The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 186: Begging for Money or Begging for Food
Tong Huaqiong was busy in the shop, unaware that her cheap brother was eating for free at Fengle Building.
She estimated when Tong Fusheng would arrive in town and came out twice to firmly instruct Dashi to guard vigilantly.
Dashi said his eyes were tired from watching, but still didn’t see Tong Fusheng.
"I figure Uncle and his family have gone home." Dashi said.
In Dashi’s opinion, it was wiser for Tong Fusheng to go home than to come to town.
They had no silver on them, Taohua Dessert wouldn’t feed them, so begging in town would be worse than going back to their home in Black Dragon Village.
"Don’t let down your guard until it gets dark," Tong Huaqiong admonished Dashi.
Dashi responded and continued watching the queue of people.
The hustle and bustle quickly brought them to evening.
Tong Fusheng’s family still hadn’t shown up, and Tong Huaqiong guessed they had returned to Black Dragon Village.
She felt slightly relieved.
When Tong Huaqiong heard that Ma Huateng had finished closing the books, she decided to "clock out" and close up.
When only the Tong Family remained in the shop, Manager Qian brought in Tong Fusheng and his family of four.
"Manager Tong, I’ve brought your brother and sister-in-law..." Manager Qian said cheerfully, feeling like he did a great deed.
Tong Huaqiong cursed inwardly, then shot a fierce glare at him.
Manager Qian noticed Tong Huaqiong’s displeasure and became uneasy.
"Didn’t we agree at Qinghe Bay this morning that we wouldn’t have dealings anymore? Why come over like this? Are you here to ask for money or food?" Tong Huaqiong sneered.
Tong Fusheng and Mrs. Wang’s faces fell.
They had thought with Manager Qian accompanying them, Tong Huaqiong, for fear of exposing family scandals, would let them in.
Yet Tong Huaqiong bluntly tore through their expectations.
Manager Qian, breaking into a sweat, stomped his foot, realizing he had done a bad thing.
Knowing Tong Fusheng and Mrs. Wang were Tong Huaqiong’s brother and sister-in-law, without considering further, he had tried to curry favor, offering them banquets and wine, only to curry favor with the wrong people.
He didn’t know how Tong Manager would see him now.
His feelings undeclared, he wondered if they would perish prematurely.
Manager Qian gritted his teeth and said, "Manager Tong, look at the commotion. I thought they were your brother and sister-in-law, so I entertained them..."
Tong Huaqiong angrily said, "Even if they’re my brother and sister-in-law, what’s it to you? Who asked you to curry favor with them?"
Manager Qian was definitely going on the blacklist; if he’d curry favor with Tong Family to win Taohua’s favor, who knows what else he might do in the future.
After Tong Huaqiong berated Manager Qian, he felt guilty and slinked away.
He feared if he didn’t hurry off, Tong Huaqiong might kill him with her glare.
Embarrassed, he didn’t dare ask Tong Fusheng to pay for the banquet, quietly accepting his misfortune.
"Why have you come here? Curious about my shop, are you? Have a look then, this is my shop. Let me make this clear — give up any notion of profiting off me. I won’t let Zhao Di and Zhi Jie work here, nor will I let you two give orders. This shop has nothing to do with you."
Tong Huaqiong didn’t allow them in, driving them away while standing at the door.
Before seeing the shop, Tong Fusheng and Mrs. Wang were still calm, but once they stood at the door, they were awestruck.
The shop was bigger than they had imagined.
They had already heard from the servers at Fengle Building how Taohua Dessert was bustling daily, with extraordinarily good business; Tong Huaqiong could practically make money standing still.
If some of this shop were shared with the Tong Family, they could live comfortably without lifting a finger.
They had discussed after stepping out Fengle Building, determined to cling to Tong Huaqiong no matter what.
Mrs. Wang forced a smile and said, "Sister, we’re not trying to profit off you. It’s not easy for you as a widow, and we’re happy you’ve got a shop now. We’ve come to discuss something important with you."
