The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 100: Cutting Ties with My Family

Chen Sufen looked shocked.

Breaking off all ties with one’s parents is something that would be criticized no matter where she went.

She herself had never thought of completely severing ties with her birth family; just the thought of the moral condemnation made her scalp tingle.

But her mother-in-law wasn’t wrong either. Everything in the house was earned by her mother-in-law. As the daughter-in-law of the Gu Family, going behind her mother-in-law’s back to move things to her own family went against her mother-in-law’s wishes.

Going against her mother-in-law’s wishes was unfilial.

She didn’t even dare bring it up with her mother-in-law. Even the little bit of private money her mother-in-law gave her was swiped by her own mother for her brother.

"Sister-in-law, just break it off. Completely sever it and be done with it." Liu Yueer kept fanning the flames from the side.

Tong Huaqiong thought Liu Yueer was doing a good job fanning the flames tonight.

Liu Yueer didn’t actually care about Chen Sufen; she thought having a leeching Chen Family relative would affect the Gu Family’s business.

She was very angry that, even though her birth family treated her so well—her father and eldest brother toiling to plant crops and gather stone on the mountains—they didn’t come to the Gu Family to sponge off them when the family was doing well.

A nephew from the Chen Family whom they hadn’t seen for eight hundred years wanted to work at the Taohua Dessert as a clerk—how dare they?

Liu Yueer felt a bit lucky for her upbringing.

She silently calculated that when Taohua Dessert opened a shop and the business picked up, she could also talk to her mother-in-law about letting her own brother work there. Given his honest and straightforward nature, her mother-in-law shouldn’t refuse.

"You are now the daughter-in-law of the Gu Family, so from the moment you married into the Gu Family, the Chen Family has nothing to do with you." Tong Huaqiong reiterated, delivering a heavy blow to Chen Sufen, "Not only should you break off with your family, I also plan to sever ties with the Tong Family."

Chen Sufen trembled, and Liu Yueer’s eyes widened.

If Chen Sufen’s contributions to her family could be considered bronze level, then Tong Dajiao’s was king level.

The Tong Family’s treatment of their daughter wasn’t much better than the Chen Family’s. What good family would marry off their proper young daughter to a widower with two kids? Tong Dajiao was married into the Gu Family just like Chen Sufen, with her parents taking money from the Gu Family for their brothers.

Tong Dajiao had a fiercer temper than Chen Sufen. In the Gu Family, she dared to throw tantrums and defy her in-laws to move things to her own family.

The Gu Family lived so tightly because, apart from what was spent on Gu Jingzhe’s schooling, most of the food and silver coins were redirected by Tong Dajiao to the Tong Family.

After Old Gu passed away, she became even more unscrupulously generous toward her family. If Tong Huaqiong hadn’t arrived, this situation could have lasted until Gu Jingzhe became a high official in Shengjing.

"No wonder Mother hasn’t mentioned the Tong Family recently."

Liu Yueer reflected and commented.

Chen Sufen also came to realize.

Indeed, without thinking about it, she’d not noticed. From the moment her mother-in-law woke up from being knocked unconscious, she hadn’t visited the Tong Family once or sent them anything.

If it were the past, the pastries would have already been sent to the Tong Family, and with the wheat soon to ripen, Gu Dahuan and Gu Dashu would have been rushed to work for the Tong Family.

"Why bring them up? I was blinded by stupidity and treated them so well, yet couldn’t even get a word of thanks from them. Do you believe me? If I wanted to remarry, my brothers and father would come to snatch the dowry," Tong Huaqiong said.

Liu Yueer: "..."

Chen Sufen: "..."

Tong Huaqiong was now doing business in town, and everyone within ten miles knew about Taohua Dessert.

The Tong Family probably knew, too. She had mentally prepared herself that the Tong Family would eventually come to the Gu Family to take advantage of her business.

She estimated this would happen right after the wheat harvest.

