Wang Yue and Lu Xiaomei jumped and hugged each other. "Xiaomei, your clothes look so good on you."
Although Wang Yue is only one year younger than Gu Nanjiao, she loves playing with children and has a bit of a childlike nature.
Lu Xiaomei said proudly, "Isn't it pretty? My sister-in-law bought it for me. Let me tell you, my sister-in-law is a great cook. Also, my sister-in-law bought me a hair accessory. Let me take you to see it."
Lu Xiaomei dragged Wang Yue to see the new hair accessory that Gu Nanjiao had bought for her.
Gu Nanjiao naturally trusted the people Lu's mother had found, and prepared several of her signature dishes for lunch: dry-pot bamboo shoots, hot pot, braised lion's head meatballs, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, and also some spicy strips and beef jerky.
The three Wang siblings had never seen such delicious food before, and since they weren't at home, they rubbed their hands together, feeling quite reserved.
"Eat up, don't be shy, there are no outsiders here." Gu Nanjiao said as she put a few bites of food on Wang Yue's plate, while instructing Lu Yanzhao to put food on his two cousins' plates.
"Cousins, please don't be shy, make yourselves at home." Lu Yanzhao quickly put a lot of food into the Wang brothers' bowls.
The host had already served them food, so it would seem insincere not to eat it. The group picked up their bowls and ate in small bites. As soon as they finished, their bowls were filled with even more food.
The group ate to their heart's content; honestly, they had never tasted such a sumptuous and delicious meal in their lives. Satisfied with their meal, they worked even harder.
Wang Yue and Lu Xiaomei were in charge of cleaning, while the Wang brothers and Lu Yanzhao were in charge of peeling and cutting the kudzu roots. Lu's mother and Gu Nanjiao were in charge of grinding and filtering. They worked until dark, and finally removed most of the kudzu roots from the yard.
After dinner, they went home. Gu Nanjiao gave them their wages, but they all refused to accept them.
Wang Gang waved his hand: "We're all family, it's only right that we help out, how can we ask for wages?"
Gu Nanjiao smiled and said, "We still have to pay you. If you don't accept it, we won't let you help us tomorrow. We don't trust anyone else, so we'll have to do it ourselves. Can you bear to see your aunt, who is so old, suffer like this?"
After a few shoving motions at the door, the group finally gave in to Gu Nanjiao and accepted the money.
At the corner outside the Lu family compound, Li Shi, her face full of jealousy, nudged Lu Lao Er, who was hiding behind her back, with her elbow:
"See that? Your sister-in-law even brought her family here. She has this way of making money but only thinks about her family and doesn't tell us. You're such a spineless second uncle."
Upon hearing this, Lu Lao Er scolded, "It's all your fault! I told you to work on building relationships, but you only did petty theft and other underhanded things. Now the relationships are completely ruined."
Upon hearing this, Li became furious: "You keep saying I'm useless. If it weren't for your tacit approval, Yanping and I would have been caught red-handed. If you were useful, would you need to criticize me?"
Lu Lao Er was thoroughly annoyed by her nagging: "You just talk nonsense all day long. Why are you always staring at her family? Don't drag me into your jealousy."
Lu Lao Er also had to maintain his image as a nice guy in front of outsiders, for fear that Li Shi would ruin it.
Li was furious: "I'm jealous? You're useless and you still complain that I'm jealous? All these years, what have you accomplished? You've been looked down upon your whole life. When your older brother was alive, you were even more jealous of them than I was."
"You bitch, if you keep talking nonsense, believe me, I'll beat you to death. If I hadn't married a jinx like you, would I have been looked down upon my whole life?"
Before marrying Lu Lao Er, Li had been betrothed to a man who was short-lived. Li died before she could marry him, and everyone in the village said she was a jinx, a cursed woman.
Li was getting anxious because Lu Lao Er was still unmarried at twenty. Seeing that he seemed honest, she tried to coax him into marrying her. However, Lu Lao Er, despite his seemingly honest appearance, was actually a bully at home. He would beat her at the slightest disagreement.
Lu Lao Er became angrier and angrier, and slapped Li Shi across the face: "You jinx! Even if I marry you, I will never be rich for the rest of my life."
