"Candied hawthorn skewers, one penny a skewer!" a street vendor shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Tangtang." Banxia was only four years old, but she was as thin as a three-year-old child. When she heard someone call for candied hawthorns, she couldn't help but drool from the corner of her mouth.
Chonglou wiped her face with his sleeve and said gently, "Little sister, bear with it for now. When your brother gets his monthly allowance, I'll buy you candied hawthorns."
Ye Moxun had said that as long as they worked hard, they would receive a monthly allowance. However, since they were still young and couldn't do much, their monthly allowance was less than that of adults.
However, food and lodging are provided, and two sets of clothes are made for them every year—one for winter and one for summer. Shoes are also provided, and there are extra meals during festivals.
Chonglou asked what extra meals were, and Song Tantan told him that extra meals meant he could eat meat, chicken, duck, and pork, as much as he wanted.
Hearing the words "enough is enough," Chonglou was satisfied. He believed his mistress's words. Ever since he and his two siblings followed the two masters, they had been able to eat their fill, had meat at every meal, and even had new clothes and shoes to wear.
At the candied hawthorn stall, Zhang Qingling was holding her nine-month-old son and was taking out money to buy him a skewer of candied hawthorns when suddenly someone rushed over and snatched the child from her arms.
"Why are you trying to take my son?" Zhang Qingling screamed.
Zhang Shen's face darkened, and he said in a deep voice, "Why did you run out on your own again? It's one thing to run around on your own, but you also brought Hui'er with you."
Soon, two maids hurriedly caught up, their faces filled with anxiety, almost in tears. These two maids were specially bought by Zhang Qingyu to take care of Zhang Hui.
Zhang Hui is Zhang Qingling's son. After giving birth, Zhang Qingling became increasingly confused and her actions and words became more and more erratic.
Neither Zhao Zhongnian nor Zhang Qingyu felt comfortable letting her take care of the child by herself, so the latter paid for two maids to be given to Zhang Qingling to help her take care of her son. However, the maids' monthly wages were paid by Zhao Zhongnian.
Zhang Qingyu is, after all, a married daughter, and she has not yet gained control of the household. She is subject to her mother-in-law in many ways. The fact that she insists on buying maids to give to her younger sister has already made Old Madam Shang very dissatisfied.
If Zhang Qingyu has to pay for every month's expenses, Old Madam Shang will definitely make a scene again and urge her son to divorce his wife.
“This is my son. I can hold him whenever I want, and I can take him out whenever I want. Nobody can stop me,” Zhang Qingling retorted confidently.
She then tried to snatch the child away again, saying, "Give me your son, I want to buy him candied hawthorns."
“Hui’er is still young, how can she eat all this? You should stop worrying and stop making a fuss all the time. If you want to buy it, buy it for yourself and don’t come here to harm Hui’er.” Zhang Shen felt a bit like he was having a heart attack. This second sister must have gone mad and was completely unable to communicate normally.
“I said I can eat it, so I can eat it. Don’t try to ruin the relationship between my son and me. You all want to take my son away from me. You wanted me to abort the child before, and now that he’s born, you want to take him away again. Have you no shame?”
Well, here we go again. Zhang Qingling was actually cursing Lian Qin, but she often couldn't tell who was who, and she would start cursing whenever she got angry.
"Regret what? I didn't do anything wrong, and neither did Hui'er. Why should we regret it? Show me how you regret it!" Zhang Qingling's insults became increasingly outrageous, and soon a few people gathered around to watch the spectacle.
People in the Fengcheng area are actually quite familiar with Zhang Qingling, after all, this guy occasionally runs into the street and curses, and sometimes his appearance or attire is somewhat similar to that of Lian Qin.
She would suddenly cling to him, gripping his clothes tightly and refusing to let go, cursing, "You heartless man, you liar, I've caught you! I'm not finished with you today!"
In short, this kind of drama will be repeated every few days.
Zhang Shen and Zhao Zhongnian were also very troubled. If they locked her up, she would yell and curse all day long, disturbing the peace of the neighbors and making it impossible for any of the children in the family to sleep peacefully. They would be so frightened by her that they would cry loudly.
"Hurry home. The chef made your favorite beggar's chicken today. If you're late, Uncle Zhao and I will eat it all and leave none for you."
After being released from prison, Zhang Qingling became very gluttonous again, often nagging the newly hired chef to eat this and that. Her love of food was perhaps her weakness.
So Zhang Shen often used this trick to coax her, and it almost always worked.
Sure enough, upon hearing about the delicious food, her eyes lit up. She stared at Zhang Shen and said, "You're not lying to me, are you? Don't try to lock me up again when we get back. If I don't get beggar's chicken, you're dead, really dead."
"I'm not lying to you, there definitely is. Let's go." Zhang Shen'er was exhausted.
After taking a few steps, Zhang Qingling ran back, tore off a candied hawthorn, and said, "I paid for it."
He walked a short distance with the candied hawthorn skewer in his hand, then suddenly threw it on the ground, saying, "Even if I buy it and then throw it away, I'll do it myself. I can't let others benefit from it."
Zhang Shen: "..." He didn't see anything.
Sitting in the carriage, Chonglou was peeking outside when he saw a woman throw a candied hawthorn on the ground without eating a single one—what a waste!
So Chonglou jumped off the carriage and ran over to pick up the candied hawthorns. But just as he was about to reach out and pick them up, he heard the clatter of footsteps. He looked up and saw...
It was the woman who had thrown the candied hawthorn earlier; she had run back to pick it up.
Just as Zhang Qingling turned around, she saw someone trying to pick up the candied hawthorn she had thrown away, so she quickly returned and stepped on the candied hawthorn before anyone else could.
If she didn't crush it in one step, she would stomp her feet and stomp hard, not satisfied until she crushed the candied hawthorn.
Seeing Chonglou's flushed face and angry eyes, she felt a surge of excitement and couldn't help but want to burst into laughter.
"I'd rather throw it away than let someone else have it. Humph, I won't give it to you, I'll make you drool." She continued to mock the other person.
When Banxia saw her brother being bullied, she quickly asked Tianqi to help her down from the carriage. Then she ran up to Chonglou and pretended to protect him, saying in a childish voice, "Bad woman, you're not allowed to bully my brother."
"Where did this ugly girl come from? She's really ugly, short, small, and dark-skinned. Even in her new clothes, she looks ugly. Ugly girl!" Zhang Qingling was arguing enthusiastically with a four-year-old child.
Although Banxia was still young, she knew about beauty and ugliness. Being repeatedly disliked by the other party made her feel extremely wronged. Her eyes were wet, and she pouted as if she was about to cry.
"Stop crying, it's so noisy. Only ugly girls cry, and you really are an ugly girl." Zhang Qingling said domineeringly, hands on her hips.
"You're the ugly one! You're crazy! Shameless! How can a grown man argue with a child like that?" Chonglou was furious; he couldn't bear to see his sister being treated like this.
"If I call you crazy, and you dare call me crazy, I'll tear your mouth off!" Zhang Qingling charged forward, baring her teeth and brandishing her claws, intending to pin him down and beat him until his head was a pig's head.
But she had only taken a few steps forward when a tall figure blocked her way. The person lifted her up with one hand and made a flattening gesture with the other.
Tian Qi meant that if she dared to hit Chonglou and Banxia, he would slap her flat and turn her into mincemeat.
Don't let her usual outspokenness fool you; she's always incredibly shrewd when it counts. Like now, she knows this person is not to be trifled with and she can't beat him, so she'll just have to endure it and wait until she can get away.
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