"It's even better if I hear that! I'll go and call the neighbors to settle this!"

The old lady cursed and slapped her thigh. She wasn't afraid of losing face, since it wasn't her face that was being lost. As she spoke, the old lady was actually going out to look for someone. Ye Zhiguo was so scared that he quickly grabbed her and kept saying nice things to her.

"Mom, calm down. I'll give you an extra fifty yuan every month from now on, okay?"

Shen Yanhong gritted her teeth. What use is so much money to an old woman who is about to die?

One hundred and fifty yuan, enough to make this old hag choke!

The old lady glanced at her son. It was only 150 yuan, but she was not satisfied at all. Ye Qingqing helped her calculate that Ye Lan's annual medication and check-up cost more than 3,000 yuan.

Even if she earns 150 a month, that's only 1800 a year, which is nothing compared to Ye Lan, that bastard.

However, the old lady still knew how to use roundabout tactics. She knew she couldn't push her son too hard all at once and had to proceed gradually.

"What will happen to her? Will she work or get married? The Ye family can't support a lazybones. When I gave birth to your little brother, I was already going up the mountain with your father to cut bamboo when he was only three days old. After your father passed away, I farmed, grew vegetables, carried loads, raised pigs, and cut bamboo all by myself... Did I ever complain?"

After the old woman finished scolding, she began to reminisce about the past and talk about her history of suffering.

When Grandpa Ye passed away, Ye Zhiguo was already seven or eight years old and sensible. He knew very well the suffering his mother had endured, and his eyes welled up with tears. His slight dissatisfaction with his mother vanished instantly.

She even felt guilty, thinking that she was extremely unfilial for talking back to her mother because of Ye Lan!

"Mom...it was my fault, please calm down!" Ye Zhiguo lowered his head.

Shen Yanhong and Ye Lan's expressions changed simultaneously, their eyes filled with despair, knowing they could no longer rely on Ye Zhiguo.

"Mom..." Ye Lan cried to Chen Yanhong.

She didn't want to work at the shoe factory. After Zhao Di started working there, her hands became uglier than pig's trotters, and she became unkempt and unwomanly. She didn't want to become like Zhao Di!

Moreover, shoe factories are dirty and arduous; how could she possibly endure that!

Shen Yanhong looked at her daughter with heartache. Her poor Lan'er had grown up eating bitter medicine since she was a child and had never had a good day. Now she had to suffer abuse from this old hag!

It's all her fault for being useless; she couldn't even protect her own daughter!

Shen Yanhong gritted her teeth, staring hatefully at the old lady and Ye Zhiguo, and even hated Ye Zhiguo as well.

Seeing that her son had given in, the old lady also softened her attitude. Ye Qingqing, who had been secretly observing, couldn't help but admire the old lady.

Although the old lady was illiterate and knew nothing about military strategy or the Thirty-Six Stratagems, she had just used the sob story tactic with great skill. She knew when to scold and when to play the victim, and she knew when to advance and retreat with perfect composure, firmly grasping Ye Zhiguo's heart.

She should learn from this; she might need it in the future!

The old lady softened her tone and sighed, "Zhiguo, although you earn a lot, Xiaotong is still young. Going to school and getting married will cost money. And there are your two nephews. As the eldest uncle, shouldn't you lend a hand?"

Don't be fooled by your current financial situation; you'll have plenty of expenses later. If you don't plan ahead, you'll regret it later!

Ye Zhiguo nodded repeatedly, "Mom is right, I didn't think it through."

He couldn't tell his mother yet that in three more years, once he had the property, he could take care of not just two nephews, but even twenty.

The old lady pointed at Ye Lan and said, "Letting her go to work is for her own good. You can't support her for the rest of your life, can you? Even your own daughter will get married sooner or later. If she stays at home, people will definitely gossip. She's half-dead and doesn't have a job. What man would want her?"

Going to work in a shoe factory, at least you'll have a job, and maybe you'll even find a good man. Haven't you thought about any of that?