Tong Huaqiong looked at Mrs. Wang, wondering what nonsense she had up her sleeve.
"Sister, it’s about your niece Taohua. It’s not appropriate to discuss this at the door; how about we go inside?"
Tong Huaqiong, unwilling to endure the trivial talk, said, "Spit it out quickly. Let me make it clear, there’s no money, no grains, and no way you’re working in the shop."
But she was curious about what matter concerned Gu Taohua.
Tong Huaqiong thought they might be conspiring with Manager Qian to manipulate Gu Taohua.
They could sell their daughter if they wanted, but not hers.
If they brought up Manager Qian, she would have Dashi beat them.
Tong Fusheng and Mrs. Wang looked toward Tong Zhijie, signaling for him to speak.
Receiving hints from his parents, Tong Zhijie gritted his teeth and said to Tong Huaqiong, "Since auntie wants us to speak at the door, I’ll speak softly. Auntie, I want to marry Gu Taohua."
As soon as Tong Zhijie said this, everyone in the Gu family looked at him.
He was bold, truly!
Gu Taohua threw down the account book, leapt from behind the counter, and cursed, "Forget your dream. Even if I remain single, I won’t marry you."
Dashi rolled up his sleeves to beat Tong Zhijie, but was stopped midway by Tong Fusheng’s interception.
Tong Huaqiong gave Gu Taohua a reassuring look, and asked, "Zhijie, who gave you the courage to dare propose for Taohua?"
Wasn’t it just that the Tong Family couldn’t get involved in her shop, so they sought another way, wanting Tong Zhijie to marry Gu Taohua.
This fellow Tong Zhijie was no better than Fan Tong.
Tong Zhijie struggled to suppress the urge to roll his eyes, feeling that auntie’s question was a joke. It was a rare fortune for the Gu Family that he even wanted to marry Gu Taohua.
Who else would be willing to take her besides him?
Mrs. Wang came forward to mediate, saying, "Taohua is fourteen this year, and she’s known Zhijie for a few years. They are childhood sweethearts, knowing each other’s roots. It would spare her name from rumors if her marriage is decided early."
Tong Fusheng bluntly said, "Your sister-in-law is right; at fourteen, with no one to propose, she’d become a spinster and her marriage would be harder to arrange. She won’t stay in your home forever. I said to Zhijie, after all, Taohua is your niece, and you should consider her. When they marry, they’ll be doubly related; Taohua is both my niece and daughter-in-law. Isn’t that better than marrying outside?"
The implication was that it was Gu Taohua’s luck to be accepted by the Tong Family at age fourteen without marriage proposals.
One could not blame the Tong Family for thinking this way; to these pure traditionalists, a girl without a suitor by fourteen was a family disgrace.
Regardless of Tong Zhijie’s flaws, if he was willing to marry Gu Taohua, it was a favor to the Gu Family.
If it were Tong Dajiao, he might fall for it.
But Tong Huaqiong wasn’t Tong Dajiao.
Tong Huaqiong put her hands on her hips, cursing, "You’re right; we do know each other well. Tong Zhijie, you frequent the brothel at such a young age, thinking you can marry. I’d find it dirty even if you carried Taohua’s shoes."
"You think I don’t know your tricks? You want to stake a claim in my shop by meddling in Taohua’s marriage. Dream on!"
"Big Brother and Sister-in-law, you think only of selling a daughter, but you can sell your son too — either marry him off into another family or sell him as a son; it’ll pave a way. If you try to push Tong Zhijie on Taohua, you’re challenging my bottom line, and don’t blame me for being harsh."
Gu Taohua pointed at Tong Zhijie’s nose and cursed, "Even if all men on earth died, I wouldn’t marry you."
It infuriated her to be treated as common.
Tong Fusheng and Mrs. Wang turned pale at the scolding. They intentionally brought up Gu Taohua’s marriage in front of Taohua Dessert, thinking Tong Huaqiong would hesitate to refuse.
Not only did Tong Huaqiong refuse, but she also shouted loudly enough for half the street to hear.