Because before, Tong Dajiao would send her son with his own food to help the Tong Family with the wheat harvest. Not doing so this year would likely confuse and anger the Tong Family, prompting them to come to the Gu Family for an explanation.

She wasn’t afraid of the Tong Family showing up at her door.

As a modern only child, she wasn’t about to selflessly sacrifice for brothers or siblings.

Moreover, she wasn’t Tong Dajiao, so how her family fared was none of her concern.

"So Sufen, I’m severing ties with the Tong Family, and you should do the same with the Chen Family, so we can live our lives properly," Tong Huaqiong said.

The wavering resolve in Chen Sufen’s heart was influenced by Chen Sufen’s decisiveness. She bit her lip and said, "I’ll listen to you, and from now on, I won’t have any dealings with the Chen Family."

"However, when your parents pass, I will allow you to return home to wear mourning clothes," Tong Huaqiong added.

Chen Sufen felt a little better.

For someone from the past, being willing to sever all ties with one’s family was a major breakthrough, but not attending one’s parents’ funeral service would probably be too much for Chen Sufen to accept.

Therefore, the considerate Tong Huaqiong specifically added this clause for Chen Sufen.

The idea was to ease her feelings of guilt. Once the guilt lessened, she wouldn’t be swayed by the Chen Family’s moral pressure.

It also firmly stated her intention for Chen Sufen to cut ties with the Chen Family, essentially meaning that until her parents died, she was not to have any contact with them.

"Mom, why haven’t I seen any pastries baked today?"

After deciding to no longer engage with the Chen Family, Chen Sufen tidied up her emotions and shifted her focus back to her own family.

Upon returning home, she hadn’t smelled the usual fragrance, so she assumed that Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua might be too exhausted from selling goods, and that Liu Yueer, being at home, couldn’t manage it, therefore, no pastries were baked.

Tong Huaqiong shook her head and said, "I don’t plan to open the stall for the next three days."

Chen Sufen looked surprised and asked, "Why? Is it because you’re worried about work in the wheat field? Dahuan and I can manage it."

With the wheat about to ripen, Chen Sufen naturally thought about the work in the fields.

Before harvesting the wheat, the field needed to be cleared to prepare for threshing and drying.

Tong Huaqiong said, "That’s not the reason. Your third brother has already cleared part of the wheat field today."

From the side, Liu Yueer quickly chimed in, "Mother and Dashu were robbed by the shopkeeper from the Crispy Food Garden on the way back today, and our pastry recipes were taken."

"What?" Chen Sufen was so shocked that she completely forgot about her family’s issues.

"That damned Manager Feng..."

Liu Yueer, beside her, relayed the ordeal that Tong Huaqiong and Gu Dashu went through to Chen Sufen, cursing through gritted teeth as she spoke.

Chen Sufen’s face went pale as she listened, but knowing that Gu Dashu and her mother-in-law were unharmed and that only the pastry recipes were taken, she said, "If the recipes are gone, then they’re gone. As long as the green hills remain, there’s no fear of running out of firewood."

"The more it is like this, the less we can be afraid of Crispy Food Garden."

Just a moment ago, Tong Huaqiong had been mentally criticizing Chen Sufen for her indecision regarding her family, but now she looked at Chen Sufen in a new light concerning Manager Feng’s issue.

She had a broader perspective than Gu Dashu, Gu Taohua, and Liu Yueer.

Chen Sufen hadn’t even asked Tong Huaqiong what they should do next because she trusted her mother-in-law; she believed that Taohua Dessert would definitely continue to operate.

"Sufen is right, what’s a recipe? In business, people matter most. As long as there are people, new recipes can be developed. If we give up on Taohua Dessert because of Crispy Food Garden’s threats, that’s impossible," Tong Huaqiong said.

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself, let Manager Feng of Crispy Food Garden enjoy his triumph for three days.

She would definitely get even for today’s grievance. Whether the Crispy Food Garden could be defeated or not, she didn’t know, but she intended to drive Manager Feng out of Yan Guan Town.