The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 131: Cannon Fodder with Overpowered Combat Prowess
Since Lu Zhaoyang was in poor health since childhood, after having noodles numerous times, he nearly passed out, so Mr. Lu coddled the siblings out of fear of losing them.
As a boy, Lu Zhaoyang was able to study at Wanliu Academy.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhaozhao spent most of her time living in their mansion, having visited her maternal family a few times, and rarely visited others. Thus, when she came to Qinghe Bay, it was like a bird freed from a cage.
She was curious about everything - the fields, the wheatlands, the threshing floor....
She dragged Gu Taohua around without stopping.
They even went to see the pig Lu Zhaoyang had given to Tong Huaqiong.
"Taohua, now that your family’s store is making money, why doesn’t Aunt Tong let your third brother go back to school?" Lu Zhaozhao asked Gu Taohua, steering the conversation towards Gu Jingzhe.
Previously, Lu Zhaozhao always thought that Gu Jingzhe had dropped out of private school because his family lacked money.
"I don’t know either," Gu Taohua said vaguely.
Gu Taohua, of course, knew the reason why Tong Huaqiong didn’t let Gu Jingzhe study.
But this was not something suitable to tell Lu Zhaozhao.
Now Gu Taohua had matured compared to before, she also knew that the things her third brother had done before were family secrets, and family secrets naturally should not be shared.
As the two talked, Gu Jingzhe came back from the threshing floor in the distance.
Seeing Gu Jingzhe, Lu Zhaozhao’s face blushed slightly.
At this moment, a girl suddenly came from the side and blocked Gu Jingzhe’s way.
"That’s our village chief’s niece, Xu Zaohua," Gu Taohua gossiped with Lu Zhaozhao. "Zaohua likes my third brother, but I don’t want Zaohua to be my sister-in-law. She’s always calling me a fat pig behind my back."
Lu Zhaozhao stood on her tiptoes to get a glimpse of Xu Zaohua standing in front of Gu Jingzhe, talking about something, and she couldn’t help but frown.
She strained to listen, trying to hear what they were saying, but heard nothing clear.
"Jingzhe, are you content with just farming in the village from now on?" Xu Zaohua asked Gu Jingzhe.
Gu Jingzhe wanted to escape; this was the third time Xu Zaohua had stopped him.
"What’s there to be unhappy about?" Gu Jingzhe replied.
"My dad and uncle said, if you propose to my family for me, they will pay for your schooling," Xu Zaohua boldly scanned Gu Jingzhe with her eyes, "You know, my family funding your studies isn’t an issue."
Xu Zaohua’s uncle was the village chief; her dad was a wealthy man in the village, so supporting a scholar was not a problem for them.
Gu Jingzhe, frightened, stepped back three feet and sternly said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I am not getting married."
Xu Zaohua did not back down, stepping forward three feet to confront Gu Jingzhe.
Even though Gu Jingzhe was cunning, he was still a young man who couldn’t handle Xu Zaohua’s enthusiasm, and he scampered away like a rabbit heading home.
Xu Zaohua stamped her foot in frustration.
Tong Huaqiong was just coming out from Liu Yueer’s family house and happened to see Zaohua blocking Gu Jingzhe’s path.
Her eyes narrowed.
The village chief’s niece actually fancied Gu Jingzhe.
She searched Tong Dajiao’s memories to see if there was any previous entanglement between Xu Zaohua and Gu Jingzhe, discovering that Xu Zaohua was just collateral damage in Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao’s relationship.
However, Xu Zaohua was not a typical collateral damage; her destructive power was quite significant.
The only time in life Gu Jingzhe was outmaneuvered was by the unnoticed Xu Zaohua.
When Gu Jingzhe passed the scholar examination and returned home, she ambushed and knocked him out at the village entrance, then dragged him to the cornfield.
The village chief and Xu Zaohua’s father, Xu Jin, along with others, surrounded the two in disarray.
A bewildered Gu Jingzhe was demanded by the Xu family to marry Xu Zaohua.
Gu Jingzhe never liked Xu Zaohua, and since he was betrothed to Lu Zhaozhao, he naturally couldn’t marry Xu Zaohua.
Tong Dajiao, with extraordinary fighting spirit, would absolutely not allow a village girl into the Gu family. Her scholar son didn’t even greet the County Magistrate; how could he bow to the village chief’s lackey as an in-law? She stubbornly refused to let Xu Zaohua in.
Xu Zaohua threatened to hang herself at the Gu family’s doorway.
The village chief gathered the Xu family to intimidate, threatening to make a scene at Wanliu Academy, ruining Gu Jingzhe’s reputation.
