Gu Honglian wanted to lose her temper, but seeing her sister-in-law in silk and the room full of nice things, she held back.

She also wanted to live like her sister-in-law.

She wanted to move into her sister-in-law’s new house.

How could she move in if she angered her sister-in-law?

After sitting down, Gu Honglian said with a face full of grievance, "Sister-in-law, we’ve been back for several days. I’ve missed you. I thought I’d see you when we returned to the village, but you weren’t here. I just heard you came back from the city and rushed over to see you."

Then Gu Honglian acted coquettishly, "Sister-in-law, you must have missed me too, right?"

Miss you? Not at all. It was Tong Huaqiong’s first time meeting Gu Honglian, with no emotional connection whatsoever.

To her, Gu Honglian was just a stranger.

Tong Huaqiong said, "I’m busy every day with household matters and business, tired to death, where do I have time to think of anyone?"

Gu Honglian was taken aback.

How could her sister-in-law not miss her?

When she first went south with her parents to her second brother, even though her sister-in-law didn’t get along with her parents and second brother, and even though she upset her sister-in-law before leaving, her sister-in-law would still send homemade food and clothes to her through someone every year.

This was also why Gu Honglian was confident she could keep a hold on her sister-in-law.

With a choked voice, Gu Honglian said, "Sister-in-law, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you."

Tong Huaqiong didn’t take the bait and joked, "You’re fifteen this year, already a big girl, why still act like a child."

After saying that, she pushed the plate of snacks in front of her and said to Jingzhe, "Jingzhe, serve some snacks to your aunt."

Jingzhe pushed the snacks towards Gu Honglian.

Could a plate of snacks really appease her?

Gu Honglian initially didn’t want to eat out of spite.

But the snacks were too tempting, their aroma wafting into her nose.

She swallowed, picked up a snack, and took a bite.

The snacks at her sister-in-law’s place were ridiculously good.

She heard her sister-in-law opened a pastry shop with her skills, not only in Yan Guan Town but also in the city.

Gu Honglian ate two pieces in a row, her mood not improving but becoming even more unbalanced; since her sister-in-law could make such good snacks, why hadn’t she made them for her before?

Moreover, the pastry shop was kept as tight as a drum; if it weren’t for the clan leader passing a message to Mr. Gu, they would still be in the dark.

When Gu Honglian finished the snacks, Tong Huaqiong said to her, "Go back and tell the elders I’m a bit tired having just returned from the city, and I’ll visit them after dinner."

This was essentially a veiled dismissal.

Gu Honglian was stunned; she didn’t expect her sister-in-law to be so unfeeling.

She had to bring her sister-in-law over now, or she would be ridiculed by her second sister-in-law and others when she returned.

But compared to the second sister-in-law’s ridicule, she had more important matters to attend to right now.

If her sister-in-law agreed to let her stay, whether or not she visited her parents wouldn’t matter.

Thinking this, Gu Honglian glanced around Tong Huaqiong’s house and suddenly had teary eyes.

"Sister-in-law, you have no idea, it snowed yesterday and the old house was chillingly cold, so cold I couldn’t sleep. There’s no charcoal, no stoves, my hands are about to get frostbitten."

Gu Honglian stretched out her hands, teary-eyed, her fingers red from the cold.

But she got cold on the way back from the south, not in Qinghe Bay.

"The old house hasn’t been lived in for years, winds coming in from all sides, the windows the clan leader patched were torn by last night’s wind, and the bedding was so damp I couldn’t warm up all night."

"Sister-in-law, your house is big and warm with many rooms. Sister-in-law, can I move in today and live with you? I don’t need a separate room, I can share with Taohua."

Never mind anything else, just get in first and talk later.

Surely, her sister-in-law wouldn’t refuse; her sister-in-law disliked her parents and second brother, so as long as she moved away from them, wouldn’t she regain her sister-in-law’s favor?

She didn’t really want to live in the old house and share a room with her niece Gu Xiaoxue.

She wanted her own private room.

When her sister-in-law wasn’t at home, she sneaked a look; her niece Gu Taohua’s bedroom was like a young lady of wealth’s, and she’d been envious for a long time.

Tong Huaqiong looked at Gu Honglian with an amused yet non-smiling expression.

So this cheap little sister-in-law planned everything just to live in her house.

That wouldn’t do.

Gu Taohua came in from outside, saying, "I don’t like sharing a room with others."

Tong Huaqiong spread her hands, looking at Gu Honglian, and said, "Your niece is used to having her own room. You think we have many rooms, but actually, they’re all occupied: your big nephew’s family, your second nephew’s family, Taohua and Jingzhe have one each, and Jingzhe needs a quiet room to study, so there’s another for his study. Man Er, Yaozu, and Xiao Long are all grown and each needs their own room, and your big nephew’s wife is pregnant; I’m already worried there won’t be an extra room for her unborn child."

Gu Honglian said, "Man Er and Yaozu are small, can’t they sleep with their parents?"

Tong Huaqiong said, "No, kids sleep restlessly, which affects the parents, and I still need their parents to work for me. If they don’t sleep well, they won’t have the energy to work."

Gu Honglian glared in anger, her sister-in-law left and right has excuses, isn’t just refusing her to stay.

Tong Huaqiong thought this little sister-in-law really couldn’t hold her temper, showing everything on her face.

But Tong Huaqiong wouldn’t act according to her expressions.

After thinking for a moment, Tong Huaqiong suddenly frowned and said, "Your second brother is really something, he knows you’re the precious young lady of our family, yet in this season, he abruptly brings you back home. Doesn’t he know you’re afraid of the cold? He should have repaired the old house and rooms before bringing you and the parents back. Since you all came back together, at the very least, he should have prepared a stove and made the room a bit warmer."

"Your second brother, always saying I act like the big sister-in-law, but look at his slapdash style, you can tell how unreliable he is."

Tong Huaqiong gave Gu Youtian a scolding.

Gu Honglian opened her mouth but didn’t know how to retort.

Her sister-in-law’s tongue was sharper than before, her heart darker; not only did she not take responsibility, but she also dumped all the blame on her second brother.

If her second brother had the means to fix the old house like her sister-in-law’s family, would she need to humble herself in front of her sister-in-law?

Tong Huaqiong told Jingzhe, "Jingzhe, grab me a few sheets of your writing paper, and later I’ll take them to the old house so your second uncle can patch up the windows."

Then she asked Gu Taohua to take out an unused hot water bottle and give it to Gu Honglian, supposedly to warm her bed.

Didn’t she say it was too cold to sleep at night?

Gu Honglian hugged the hot water bottle, walking all the way to the old house’s door, still unable to believe her sister-in-law treated her this way.

"Oh, Honglian is back. Little sister-in-law must have great face; surely she brought the sister-in-law over this time, huh?" said Mrs. Jia, seeing Gu Honglian with red eyes and holding a hot water bottle, looking behind her at the empty space, then speaking sarcastically.

Not wanting to be laughed at by her second sister-in-law, Gu Honglian gritted her teeth and said, "Sister-in-law said she’d come to see our parents after dinner."

Mr. Gu, hearing the conversation between his daughter-in-law and son-in-law inside, once again got so furious he almost toppled over.

"The eldest daughter-in-law is too much, Honglian went to invite her, and she still wants to come after dinner."

Shouldn’t she rush here to cook?

Mr. Gu angrily tore off the new clothes he was wearing, which he had put on to meet his eldest daughter-in-law and the eldest’s family.