Ms. Wu glanced at Ms. Hua, who was staring intently at the pastries in her hand, and handed them over. "Mother, here you go."
Ms. Hua took them with a sullen face, "Hmph! At least you have some conscience. Just now, did Ms. Jiang ask about the second daughter's measurements?"
Ms. Wu lowered her head and nodded, truly not wanting to meet Ms. Hua's spiteful gaze.
"Is the Xiao Family making clothes for the second daughter?" Ms. Hua pressed.
Ms. Wu shook her head and said, "I don't know, my sister-in-law from their family didn't say."
"You don't know? You don't even bother to ask, you fool! Go and feed the chickens," Ms. Hua yelled at Ms. Wu with disgust. Ms. Wu silently walked away.
"Mei'er, Mei'er, come out!" As soon as Ms. Wu turned away, Ms. Hua called for Gu Qingmei in a loud voice. Ever since Gu Qingmei had returned, she had been hiding in her room crying, her eyes swollen like two huge walnuts. Hearing Ms. Hua call her, she wiped her tears and came out.
"Oh, what happened to Mei'er?" Ms. Hua was genuinely frightened by Gu Qingmei's swollen eyes and quickly pulled her over to ask, the concern in her eyes something Ms. Wu had never witnessed. Ms. Wu happened to look back and see this. That moment blurred her vision. Her heart turned ice-cold. She had always believed her mother-in-law was sharp-tongued and harsh to everyone. It turned out that such treatment was reserved only for her and her three children. With tears welling up, Ms. Wu headed to the chicken coop.
Gu Qingmei sobbed and didn't speak. How could she admit that Brother Erlang had rejected her?
Seeing Gu Qingmei remain silent, Ms. Hua wanted to wipe her tears but was afraid of hurting her. Realizing that lazy woman Ms. Yun probably didn't even know her granddaughter was crying like this, Ms. Hua shrieked, "People of the Eldest's household, where have you all died off to?!" How could she marry a rich husband looking like this?
Ms. Yun came out rubbing her drowsy eyes. Looking at Ms. Hua and her granddaughter, she blinked and asked, "Mother, what's wrong now?" She couldn't even sleep in peace with her mother-in-law yelling like a banshee every day. Ms. Yun was thoroughly annoyed.
Ms. Hua's eyes widened. What's wrong now, she asks? This worthless woman does nothing but eat and sleep all day, not caring a whit about Mei'er! Thinking this, Ms. Hua's anger flared, and she snatched up a shoe sole to hurl at Ms. Yun. "You lazy hag! Still asking 'what's wrong'? Look at Mei'er!"
Seeing the shoe sole flying towards her, Ms. Yun quickly dodged. She then went to pull Gu Qingmei over, examining her. When she saw those swollen eyes, she was surprised. "Mei'er, why are you crying like this? Who bullied you? Tell Mother, and I'll go sort them out." As she spoke, she glanced around the courtyard, her gaze lingering on the west wing-room.
Idiot! Ms. Hua fumed internally at her foolishness. Those wretches in the west wing-room wouldn't have the guts to bully Mei'er.
"Alright, stop looking. Take Mei'er back inside." Ms. Hua opened the pastry package, took out a piece, stuffed it into Gu Qingmei's hand, and waved for Ms. Yun to take Gu Qingmei back to her room. Ms. Yun glanced at the pastry package in Ms. Hua's arms and reluctantly led Gu Qingmei away.
Seeing the discarded shoe sole, Ms. Yun's eyes lit up, her drowsiness vanishing completely. She picked it up, beamed, and handed it back to Ms. Hua, even chuckling "HEH HEH" towards the pastries.
Ms. Hua glared at her. Lazy, stupid, and gluttonous! What a greedy creature! The sight of Ms. Yun, looking like a starved dog, infuriated Ms. Hua. But thinking of her two grandsons, Ms. Hua suppressed her rising anger and took out a smaller piece of pastry.
