we're too busy to help everyone. I'm here to take her back."

Then he turned and instructed Gu Honglian to tidy up before heading back.

Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu immediately got angry.

Things took an unexpected turn.

They thought that Fan Tong would apologize to Gu Honglian and promise the elderly couple that he would treat Gu Honglian well in the future, but he didn't mention Gu Honglian's grievances at all and just wanted to take her away.

Moreover, the purpose of picking her up was to get Gu Honglian home to work.

Actually, Fan Tong felt a little uneasy after saying this.

Gu Honglian, bruised and battered, ran to her parents' home. He was worried that Gu's family would come after him, so he came to pick her up that very day.

Grandma Fan and her sister-in-law told him that since Gu Honglian had married into the Fan family, she was now a member of the Fan family. What family wouldn't beat a disobedient daughter-in-law?

You are a scholar, and Gu Honglian is marrying above her station. If you go to the Gu family, Gu Honglian will become arrogant and domineering. Wouldn't she cause chaos in the Fan family? The Fan family is not a place she can stay or leave at will.

We must keep her in the cold.

The Gu family must send her back.

Grandma Fan was still waiting for the Gu family to give Gu Honglian a good beating when they delivered her.

After waiting for three days without anyone showing up, Sister-in-law Fan became unhappy.

With the wheat harvest season so busy, she thought Gu Honglian had gone to her parents' home to slack off.

They're the same sisters-in-law, so why should she have to do more work? Didn't her brother-in-law marry Gu Honglian so that she could enjoy a life of leisure while he did all the work?

After much encouragement from Sister-in-law Fan, Old Madam Fan finally sent Fan Tong to pick them up.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law instructed Fan Tong that as a scholar, he had to maintain his dignity and teach Gu Honglian and the Gu family a lesson.

Don't say anything nice, just take them away directly.

Fan Tong was very dissatisfied with Gu Honglian's behavior of frequently complaining to her parents' home. With the encouragement of his mother and sister-in-law, he was not polite at all when he went to Gu's house. He told his father-in-law and mother-in-law to go home without any hesitation.

"Honglian, pack your things and come home with me." Fan Tong stood up when he saw that Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu remained silent.

Grandma Gu exploded, shouting, "Honglian was beaten all over by you, and she finally recovered at her parents' home. Are you telling her to go back so you can beat her again?"

Fan Tong smiled awkwardly and said casually, "You're exaggerating. Even sisters-in-law and husbands and wives bicker sometimes. It's nothing serious. Honglian, you know your parents are getting old and can't handle it, yet you still go back to your parents' home and make them worry."

Grandma Gu was so angry that she was trembling all over.

What a fine scholar-son-in-law!

They slapped someone so hard that half their face was swollen, but claimed it was just a quarrel between husband and wife.

Grandpa Gu's face also turned ashen.

The two of them initially thought that Tong Huaqiong had given Gu Honglian a bad idea, but now they both wanted to give Fan Tong a good beating.