Gu Honglian ran out of the old residence.

The more she thought about giving up the satin, the sadder she became. She hid in the pigsty and sobbed uncontrollably, skipping lunch at home.

After Tong Pandi finished her lunch, she went to the pigsty to check and heard the sound of crying in the corner. When she went over, she saw it was Gu Honglian.

Tong Pandi still had some respect for her aunt’s younger sister-in-law.

Furthermore, seeing a girl crying so sadly, Tong Pandi couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

Tong Pandi asked, "Aunt Honglian, what’s wrong? Why are you crying here?"

Gu Honglian looked up and saw it was Tong Pandi, and sobbed, "They’re bullying me."

Tong Pandi asked, "Who’s bullying you?"

Gu Honglian cried, "Gu Ruinian, Second Sister-in-law, and my dad, all of them are bullying me."

Tong Pandi didn’t know what to say, so she comforted Gu Honglian with a few words and went into the pigsty.

After coming out of the pigsty, she found Gu Honglian still crying. No matter how much she consoled her, she couldn’t be stopped. Gu Honglian held Tong Pandi’s hand, saying she was very hungry and didn’t want to go back to the old residence. Tong Pandi gritted her teeth and brought her to Tong Huaqiong’s house.

"What’s the matter? What grievance did you suffer?" Tong Huaqiong asked as she saw Gu Honglian’s eyes swollen like walnuts.

Seeing Tong Huaqiong was like seeing her family, Gu Honglian almost cried rivers, crying even more uncontrollably.

Especially after seeing Lu Zhaozhao and thinking of the satin she had to give up, she felt even more wronged.

Tong Huaqiong somewhat suspected that someone from the village might have bullied Gu Honglian, considering she was always pampered at the old residence. It was unlikely they would mistreat her there, right?

Gu Taohua handed a handkerchief to Gu Honglian and said, "Auntie, what on earth is wrong? Who bullied you?"

Gu Honglian took the handkerchief and wiped her tears, chokingly replied, "Second Sister-in-law, Ruinian, and my dad are bullying me. They want to pawn the satin Zhao Zhao gave me to buy books for Ruinian. Boo hoo... That was given to me by Zhao Zhao, why should they pawn it off?"

Tong Huaqiong thought this matter was indeed not Gu Honglian’s fault.

What Mrs. Jia and Gu Ruinian did was indeed not right.

What was more infuriating was that it was Lu Zhaozhao’s satin, which now benefited Gu Ruinian unnecessarily.

"So did you agree to it?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Gu Honglian said, "I had no choice but to agree; my dad already agreed to it."

Tong Huaqiong said, "Your dad was wrong. Your Second Sister-in-law and Gu Ruinian were wrong. Is there any reason to take an aunt’s satin to buy books for a nephew?"

If she went on, it would be inciting discord.

Tong Huaqiong quickly closed her mouth.

Despite seeing Gu Honglian crying pitifully now, after this ordeal, if disagreements arose between the old residence and Tong Huaqiong, Gu Honglian would still stand by the old residence.

Seeing Gu Honglian’s hair in disarray and her stomach growling, she asked Liu Yueer to bring her a meal.

After crying all noon without eating, Gu Honglian, who was very hungry, quickly devoured the food brought to her.

After finishing her meal and wiping her mouth, she still felt quite miffed about the satin.

So she pleaded with Lu Zhaozhao, "Zhaozhao, can you send me another piece?"

Tong Huaqiong’s sympathy for Gu Honglian vanished instantly.

She was trying to use Lu Zhaozhao as a scapegoat because she couldn’t stand up to Mr. Gu.

Tong Huaqiong sternly said, "Honglian, what nonsense are you talking. Even if you can’t keep the satin, if you’re given another piece, it’s likely to end up in your Second Sister-in-law’s hands too."

Gu Honglian, hearing the sister-in-law’s words, looked at Lu Zhaozhao with an aggrieved expression.

