36 Toxic
◎Let her see what this trick is◎
She hurried over, blocking the two people who had just entered at the door, and grabbed Ji Zhao: "Zhao'er, why did you bring him here?"
Ji Zhao shook her hand away and took Ge Yong's arm again: "Today is my grandmother's birthday, and I brought Yonglang to congratulate her." After saying that, he pointed to what Ge Yong was holding in his hand, "This is grown by Yonglang's family. He dug it in the field all night last night." After saying that, he looked at Ge Yong's hands that were cracked from digging sweet potatoes, his eyes full of heartache.
Ge Yong gave Guo Cuiping a flattering smile.
Guo Cuiping looked at the dirty sweet potato in his hand, her brows furrowed deeper, and she hurriedly drove the two of them out: "Hurry up, hurry up, don't embarrass yourself here."
But she alone couldn't push Ge Yong and Ji Zhao away.
Ji Zhao was unhappy. She yelled, "Mom, we're here to celebrate Grandma's birthday. How can you chase us away?"
She yelled so loudly that everyone who hadn't noticed her turned to look over here, and the old lady also looked over here.
Guo Cuiping glared at her daughter.
Ji Zhao pushed her aside and pulled Ge Yong to the front. They both knelt in front of the old lady, saying some birthday wishes.
The old lady was already unhappy with Ji Zhao's late arrival, and now he brought a man dressed simply. She looked Ge Yong up and down with disdain.
He looks poor.
Why are all kinds of cats and dogs brought into the house?
She snorted coldly and asked Ji Zhao, "Why did you come just now?"
Guo Cuiping stood aside and wanted to help explain, but the old lady stopped her with a look.
Ji Zhao replied calmly, "Grandma, I've been ill in bed for the past few days, so I'm a little late today."
Guo Cuiping felt relieved a little, but Ji Zhao's next words made her legs go weak.
Ji Zhao said, "Grandma, I brought Yonglang here today to celebrate your birthday. The sweet potatoes he grows are so fragrant and sweet, so I brought some especially for you."
Ge Yong was also a perceptive person. When he heard Ji Zhao mention him, he immediately raised his head, held the sweet potato in his hand in front of the old lady, and said in an extremely flattering way: "Old lady, this is a small gift from me. I hope you will accept it."
The old lady stared at the sweet potato covered in dirt in his hand with a strange expression, and she was petrified on the spot. Someone actually gave her a sweet potato. Her granddaughter was really great.
The dirt on the sweet potato fell onto the cashmere carpet. The old lady felt sorry for the carpet and immediately shouted, "Where did this troublemaker come from? Drag him out!"
When everyone saw that Ge Yong only used sweet potatoes to celebrate the birthday, they all laughed secretly.
Guo Cuiping was anxious, and she hurried to help Ji Zhao out: "Zhao'er, quickly take out the gift you prepared for grandma."
Ji Zhao blinked his eyes and said, "Yonglang and I are of the same mind. This sweet potato was prepared by Yonglang and I for grandma."
Guo Cuiping's heart finally died. She covered her chest and fell unsteadily onto the chair.
Upon hearing this, the old lady was so angry that she pounded the ground three times with her cane. "Well, well, this is my good granddaughter. For her grandmother's birthday, she only gave her a few dirty sweet potatoes. How filial she is!"
Seeing that the old lady was angry, Ji Zhao felt a little panicked. She originally wanted to buy a jade bracelet for her grandmother, but Ge Yong said that there was no need to waste that money, so they prepared these sweet potatoes.
She pointed at the sweet potato in Ge Yong's hand and said to the old lady, "Grandma, this sweet potato tastes delicious when roasted. I'll have the servants roast one for you to try."
"Zhu'er..." She called out to her personal maid outside the door.
"That's enough." The old lady interrupted her, her voice hinting at anger.
Ji Zhao shrank her neck and looked at Guo Cuiping, wanting her to help her, but Guo Cuiping was so angry with her that she turned her eyes away and ignored her.
Ge Yong on the side tugged at her sleeve, wanting her to introduce herself to the old lady.
Facing the old lady's murderous gaze, Ji Zhao spoke tremblingly: "Grandma...Grandma, this is Yonglang. He heard that today is your birthday, so he spent the whole night digging sweet potatoes in the mountains and almost fell ill." As she spoke, she was actually moved.
