The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 172: Chaos Erupts

Tong Zhijie, having his knife taken away, angrily pointed at Gu Dahuan’s nose and said, "When did it become your turn to call the shots in this house?"

Tong Zhijie never paid any attention to Gu Dahuan.

How could a stepchild of his aunt compare with him?

He shares the same surname with his aunt. Not to mention Gu Dahuan, even Gu Dashi wouldn’t dare stop him from catching chickens here.

His father was right; what’s wrong if he eats a chicken from his aunt’s house? As long as his aunt’s around, he has a share of the Gu Family’s things.

Thinking this way, Tong Zhijie grabbed a hen and pulled it out of the chicken coop.

The hen fluttered wildly in Tong Zhijie’s hand.

Gu Dahuan was most familiar with the chickens, ducks, and geese at home. Tong Zhijie had caught an egg-laying hen, which contributed at least one egg to the household every day.

Gu Dahuan felt extremely distressed.

Gu Dahuan said to Tong Zhijie, "This chicken lays eggs, no one can eat it."

Tong Zhijie didn’t pay any heed to Gu Dahuan and was about to leave with the chicken, and when Tong Zhaodi saw her brother had caught a chicken, she turned and darted into the kitchen to boil water to pluck the feathers.

Tong Zhijie’s disregard for Gu Dahuan’s warning enraged him.

Gu Dahuan grabbed Tong Zhijie’s wrist, rescued the hen, and placed it back into the chicken coop. The hen squawked and hid in the chicken nest.

Gu Dahuan threatened Tong Zhijie, "If any of my chickens lose a feather, I’ll settle accounts with you."

Tong Zhijie was raised delicately, and with Gu Dahuan’s strength, when his wrist met Gu Dahuan’s hand, he howled in pain.

Instantly, chaos erupted in the Gu Family’s courtyard.

"Dahuan, what are you doing? Want to kill someone?" Tong Fusheng sat up from his lounge chair.

Mrs. Wang, hearing her son’s cries of pain, rushed out from the room and charged at Gu Dahuan, banging her head against him.

As she banged, she cursed, "What’s wrong if he eats a chicken from his aunt? You, a stepchild, why are you meddling in their aunt-nephew affairs? Has your face grown so bold that as a stepchild you dare to rough up my son Zhijie?"

Gu Dahuan couldn’t stand Mrs. Wang’s pestering and let go of his hand.

This troublesome aunt was even more difficult than his former stepmother.

Tong Zhijie’s hand was swollen from Gu Dahuan’s grip, and Mrs. Wang was extremely pained for her precious son.

She had never hit him, yet he was pinched by her sister-in-law’s stepchild.

Could she endure that?

Mrs. Wang clapped her hands and stomped her feet, striking at Gu Dahuan, but having been trained under Tong Dajiao when he was younger, Gu Dahuan easily evaded.

Mrs. Wang couldn’t stop her momentum, landing on the ground and inadvertently pulling Tong Zhijie down.

Tong Zhijie crashed against the chicken coop, causing a loud "bang", and the chickens inside flapped their wings in a panic.

Some even got so scared that they defecated, and the chicken droppings fell onto Mrs. Wang and Tong Zhijie’s faces and bodies.

Tong Zhijie smeared the chicken droppings, wanting to cry but having no tears.

He was a well-groomed son from a scholar’s family, usually with a shiny face and fashionable clothes, now all soiled with chicken droppings.

Mrs. Wang also ended up with a handful of chicken droppings.

Seeing Mrs. Wang fall, Gu Dahuan thought, after all, she was his stepmother’s sister-in-law and therefore his elder, and approached to help her up.

Mrs. Wang, angry, smeared the chicken droppings from her hand onto Gu Dahuan’s face.

Gu Dahuan held his breath and endured it.

Tong Fusheng, sitting on Tong Huaqiong’s lounge chair, seemed unfazed by this farce.

If the commotion didn’t affect Tong Fusheng, he usually didn’t bother.

However, seeing his son being "bullied" by his sister’s stepson, he was unhappy and scolded Gu Dahuan loudly.

"...Uncle, it’s not that I don’t let Zhijie kill the chicken, it’s just that my mom said that this chicken can’t be killed. If you want to eat, I’ll make it for you." Gu Dahuan said to Tong Fusheng.

