The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 177: The Art of Hospitality

Tong Fusheng and Mrs. Wang were so angry they almost spat blood.

Look at what kind of question is that?

They had come all the way from Black Dragon Village. If they didn’t stay, should they travel back at night?

Besides, they hadn’t gotten any silver or grain, how could they leave?

"Sister, since we’re here, of course, we’re staying," Mrs. Wang said.

Mrs. Wang was especially angry.

She had spent the whole afternoon preparing a large table of food, all of which was eaten by Tong Huaqiong and her group of bad bamboos, leaving hardly any for her own husband and son.

After the meal, she still had to clean up.

What made her most furious was that the money for the groceries came out of their own pocket.

That was their only two taels of silver, all spent in one go by that fool Gu Dahuan.

Luckily, when she was cooking dinner, she deliberately saved some meat and vegetables, some lamb, noodles, and eggs, just in case Tong Zhijie got hungry at night.

She didn’t expect it would really come in handy.

She planned to cook for her son once Tong Huaqiong and the others were asleep.

Tong Fusheng didn’t look happy either.

His sister clearly wanted to drive them away.

He was not leaving; it had been hard enough to come, and they hadn’t gotten any silver, no grain, and hadn’t even gotten a foot in the store, how could they leave?

"Dajiao, do you have some misunderstanding with me? Is it because at Old Gu’s memorial, when Gu Baishuang wanted her parents buried together, I didn’t speak up for you and you got upset?" Tong Fusheng asked.

He thought about it and this was probably what had offended his sister.

But he had his reasons.

Gu Baishuang had given him five taels of silver to not get involved in the matter.

He didn’t want to take the money, but he had no choice. He and Tong Zhijie needed money for their studies, and his sister couldn’t give him any silver at that time.

Tong Huaqiong frowned; she didn’t know about this.

"It doesn’t matter if you spoke for me or not," Tong Huaqiong didn’t actually care about the grudge between him and Tong Dajiao, and she said with a troubled expression, "Since you want to stay, I can’t drive you away, but there’s little room in the house, no place to stay. Luckily, it’s summer now. Why don’t you make do with a night in the firewood room?"

Tong Fusheng nearly spat his drink out.

Let him stay in the firewood room?

What kind of hospitality was that?

"Sister, you want us to stay in the firewood room? Can anyone sleep there?" Mrs. Wang said.

Gu Dashi said, "Why not? When I used to help you guys harvest wheat, didn’t you let me sleep in the haystack on the threshing floor? If I could sleep in the haystack, why can’t you stay in the firewood room? Our family is big, and there’s no extra room for you guys. If you come to our house without notice, who has the time to make space for you?"

Liu Yueer said, "In past years, when you were harvesting, uncle and aunt, you didn’t even prepare bedding for Dashi, and let Dashi bring his own from home. Now that you’re staying in our firewood room, at least the bedding is provided."

Tong Fusheng and Mrs. Wang were speechless after being scolded by the couple Gu Dashi and Taohua.

Mrs. Wang looked over to Chen Sufen and Gu Dahuan, hoping they would be sensible enough to give up a room.

In the past, this stepchild couple always kept their heads down and yielded. They always compromised.

But this time, Chen Sufen and Gu Dahuan pretended to be deaf and dumb, not saying a word.

Tong Zhijie looked left and right, and said casually, "Dad and mom can stay with my second sister in the firewood room; I’ll stay in Jingzhe’s room. He’s not back from private school, so the room is empty anyway."

Mrs. Wang said to Tong Huaqiong, "Your brother and I can stay in the firewood room, and your nephew will stay in Jingzhe’s room."

Tong Huaqiong refused, "No one is allowed into Jingzhe’s room. He’s going to take the scholar exam, and the fortune teller said outsiders entering might disrupt the feng shui and affect his exam luck. Zhijie, not to criticize you, but you and Jingzhe both started learning together, and you’re even a year older than him. You’ve taken the child student exam twice and haven’t passed. I can’t risk letting you stay in there; what if it impacts Jingzhe? I’m counting on Jingzhe to earn honors for us."

Originally, Tong Fusheng wanted to speak, but after hearing that, he felt short of breath and couldn’t say anything.

Mrs. Wang wanted to say something, but Tong Hua immediately said, "If you don’t want to stay, you can go to the inn in town if you have the silver."