Ge Yong cleared his throat and spoke at the right time: "Madam, my surname is Ge and my name is Yong. I live in Xiping Village. Miss Ji and I are in love. I hope you will help us get married."
Shu Yao was cracking melon seeds and watching with great interest.
She asked Ji Shijing: "What do you think of Ge Yong?"
Ji Shijing raised his eyelids and glanced at the two people still kneeling on the ground, and said a few words lightly: "Not a good person."
Shu Yao raised an eyebrow and grabbed another handful of melon seeds: "What do you mean?"
Ji Shijing curled the corners of his mouth, saying meaningfully, "You'll know later."
Shu Yao chuckled and said no more.
Ji Dayong came up and punched Ge Yong, then spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on him: "Where did you come from, country boy? Get out of here right now."
Ji Zhao threw himself on Ge Yong to protect him, stiffened his neck and shouted to Ji Dayong, "Dad, don't hit him."
Ge Yong was already weak, and this punch made him vomit blood, which made Ji Zhao feel even more distressed.
Ji Dayong pointed at Ji Zhao's nose and cursed: "You shameless girl, you are hooking up with random men outside. I will beat you to death today." Then he raised his fist and started hitting her.
Guo Cuiping hurried out to stop them. She begged, "There are so many people here today. Don't embarrass yourself in front of outsiders."
But Ji Dayong didn't care: "Who is the one who is embarrassed? If I had known she would do such a thing today, I should have drowned her in the urinal when she was born."
Guo Cuiping quickly interrupted him: "Stop talking."
Ji Dayong's words seemed to touch a string in Ji Zhao's heart. She said in a hoarse voice: "Yes, from childhood to adulthood, you only treat Ji Tianbao as a treasure, and never care about my life or death." After saying that, she felt aggrieved and burst into tears.
Since they were young, she and Ji Lai had been beaten and scolded by Ji Dayong. One winter, he even deliberately threw the two sisters into the snowy mountains. If their mother had not come to find them, she and Ji Lai would have probably frozen to death on the snowy mountains.
Ji Zhao felt resentful towards his father.
Seeing his sister so aggrieved, Ji Lai felt bad too.
Ji Dayong felt humiliated and became furious. He raised his foot and kicked Ji Zhao.
Ji Zhao straightened up and shouted, "Go ahead and kick me and your grandson to death."
As soon as these words came out, Ji Dayong's feet stopped in mid-air. The people around him fell silent instantly. Guo Cuiping's face turned pale. She took a few steps forward with disbelief on her face: "Zhao'er...what did you say? What grandson?"
Ji Zhao stood up slowly and pointed at his belly: "There is already my and Yonglang's child in here."
Guo Cuiping was truly devastated. She came up and slapped Ji Zhao in the face, saying bitterly, "How could I have given birth to such a shameless daughter like you?"
Ji Zhao shed tears, covering her red face. "Yonglang and I are truly in love. He treats me like a treasure. I feel relaxed and happy with him, unlike you guys who only make me feel depressed."
Ge Yong huddled aside, watching Ji Zhao charging forward for him, and he remained silent with a clear conscience.
Guo Cuiping shook her head, extremely disappointed.
The guests were whispering to each other, and everyone looked like they were enjoying the show.
The expression on the old lady's face was extremely ugly. In no time, the news that the daughter of the Ji family was secretly meeting a man from another family would spread throughout the capital. How would others view the Ji family then?
In order to minimize the impact of this matter, she could only say: "Zhao'er and Ge Yong are in love today, so let's not force them to break up."
Hearing that her grandmother supported her, Ji Zhao was a little bit unconvinced for a moment. She asked blankly, "Grandma...you agree?"
Ji Dayong and Guo Cuiping also looked at the old lady in disbelief.
For the sake of the mansion's reputation, the old lady suppressed her anger, looked at Ge Yong, and asked, "Are you really asking to marry Zhao'er?"
Ge Yong quickly knelt on the ground: "I am sincere and sincere."
The old lady continued to ask: "How much gift money do you plan to give?"
Ge Yong hesitated. He glanced at Ji Zhao, who immediately came out to support him: "Yonglang's family has spent all their savings on his mother's medical treatment, so the granddaughter does not want any gift money."
The old lady ignored her and kept her eyes on Ge Yong.
Ge Yong's heart was pounding. He said unconfidently, "Five taels?"
As soon as these two words were spoken, there was a burst of laughter in the hall.
It's really unrealistic to want to get married with just five taels of silver.
