Wan Cunhua saw Zhao's mother's actions through the crack in the door. She pretended to knock on the door and said, "Grandma, Mom asked me to come and call you for dinner."

Old Mrs. Zhao hid the money and sat on her bed with a normal expression. She replied in a casual tone, "I know, village beauty, come in for a moment."

Wan Cunhua slowly pushed open the door and walked in. She came to Old Lady Zhao and called out, "Grandma."

Old Mrs. Zhao glanced at Wan Cunhua and said seriously, "When I married you, your father asked me for two taels of silver and ten catties of white rice..."

Wan Cunhua's face changed upon hearing this; she knew what her father wanted. Mainly, her eldest brother was getting married and needed money.

But my aunt hasn't said anything in front of their family for so long, so what does it mean to bring this up now?

“I’m not saying this to make your family pay back the money. These days, it’s not easy for anyone to save any money. Now that you’ve married Da Niu, just live your life with him honestly. We’re aunt and niece, so don’t embarrass the Wan family,” Old Mrs. Zhao said seriously. Then she continued, “Everyone in the village is selling mulberries now. Tomorrow, you and Da Niu can go to the county to sell the fruit. Don’t let Fatty Zhao and Skinny Zhao go.”

Upon hearing this, Wan Cunhua breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, it's just selling fruit. She's never been to the county before, so this is a good opportunity to go and take a look.

That evening, the family sat down for dinner, and Old Mrs. Zhao recounted the incident.

When Zhao Pang and Zhao Shou heard this, they didn't react for a moment.

"What?"

"What!"

Both of their expressions changed slightly, and Fatty Zhao felt that the mushy food in his bowl no longer tasted good.

"Grandma, the skinny guy and I are doing just fine selling, so let us go instead."

"Yes, Grandma, my brother and I are familiar with selling fruit, so it's easier for us to do it."

Old Mrs. Zhao's sharp eyes sized up the two of them for a while. "Are you two hiding something from me?"

Fatty Zhao quickly shook his head and guiltily drank a large mouthful of the vegetable paste in his bowl.

Zhao Shou also looked away. His mother had said that this matter could not be told, not even if he was beaten to death.

"Hmph, you two hurry up and tell me, or I'll break your legs if I find out," Old Mrs. Zhao snorted coldly, clearly displeased.

Zhao Xiangnan was also completely confused. What did this mean? Did it mean that his two sons were hiding something from their father?

"You son of a bitch, hurry up and tell me. You're even keeping it from your own father?" Zhao Xiangnan kicked Zhao Shou to the ground.

Zhao Shou lay on the ground, clutching his waist and struggling, tears streaming down his face from the pain.

"Waaah... My mom said I can't tell the family about this, I won't tell... My mom... My mom..."

"You son of a bitch! Tell me the truth right now!" Zhao Xiangnan threw the chopsticks in his hand away again.

Zhao Shou felt incredibly wronged. He glanced at his older brother with a resentful look and noticed that his brother had almost buried his head in his bowl.

“My mother…my mother said that since people are buying fruit for five coins a pound, we should sell it cheaper, three coins a pound. That way, even more people will buy it. Anyway, there’s no cost involved; it just means we have to pick more fruit.” Zhao Shou’s tears were streaming down his face, but as it turned out, his mother was right. The lower price did indeed attract more buyers.

"You two good-for-nothing dogs! You treat the village head's words like they're nothing!" Zhao Xiangnan cursed angrily.

He personally witnessed how furious Chief Zhao was about this matter, wishing he could drag out and criticize all those who had privately lowered their fruit prices.

Old Mrs. Zhao's face turned ashen upon hearing this. She had said, "Why do these two always come back so early? And they've sold all the fruit! They were just being clever."

Their family had just gone to seek peace with Zhao Tingzhang's family, and now they're doing this kind of thing again. It's simply... she's completely lost face.

"Who else knows about this?" Old Mrs. Zhao asked with a stern face.

Fatty Zhao and Skinny Zhao shook their heads in unison, "We didn't tell anyone about Grandma's passing. We didn't let anyone else see what we did."

Old Mrs. Zhao breathed a slight sigh of relief. "We must keep this a secret from our family, and you two absolutely cannot go. Tomorrow, Da Niu and the village beauty will go together, and we'll stick to the original pricing. We'll sell as much as we can."

Zhao Daniu nodded to Wan Cunhua.

Fatty Zhao and Skinny Zhao were filled with regret. They couldn't go sell fruit anymore, so they had to go to the docks with their father to carry goods.

Working under her father's nose all day, she had no time to visit her mother.

My mother also said she'd bring them roast chicken and roast duck...

The thought of eating meat made Fatty Zhao and Skinny Zhao secretly swallow their saliva again.

After the Zhao family finished eating, Zhao Xiaocao resignedly went to wash the dishes. Halfway through, Wan Cunhua came in.

Seeing Zhao Xiaocao's unwilling expression, Wan Cunhua helped her wash the dishes.

"Little Grass, where did your mother go? Why isn't she home?"

Zhao Xiaocao washed the dishes with a clanging sound, and replied resentfully, "I went to work at a restaurant in the county, and I won't be able to come back for a long time."

"Oh? That's great. Do you know how working at the restaurant is?" Wan Cunhua looked at Zhao Xiaocao and asked cautiously.

Zhao Xiaocao didn't have so many complicated thoughts, so she didn't think much of it.

“I heard from my mother that it’s a hundred coins a month. Originally, my grandmother wanted my eldest aunt to do this job. I never expected that it would fall to my mother in the end.”

Since Cheng left, although she no longer gets beaten, she has to do more work.

She used to not have to do things like gathering firewood and starting a fire, but now all of these tasks have fallen on her shoulders.

She was exhausted from taking care of this whole family every day!

At this point, Zhao Xiaocao's eyes suddenly lit up as she looked at Wan Cunhua and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, now that you've married into our family, you're part of the Zhao family. It's not unreasonable for you to do the dishes, is it?"

"Huh? No... not too much." Wan Cunhua was a little taken aback.

"Okay, then you do it." Zhao Xiaocao shook her hand and quickly ran away.

Wan Cunhua then realized that her third aunt's family was all as shrewd as monkeys.

She had just been tricked by Fatty Zhao and Skinny Zhao into doing their laundry that evening, and now she's fallen for Zhao Xiaocao's tricks again, having to do her dishes!

commit a sin!

Fortunately, her mother-in-law is easy to manage. Her aunt had said before that she wouldn't suffer from her mother-in-law after she married into the family, and it seems that one of those words was true.

The next day, as Old Lady Zhao strolled around the village, she heard mostly gossip about selling fruit.

Granny Wang and Granny Zhao sat under a tree, enjoying the cool shade. They chatted back and forth, as if they wanted to dig up the ancestors of all the cunning fruit sellers in the village from their graves.

Although Old Lady Zhao felt guilty, she couldn't help but listen.

She decisively joined Granny Wang and Granny Zhao's chat, and for every curse they uttered, she would secretly curse back in her heart.