The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 21: Afraid of Being Framed for Fraud

"Isn’t this my house?"

In the dream, Tong Huaqiong walked into a space.

This was a space she had seen in her sleep when she first became Widow Tong, but she had never thought of pushing open the door to it.

This time she pushed open the door to the space and found that at the end of the door was her house from a past life.

When Tong Huaqiong had just been accepted for graduate school, her parents used the family’s relocation compensation to buy her a house in the city where she was studying, and she stayed there instead of on campus during her graduate studies.

Perhaps she was dreaming at night about what she thought about during the day; she was thinking about butter and various ingredients for making pastries, and that’s why she dreamed of her room.

Walking quickly into her house, Tong Huaqiong headed straight for the kitchen without hesitation.

She opened the refrigerator door and saw blocks of butter, bags of sugar, and a ready-made cream and fruit cake.

She remembered that it was her undergraduate roommate’s birthday, and she had made a cake the day before and stored it in the refrigerator, planning to take it to celebrate her roommate’s birthday after finishing her experiment.

But before she had time to walk out the laboratory door, she turned into a black-hearted widow and an evil mother-in-law with descendants all around.

All these days, she had been working hard to earn money at the Qinghe Bay Gu Family, with nothing good to eat, so the greedy Tong Huaqiong wanted to take the cake to satisfy her craving.

But the cake sat steadily in the refrigerator, unmoving no matter how hard she tried to take it.

Tong Huaqiong tried several times and gave up, reaching out to try and take butter, condensed milk, powdered sugar, lard, eggs, and milk; with these ingredients as her golden finger, she would have no problem beating the town’s pastry shops.

But just like the cake, the butter, condensed milk, powdered sugar, lard, eggs, and milk stayed glued in the fridge, no matter how hard she tried.

Tong Huaqiong, angry, hit the refrigerator door.

A sudden sound of a rooster crowing woke Tong Huaqiong.

What space, what house, what refrigerator, what cake, butter, condensed milk, powdered sugar, eggs...

Awake, Tong Huaqiong was still lying in the mud house of the Gu Family, playing the roles of widow and mother-in-law.

It was the first crowing of the rooster; at the third crow, it would be time to get up!

In the darkness, Tong Huaqiong turned over and seized the time to catch some more sleep.

Soon, the rooster crowed the third time, and Tong Huaqiong got dressed and out of bed, opening the door to see Chen Sufen already bringing her wash water.

Gu Taohua was still sleeping, and Tong Huaqiong did not wake her up.

This fat girl had been exhausted these past few days, so it was better to let her sleep some more. Once they were in town, they would need her to hold the fort.

Gu Dashi and Liu Yueer hadn’t slept much, thinking of ways to borrow some money.

The two of them had gone over potential lenders during the night and got up at the third crowing, planning to face the embarrassment of knocking on doors one by one.

After Tong Huaqiong finished washing up, Gu Taohua also got up. Chen Sufen had the porridge ready; knowing Tong Huaqiong didn’t like eating husked millet, she painstakingly de-husked it.

As Gu Dashi walked into the kitchen, the aroma hit him; for days now, his mother had been coming and going early and late, selling dry cakes and steamed buns; he didn’t know what she was selling this time or how much she’d sold these past days.

Even the legs of a mosquito are meat, as long as this money could save Yaozu, it was worth snatching.

"Mom, how’s business these days?" Gu Dashi asked, placing a bowl of thick porridge in front of Tong Huaqiong, looking ingratiating.

"How business is going has nothing to do with you. Have you helped light the fire or hawk the goods?" Tong Huaqiong said calmly, drinking her porridge.

"Mom, can the money you’ve earned help the Zheng Family?"

"Also, do you have a recipe for making big money, Mom?"

Gu Dashi remembered how Tong Huaqiong once gave Housekeeper He a five-day deadline, and she, who usually liked to argue unreasonably, didn’t haggle but readily agreed.

Full of hope, Gu Dashi imagined that perhaps his mother had some good strategy.