"Lu Lao Er, you hit me again! You're only good at bullying your own kind. I can't live like this anymore. I'll fight you to the death!"
The two men started fighting outside the Lu family's house.
"What's that sound?" Gu Nanjiao heard a noise outside and, puzzled, went outside. She saw Lu Lao Er and Li Shi fighting.
Gu Nanjiao watched quietly, as if watching a play. After a long while, Gu Nanjiao remembered that she still had things to do and that she had watched the play for a while.
"What are you two doing, Uncle and Aunt? It's amazing!"
Upon hearing this, the two who were wrestling broke apart. Lu Lao Er had several marks on his face, while Li Shi was in a worse state. Her hair was disheveled, her left cheek was swollen and uneven, and there were several footprints on her stomach.
"Oh, it's Yanzhao's wife. Your second aunt made a mistake earlier, so your second uncle is teaching her a lesson." Lu Lao Er wiped the bloodstains off his face haphazardly, straightened his disheveled clothes, and said with a smile.
When Li saw Gu Nanjiao, she turned her head to the side and snorted coldly.
Gu Nanjiao scoffed coldly: "Second Uncle, if you want to teach a lesson, you can do it at home. What are you putting on a show at my doorstep? People who know the situation will think you're putting on a show for us, but people who don't will think you're here to rob us. Why can't you steal, so you've turned to robbing us?"
"You brat, how dare you speak to your elders like that?" Upon seeing this, Madam Li immediately pointed at Gu Nanjiao and scolded her.
"Who's barking at my doorstep?" Mother Lu came over menacingly, carrying a stick.
“Sister-in-law, this… your wife said we came to our door to steal things, you have to do something about her, how can she talk to her elders like that?” Lu Lao Er, who was standing to the side, also began to criticize Gu Nanjiao.
Upon hearing this, Lu's mother slammed the rolling pin heavily on the ground: "Did she say anything wrong? Why did you turn to robbery when you couldn't steal? What are you trying to do, standing at my doorstep so late at night?"
Gu Nanjiao couldn't help but secretly give Lu's mother a thumbs up in her heart. During this period, Lu's mother had really changed a lot. She was no longer the weak and frail woman she used to be.
Lu Lao Er's face turned somewhat ugly: "Sister-in-law, why are you saying such harsh things? I'm also your brother. You have a profitable business but don't think about your own family. Instead, you've called your maternal relatives here."
Lu's mother snorted coldly: "We're family. Since we're family, return the land we've occupied and the houses we've taken."
“Sister-in-law, that’s all in the past, why bring it up again? Besides, Yanping is getting married, and he can’t do without a house. Yanping isn’t as capable as Yanzhao, whose daughter is eager to marry a scholar.”
Hearing Li Shi making veiled insults at her again, Gu Nanjiao was furious, but as a junior, she couldn't retaliate by cursing Li Shi.
"Second Aunt, it's fine if you're incompetent, but how can you say that your brother Yanping is incompetent? He was fortunate enough to marry a better wife, but because of your constant nagging, even the heavens will hear you and cut off his good fortune and marriage. If you keep saying he's incompetent, he'll become even more incompetent." Gu Nanjiao had watched their fight for a while and overheard a lot of what they were saying. The gist of it was that Lu Lao Er considered Li Shi a jinx, and that his lack of success was all because he married her.
"Strike the snake at its vital spot," and this is what Lu Lao Er cares about most. Now he knows that Li Shi has not only affected his life's luck, but also that their son will not be able to find a good wife because of her jinxed words.
Sure enough, upon hearing Gu Nanjiao's words, Lu Lao Er's anger, which he had just suppressed, flared up again. He slapped Li Shi on the head: "You jinx! The reason our father and I are looked down upon is because of your stinking mouth. If I ever hear the words 'incompetent' again, I'll beat you to death."
"Go back to your place if you want to fight, don't get in my way." Mother Lu waved the rolling pin, and Lu Lao Er was so frightened that he grabbed Li Shi and ran away.
"I'm so angry! They come to our door every day to freeload! Ugh!" Mrs. Lu spat fiercely as she watched the two walk away.
Gu Nanjiao gave a thumbs up: "Mom, awesome!"
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