Even though Tong Huaqiong had clearly expressed her intention to sever ties with the Tong Family.

Gu Dahuan wasn’t sure if Tong Huaqiong really meant it or was just saying it in anger.

Especially regarding Tong Zhijie, who had stayed with the Gu Family for a few years, and whom Tong Huaqiong treated like a son.

So, even if Tong Huaqiong broke ties with her brother and sister-in-law, she wouldn’t ignore Tong Zhijie.

This made Gu Dahuan a bit anxious for pinching Tong Zhijie’s hand swollen, and he softened his tone to entertain Tong Fusheng, partly as an apology.

Tong Fusheng seemed unbothered, pulling Gu Dahuan aside, asking about everything, mainly whether Tong Huaqiong had really opened a shop in the town.

Gu Dahuan, being honest and knowing he couldn’t keep it a secret, directly admitted it.

"Why are you alone at home? Where are your wife and Dashi and Taohua?" Tong Fusheng inquired.

"They’ve all gone to work at the shop in town." Gu Dahuan replied.

This statement made Tong Fusheng’s eyes light up.

The shop required so many people to help, which meant his sister’s shop wasn’t small.

A shop of such size brought in silver daily; he thought about asking Tong Huaqiong for some silver for his examinations next spring. Tong Fusheng even considered asking for more silver to go to the Capital, believing his continuous failure in exams was due to incompetent teachers. If he went to the Capital and studied under famous teachers, he was sure he could make his way from a scholar to an advanced scholar.

Even if he’s older, what’s wrong with becoming an advanced scholar? Jiang Taigong got a good position at eighty, and he was just fifty.

Mrs. Wang let Tong Zhaodi boil some hot water and wiped Tong Zhijie clean in the yard.

Knowing that everyone at the Gu Family was helping at the shop, she also planned to send Tong Zhijie and Tong Zhaodi to work there.

"Dahuan, I saw there were no vegetables in the kitchen. How do you plan to cook for my parents and Zhijie?" Tong Zhaodi asked after searching the whole kitchen and finding nothing but flour.

Only then did Gu Dahuan remember there were no vegetables at home and said, "There are no vegetables at home, I’ll go to the fields to pick some."

Since the shop opened, Tong Huaqiong and others had lunch at the shop. If they came back early, they would have dinner at home, and every time they ate at home, Tong Huaqiong would bring back chicken, duck, fish, and meat from town.

Being alone at home, Gu Dahuan often made do with meals, hence there were no vegetables in the kitchen.

Tong Fusheng asked Gu Dahuan, "Since we are here, won’t you get some chicken, duck, fish, and meat? Just giving us greens is too stingy, don’t you think?"

Gu Dahuan looked troubled and said, "I’d like to buy chicken, duck, fish, and meat to treat you, but I don’t have a single coin on me."

Gu Dahuan was not lying to Tong Fusheng.

During this time, Tong Huaqiong gave private money to the first and second branches, but Gu Dahuan didn’t touch money, it was all with Chen Sufen.

Even if he wanted to buy some chicken, duck, or fish from the village, he didn’t have any money on him.

Tong Fusheng knew the Gu Family situation well; his sister would never give her stepson any silver.

Tong Fusheng sighed, took out two taels of silver from his pocket, handed it to Gu Dahuan and said, "Go to the village and buy some meat and wine."

Without thinking, Gu Dahuan accepted it.

After Gu Dahuan left, Mrs. Wang, dissatisfied, said to Tong Fusheng, "Are you out of your mind? How could you give him silver to buy food? We only have these two taels in total."

Tong Fusheng lay back on the lounge chair and said, "What do you know? This silver is just temporarily advanced by me. We’ll eat the meat and wine, and when my sister comes back, I’ll ask her for it back. Will she refuse? After all, it’s all my sister’s money we’re using."

Mrs. Wang quickly realized.

She understood it clearly.

Indeed, that was the logic.

When the sister-in-law returns home, she will certainly replenish those two taels of silver.

They not only could enjoy a good meal but wouldn’t have to spend their own money.

Just like when the brother-in-law had the funeral, the Tong Family’s funeral expenses were not only compensated but also received an additional five taels from the sister-in-law.