Gan Tao's family lived at the entrance of the village. Their small courtyard was neat and impressive, indicating that they had some wealth. No wonder Gan Tao's mother didn't like Gan Quan back then.
However, that was repaired when Gan Tao's father was still alive. Now that Gan Tao's father is gone, no one has repaired the holes in the roof, and it makes a whooshing sound when the wind blows.
The house was completely bare; all the valuables had been pawned to pay for Gan Tao Niang's medical treatment, leaving almost nothing but a few pieces of old furniture.
When Gan Li arrived, Gan Tao was washing clothes in the yard. She was wearing a faded coarse cloth dress, her hair was messy, and she looked very haggard.
"Tao'er, are you home?" Gan Li called out.
Gan Tao looked up when she heard the voice, and when she saw it was her, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. However, she quickly put down the clothes in her hands, wiped the water off her hands haphazardly with her apron, and hurried to meet her.
"Auntie, what brings you here? Please come in and sit down."
Ganli handed over the basket she was carrying:
"A few days ago, we bought some rice and flour. My daughter and I couldn't finish it all, so we thought since you have a large family, we brought you some."
There's also braised pork belly, homemade too, it tastes pretty good. I brought some over so you can try it.
"I can't accept this..."
Before Gan Tao could refuse, she heard a shrill voice from inside the house: "Who's here?"
Immediately afterwards, Gan Tao Niang came out in a wheelchair. When she saw Gan Li, she feigned surprise and said, "Oh, it's Sister Ali! Is there something you need?"
Seeing her pretentious manner, Ganli repeated what she had just said.
Gan Tao's mother had already pushed the wheelchair closer, shoved Gan Tao's hand aside, and took the food box from Gan Li's hand. She lifted the cloth covering it and exclaimed in delight:
"Wow, so much meat! How much silver must this have cost?"
"Meat? There's meat!"
A commotion arose inside the house, and four boys rushed out, heading straight for the basket in Gan Tao Niang's hands.
"Braised pork! It's braised pork! Mom, I want to eat meat!"
"Give it to me! Give it to me! I want some too!"
The four boys, the oldest no more than ten years old and the youngest only two or three, were all skin and bones, as if they hadn't had a full meal in a long time. When they saw the braised pork, their eyes lit up, and they grabbed it without caring whose it was.
"Stop! All of you, stop! You little brats, who gave you permission to lay a hand on each other!"
Sitting in her wheelchair, Gan Tao Niang watched her sons fight over the braised pork. She cursed them angrily, but it was no use. She could only hold onto the food box tightly and reach out to protect the remaining braised pork in the basket in her arms.
It's a pity that a whole bowl of braised pork is now reduced to just three lonely pieces.
"Nang, I want seven too!"
The youngest of the five boys walked last. When he came out the door, he hadn't managed to grab a single piece. But when he saw that there were still a few pieces of braised pork in Gan Tao Niang's bowl, he hugged Gan Tao Niang's leg and started to act cute.
"Eat, eat, eat! All you know is eating!" Although Gan Tao Niang scolded, she still stuffed two pieces of braised pork from the bowl into the fifth boy's mouth.
The five boys, having received the meat, ignored everything else and began to gnaw on it, muttering indistinctly, "Delicious! Delicious!"
Gan Tao Niang looked on with satisfaction and smiled, then picked up the last piece of meat and put it in her mouth.
After finishing his meal, he even licked his fingers clean, looking like he wanted more.
Gan Tao watched this scene with a bitter expression on her face, but she couldn't say anything.
Gan Li saw all of this and shook her head inwardly. It seemed that Gan Tao's life was even more difficult than she had imagined!
After finishing her meat, Gan Tao Niang remembered the person beside her and quickly smiled shamelessly at Gan Li:
"Sister Ali, please don't be offended. These kids are spoiled by me and have no manners!"
Gan Li forced a smile, but couldn't be bothered to say a word to her.
Gan Tao Niang didn't care at all. After finishing the meat, she looked at the full cloth bag next to her and asked curiously, "What's this?"
These things were originally intended by Ganli to give to them, so upon hearing this, she said, "They are some rice and flour."
Gan Tao's face was already flushed, and upon hearing this, she quickly refused, "Auntie, I'm already very grateful for the meat you brought, please take this rice and flour back..."
Before Gan Tao could finish speaking, her mother interrupted her: "You silly girl, you don't know any better. How can you ask someone to take back something they've given you?"
As she spoke, she snatched the bag from Ganli's hand, opened it, and saw white rice and flour inside. She couldn't help but beam with joy:
"Ah Li, I'm not trying to criticize you, but you're right. It's just you and Tian'er at home, why did you buy so much rice and flour? It's such a waste if we can't finish it and it goes bad!"
Next time you buy this much, just send some over. We have plenty of people at home; we'll make sure you eat it all!
She smiled, but Gan Tao's face turned very ugly: "Mother, please say less!"
Gan Tao said in a low voice, then blushed and said to Gan Li, "Aunt, don't listen to my mother. She just talks too much. Don't take it to heart."
Gan Li smiled, not taking Gan Tao Niang's words to heart.
She came today only to see Gan Tao and figure out how to complete the tasks assigned by the system; as for anything else, she didn't want to bother with it.
"Tao'er, actually I came here today because I have something to ask you about embroidery. Come to my house when you have time."
After Ganli finished speaking, she got up to take her leave.
Gan Tao wanted to see her off, but her mother grabbed her arm.
"What are you trying to deliver? She's a very busy person, she doesn't have time to waste here with you. You come in right now and do all the chores around the house!"
Helpless, Gan Tao could only watch Gan Li leave.
After Ganli had gone far away, Gantao returned to the house. Looking at the mess on the floor and her mother sitting in a wheelchair, happily holding rice and flour, she couldn't help but complain:
"Mother, how could you do this? They came to give us things out of kindness, and you're acting like you're helping them out?"
Gan Tao Niang rolled her eyes, her nostrils flaring upwards: "What did I do wrong? Did I say something wrong? She has absolutely no connection with us, yet she sends us things for no reason. Who knows what kind of bad intentions she's up to?"
Don't be naive. Look at her pretending to be a good person now, but everyone knows what kind of person she used to be in the village. Be careful she doesn't sell you out and then you're still counting the money for her!
As she spoke, her eyes darted around, and she caught sight of the things Ganli had brought. Remembering what Ganli had said earlier, she changed her mind and quickly instructed her daughter:
"However, since she wants you to go to her house, you should go and find out what she's up to. You might even be able to get some benefits out of her!"
"Let me tell you, if she gives you anything else, don't pretend to be virtuous. You've lost your work at the embroidery shop now, aren't you going to think of a way to make ends meet, or are you expecting our whole family to starve?"
Looking at her mother's greedy face, Gan Tao felt a pang of sorrow.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
