"I told you I would support you, why... why did you do this?!"
Gan Tao screamed in despair, overwhelmed by a tide of hope.
She stared intently at her mother, yearning for an explanation, an answer that would help her understand this absurdity.
Upon hearing this, a crack finally appeared in Gan Tao Niang's cold and hard expression. A look of suspicion flashed in her eyes as she looked at Gan Tao, and she asked with a sneer:
"Support us? Is that what you really mean?"
"Of course it's true..."
"Stop trying to fool me!"
Gan Tao's answer without hesitation was ruthlessly interrupted by Gan Tao's mother.
Gan Tao Niang looked at her daughter, her face clearly showing distrust:
"Do you think I'm a three-year-old? I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice! You've long since given up on this family! You've wanted to fly away for a long time!"
"If I don't marry you off soon, and you really run away one day, am I supposed to travel all the way to the capital to catch you?"
Gan Tao found her reason utterly absurd: "So you're going to promise me off to the Wu family?"
"Do you think I wanted this? If you had listened to me and found a way to rekindle your relationship with Gan Quan, why would I have resorted to such a desperate measure?" Gan Tao Niang argued irrationally, her tone tinged with anger and embarrassment.
"So, you sold me to the Wu family?!" Gan Tao's voice trembled.
Gan Tao Niang's eyes flickered, a moment of panic crossing her face, but the thought of her daughter trying to abandon them for the capital immediately hardened her resolve:
"So what? The Wu family is a wealthy family. As long as you obey and serve Young Master Wu, what suffering can you endure?"
Besides, if you marry into our family, you can supplement our income, and your brothers will benefit too! Once you're married, you can earn money just by sleeping with your husband—isn't that better than working yourself to the bone for a pittance every month?"
Her eyes gleamed, her expression was frenzied, and the greed in her eyes was almost overflowing.
Gan Tao felt nauseous, her stomach churning as if she were about to vomit up everything she had eaten.
On her way home, she had already made a silent decision: to pretend that opportunity never came, and to take good care of her mother and younger brother and support the family.
However, just as she decided to sacrifice herself for her family, her mother and brothers were plotting how to sell her for a good price!
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a white light gleaming on the table next to her. Looking closer, she saw five silver ingots neatly arranged on a red cloth, totaling fifty taels of silver.
She knew her family's situation, so the origin of such a large sum of money was obvious.
Gan Tao only felt it was ironic.
She thought her sacrifice was for her family, but in the end, she discovered that in her family's eyes, she was just a commodity to be sold!
In their eyes, her life and her future were worth only fifty taels of silver!
Gan Tao pounced over like a madwoman, grabbed the unsightly red cloth from the table, and clutched it along with the five silver ingots neatly arranged on it.
The red silk in her hands was like a blood-dripping flag, both glaring and mocking.
Carrying the fifty taels of silver, she stumbled and rushed towards the well in the courtyard, screaming hysterically:
"It's gone! It's gone! I'm going to throw this dirty money into the well! Nobody can touch it!"
In this moment of utter despair, she couldn't think of what to do after losing the money.
Rage consumed her reason; she cared for nothing more than to destroy the evidence of this sordid deal, even if it meant mutual destruction!
Gan Taoniang slumped in her wheelchair, her face filled with shock at her daughter's actions.
She never imagined that her usually docile and obedient daughter would do something so crazy!
Fifty taels! That's fifty taels! Enough for her and her sons to eat and drink well for many years!
Seeing that Gan Tao was about to reach the well and the fifty taels of silver were about to be lost, she panicked and jumped up from her wheelchair. Her movements were faster than a rabbit's.
She rushed to Gan Tao's side and grabbed her arm. The strength she showed was unlike that of a patient who had been paralyzed for many years.
Gan Tao stared wide-eyed at her mother who had suddenly appeared before her. Her gaze involuntarily drifted downwards, landing on her mother's legs, which had been 'paralyzed'. Her mind was buzzing, as if something had exploded.
She suddenly realized that for all these years, she had been living a huge lie!
Gan Tao Niang realized she had been exposed. A flicker of panic crossed her face, but it was quickly replaced by greed.
"Quick! Eldest brother, second brother, third brother, fourth brother! Come here! Grab her! Don't let her lose the silver!"
Upon hearing their mother's words, the four younger brothers pounced on Gan Tao like hungry wolves, pinning her to the ground.
The youngest one, still somewhat naive, found his brothers' actions amusing, giggled, and pounced on them as well.
Gan Tao was pinned to the ground, and the red cloth containing the silver she was clutching in her hand was snatched away. She laughed desperately, her laughter filled with desolation and irony.
She didn't know whether she was laughing at the absurd scene before her eyes, or at herself for having been deceived and taken advantage of by her own family all these years.
Gan Tao Niang picked up the silver and hurriedly counted it. Seeing that not a single one was missing, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Now that she'd been exposed, she didn't bother to hide it anymore and stood in front of Gan Tao, yelling:
"You brat! If my leg hadn't healed long ago, you would have thrown this silver down the well! Are you crazy?! That's fifty taels! Fifty taels!"
The only response she received was Gan Tao's desolate laughter.
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