She quickly walked around to Old Lady Zhao's side, blocking her way out.
"When it comes to ruthlessness, a daughter-in-law is no match for a mother." He Tiantian sneered inwardly, thinking that this old woman Zhao was quite good at finding a way to save face.
However, she was most skilled at saving face for servants, and today she was going to make this old woman lose all face and leave her house.
Before Old Lady Zhao could react, He Tiantian quickly pulled a silver hairpin from her hair.
“This hairpin was part of my dowry when I married Zhao Xiangyang. You’ve been hoarding it for so many years, it’s time to return it to its rightful owner.”
Old Mrs. Zhao's neatly styled sideburns instantly came loose, making her look quite disheveled.
Tao, standing nearby, looked terrified. "Mother... daughter-in-law... daughter-in-law will comb your hair again." As she spoke, Tao reached out to comb her mother-in-law's hair again.
"That's enough!" Old Mrs. Zhao swung her hand and slapped Tao's outstretched hand hard.
She glared at He Tiantian with malice, gritting her teeth in anger, "Fine, you win! We'll see!"
Watching Old Lady Zhao's departing figure, He Tiantian wore a smug expression. Although she wasn't the original owner of this body, the thought of how the original owner had suffered so much at the hands of this vicious old woman for so many years made her feel relieved today.
Zhao Denglong and Zhao Wanzi had been hiding not far away, timidly watching this side. When they saw Grandma leave in anger, Zhao Wanzi clapped her little hands and was very happy.
She ran over with her short legs and grabbed He Tiantian's clothes, cheering, "Mommy, you're so amazing! Grandma's gone because of you, Grandma's gone..."
See? Even four-year-old Wanzi can tell good from bad. This shows how utterly wicked that old woman Zhao was.
Finally, there were some green vegetables at home. For dinner, He Tiantian cooked some millet rice and stir-fried some hot and sour cabbage.
He Tiantian modified the hot and sour cabbage dish by adding more vinegar and sugar, because children can't handle too much spice.
The mother and her two daughters each had a small bowl of millet rice and a plate of cabbage, and they ate with great satisfaction. Zhao Denglong and Zhao Wanzi even poured the cabbage broth into their rice and ate it all.
"Mom, your cooking is so delicious! I want to eat your cooking for the rest of my life." Zhao Wanzi licked the rice grains from the corner of her mouth, her face beaming with happiness.
"My mother will grow old someday. I want to learn to cook from her so I can cook for her when she gets old." Zhao Denglong tilted her head and thought for a moment, her face full of contemplation.
When He Tiantian looked at her two daughters with eyes full of happiness, she said that daughters are like warm cotton-padded jackets, and now that she had two, she was sure she wouldn't be cold this winter.
Zhao Denglong, being a bit older, was far more mature than her peers. He Tiantian's eyes welled up with tears. She looked at Zhao Denglong affectionately and asked, "Denglong, is there anything you like to do? What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Everyone has dreams, and children's dreams are always innocent and beautiful.
Zhao Denglong thought about it seriously. What did she want to do in the future? When she was in the Zhao family, her dream was to grow up, leave home, and never come back.
But things are different now. She wants to be with her mother and sister forever. She no longer has to suffer the punishment from her grandmother and aunt, or the bullying from her brothers.
She is already very satisfied with her current life and dares not ask for more.
Zhao Denglong shook her head and said, "Denglong has no dreams anymore. I just want to be with my mother and sister forever."
He Tiantian was both amused and exasperated, and guided her, "Your mother will definitely stay with you forever. But everyone has dreams, and only with dreams can life have direction. We can't stay in this dilapidated Changfeng Village forever, living a life where we can be bullied by others."
Zhao Denglong nodded thoughtfully, suddenly realizing how wise her mother was to say such things. Her heart surged with emotion, as if a seed of a dream was slowly taking root and sprouting within her.
"Then I want to be a cook, so I can make lots and lots of delicious food. When I have money in the future, I want to open a restaurant in town, the three-story kind," Zhao Denglong said with a grin, full of longing.
She had overheard Zhao Yan, the village boy, bragging to the children about how delicious the food was in the restaurants in town. If she could open a restaurant in Changning Town, wouldn't her mother be able to eat delicious food every day?
"Wow! Sister is so amazing! I want to go wash the dishes and mop the floor at your restaurant..." Zhao Wanzi clapped her hands excitedly.
He Tiantian looked at the clueless Zhao Wanzi with a dark expression. This little girl really had the soul of a working-class person. In modern times, she would definitely be a peasant in front of the boss.
"Besides helping her sister, does Wanzi have any dreams of her own?"
Zhao Wanzi stopped and shouted, "I want to study, I want to go to school!"
Good heavens! This little guy, once he starts talking, he's really amazing! He Tiantian looked at Zhao Wanzi with great satisfaction, thinking that this child had finally made something of himself.
Then Zhao Wanzi said, "Once Wanzi can read, she can help her sister manage the restaurant's accounts. Father once said that restaurants in towns, docks, or wealthy families all hire accountants, and the wages are very high."
"Hmm...then I want to be a bookkeeper, hehe."
He Tiantian felt helpless; she couldn't escape the fate of being a working-class person.
Zhao Denglong was amused by his sister's comical appearance. "What girl goes to school? The tuition fees in town are so expensive. In all these years, only Aunt Zhao's brother has been able to afford it in our village."
After hearing what Zhao Denglong said, He Tiantian thought about it carefully and realized it was true. In the village, only Aunt Zhao's son was promising. He passed the county-level imperial examination a couple of years ago and it seemed that he only needed to study for another year before he could go to Quanzhou to take the county-level imperial examination.
The emergence of a scholar who had passed the imperial examination in Changfeng Village was a momentous event, the first of its kind in centuries. Zhao Tingzhang and the villagers all felt a strange sense of awe and envy towards Zhao Yan.
Aunt Zhao only has one son, Zhao Yan, and the whole family is working together to support his education.
"When we have money, Mother will send you to school, okay?" He Tiantian had been thinking about this for a long time; she had always valued education.
She doesn't expect her children to achieve great things through schooling, but reading can make them wise, broaden their horizons, and elevate their perspective.
"It's snowing..." Zhao Wanzi exclaimed, and the three of them, mother and daughters, all looked outside, naturally interrupting their conversation.
Winters in Quanzhou are dry, cold, and long, with snow falling almost every three or four days since the beginning of winter.
There are many villages like Changfeng Village that live in the mountains. In winter, resources are scarce, and people freeze to death every year.
Children seem to have an endless curiosity about snow. Zhao Denglong and Zhao Wanzi were very happy to see the heavy snow outside, but He Tiantian looked a little serious.
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