Ms. Yun snatched it, stuffed it into her mouth, and mumbled indistinctly, "Delicious." Ms. Hua really wanted to kick her out.
「Up on the mountain.」
The three siblings noticed it was getting late. Gu Qingli said, "Dashuang, Xiaoshuang, let's go back. It'll be dark soon."
Dashuang and Xiaoshuang looked at the basket brimming with herbs, their hearts bursting with joy, and nodded. Then, the three siblings quickly made their way out of the mountain and descended rapidly.
As Dashuang descended the mountain, he suddenly felt that today was a bit different. What was different? He scratched his head. Ah, right! They had dug herbs all day without feeling tired; in fact, they still felt full of energy.
He looked at Gu Qingli and Xiaoshuang and saw they were both very energetic too. Dashuang scratched his head again. It must be because they dug up so many herbs today; that's why they're so happy and energetic.
When they arrived home, the sky was almost dark. Ms. Wu and Second Brother Gu were waiting at the door of the west wing-room. As soon as Ms. Wu saw the siblings return, she hurried to help Gu Qingli with the basket, but Second Brother Gu was even quicker.
Second Brother Gu took the basket and placed it inside the room. For a moment, Ms. Wu and the children were astonished, then they all looked at each other and smiled.
"Father, we dug up all herbs today!" The mischievous Dashuang and Xiaoshuang both entered the room, each hugging one of their father's legs to eagerly report their day's harvest, their little faces tilted up.
Second Brother Gu was a little surprised by this sudden closeness with his two sons. He lowered his head to look at them. Although it was dark in the room and he couldn't see their faces clearly, their sparkling eyes seemed to shine directly into his heart. His heart trembled, and a large hand came to rest on each of their small heads. A pang of regret shot through him; with his abilities, he could have provided a much better life for his sons. He deeply blamed himself. He was an awful father.
"Mm," Second Brother Gu nodded and replied, his voice gentle. He himself hadn't noticed how soft and tender it was, a tone he had never used before.
"Father!" The two boys heard and felt the change too, rubbing their cheeks against Second Brother Gu's legs.
Second Brother Gu squatted down, lifted his two sons, and placed them on the heated brick bed. Only then, as he held them, did he realize how light his ten-year-old sons were.
This scene of paternal affection moved Ms. Wu so much that she could only wipe away her tears.
Gu Qingli smiled. Second Brother Gu wasn't an unfeeling or stupid person after all.
She stepped forward, took Ms. Wu's arm, and whispered in her ear, "Mother, we should be happy."
Ms. Wu nodded vigorously and dried her tears. She then turned to fetch water for the three siblings to wash up. If they lit the oil lamp after dark, Ms. Hua would surely start scolding them again.
Gu Qingli, meanwhile, took out the wild fruits she had picked on the mountain, mixed with some of the poorer-quality fruits from her Space.
Second Brother Gu's behavior today allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief. As long as he could come to his senses, she would feel more at ease helping his family in the future. However, she would carefully manage the extent of her help. She couldn't let Second Brother Gu think it was too easy, nor could she foster any greed in him.
She knew what kind of person Ms. Hua was; Second Brother Gu carried her genes. Gu Qingli had no intention of raising a family of ungrateful wretches or bloodsuckers. This applied to Ms. Wu, Dashuang, and Xiaoshuang as well; there had to be a limit to everything.
Gu Qingli finished sorting the fruits and called out, "Dashuang, quickly help your sister find something to put these in."
The father and sons were sitting on the edge of the heated brick bed, talking quietly. Hearing the call, Xiaoshuang was the first to jump off the bed. Seeing the fruits, he quickly fetched a winnowing basket.
After they packed the fruits, Xiaoshuang took them directly to be washed. Dashuang knew his sister's picked fruits were delicious; his mouth watered just thinking about them, so he also jumped off the heated brick bed to help wash.
Just then, Ms. Wu came over with water. She handed a cloth to Gu Qingli and said, "Li'er, you wash first."