Finally, Mr. Lu, with his sickly body, intervened and gave the Xu family a thousand taels of silver, agreeing to let Xu Zaohua enter as a cherished concubine.
Xu Jin and Xu Zaohua happily agreed.
Gu Jingzhe was Qinghe Bay’s first promising young scholar, a handsome top scorer, with endless Lu family’s wealth. Xu Zaohua figured being a cherished concubine enjoying a luxurious life was better than marrying a farmer.
After Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao married, Xu Zaohua entered as a cherished concubine.
Gu Jingzhe deeply resented Xu Zaohua’s scheming, and was very cold towards her.
Xu Zaohua vented all her grievances on Lu Zhaozhao.
She frequently sabotaged Lu Zhaozhao, and Lu Zhaozhao’s first miscarriage was due to Xu Zaohua’s plotting.
And Tong Dajiao, who was initially opposed to Xu Zaohua, after Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao married, became displeased with the couple’s affection, fearing rumors of Gu Jingzhe thriving off the Lu family’s wealth, and began subtly supporting Xu Zaohua.
With Tong Dajiao’s backing, Xu Zaohua became even more brazen in challenging Lu Zhaozhao.
Xu Zaohua was a ticking time bomb; even if Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao couldn’t be together in this life, Tong Huaqiong wouldn’t allow someone with ill intentions like Xu Zaohua to enter the family.
Her son’s face, oh, it has already attracted two girls who fancy him.
One is a local white rich beauty, the other a mansion city white rich beauty.
Once they’re in Shengjing, he will incite chaos among the noble girls; had it not been for the Commandery Princess taking an interest, and the Princess already having a Prince Consort, the queue of noble girls could break down Gu family’s doorstep.
Gu Jingzhe ran to the doorway, seeing Gu Taohua and Lu Zhaozhao, knowing they had seen the entire scene, turning red with embarrassment.
"Third brother, does Zaohua want to be my sister-in-law?" Gu Taohua asked.
Gu Jingzhe sternly said, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Gu Taohua persistently replied, "Third brother, you’d better stay away from Zaohua. She’s always badmouthing me. If she wants to be my sister-in-law, I’ll be the first to oppose. Last spring, Yan Pozi occupied our land, and her uncle sided with Yan Pozi. Mom wouldn’t agree to let her in either."
Gu Jingzhe angrily told Gu Taohua, "It sounds like I would agree, but I have no feelings whatsoever for Zaohua."
Hearing this, the clouds over Lu Zhaozhao’s head vanished instantly, brightening her up.
With a smile, Lu Zhaozhao said to Gu Jingzhe, "Brother Jingzhe, I brought you a box of books, would you like to take a look?"
Gu Jingzhe said, "These days I’m busy with the wheat, I’ll check them later."
After speaking, he headed home to fetch water and wash his face.
Lu Zhaozhao followed Gu Jingzhe and quietly said, "Brother Jingzhe, you really want to study, right? I brought three hundred taels of silver for Aunt Tong, is that enough for you to study?"
Gu Jingzhe looked up and said to Lu Zhaozhao, "Whether I study or not is my business. You, Miss Lu, don’t need to concern yourself with it now or ever."
Lu Zhaozhao lowered her eyes.
Gu Jingzhe suddenly felt a bit uneasy and, changing to a gentle tone, said, "Sorry, I spoke too harshly earlier. What I meant is I’ll rely on my own abilities to study. Thank you for the books you brought me."
Lu Zhaozhao raised her head and said, "It’s okay."
Gu Jingzhe saw that Lu Zhaozhao’s eyes were red, her eyes moist, and he felt as if he had been hit with a heavy blow to the heart.
He felt that he and Lu Zhaozhao had met long ago.
"Would you like to eat apricots? I’ll pick some for you," Gu Jingzhe blurted out.
By the time he realized it, Lu Zhaozhao had already stood up happily and said, "Yes, yes."
A apricot tree was planted at the Gu family’s entrance. At the wheat harvest time, the apricots were just turning yellow, hanging on the branches, giving off a rich fragrance.
So when Tong Huaqiong returned from the Liu family to her doorway, she saw Gu Jingzhe up on the tree picking apricots, with Lu Zhaozhao standing below holding a basket and looking up at him.
Gu Jingzhe selectively tossed big, yellow apricots into Lu Zhaozhao’s basket.
Gu Taohua stood next to them yelling for half a day but didn’t get a single apricot, and she got so angry she wanted to kick the tree.
Tong Huaqiong couldn’t help but laugh suddenly.
