"Eat, eat, eat until you die. I’d rather give this stinky thing sothing to eat than give it to you, you stupid donkey."
When Old Mrs. Mu ntioned the "stinky thing," she was naturally referring to Mu Shuangshuang.
Mu Shuangshuang wasn’t the type to let herself suffer a loss. As soon as she heard Old Mrs. Mu say she would give her the peach, she quickly thanked her, "Thank you, Grandma. I’ll take the peach first."
After saying this, she stepped forward, grabbed the largest peach from the fruit plate, and dashed out of the main room of the big house.
Old Mrs. Mu had only said it in anger, but Mu Shuangshuang actually took the peach, which infuriated her. She slapped the half-eaten peach out of Mu Yingying’s hand, and it rolled on the ground for two turns before stopping.
"Waa..." Mu Yingying started to cry loudly. Old Mrs. Mu completely ignored her and picked up the fruit plate on the table, along with the raspberries she had brought, and left the main room of the big house.
"Mother..." Mu Yingying, unable to gain any advantage from Old Mrs. Mu, started crying in Mrs. Jin’s arms.
Mrs. Jin was also furious, as Old Mrs. Mu’s actions were really going too far.
"Don’t cry, I’ll go find your father."
The only one who could control Old Mrs. Mu was Mu Dade, so Mrs. Jin headed toward the inner courtyard.
The big room, although called a wing room, was no less than the main house. Three rooms and one storage room had been converted into Mu Dade’s study. Not only was it spacious, but it was also large.
Compared to other branches, the conditions were indeed quite good.
In the study, at this mont, Mu Dade was carefully reading a book called "Wisdom of the Sages". When he saw his wife enter, he imdiately put down the book.
"Yinyin, why did you co in?"
Yinyin was Mrs. Jin’s childhood na, and over the years, Mu Dade had gotten used to calling his wife this way.
"Oh, Dandan’s father, I really can’t take this life anymore. Mother ca over earlier, saw a few honey peaches on my table, blad for not sending them to her, took away the honey peaches, and even slapped Yingying. Boo hoo hoo... She also told to empty the chamber pots and do the laundry and cooking..."
Mrs. Jin wiped her tears with a handkerchief as she spoke.
"Why are you upset with her? My mother is just like that, she’s never seen the world."
In his heart, Mu Dade was also dissatisfied with Old Mrs. Mu. His wife and daughter were beaten for no reason, and how could he swallow this anger?
"Dade, if you pass the exam, will you really take your father and mother with you?"
Mrs. Jin had her calculations. This ti, if her husband really beca a scholar, even if he didn’t go to the Capital for further exams, or if he failed, he could still get a small official position, as long as they made so connections at that ti.
But when one person gets lucky, everyone around benefits. If her husband becos an official, and the old man and old lady follow along, won’t she be overshadowed?
"Not just my mother, but I’m afraid several brothers in the family will also go. Over the years, they’ve been living frugally for the sake of my exams. There’s no reason for to enjoy the riches while they suffer in the countryside, speaking about it would make people point fingers at us."
"But have you thought about whether your colleagues would laugh at you if you took so many people with you? It’s understandable to take your parents since they are your father and mother, but these uncles and aunts, they haven’t seen the world. If sothing happens, who will be responsible?"
Mu Dade realized there was truth in what she said. Not just these brothers; even his parents might cause trouble, especially his mother. Her lack of manners could offend a colleague’s wife, and he’d have a hard ti getting along.
"Then we won’t take them. Our family can live outside, and we can give the elders so silver as respect."
Mu Dade and his wife had already made up their minds. Once they beca successful, they planned to abandon family affairs and ignore the family mbers who had helped them so much over the years.
Outside the study, Mu Danian, who was eavesdropping, had a face as dark as charcoal.
All afternoon he had been thinking about Mrs. Jin’s plump figure, and his inner fire refused to die down. Originally, he thought sneaking over to the wing room to catch a glimpse of Mrs. Jin might help, but who knew he’d hear such a thing.
Humph, he always knew his older brother was no good. After being supported all these years, he turned out to be an ingrate. And this Mrs. Jin, pretending to be so virtuous, was actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Just wait and see how Mu Danian will deal with these ungrateful rats.
"Dandan’s father, I’ve recently heard from soone that there’s a Mr. Zhang in the county who used to work on exam questions. After retiring, he’s been teaching, and it’s said that he’s especially good at predicting exam topics. Should we spend so silver to find him?"
This ti, Mrs. Jin felt so confident for a reason, as Mr. Zhang was her trump card. She realized that her husband’s past failures were due to not knowing the exam questions.
If they knew the topics this ti, he would definitely pass, and maybe even beco the top scorer.
"But the conditions at ho are just like this. We have no more than ten taels of silver in the room. I don’t know how much Mother has, but it’s definitely not more than we do."
"I’ve heard that soone nad Wang San in our village hasn’t found a wife yet and has been asking the baby broker to find one.
His family conditions are good; his brother is a steward for a big family in town, and his sister owns a fabric shop. Why don’t we marry off one of the girls from ho and ask for a bride price?"
"But that Wang San is over fifty, and he’s crippled and blind. Who would want to marry him?" Mu Dade shook his head, disagreeing with his wife’s opinion.
"Who cares who it is, as long as it’s not from our branch. By then, we can pick anyone from the second branch’s Qing, the third branch’s stinky girl, or the fourth branch’s Xia. Any of them would be better than a bride brought by a baby broker.
Wang San would definitely give us silver, and the girls would be considered lucky to marry into his family. They’d have to be grateful to us big house mbers by then."
The big house was scheming loudly, and Mu Danian outside listened in shock. It didn’t matter to her who married whom since it wasn’t her blood, but hearing from Big Brother that he could get the exam topics ant surely passing this year?
No, he must quickly find a wife, and when the big house rises, he’ll eat with both hands to earn back his investnt.
Mu Danian quickly walked toward ho, deciding not to tell anyone, just waiting for himself to enjoy the benefits.
In the third branch’s house, Shuangshuang quietly used a knife to peel the skin off the honey peach, dividing it into uneven portions. Naturally, the largest two went to Mu Dashan and Yu Si Niang, while Little Zhi and Xiao Han’s shares were also larger than hers.
"Hurry and eat, this stuff isn’t often seen."
After speaking, Mu Shuangshuang stuffed her piece of honey peach into her mouth, chewing slowly. She wasn’t a fool from the big house; whatever ca into her hands was naturally digested in her stomach first.
"Sister, Little Zhi can’t eat so much, I can’t finish it, let’s split it half and half!"
"Yes, mine is too much too, I’ll give you half." Xiao Han chid in.
"Dad doesn’t need that much, I’m feeling a bit full." Mu Dashan added.
"And mine..."
Yu Si Niang had just started to speak when Mu Shuangshuang made a stop gesture to everyone.
"Take what I’ve given you and eat it in one go; otherwise, you’ll end up like my big aunt, losing the chicken and the eggs, and getting scolded to boot."
People, if they’re going to act foolishly, should know the right ti. When there’s sothing to eat, eat it first. Even if the old lady cos to take it, it’s beyond rescue!
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