stingy landlady

Chapter 44 Zhao Begs for Mercy

“My grandma scolded my second aunt, saying she always compares herself to our family. Grandma told her to go back to her parents’ home tomorrow! She said if it weren’t dark, she would have let her go back today!” Guizhi said.

Gui Hong felt a surge of satisfaction upon hearing Zhao Shi being scolded: "Serves her right! Grandma should teach her a lesson! Let her bully Mother!"

Gui Xiang pulled Gui Hong aside, gesturing for her to look at Da Zhu, and whispered, "Keep your voice down! You should just keep it to yourself! You have to say it out loud! You always ruin everything with your mouth!"

Li chuckled to herself, "That girl is greedy and cunning! She'll learn her lesson this time! Your father repeatedly emphasized that the vegetables were for selling! And she still ate them despite their high price!"

Dazhu saw the excitement shining in their eyes, indicating that they wanted to continue.

Dazhu shook his head and said, "You guys! Enough already! You're so happy to see your second aunt getting scolded? Stop talking, or someone might hear you!"

This morning, the sky finally turned cloudy; it was going to rain.

The old lady didn't dare let Da Bao and Tao Zhi pick the vegetables, for fear that they would damage the roots of the other vegetables.

They were only allowed to wash the vegetables. Dazhu saw that it was going to rain, so there was no need to water the wheat. He and Lin Xiaoyun helped the old man pick the vegetables, bundling them into bunches and putting them in baskets.

As the carriage was about to depart, Dazhu explained, "Father and Mother! The vegetables will lose weight along the way; the way we weigh them at home isn't accurate. We'll weigh them again when we arrive!"

"Dad, the sky's overcast; it looks like it'll rain. We don't need to water the fields. Why don't you and the children go together today? Haven't you seen Fifth Brother in a long time? You should go see him too!"

Dazhu felt that the vegetables were losing weight too much, and since it involved money, it would be better for the old man to go himself.

The two pillars are simply incapable of managing the household. And Zhao is too restless; I'm afraid she'll cause trouble again over this little bit of money.

The old man was somewhat tempted by what Dazhu said! His son and daughter-in-law at home were both a handful, so it would be better to go out for a walk, see his youngest son, and relax!

"Alright! I'll drive the carriage today!"

Dazhu said, "Dad, then I'll lead them to burn the stubble! We'll burn as much as we can! We won't have to worry about it catching fire when it rains!"

The old man quickly said, "Then we'll need to send more people! Be careful! Water and fire are ruthless! Remember to dig a ditch with a hoe and fetch a few buckets of water for backup!"

Dazhu replied, "Father! I understand! I will be careful and burn the land piece by piece!"

The carriage drove away, and Lin Xiaoyun looked at it with regret and a hint of grievance, thinking to himself, "Hmph! We agreed that I would drive the carriage myself, but apart from the first day, I haven't touched it at all. I can only help with harnessing! There's always so much work to do!"

Seeing Lin Xiaoyun in a daze, Dazhu called out, "Xiaoyun! Let's go! Come with your uncle to burn the wasteland!"

The fourth brother asked, "Big brother, should I go too?"

Dazhu refused. "We don't need you. There are so many people here! They're all exhausted from working every day. You should take a rest!"

After saying that, he took Lin Xiaoyun to burn the wasteland.

"Finally some peace and quiet!" the old lady muttered.

"Zhao! Go back to your parents' home for a few days! Pack your things now! Go!" The old lady's voice grew louder with each shout.

"Mother! I was wrong! Mother! Please forgive me this time!" Zhao bowed her head and admitted her mistake.

He then whispered, "Besides, I didn't eat all the food myself. Everyone else ate too! You can't just blame me!"

The old lady wasn't hard of hearing, and she got even angrier when she heard it. "How dare you say that! Even if you had cooked this dish a day later, our family could have earned several hundred more coins."

You ate it in the morning, and then went to pick it again at night. If Dazhu had told you any later, you would have been eating all the money! Our family can't afford to support a rich young lady like you! Get out of here! Immediately! Right now!"

When the old lady unleashed her fury, Erzhu and the children were too frightened to utter a sound.

Erbao was so frightened that he burst into tears!

Taozhi pleaded, her voice trembling, "Grandma, my mother knows she was wrong! Please don't let her go back to Grandma's house!"

Erzhu also pleaded, "Mother! Zhao was wrong, please punish her! What will happen to me and the child if she goes back to her parents' home? I can't even move my legs! I need someone to help me to go to the toilet, and the child is still so young! Zhao! Kneel down before your mother!"

Da Bao also came over and looked at the old lady with pleading eyes, but he didn't know what to say.

Zhao immediately knelt down and cried, "Mother! I won't dare to do it again! I'll never act on my own again! I'll listen to you from now on! Mother, please forgive me this time!"

The old lady was furious when she saw this family.

"Erzhu, you have utterly disappointed your mother! Zhao, if this happens again, no amount of pleading will help! I will never forgive you! You spendthrift woman!"

The old lady turned around and went back to her room to lie down.

After this incident, when Zhao returned to her parents' home, the mother and daughter spoke privately behind closed doors. Her mother scolded her:

"How could you be so stupid! You should have gone back to your parents' home back then. Did you think your parents wouldn't have anyone to take care of you? Those vegetables were so expensive, you could have had your brothers pick them all, and your parents could have taken them to sell. Would we ever treat you badly after we made money? If there's ever a good opportunity to make money in the future, you should come back and tell your mother right away! Even just sending someone to deliver a message would have been fine! How could I have given birth to such a silly girl like you!"

The old lady was unaware that her magnanimous forgiveness of Zhao had saved her family from a disaster.

If Zhao's brothers came over during the day, and only she and Erzhu were home, how could they possibly stop those ravenous men! Just imagine how utterly devastated the vegetable garden was!

Li heard the commotion from inside her room but dared not make a sound. She knew that if she went out, it would be wrong whether she tried to persuade them or not.

To persuade the old lady to go against her own wishes is to openly oppose her.

If you don't persuade them, Zhao and Erzhu will hold a grudge and will definitely think that you are deliberately trying to make a fool of yourself.

We're already two separate families. Let's just go our separate ways!

Neither Sun nor the fourth son came out. They were afraid of embarrassing Erzhu and Zhao.

Sun was also a little afraid that Zhao would go crazy. She still vividly remembered how Zhao acted unreasonably when Erzhu's leg was broken last time.

Dazhu and the others were completely unaware. Everyone was busy burning stubble at the east end. Although the ground had already turned green, there were still withered, rotten grasses on it.

At home, only Zhou Niangzi and Zhou Qiong do needlework. They're busy every day, and the time they can sit down and quietly do needlework is rare. They still haven't finished making clothes for their two children and themselves.

Old Zhou was worried, so he went to help burn the wasteland.

There were several buckets of water on the main road for backup. Da Zhu and Zhou Mingzhi used hoes to clear away dry branches and rotten leaves, while Lin Xiaoyun and Zhou Xing used pine branches to start a fire. The area was large, so the fire wasn't easy to ignite.

Old Zhou dug a barrier ditch at the boundary marker to prevent the fire from spreading too far beyond the boundary.

Everyone was busy and having a great time. Lin Xiaoyun and Zhou Xing found it fun and not boring at all, running around, sometimes shouting and sometimes laughing out loud. They stopped pretending to be mature and stopped having any worries. They finally showed the true nature of two teenagers.