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Chapter 508: Chapter 508: Few Words, Ruthless Actions
"Gu Hongwei, the poor kid, is pretty pitiful!" Guo Jinnian sympathized, "If I had such an aunt, I would have cut ties with them long ago."
Tong Yao nodded, "You may think that Hongwei is very refined, but he makes very decisive decisions. After this incident, he definitely won’t get along with his aunt. Now, he’s just at his father’s funeral and doesn’t want to cause any trouble.
Guo Jinnian nodded in understanding, "His character seems good, he’s tough and doesn’t throw around empty words."
Guo Jinnian, feeling somewhat tired after the long chat, lay on the bed and fell asleep unknowingly. Tong Yao, however, was not sleepy. She felt uncomfortable as she was sweating and hadn’t taken a shower, she could not sleep until midnight. She was woken up by the sound of a rooster crowing before dawn.
The village head and his wife were busy at the Gu Family house all night and didn’t return home. As the sky began to lighten, everyone started with the preparations for the burial of Gu’s father.
Tong Yao and Guo Jinnian went too, they each received a strip of white cloth as per customs, tied it around their arms, and joined the crowd on the way to the cemetery behind the mountain. After watching Gu’s father’s burial, they had a meal and everyone returned home.
Some remaining people then started helping to clean up. Gu’s aunty didn’t leave, nor did she help. She just chatted with the village women under the big tree, just after Gu’s father was buried, she was no longer in despair and grief, laughing and joking as if she had won the lottery.
Zhang Lijuan found an opportunity to pull Tong Yao aside. She tried to create a friendly relationship with her, after all, she wasn’t officially divorced from Si Chen yet and they would need to get along in the future. Therefore, Tong Yao’s attitude towards Zhang Lijuan was still amicable.
To soften Tong Yao’s heart, Zhang Lijuan even brought the child over. The chubby child was adorable and kept giggling when it saw Tong Yao. After playing with the baby for a while, Zhang Lijuan called Si Boyi to take the baby back home.
There were no outsiders here, only Tong Yao and Guo Jinnian. Knowing that Guo Jinnian wasn’t a local, Zhang Lijuan spoke without reserve.
"Yaoyao, you’ve done so much for the family, yet Mrs Si and Xiaohui treat you this way, forcing you to divorce the elder brother, it’s really unfair. I know you must be angry with our family. To be honest with you, I’m also angry at her. I just wish she would die sooner. Last night, I was wondering why it was Uncle Gu who died instead of Grandmother?".
"You wouldn’t believe it. These days, I have almost been driven mad by her and Xiaohui. Xiaohui is shameless, she has made Song Yu disappear and now she’s involved with a pork seller, even wants to have a wedding. To be honest, both Boyi and I feel embarrassed. We’ve decided to move to the city tomorrow. Let them do whatever they want for Xiaohui’s wedding, we won’t get involved."
Zhang Lijuan felt particularly good after finally saying what she’d held back for a long time. Outsiders wouldn’t understand just how difficult Lin Fengying and Si Xiaohui were since they hadn’t experienced it. She felt that Tong Yao, having also experienced Lin Fengying’s torment, was a better person to vent her frustrations to.
Tong Yao nodded, "It’s good for you both to move to the city. Let Xiaohui and Lin Fengying torment each other! What goes around comes around, no one has the right to forgive for those who have died."
Her words were referring to Lin Fengying and the matter regarding Si Chen’s father. Zhang Lijuan understood, but didn’t express it directly.
Seeing that Tong Yao shared her animosity, she felt very relieved. She first gossiped about all of Lin Fengying’s recent shenanigans, the difficulties she was experiencing were primarily a way to feel out Tong Yao’s reaction and to see if she would offer them jobs back at the milk tea shop.
Even Guo Jinnian could tell what Zhang Lijuan was implying, however, this was Tong Yao’s family affair, so she chose not to get involved.
Tong Yao naturally understood as well, she found an excuse to stop Zhang Lijuan from saying it outright, "I see that you are in difficulty now. If it’s really unmanageable, you can start a small business in the city, you have learned how to prepare milk tea, right? You can set up a booth to sell it, you should be able to make some money each month." n𝚘𝚟𝚙𝚞𝚋.𝚌o𝚖
Tong Yao knew that Zhang Lijuan was a resourceful person, even if she had not suggested it herself, Zhang Lijuan would have thought about selling milk tea. It’s better for her to take the initiative and earn some goodwill.
As for allowing Zhang Lijuan to work at the milk tea shop, that was absolutely impossible, because Si Xiaohui would definitely create issues.
Zhang Lijuan didn’t expect Tong Yao to bring it up proactively, her eyes lit up instantly, "Really? Yaoyao, would you feel that we’re stealing your business?"
Tong Yao explained sincerely, "After the incident with He Fang at the entrance of No. 1 Middle School, the school wouldn’t allow you to set up a booth there. You can set one up somewhere else. It’s not considered stealing business since the group of customers is different."
Surprised by Tong Yao’s open-mindedness, Zhang Lijuan felt genuinely happy. Suddenly, she remembered Si Chen’s phone call, she hesitated for a moment and then said, "Yaoyao, elder brother called last night, he heard that you were in the village. He even told Boyi to take care of you. The reason you two divorced initially was because of mother and Xiaohui, now that mother has ended up like this, you don’t have to worry about her anymore. If there’s still love, you can remarry when elder brother returns."
"We’ll talk about that later!" Tong Yao shrugged, and then joked, "You know, I’m not bad-looking, my family has money, even though I’m divorced, I haven’t had a child. I am in a good position, there are quite a few people chasing after me. There’s really no need to hang around the Si Family’s courtyard."
Tong Yao had a clever way of saying things, Zhang Lijuan was stunned and didn’t know how to reply. What Tong Yao said was true, she was in a great position. If it hadn’t been for Tong Yaohui’s decision, Si Family wouldn’t have been able to marry such a delicate lady like Tong Yao.
Now, with Si Chen overseas, Zhang Lijuan knew that saying anything more was useless, so she awkwardly agreed.
"Yaoyao, you’re right. It’s mother’s fault for missing out on a good daughter-in-law like you. To be honest, I really admire your courage. I’ve been tortured by them to the point where I wish I were dead, but I still don’t have the courage to divorce."
Tong Yao chuckled lightly, "Boyi treats you well, he’s not a mama’s boy. As long as he’s willing to take you to the city, your lives wouldn’t be difficult. As for Lin Fengying and Si Xiaohui, as long as they dare to make a scene, don’t indulge them— they like to take advantage of people."
Zhang Lijuan found Tong Yao’s words very reasonable. When others heard about her family issues, they always advised her to tolerate it, only Tong Yao didn’t. This made her feel so relieved.
She wanted to invite Tong Yao over for a meal, but knowing that Tong Yao wouldn’t accept, swallowed back her words. The conversation ended only when there was sudden commotion at the entrance of the Gu Family’s house.
Guo Jinnian loved to watch the excitement, she pulled Tong Yao into the crowd. As soon as they made their way in, they saw Gu’s aunty holding Gu Hongwei’s arm and hurling abuses,
"Have you fed all your education to the dogs? I am your aunt, if you’re not supporting me, are you supporting outsiders? What are you thinking? Who are you closer to? Don’t you get it, eh?"
