Mrs. Jia, after taking Gu Honglian’s satin, didn’t even have lunch before taking Gu Ruinian to the pawnshop in town to pawn the satin.

She was afraid if she went late, Mr. Gu would regret it.

This satin was worth more than Gu Honglian had said.

Mrs. Jia demanded six silver coins right from the start, and the pawnshop owner didn’t haggle, settling the deal on the spot, leaving Mrs. Jia somewhat regretful, wishing she’d asked for ten instead.

With six silver coins, she gave Ruinian two to buy books, ink, paper, and stone, and spent three hundred coins to buy him roast chicken, meat buns, pig head meat, and meat rice dumplings for a feast.

Mrs. Jia held back her desire and didn’t eat any of it, stuffing everything into Ruinian’s mouth.

The meat rice dumplings were bought at Taohua Dessert.

Coming to this era, it was Ruinian’s first time eating meat rice dumplings, as delicious as those he had eaten in later times, making him more convinced that Gu Taohua brought modern dessert baking recipes from another time.

Besides the feast, Ruinian also wanted a new outfit, and Mrs. Jia gritted her teeth and spent five hundred coins on new clothes for him.

Her son was one of the two child students in the area, a candidate for the top spot next year; the family situation was already bad enough for him, how could she refuse him a new outfit?

With three silver coins and two left, Mrs. Jia planned to save it for Ruinian’s study expenses.

As for the household’s oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers, she didn’t plan to care, knowing that Mr. Gu would naturally step up to borrow from the clan when needed.

But she was afraid Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu would force her to hand over the silver coins; if at that time her husband didn’t stand by her, where would the silver be safely kept?

It had to be in the younger son’s hands.

So she handed the silver coins to Gu Ruinian.

After all, the grandparents were fond of Ruinian; even if they were displeased, they wouldn’t force him to hand over the silver.

Ruinian ate the meat dumplings and buns, wore new clothes, and with the remaining roast chicken, walked toward Qinghe Bay with Mrs. Jia.

On the way, several times he felt sorry for Mrs. Jia and thought of handing her the roast chicken.

But it stayed a thought.

Because Mrs. Jia didn’t want to hire a cart, saying the weather was nice enough to walk home.

Walking all the way, Ruinian was exhausted, planning to save the remaining half of the roast chicken for when he was hungry as a boost.

When Ruinian and Mrs. Jia arrived home, they saw a crowd gathered at the gate, with Gu Honglian’s cries rising and falling in the center.

Though the sobbing and scolding were incoherent, Ruinian and Mrs. Jia still caught accusations of "heartless second sister-in-law," "why pawn my satin," and "Gu Ruinian is a vampire" concerning the unscrupulous behavior of the second-house mother and son.

Interspersed were Mr. Gu’s reprimands and Mrs. Gu’s comforting words.

Ruinian and Mrs. Jia exchanged glances as Mrs. Jia’s face showed disgust.

This little sister was really troublesome.

The satin had already been pawned; for whom was she wailing?

She had to make the whole village know that her Ruinian schemed over his little aunt’s belongings.

Ruinian was also displeased, wondering for whom his aunt was acting, shouting to the whole village that he had pawned her satin. Wasn’t this showing him up? To him, his aunt was the leftover woman spoiled by the family in this era; she should be married off soon.

"Ruinian, did you go to town to pawn your aunt’s satin?"

"The new clothes on Ruinian are new, bought from pawning Honglian’s satin, right?" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

When Ruinian and Mrs. Jia went to town, they met villagers at the village entrance; exchanging greetings, they naturally knew the mother and son had gone to town.

But the reason for going to town was now known to everyone from Gu Honglian; it turned out they went to pawn the valuable satin.

Seeing Ruinian return from town wearing new clothes, holding writing materials in his right hand, and clutching a parcel with chicken sticking out in his left hand, they felt the boy truly was deceiving his aunt.

"Feng Nian’s mom, is that satin really so valuable? I heard Honglian say it was at least five coins per piece. What kind of satin is it? Why didn’t you let everyone see it before pawning? Was it really pawned for five silver coins?"

There were villagers curious whether Gu Honglian’s satin was indeed so expensive.

Ruinian and Mrs. Jia, surrounded by villagers’ questions and greetings, responding with gloomy faces.

What did pawning the satin have to do with the villagers?

It wasn’t their satin.

Ruinian thought disdainfully that these people loved waving the moral high ground; if anyone in their family got valuable satin, they’d probably pawn it faster than him.

Gu Honglian cried and wailed at the gate, refusing to go home despite Mr. Gu’s reprimands and Mrs. Gu’s persuasion.

She still didn’t know Mrs. Jia and Ruinian had already pawned the satin, believing the mother and son were hiding inside and refusing to come out.

Suddenly hearing the villagers talking with Ruinian and Mrs. Jia made her even more heartbroken.

Originally wanting to make a scene, hoping to keep the satin.

Now the possibility of the satin returning to her was completely broken.

Gu Honglian pushed through the crowd, seeing Ruinian in a set of brand-new clothes standing beside Mrs. Jia, with half a roast chicken in his hand.

Gu Honglian’s eyes flared with anger; these were all from her satin.

All her money!

"Second sister-in-law, you wicked woman, you really pawned my satin."

Gu Honglian screamed, rushing over to yell at Mrs. Jia.

Mrs. Jia looked coldly at her little sister-in-law.

She thought the same as Ruinian, that the trouble-making aunt should get married.

Gu Honglian’s repeated "wicked woman" made Mrs. Jia intolerable, coldly saying, "Watch your mouth; is this how you speak to your sister-in-law?"

Gu Honglian grew angrier, thinking why should she watch her mouth, having her satin pawned and still expecting her to say nice words?

"Saying the satin was pawned for Ruinian’s studies, turning around to buy new clothes and roast chicken for him. Look, my second sister-in-law and nephew just cheated me like this."

The new clothes on Ruinian’s back painfully irritated Gu Honglian.

Why should her satin be pawned for Ruinian to wear new clothes?

Gu Honglian grabbed Ruinian’s new clothes and tugged, causing Ruinian to stumble; Gu Honglian wouldn’t relent, going on to snatch the roast chicken from her nephew’s hand and throw it to the ground, stomping it to a pulp.

Mrs. Gu was heartbroken to no end.

The half roast chicken could have been added as another dish.

"You couldn’t even pass the scholar exam, who do you think you are to wear new clothes and eat roast chicken? Useless, you’ll still fail the exam."

Gu Honglian stood with her hands on her hips, pointing at Ruinian’s nose, scolding.

This struck Ruinian’s sore spot.

In his last life, spoiled and pampered by the family, Yaozu couldn’t bear being publicly scolded and cursed by a woman pointing at his nose.

Ruinian was so angry he trembled, his ears ringing, Gu Honglian’s finger poking in front of his eyes, her mouth moving, and out of rage, he forcefully shoved Gu Honglian.

Gu Honglian fell backward, landing on the ground.

She hadn’t expected her nephew to lay hands on her and was momentarily stunned.

The burning sensation on her behind brought her back to her senses.

Gu Honglian, both furious and embarrassed, jumped up, charging at Ruinian with kicks and punches.

Ruinian, disregarding the filial piety of this era, grabbed Gu Honglian and threw her to the ground.

"Ruinian, what are you doing, how can you lay hands on your aunt?"

Mrs. Gu rushed over, holding Ruinian’s hand.

Gu Honglian seized the opportunity to hit Ruinian’s head a few times.

Mrs. Jia couldn’t stand it any longer, rushing over to yank Gu Honglian’s hair.

Her son was so smart, if he damaged his brain, how would he study?