This was clearly leaving no room for negotiation; if they stayed, they could only stay in the firewood room.

"Fine, we’ll make do in the firewood room for a night," Tong Fusheng said through gritted teeth.

Tong Zhaodi used to stay at the Gu family overnight, sharing a room with Gu Taohua. She intended to discuss squeezing in with Gu Taohua with Tong Huaqiong, but now she didn’t dare.

Tong Huaqiong was too lazy to bother with them any further and got up to wash up.

The rest of the Gu family, seeing Tong Huaqiong get up, started to disperse and head back to their rooms.

Gu Dahuan, following Tong Huaqiong’s instructions, took the bedding for Tong Fusheng’s family to the firewood room.

The bedding was from when he used to carry sandbags outside, thin and tattered.

Originally, Tong Huaqiong wanted him to throw it away, but he was reluctant, thinking it could come in handy during winter in the pigsty.

Now, even with summer not over yet, it had a use.

Thinking that Tong Fusheng’s family wouldn’t cause trouble in the Gu family’s courtyard since they were still hoping to squeeze some silver out of Tong Huaqiong, he wasn’t worried they’d make a fuss.

Before bed, she had Man Er put the lamb and eggs into storage space and took the rice, noodles, and oil to her own room.

Then she turned off the lights and went to sleep.

Watching the lights go out in the main house,

Tong Fusheng cursed in the firewood room, "Didn’t even get to eat properly."

Tong Zhijie shouted, "I’m so hungry, I can’t sleep."

Mrs. Wang, touching her rumbling stomach, got up with Liu Zhaodi.

"There’s still some meat and vegetables left from what Dahuan bought, I’ll go make something for you with Zhaodi."

The mother and daughter washed up in the kitchen, hiding away the meat, vegetables, eggs, rice, noodles, and oil.

Just waiting for Tong Huaqiong’s family to sleep so they could cook a secret meal.

Tong Zhijie’s eyes lit up, and he exclaimed excitedly, "Great, mom, make me a basket of egg pancakes, and add lots of oil."

Tong Fusheng also smiled, sitting up grandly in the moonlight, saying, "Cook all the meat and vegetables for us, no need to leave them for those ingrateful people."

Mrs. Wang had the same intention.

Mrs. Wang and Liu Zhaodi went to the kitchen, finding their concealed items skillfully.

When they touched, they found it empty.

"Zhaodi, you hid the meat and vegetables; was it here?" Mrs. Wang asked, suspicious.

"Yes, it was right here," Liu Zhaodi went over and searched, finding nothing.

"Could Dahuan have taken them?"

Mrs. Wang muttered, touching where they’d hidden the eggs and flour.

The eggs and flour were hidden by her, and when she reached in, the cupboard was just as empty.

The mother and daughter turned the whole kitchen inside out, finding none of the rice, noodles, oil, eggs, or meat and vegetables.

Mrs. Wang, furious, wanted to clap her hands and curse Tong Huaqiong for being stingy, leaving not even a single scallion.

Liu Zhaodi said, "Mom, Aunt must have taken those things."

Mrs. Wang cursed through gritted teeth, "Who else but her? That meat and vegetables were bought with our silver."

Tong Fusheng and Tong Zhijie leaned on the haystack, waiting for the lamb and egg pancakes, only to see Mrs. Wang and Liu Zhaodi return empty-handed.

Tong Fusheng asked, "What happened? Is the meat cooking?"

Mrs. Wang cursed, "Your sister has a heart of stone, she took all the meat, vegetables, eggs, rice, noodles, and oil I had hidden. There’s nothing in the kitchen but cold water."

Tong Zhijie groaned in hunger, rolling on the haystack, and jumped up three feet high, saying, "I’m going to kill a chicken now."

Tong Fusheng had Mrs. Wang hold him down, saying, "You want to alert your aunt?"

Tong Zhijie, his stomach contracting in hunger, lamented, "I can’t bear it anymore."

Mrs. Wang, heart aching, stomped and cursed at Tong Huaqiong.

Tong Fusheng helplessly told Tong Zhaodi, "Fetch two bowls of water for me and Zhijie."

Tong Zhaodi went out and brought back two bowls of water.

Tong Fusheng gritted his teeth and swallowed it down.

Tong Zhijie, however, knocked over his bowl.