Old Madam Zhang was so angry that her face turned green. Standing behind her, Zhang Qian also felt embarrassed. He had always been very proud of himself for being a city dweller, yet this time round, he came along to ask a villager for money. He was really too ashamed to say it out loud. With so many women making fun of him, he did not know where to hide himself.
Zhang Wei and Zhang Chao had thought carefully about what Qiao Mei said earlier. The two children seemed to understand what she was talking about, but they still did not understand what had transpired between the adults. When Old Madam Zhang looked into the two children’s eyes, she knew that something was wrong. They were no longer at the age of three or four years old when they were easily fooled. After this, would these two children still listen to her in the future? This was going to turn their world upside down!
“All of you shut up! You gossipy women! Our business is none of your business!” Feeling exasperated, Old Madam Zhang pointed at all the women in the courtyard and shouted at Qiao Mei, “Who do you think you are? Why are you poking your nose in our Zhang family’s matters! You’re a busybody!”
She still felt unsatisfied after scolding her, so she then pointed at Li Gui and said, “You money-losing good-for-nothing! You go around telling outsiders everything! Do you really think you can leave the Zhang family!”
Qiao Mei did not get angry as she already knew that Old Madam Zhang would behave like this. The other women also could not be bothered with such a person. Qiao Mei quickly said to Li Gui, “Hurry up and get water for the two children, otherwise someone will feel sorry for the children again, sigh, and then say that you don’t care about the children. Hurry up and go. She won’t hit you or scold you to stop you from going. If she doesn’t let you go and then the children get thirsty, her heart will ache so much!”
“Hahahahahaha!”
These words were said in an enigmatic manner to deliberately irritate Old Madam Zhang. Li Gui quickly went into the house, took two bowls to use as cups and filled them with water. She brought the bowls to the children and Old Madam Zhang shouted, “How dare you! Let’s see who dares to drink!”
The two children held their bowls and looked at each other, not knowing if they should drink or not. Qiao Mei laughed loudly at the scene that unfolded in front of her. “Hahahaha, you still say that you care about the children. You’re the one who won’t let the two children drink water, yet you’re blaming someone else for not caring about the children. You must have done many such sanctimonious things to sow discord between them!”
Only then did Zhang Wei and Zhang Chao fully understand that their grandmother had been the one telling lies all this while. Their grandmother always told them that she doted on them the most and that it was their mother who treated them badly and mistreated them. It turned out that their grandmother was the one who instigated all of this!
Suddenly, the two children completely understood everything. They scrutinized Old Madam Zhang and looked at her suspiciously.
“You two damn children! Why are you looking at me!” Old Madam Zhang felt goosebumps all over her back from the two children’s stares. She shouted at Qiao Mei, “Who do you think you are! What are you doing in my house! Get lost!”
Hearing this, everyone was unhappy and felt indignant for Qiao Mei.
“This is Li Gui’s house. Which part of the house has your name on it? Shameless old thing! Bah!” Auntie Wang said.
“Li Gui is my daughter-in-law! What’s hers belongs to our Zhang family! Of course, this house also belongs to our Zhang family!” Old Madam Zhang said arrogantly.
When Qiao Mei heard this, she said slowly, “Oh? Then does the house in the city belong to my mother too? You’re already a family, so that house must also belong to my mother, right?”
“That’s right, that’s right!” Everyone chimed in.
“Pfft! Shameless! That’s our Zhang family ancestral home! What has it got to do with her!” Old Madam Zhang stomped her feet in anger.
“What a joke. Her surname isn’t Zhang and she still has the cheek to say this. It’s as if she’s not just a daughter-in-law of the Zhang family.”
“That’s right. How shameless.”
“What era is this? It’s as if we’re still living in the past!”
“Let’s go and report her! What a mess!”
“Sister Li Gui married into their family, she was not sold to them. You guys really think you have the final say!”
“She had so many children for them, including boys!”
Everyone chimed in to defend Li Gui while she secretly wiped her tears.
When Old Madam Zhang heard that someone wanted to report her, she did not dare to say another word.