"I can't even buy half a pig's leg at 5 taels, hahaha."
Ge Yong listened to their laughter, his cheeks flushed, he gritted his teeth, and then said, "Ten taels."
The audience continued to laugh.
Shu Yao held her chin with her left hand and turned the wine glass with her right hand. Ten taels was almost her five-day salary. One tael here is equivalent to about one hundred yuan in modern times, so ten taels was only one thousand yuan.
Ge Yong is almost writing "get something for nothing" on his face.
The old lady was obviously unhappy and said in a tone that would not tolerate refusal: "One hundred taels."
Ge Yong raised his head in shock.
Ji Zhao knelt down again and kowtowed to the old lady: "Grandma, please don't force Yonglang."
The old lady felt annoyed when she saw Ji Zhao. Her granddaughter was so stupid. How could a man who was unwilling to spend money on you be sincere to you? She was the only one who stuck to him foolishly, thinking she had found a treasure.
She said seriously, "Ge Yong, if you really want to marry my granddaughter, give me one hundred taels of silver."
Ji Zhao wanted to say something, but the old lady asked two maids to take her away to prevent her from embarrassing herself again.
Ge Yong lost his backbone and panicked in an instant. He didn't want to give up the wealth and splendor in the Ji Mansion, so he said, "Okay, one hundred taels is one hundred taels. Please don't regret it when the time comes."
The old lady nodded: "Of course."
Ge Yong stood up and walked away in embarrassment.
Guo Cuiping felt dizzy and said to the old lady, "Mother, my daughter-in-law is not feeling well. I'm going to rest first."
The old lady looked at Ji Lai beside her and said, "Second girl, help your mother down quickly."
After the two men left, the old lady smiled again and said to the people below: "Everyone has seen a joke today. I hope you don't mention it to others."
Everyone nodded perfunctorily. The show was over, and they stood up in twos and threes to say goodbye. Seeing everyone about to leave, the old lady became a little anxious. The main show hadn't started yet, and they couldn't leave. So she said, "Today, the troupe has another performance, 'Guiying Takes Command.' Everyone, please listen to it before leaving."
At the birthday boy's request, everyone had to sit down again. After all, they couldn't make things too awkward with the Ji family.
The old lady called a little maid to her side and whispered a few words in her ear. The little maid nodded and walked to Shu Yao: "Miss Shu, you are a new bride and have never served tea to the old lady. Please follow me to the kitchen to make tea."
Shu Yao hesitated for a moment, then stood up. Ji Shijing gently tugged at the corner of her clothes.
She shook her head at him.
Shu Yao followed the maid to the small kitchen next door, only to see that Nanny Wang had already prepared tea.
Seeing her coming, Nanny Wang instructed her to pour tea into the cup: "Since you've married into this family, you must understand the rules and regulations." She wiped her hands with a towel and said, "Pour the tea and take it back to the old lady."
The aroma of tea is refreshing.
When Shu Yao poured tea, she saw some white powder floating at the bottom of the cup. If the tea hadn't quickly spread the powder, she wouldn't have been able to find out what it was.
She went to the front hall carrying the tray.
Looking at her back, Nanny Wang blew between her nails with a smug expression.
A crow flew over Ji Shijing's shoulder at some point, holding a half-opened medicine bag in its mouth, with some white powder still remaining inside.
He saw Shu Yao bringing in tea with a serious expression, and he had a vague guess.
Shu Yao handed the tea to the old lady.
The old lady sat upright in the high seat: "Kneel down and serve tea."
Shu Yao pounded her legs and said, "I caught a cold these past two days, my legs hurt and I can't kneel."
"Old Madam, you also know that the North Courtyard..."
"That's enough." The old lady was afraid she would accuse her of mistreating her again, so she quickly stopped talking and cautiously took the teacup. "You were supposed to be served tea the day after your wedding, but the funeral delayed it. Today is the perfect day. I'll drink this cup of tea, and you will be the legitimate granddaughter-in-law of my Ji Mansion."
After she finished speaking, her eyes kept glancing outside. The little maid who had gone out with Shu Yao ran in hurriedly and knelt at the old lady's feet. Her body was trembling and her speech became incoherent.
Shu Yao was puzzled.
The old lady cast a sidelong glance at her pretentiously: "Why are you in such a hurry?"
The little maid looked up at the cup of tea in the old lady's hand with horror and stammered, "Old... Old lady, this tea is poisonous."
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