Gan Li pried Gan Mingli's hand away, snatched Zhao Shi from his grasp, and then stood directly between the two of them, saying sternly:
"Sister-in-law is right. Since things have already come to a head, let's just get straight to the point. What are you hiding from me?"
"It's nothing, really nothing." Gan Mingli's face was pale, and his eyes darted away, avoiding Gan Li's gaze.
Old Man Gan quickly added, "Gan Li! I've said it before, I won't take care of you anymore, and you shouldn't interfere in my family's affairs either! Whatever happens has nothing to do with you!"
Grandma Gan covered her face and cried. Gan Li glanced at her casually and saw that in just a few days, she seemed to have aged several years. Her heart grew heavier.
Behind her, Zhao's emotions did not seem to have calmed down because of Gan Li's actions; on the contrary, she became even more furious and shouted at her:
"Stop pretending! If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have been hurt like this!"
Gan Li knew that the truth could probably only be found out from Zhao Shi. But while Zhao Shi cursed, she didn't say a single useful word, which annoyed Gan Li, who retorted:
"You think cursing me will solve the problem? What exactly happened? If you don't tell me, how will anyone know what's wrong with you!"
When Zhao saw that she still had the nerve to scold her at this time, she was so angry that she jumped up and down. However, she was also reminded by her words and told the whole story.
“You stole Baifulai’s recipes, how could Baifulai’s owners let this go! They demand five hundred taels of silver from us, and if we can’t pay, they’ll sell our whole family to pay off the debt!”
I've devoted myself entirely to this family. Even after your brother beat me and sent me home, I was still trying to borrow money. But what about your father? His grandchildren are about to be sold, and he doesn't care. He even took out money to register a household for you as a woman!"
As Zhao spoke, she became increasingly distressed, and by the end, she was sobbing uncontrollably.
When the matchmaker was arranging the marriage, she told her parents that the Gan family was known for their generosity and that they were all cooks, making them a good match. She said that marrying into this family would bring her endless happiness, but the reality was that she would suffer endless hardship!
She used to think that she could endure it as long as possible, and she has endured it for so many years. But now that it concerns her children, she can't endure it anymore!
That day, she was heartbroken after being slapped by Gan Mingli and stormed back to her parents' home. When her family heard about it, they all tried to persuade her:
"Anyway, you're the daughter-in-law, an outsider. Why are you getting involved in this? Let Gan Mingli give you a letter of divorce and send you back to your parents' home. Even if they want to sell you to pay off debts, they won't sell you!"
In truth, Zhao understood this principle perfectly well. But if she could run away, could her children run away?
After she got over her anger, she not only couldn't bring herself to run away, but she also shamelessly asked her family for money. As soon as her two sisters-in-law heard the words "borrow money," they turned sour and made sarcastic remarks.
Her parents weren't like the apple of her eye, and she used all her tricks and pleading to finally borrow twenty taels of silver.
When he returned, he overheard his sister-in-law, Sun, arguing with the old man. He then learned that even at this point, the old man had money but didn't care about his grandchildren. Instead, he secretly took it out to give as favors to that troublemaker and help her establish her own household.
This news struck Zhao like a bolt from the blue, leaving her completely disoriented—she had shamelessly borrowed money over there, hoping to return and weather the storm together. Meanwhile, her in-laws were still unwaveringly biased towards their daughter, the very person responsible for their predicament!
Zhao's composure immediately crumbled! That's why the scene just now happened.
Because of her anger, Zhao's voice was loud enough for the onlookers to hear clearly. A buzz of voices rose up, with some cursing Old Man Gan for being senile, and others joining Zhao in cursing Gan Li for being a wicked person.
Gan Mingli was so anxious that he scratched his head, wishing he could cover Zhao's mouth, but his sister was blocking his way, so he didn't dare to move.
Gan Mingyi was also pacing anxiously. Hearing someone scolding his sister, he defended her, saying, "She was just too naive, so she was deceived by that guy surnamed Chen. She didn't do it on purpose!"
Seeing that no one would listen, he became enraged and threatened, "If you talk about my sister again, believe me, I'll beat you all to death!"
Having just recovered from Zhao's words, Gan Li looked at Gan Mingyi with a complicated expression upon hearing this—did this man even know that his innocent sister was already a mother of two?
She called out to Gan Mingyi, telling him not to argue with everyone, and then turned to look at Old Man Gan: "Dad, is this true?"
Old Man Gan lowered his head and after a long while said, "You're all married now, this has nothing to do with you!"
Although it sounded like words favoring sons over daughters, Ganli knew that they were full of love for her daughter. Moreover, this also proved that what Zhao said was true.
Gan Li recalled the day she went to the Gan family and heard Zhao Shi mention "famine." At the time, she didn't understand, but now she realized that this was what Zhao Shi was referring to.
So it seems that the reason why Old Man Gan refused to let her and Gan Tian settle in the Gan family was because of this matter.
She looked at the old man in front of her, her eyes filled with emotion, and after a long while she sighed, "Let's go inside and talk."
"I told you, this is none of your business..."
"How can it not be my business?!" Gan Li interrupted him sharply when she saw him still being stubborn. "I didn't know about this before, so I let it go, but now that I know, how can I not care? Do you think I can live a good life just by pretending not to know? Dad, I still have that much conscience!"
Old Gan's eyes flickered, and there were even some tears in them.
Seeing that this was effective, Gan Li was secretly pleased, but on the surface she still had a stern face and said to the family, "Hurry up! They say you shouldn't wash your dirty linen in public, do you really want to embarrass yourselves in front of the villagers?"
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