Tong Huaqiong nodded and said, "I have a way to make money, but it takes time. So your son’s matters still depend on you and Yueer."

Gu Dashi was in despair, shouting angrily: "But you agreed to the five-day deadline with Housekeeper He."

Tong Huaqiong said, "Wasn’t I just trying to get away quickly? It’s obvious that Housekeeper He came prepared; if I hadn’t agreed, who knows what would’ve happened in those desolate wilds."

"Gu Dashi, what’s with your attitude? Just because of your son, you’re yelling at your mom like this? Where were you before, with your lazy greed, digging wherever there was room? If you had only acted properly, you wouldn’t even be unable to come up with fifty taels of silver."

"I’m moving heaven and earth thinking about the family, even giving up my reputation, showing my face to do business; what am I doing this for? I’m toiling away, making what little money I can, and you want to strip it all clean? I’m telling you, Gu Dashi, even if your side of the family ends with no descendants, it’s all because of how you and Liu Yueer acted usually."

"There are still two days left, aren’t there? You know in your hearts whether you’ve done your best to scrape up some silver. You’re just waiting for me to clean up your mess, is that it."

Tong Huaqiong scolded Gu Dashi and then quickly finished the food in her bowl, ignoring him, and began instructing Chen Sufen and Gu Taohua to pack the mung bean cakes and cookies.

Gu Dashi was left feeling dejected by the scolding.

At this moment, Gu Dashi thought about trying his luck at the town’s gambling den.

He was good at gambling, and every time he went to the gambling den, he came back winning. The silver he won would be spent on food and drink. He often lamented that the Gu family was so poor he had no capital and could only start with a few hundred wen to win three or four taels to treat himself.

The gamblers thought he was poor and had a difficult mother, so they didn’t dare lure him into big games or lend him money.

Thinking of this, Gu Dashi sighed. He couldn’t even get into the gambling den doors now because he had no cash to start with.

With his mom in a temper, he didn’t dare ask for any either.

Tong Huaqiong watched Gu Dashi coldly, these days just about making him endure, so he can understand the feeling of being at the end of his rope.

Only then could he steer himself onto the right path.

The mung bean cookies and cakes were packed into two large baskets.

With a loud grunt, Gu Taohua lifted both baskets steadily.

Tong Huaqiong, cheerfully thought, with Gu Taohua’s strength, maybe they shouldn’t make her lose weight after all.

"Taohua, today we’ll take Mr. Xu’s ox cart to town," Tong Huaqiong said.

Mr. Xu’s ox cart traveled daily between Qinghe Bay and Yan Guan Town, similar to a modern bus.

Tong Huaqiong thought walking to town would waste time; besides, no matter how strong Gu Taohua was, she shouldn’t be used to her limit, so they might as well spend a little money and take the cart today.

Unexpectedly, when the two of them reached the parking spot at the village entrance, Mr. Xu, who was polishing the cart’s shaft, saw Tong Huaqiong and her daughter and acted like he’d seen a ghost.

Before Tong Huaqiong could say anything, Mr. Xu and his cart took off.

Tong Huaqiong: "..."

"What’s up with Mr. Xu? Why’d he run off as soon as he saw us coming?"

"Are the women of our Gu Family man-eating tigers or something, to scare him like this?"

"The old geezer, just wait until I catch him."

Gu Taohua cursed loudly, letting her past unruly and harsh temperament out.

No blame to Mr. Xu; it was Tong Dajiao’s reputation that was too poor. Not to mention the deep-seated image of the evil stepmother and mother-in-law, whenever dealing with villagers, she got the upper hand, no matter the reason.

Mr. Xu truly feared Tong Huaqiong and her daughter might act deceitfully on his cart and would rather not earn that money.

And with Gu Taohua being such a hefty girl, taking up three seats on her own, what about other passengers? He’d then earn less from losing two seat fares.

If Widow Tong had a bawl on the cart, and this mother and daughter combo decided to bully someone together, Mr. Xu thought he just couldn’t handle it.

Better to feign ignorance and drive away.