Old man Zhang immediately came to Qiu Bai's defence, he still hated the second branch as much as he did in the past when second grandfather Yu was still alive. Those second branch bastards! Even when they died, his wife still cared about them the most! So, when he saw that his beloved daughter's husband was getting scolded, he couldn't stop himself " Qiu Bai only said that in anger, you didn't see it for yourself but I did, his burns are indeed severe! The doctors said that it will take months for new skin to develop. Do you really think he would exhort money? Your eldest granddaughter burned someone and caused them such a severe injury and yet you aren't even allowing Qiu Bai to say anything ?"
" you better not test my patience! Don't think I don't know that you had a very good idea about what he was going to do! I know that without your support, he wouldn't have the courage to do something like this!" Grandmother Yu looked at Old man Zhang with eyes full of anger and blame.
When her eldest daughter died, her granddaughter and her husbands were in grave situation. Chen Mi was pregnant and needed all the care he could get yet this man forced them to separate with nothing, even the fields that were given to Yu Dong were barren. She tried to smuggle some good fields in the separation document but Old man Zhang cried saying that Yu Dong would sell them all away because of her bad habits and debts, that they should keep them for Yu Tong and Yu Cheng who were good seeds.
Because Yu Dong was indeed a gambling addict, Grandmother Yu didn't do that but she could hardly sleep at night worrying about the four of them. Yet Old man Zhang behaved as if a great burden has fallen off his shoulders and acted in a much more relaxed manner.
Grandmother Yu couldn't understand just why Old Zhang had to behave like this? It wasn't that she loved Yu Qing any less than her eldest daughter. And how could he forget that the reason his daughter could work in the town with such a wonderful job was also because of her eldest daughter! If not for her eldest daughter giving the chance of studying to Yu Qing how could Old Zhang act like an old arrogant peacock every now and then in front of others?
Then why couldn't he treat Yu Dong well? Didn't her eldest daughter treat Yu Qing like her own sister, despite being born of different father?
When faced with his wife's furious glare, Old Zhang stuttered " isn't it just a small matter? Yu Dong isn't harmed at all and it's our family' Qiu Bai who had to suffer. That girl didn't take a loss so can't she just let this go? We already have a hard time taking care of our family, and Qiu Bai is the only one who could harvest the crops. If he is beaten ten times like the village's law then who will harvest it? I and you can't do it, second daughter can't do it either and Tong'er and Cheng'er won't do it either."
" why cant Tong'er do it? Isn't that her responsibility as the daughter of this house? She can't plough the field and she can't even harvest it then what's the point of her being the head of the house? Why don't I bring Dong Dong back and make her the head of the family? At least compared to Tong'er she is more capable now, what do you say? " then without giving old Zhang a chance to answer she added " It's fine if she can't sow it bring her out and let her shoulder the punishment for her father's sins, as a daughter she can't be unfilial right? I don't care what you do either you pay monetary compensation or let either Qiu Bai or Tong'er the physical punishment if you aren't willing to do it, then I will bring Yu Dong back in this house right now !"
" How can that be? We don't have any money doesn't Cheng'er's studies cost money and Tong'er is your own granddaughter how can you be so ruthless towards her? " cried Old Zhang then he hurriedly bit his lips and sobbed " how can that girl be so ruthless asking her own cousin and uncle to be beaten with ten heavy hits, isn't she afraid of being called unfilial?"
Grandmother Yu's anger soared to another level when she heard him blame Yu Dong " unfilial? Why will anyone call them unfilial? You are allowed to ruthlessly harm them but they can't even retaliate? Old Zhang aren't you too biased ?"
" I'm biased? You say? When I married to you I stayed at home waiting for you to return as I served a hot meal to you. When elder brother and second brother passed away I took the responsibility of raising their kids while I had my own daughter to take care of, did I ever starve anyone to death? Did I not give them clothes to wear? I did nothing like that, now I just want Yu Dong to forgive such a small matter in exchange for my care and attention to her mother, is it too much to ask ?" cried Old Zhang wiping his tears.
Seeing him cry like this neither Mu Xuan nor the villagers had the heart to force Qiu Bai. They too thought that Yu Dong was being too severe, it's true they intended to harm her but they didn't succeed and she didn't suffer a loss either so why did she have to ask for the ancestral punishment?
However, Grandmother Yu was truly incensed. She knew how much her eldest daughter suffered, and though Yu Dong wasn't a good seed, she was still her flesh and blood. Now that bad seed was trying to turn over in a new leaf yet she was being schemed against like this - she immediately went inside the house startling everyone and before Old Zhang could stop her, she brought a total of ten silvers and handed to Mu Xuan " village head I will leave these in your hands, give it to Yu Dong as compensation and tell her that I'm sorry for everything"
"No, you are not allowed to give our money to that bit-" before Old Zhang could finish, Grandmother Yu struck his cheek with a heavy hand. The old mer was in his sixties and couldn't withstand the slap and fell on the ground, horror-struck he stared at his wife not quite believing that she hit him.
" you better shut your mouth, I have been silent enough but this is the limit of my patience! If you tried to snatch this money back you can pack your bags and get out! Or else you come with me and take those ten hits !"
Old Zhang naturally didn't agree to it, in the end, no matter how much his heart bled he could only see the money be taken away from him. Yu Qing helped her father up and took him back inside, all the while glaring at Qiu Bai who shivered in fear. He knew he will not be able to escape but that doesn't mean this was the end! For this humiliation and all his sufferings, he would completely destroy Yu Dong's peace! Let's see how she will be able to survive his next scheme!
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On the other hand, Yu Dong had no idea that something was being planned against her, she hugged Ye Liu to sleep feeling a blissful warmth flowing in her heart.
This -this wasn't that bad.. Maybe she should have tried to get closer to them before.