Chen An looked up at Zhao Shi and said calmly, "We deliberately didn't tell Mother."
If Mother knew, she would be heartbroken for us. She would be sending us food so eagerly. It wouldn't be right for us to refuse it. But if we did accept it, what would Mother and Mother eat?
"It would be even more outrageous for me to buy from you. After all, we're family. How could I, as your mother, accept your money? Wouldn't that damage our mother-son relationship?"
Cheng Yue listened from the side and couldn't help but laugh. Chen An was usually a man of few words, so it was rare for him to say so much.
Moreover, when they don't speak, they don't speak; but when they do speak, they stab people in the heart.
She even suspected that Chen An had used all his cunning on the Chen family.
Zhao glared at Chen An unhappily, "Second son, you're mistaken. We've already separated our families; we're two separate households now."
Besides, even brothers need to keep clear accounts. Do you really intend to embezzle your mother's food?
They actually went out of their way to send him food? They're dreaming!
She would never have gone up the mountain if she hadn't seen that there was money to be made.
Chen An feigned sadness and said, "It seems I was overthinking things. I thought Mother was worried we wouldn't have anything to eat, so she came up here to bring us food. I never expected this..."
Aunt Li and her group of women were pointing and whispering, and Zhao felt a lump in her throat.
This second son was always dishonest, always thinking about his wife and children. After the family split up, he became even more unfilial, actually trying to scheme against her!
“You don’t need my financial support at all. Look at what you’re wearing and what you’re carrying, you don’t look like you can’t afford to eat.”
Especially those two girls, a rag is enough to cover their skin, wearing new clothes is just a waste of money.
Even that brat gets new clothes, but the second son won't even buy her, his mother, some fabric. He's so unfilial!
“Oh, Sister Zhao, what are you saying? Chen An and his wife aren’t the kind of people who mistreat their children. What’s wrong with giving the children new clothes?”
Does that mean you're the only ones allowed to wear new clothes, while others are only allowed to wear rags? You lived a miserable life before the family split up, and now that you've split up, you can't even have a good life?
You're a breastfeeding mother, and instead of hoping for the children's well-being, you talk about your own granddaughter like that? It's laughable!
Aunt Li already resented Zhao for blocking her way and delaying her weighing, but Zhao kept nagging on and on, so she couldn't help but retort when she heard this.
"Li, you shut up! I'm talking to my own son, what right do you have to interrupt?"
They're so poor they're practically begging, yet they have the nerve to care about what other people wear? Don't they know what kind of people they are?!
Aunt Li hated it most when people called her by her full name. This time she was really angry. She didn't even bother to open her mouth and just grabbed Zhao's hair.
Zhao never did housework, and her hands and feet were already too weak to compete with Aunt Li.
My scalp throbbed with pain, and I couldn't help but cry out, "Ah!! Let me go, let me go!"
Aunt Li ignored Zhao's pleas for mercy and shoved her to the ground.
"Your mouth's itchy, huh? Then rub yourself on the ground, and I guarantee it'll cure your stinky mouth!"
Cheng Yue was stunned. Aunt Li's fighting power was so strong!
Tsk tsk tsk, quick and ruthless, not bad, not bad. If it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, she would have given him a thumbs up.
The women watching were surprised that the two started fighting over a mere disagreement, so they had to step in to break them up.
Even if they dislike Zhao Shi, they can't just stand by and do nothing, can they?
Aunt Li felt incredibly relieved after teaching Zhao a lesson. She had always been easygoing and didn't like to resort to violence.
Who told Zhao to call her by her full name? She deserved to be beaten.
With everyone pulling them apart, Aunt Li let Zhao go. She wasn't there to fight today; selling sweet potato flour was the priority.
Zhao got up, her hair was disheveled, and there was dirt on her lips. She looked quite disheveled.
Cheng Yue took a few deep breaths to stop herself from laughing. "Mother-in-law, you should talk things out. I'm not saying I won't buy these dried sweet potatoes if you want to. Why make such a fuss?"
"You shameless slut, you not only watched me get beaten up without helping me out, but you also stood by and laughed at me!"
Zhao had just hit her lip and was wincing in pain, barely able to speak, but she still glared fiercely at Cheng Yue.
Why criticize her? Why say she can't speak properly? Was she the one who actually hit someone?
"Didn't you want to collect it? Here you go, give me the money!" Thinking about the second half of Cheng Yue's words, Zhao kicked a dried sweet potato and stretched out her hand again.
“Mother-in-law, I need sweet potato flour. You see, it needs to be ground this fine. Go grind it on the stone mill before bringing it over. If you don’t grind it, I can only buy it for one coin for five catties.”
Cheng Yue grabbed a handful of flour and showed it to Zhao Shi. She did it on purpose. How could someone as lazy as Zhao Shi, who even found going to the outhouse too much trouble, bother grinding flour?
"You want me to grind flour for you? How dare you!"
Zhao was so angry that her voice cracked. "One coin for five catties? What's the difference between sweet potato flour and dried sweet potato? Others pay two coins for three catties, but she thinks it's cheap?"
Aunt Zhou glanced at Zhao Shi and said, "Da Lan, since you're selling it for money, you should do the same as everyone else. We all ground our own flour, so why can't you?"
"That's right, everyone knows that Chen An's wife is buying sweet potato flour, but you just brought dried sweet potatoes. Are you expecting her to grind the flour herself? You should have sold them for five catties for one coin!"
"Sister Zhao, your eldest son is so capable, why would he be short of money? I think you should go back and stop wasting our time!"
The crowd chimed in with their own opinions, and Zhao Shi was so angry she could hardly breathe. She realized that these stupid women were in cahoots with that little slut Cheng Yue.
If her second brother and the others protected her, would she let these idiots bully and humiliate her?
The more Zhao thought about it, the angrier she became. Fine, fine, since they are so unfilial, then they shouldn't blame her for being heartless as their mother.
If they ever come begging at my doorstep, I'll beat them out with a big stick!
Zhao spat at the crowd, then picked up a sack of dried sweet potatoes and left.
"Mother-in-law, you're not selling it anymore?" Cheng Yue asked Zhao Shi's retreating figure.
"Sell it, sell it, sell it! I'd rather throw it away than sell it to you!" Zhao cursed as she turned around, then slunk down the mountain.
Chen An lowered his eyelids and looked at his mother like this. He felt a little sad, but when he thought about the pain she had inflicted on him, it didn't seem like much.
If it weren't for his mother's aggressive behavior, how could his father, such a good person, have died?
After his father died, he had no home anymore, only endless farm work and constant insults.
Since his mother has chosen to show favoritism, then she should bear the consequences of that favoritism alone.
With Zhao gone, things quieted down, and the remaining people finally began to be weighed.
Cheng Yue weighed and calculated at the same time, while Chen Lin and his two siblings followed along. Their mother said that they needed to practice more so that they would have more experience in arithmetic.
Aunt Li and the others watched in amazement. The three children wrote so neatly and correctly. They could even do math after the family had separated.
Who would believe it if it weren't for the Chen family members bringing misfortune to the second son's family!
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