Xu Mingzhen fumed. She was so angry.
She had been enduring her mother’s insults for a long time, but now she really couldn’t bear it anymore.
She couldn’t care less that Old Madame Xu didn’t like her.
As a daughter, she dutifully fulfilled her filial piety.
She can’t do anything more.
However, every single time she came here, Old Madame Xu’s attitude toward the Tan family’s children was completely opposed to that which she expressed toward Yuan Keqing. And every time she was indifferent to the Tan family’s children, their family tolerated it.
But Old Madame Xu can’t treat her children like this anymore.
This is an insult!
Xu Mingzhen took out all the money from the red envelopes. The four children’s money added up to 700 yuan.
Xu Mingzhen sneered.
Even this 700 yuan was biased.
She treated her grandsons and granddaughter differently.
Old Madam Xu was actually being sexist.
Xu Mingzhen threw the red envelopes into the garbage can in the bathroom, took the 700 yuan, and went out.
“Mom, why even bother giving the children red envelopes? You can save this 700 yuan to buy something for yourself.”
Old Madame Xu glared at her fiercely and asked, “What? Are you saying that there isn’t enough money in the red envelopes?”
“I don’t know why you don’t like the four of them, but don’t insult them even if you don’t like them.” After they have kowtowed, they were still spurned and dismissed with such a meager amount of money.”
“Mingzhen…” Tan Wenci came over to try to calm Xu Mingzhen down.
He would have preferred her to just endure the visit since they were going to leave very soon.
And the next time they saw each other would be next year.
“Don’t stop me. It didn’t matter before, but you can’t insult our children.” Xu Mingzhen said frankly, “It’s been seven years since my father passed away. In the past seven years, our family has been paying for your daily living expenses, including your housekeeper.”
Previously, even Xu Mingjing’s family had had to rely on their family to support them. Could Old Madame Xu count on Xu Mingjing to support her?
“As for the red envelopes you gave today, to be honest, this is all Wenci’s money. We usually give a lot of money to our four children, and they have more allowance for each day than this. Please, you shouldn’t bother giving them 200 yuan per person. But, oh, no, Tan Mo only got 100.”
Who was she insulting?
She’d given Yuan Keqing such a thick red envelope with money from Wenci, then turned around to trample on her children.
She couldn’t bear this even if she was her own mother…
“In the end, aren’t you just mad because I gave you less? You’re actually aggrieved because you have to take care of me? Because you live a good life, and your sister’s family isn’t doing as well as yours, I let you contribute a little bit more. It turns out that you have always been holding a grudge in your heart.” Old Madame Xu was so angry that her hands were shaking as she pointed at Xu Mingzhen. “How much could my living expenses and the housekeeper’s salary be?”
“Okay, Mingjing is also your daughter. Now, Yuan Zhengwen has also started his own business. His business is booming, so he is rich. We have taken care of you for seven years, so starting this year, let Yuan Zhengwen support you for seven years as well. Our two families will take turns.” Xu Mingzhen’s mouth had a derisive smirk as she said, “Our family can’t always be the only ones contributing.”
Yuan Zhengwen became anxious. “Sister, my company has just started, so it’s not stable yet, I…”
“How much could her living expenses and the housekeeper’s salary be? It won’t cost much.” Xu Mingzhen used Old Madame Xu’s words against them.
Old Madame Xu became really panicked when she saw that Xu Mingzhen was serious.
“Because Keqing did well on this exam, I just wanted to encourage her,” Old Madame Xu said. “Keqing is your niece. As an aunt, do you actually want to be so nitpicky with your Keqing?”
“Oh? Really?” Xu Mingzhen’s smile suddenly changed from mockery to smugness.
This made Old Madame Xu feel a little confused.
Xu Mingjing and Yuan Keqing were also thinking about it, and their expressions looked awkward.
Xu Mingzhen smiled and said, “Didn’t Mingjing tell you? Mo Mo got full marks in all the exam subjects this time.”
This was much better than Yuan Keqing’s scores.
“Even if you don’t want to encourage Mo Mo, you can’t be sexist, right? Giving 200 yuan to the three brothers and 100 yuan to Mo Mo? What a disgusting thing to do on New Year’s.”
Tan Wenci had originally wanted to persuade Xu Mingzhen to endure the visit silently, but now that Xu Mingzhen had opened the floodgates, he couldn’t endure it anymore.
Tan Wenci’s bottom line was Tan Mo.
As long as Tan Mo was involved, nothing could be brushed over.
“Mother-in-law,” Tan Wenci said with a sullen expression on his face, “Mo Mo is the precious baby girl that we have finally gotten after so many years. She has always been a special one in our family. Even her brothers wish they could give all their things to her. We can’t let our precious daughter suffer such insults and grievances.”
“How is it an insult and a grievance? Is it that serious?” Old Madame Xu thought that it was unnecessary for the Tan family to cherish this girl so much.
The Tan family was different from other people. After having given birth to three sons, they still wanted to have a daughter. They spoil their daughter and don’t treat their sons nearly as well.
“Since you usually spoil Mo Mo so much at home and her three brothers suffer so many grievances because of your favoritism, what’s the matter if I, as their grandmother, love them a little bit more?” Old Madame Xu said self-righteously and put the blame on Tan Mo.
Xu Mingzhen laughed angrily.
Love them a little bit more?
Did the three brothers lack 200 yuan?
Old Madame Xu’s money had all been given to her by Tan Wenci.
However, now, Old Madame Xu was taking Tan Wenci’s money to humiliate Tan Wenci’s children.
How could Old Madame Xu do such a thing?
Just as Xu Mingzhen was about to fire back, she saw Old Madame Xu turn her head to look at Tan Mo with a stern expression on her face. “Tan Mo, I also want to scold you. How can you be so competitive? You are the older, so why can’t you give in to your sister? Keqing got a good score on the exam, so she’s worthy of praise. Don’t go around saying that you got perfect scores on the exam just to outdo your sister. If people talk about it and say that your sister isn’t as good as you are, won’t it be embarrassing for the family all the same?”
“Mo Mo did a good job on the exam, so why can’t she say it? If Keqing’s afraid of being made fun of, let Keqing study harder and do a good job on the exam.” Tan Jinsheng fired back disdainfully.
Yuan Keqing herself couldn’t score high enough, yet she is blaming Mo Mo for it?
Yuan Keqing’s smile wilted. How could Tan Jinsheng say such a thing?
She snuggled in Old Madame Xu’s arms, then looked up and said, “Grandma, the difficulty of the test papers is actually different from school to school. My school’s test papers just happened to be more difficult. My math test score of 90 points is the highest score in the class, and so is my Chinese test score. Although it wasn’t a perfect score, it was still the highest score in my class. I didn’t insist on getting a perfect score. The key is the difficulty of the test paper.
“Jixia Academy’s test papers are simpler, so it’s easier to get full marks. I can’t expect my cousin to get easy questions wrong.” Yuan Keqing’s soft voice made Old Madame Xu’s heart soften.
