"You, you slut, how dare you hit me?" Old Mrs. Cao looked at Xiangtao in disbelief.
Xiang Tao was not afraid of her, "What's wrong with hitting you? I'm hitting you.
"You are just a bunch of common women, yet you dare to insult the Madam Protector of the Nation personally appointed by His Majesty in the street. Do you still have any respect for others?"
This is to give someone a taste of his own medicine, returning her words exactly as they were spoken.
Everyone on the side was stunned, but after hearing Xiangtao's words "just a common woman", they realized that this was not the old lady of some noble family at all!
In an instant, the women who had not dared to say a word just now began to criticize Old Lady Cao.
"I just stepped on your clothes! Is there any need to insult me like this?"
"If you're afraid of being stepped on, don't come to a place like this! You buy some clothes and come here to act like a noble. If you think we're lowly people, don't squeeze in with us!"
"That's right. Old ladies from wealthy families would have doctors come to see them at home. At the very least, they would come in a carriage with servants helping them line up. She wouldn't come here in person and squeeze in with us 'lowlifes' like this."
"How dare you call Miss Xiangtao a slut? Who do you think you are, old man? You dare to insult the county lady in the street, and you still have the nerve to queue up here."
"You're just an old and disrespectful person, yet you're pretending to be a noble here. Are you mentally ill?"
"She's mentally ill, isn't she just a lunatic? No wonder she was so humiliating just now. Everyone, please stay away from her, or she won't blackmail you."
A woman's words woke everyone up, and immediately everyone around moved further away from Old Lady Cao, looking at her as if she were looking at something dirty.
Old Mrs. Cao had never suffered such a torture before and was so angry that she almost fainted.
But before she fainted, the women started shouting even louder, "Look everyone, this old woman is really pretending to faint."
This one sentence suddenly woke up Old Lady Cao's dizzy head.
"If you want to go crazy, go somewhere else and don't dirty the county lady's wife's door." A woman saw that she was really pretending, and angrily picked up a small stone on the side of the road and threw it at her feet.
Seeing this, the other women followed suit.
Although they didn't dare throw stones at Old Lady Cao, there were jumping stones around her feet, which hit her insteps and hurt her.
Although Old Lady Cao refused to admit it, she knew that now that they had left the Duke's Mansion, they would get nothing if they continued to fight here, so she could only leave in shame.
After Deng Xue informed Tian An that Old Lady Cao had come to queue up for the free medical consultation, he did not order anyone to drive her away.
However, the clinic was closed at night and the three-day free clinic was over. I didn't see Old Lady Cao come. When I asked, I found out that this had actually happened.
Tian An didn't say much after hearing this, but just shook his head helplessly and said: "It's difficult to go from luxury to frugality! If they can't adapt to the new environment, they will have to suffer."
After being blown by the wind during the day and being angry, Old Lady Cao fell on the couch and couldn't get up after returning home.
Zhao Ningsong came back from a day out to find out that his mother was ill. He searched the house and barely found a few taels of silver. He called a doctor and got some medicine, but he used up most of it.
When Mrs. Cao woke up and realized that all the money in the house was gone, she was so angry that she almost fainted again. "You used all the money to treat my illness. What will Hao Ge'er do for his tuition this year?"
Zhao Ningsong said with a nonchalant expression, "Isn't it okay to just find a way to make up for it in a couple of days?"
"Make up for it? What can you use to make up for it? Now we have no means of livelihood, and the little assets we have left have been taken away by your concubines. What else can we use to make up for it? The college has already started, and Hao'er's former classmates have all enrolled. He is the only one left." Old Mrs. Cao slapped her thigh and cried.
It is said that Old Lady Cao doesn't care about anything, but she truly loves her only grandson. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to Tian'an's hospital to grab a free consultation spot in order to save money for his education.
At this moment, she was extremely regretful. If she had not been so stubborn during the day and had not argued with that woman, perhaps she could have saved the medical money.
"Then tell me what we should do now!" Zhao Ningsong was annoyed by Old Lady Cao's crying and said impatiently.
Turning around, he saw the gorgeous clothes that Old Lady Cao had placed aside. His eyes immediately lit up, "Mom, why don't you pawn your clothes?"
"That's my last piece of gorgeous clothing. If I pawn it, what will I wear when I go out in the future?" Old Mrs. Cao immediately hugged the gorgeous clothing tightly in her arms, fearing that Zhao Ningsong would come and snatch it away.
In order to support her family these days, the few things she brought with her when she left Duke Zhao's mansion had almost all been pawned. This was the only thing left, and it was her last bit of dignity.
Then, Zhao Ningsong looked at the gorgeous clothes in her arms as if they were pieces of silver, and was not willing to give them up easily.
He coaxed her, "Mom, you won't be able to use it for the time being anyway. Give it to Hao Ge'er for emergency use. When I find a way to earn money in the future, I'll buy you a better one."
Mrs. Cao subconsciously didn't believe that Zhao Ningsong could still earn money to buy him fancy clothes. No matter what Zhao Ningsong said, she looked at the fancy clothes in her arms and couldn't bear to part with them. Instead, she did Zhao Ningsong's work. "Son, why don't you find a job! Otherwise, how will the family get the money to pay for the expenses in the future!
Mother heard that the owner of that restaurant can earn a few taels of silver a month, and the work is not tiring, why don't you give it a try?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Ningsong refused without thinking.
He has been arrogant for so many years and loves to show off. He is a regular customer of all the restaurants and teahouses in the capital. If he becomes the shopkeeper in a teahouse, his old friends will find out and they will definitely laugh at him.
Seeing that he was unwilling to go, Old Lady Cao's face instantly fell. "If you don't go, how will this family survive in the future? Are you going to starve us to death?"
Seeing his mother's anger, Zhao Ningsong softened his attitude, but he still spared no effort to persuade Mrs. Cao to pawn the clothes. "Even if my son finds a job, he won't get paid until he works for a full month. I'd better pawn the clothes first as a last resort!"
"How about you pawn your fancy clothes first and pay Haoge'er the tuition. My son will go find a job tomorrow. When he gets paid, I'll buy you a new fancy dress right away."
"This..." Old Mrs. Cao was still hesitating, and her suspicious look made Zhao Ningsong look guilty.
The mother and son were still engaged in the final tug of war, but they heard a "zhiya" sound, and Zhao Shenghao, with a bruised face and nose, opened the door and came in.
As soon as he saw Old Lady Cao, he cried out "Wow..." and threw himself into her arms, "Grandma, my classmates all bullied me. They said my family was poor and I could no longer go to school with them. In the future, I can only make a living by carrying heavy bags for others. If I can't carry heavy bags, I will have to be a beggar. Woo woo..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