Lu Zhaozhao spoke, "Auntie, not to mention what Aunt Tong said is sensible, but you are now asking me for more satin, and I don’t have any. The satin I gave you was rare; even the concubines in the palace only get two pieces a year, I should have known better than to give it to you since you couldn’t keep it safe, wasting such fine satin."

Lu Zhaozhao and Tong Huaqiong were united in their anger; she was indeed furious that her fine satin ended up benefiting Gu Ruinian.

Does he deserve it!

"Auntie, you’ve always had quite a temper; everyone knows good things need saving for you. Gu Ruinian took your things, and you could bear it? So what if he’s a child student? Does being a child student mean he can snatch away his aunt’s belongings? Does being a child student mean ignoring filial piety? If he takes your satin under the pretext of book expenses now, who knows if he would take your dowry in the future under the pretext of exam costs? Look, no matter how poor the old residence is, Grandpa and Grandma would never think of touching your belongings. Why did they touch your belongings now?"

Gu Honglian fell into deep thought after hearing Gu Taohua’s words.

Maybe this was just paving the way for Gu Ruinian’s future. You gave up the satin without any real benefit, yet others might call you selfish and unreasonable. You cried all noon, and they didn’t even come looking for you."

Gu Honglian gritted her teeth.

"Auntie, where’s your temperament gone? Why don’t you cry and make a fuss at them? Instead, why are you crying outside? The more you do this, the more Gu Ruinian and Second Aunt will smugly think they can bully you. If you don’t cry and make a fuss, they’ll think you’re easy to bully. Wait and see, later on, there are more grievances in store for you."

Gu Honglian stood up, her face darkening as she left Tong Huaqiong’s courtyard, heading towards the old residence.

Gu Taohua pulled along Lu Zhaozhao to follow and join in the commotion.

The more Gu Honglian thought about it, the angrier and more wronged she felt.

Gu Taohua was right; if she gave in this time, who knows what she would have to give in to next time.

"Gu Ruinian, you bastard, don’t think just because you are a child student, you can bully your aunt. You didn’t even study properly for books, and you’re disregarding filial piety, wanting to pawn off even my clothes."

Provoked by Gu Taohua, Gu Honglian suddenly wisened up.

Without causing any rifts in the old residence, she didn’t go back there to start scolding but instead, she scolded and cried all the way as she went.

Gu Honglian realized that with Mr. Gu suppressing her, it was very likely she wouldn’t get the satin back.

Given that, she wouldn’t let Mrs. Jia and Gu Ruinian have an easy benefit.

She wanted everyone in the village to know that Gu Ruinian was unfilial and bullied his unmarried aunt.

Sure enough, the villagers were drawn by Gu Honglian’s scolding and followed along, watching the drama unfold.

"Honglian, what exactly did Ruinian do to upset you so much?" asked a woman related to the Gu family, whom Tong Huaqiong called Second Aunt, as she caught up.

Ever since Gu Ruinian failed the exams, his reputation in the village dropped significantly, affecting the family’s reputation as well.

Additional stories of him hoarding food at home and ignoring family needs under the guise of studying were circulating, and hearing of him pawning his aunt’s clothing only deepened Second Aunt’s negative opinion of Gu Ruinian.

Gu Honglian took Second Aunt by the hand, crying and recounting the tale.

Adding oil and vinegar, she retold how Gu Ruinian incited Mrs. Jia to pressure her into giving up the valuable satin that Lu Zhaozhao had gifted her.

She knew clearly that when Mrs. Jia had brought up pawning her satin, Gu Ruinian wasn’t there right away.

But she just wanted to pin this blame on Gu Ruinian because the silver from pawning the satin would ultimately be spent on him.

Why should he hide behind and advantage everything while leaving her with a reputation of being stingy?

Gu Taohua was right. If she didn’t speak out her grievances to everyone now, who knows how Gu Ruinian might sacrifice her in the future. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Hearing Gu Honglian’s outpouring, everyone’s disdain for Gu Ruinian grew stronger.