The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 19: Cooking Mung Bean Paste

Gu Dashu carried the thorny branches to the Nie Family to apologize to his elder sister, Gu Baishuang.

Unfortunately, Gu Baishuang didn’t want to see him at all. He didn’t even get through the Nie Family’s door before a big bucket of water was thrown at him.

His attempt at making amends with the thorn branches ended in complete failure!

An attempt to apologize requires the other party’s cooperation, and since Gu Baishuang wouldn’t cooperate, Gu Dashu was just making a fool of himself, like a monkey showing off with thorn branches.

So, being ridiculed by the crowd, the furious monkey Gu Dashu broke the thorn branches and went dejectedly to the town’s private school to discuss with his third brother, Jingzhe.

Jingzhe had left for the private school in the early morning to borrow money from his classmates.

Having hit a wall with Gu Baishuang, Gu Dashu now pinned all his hopes on Jingzhe raising the money among his classmates.

However, upon reaching the town’s private school, Jingzhe was nowhere in sight. His classmates all said they hadn’t seen him. Gu Dashu waited for a while, but still didn’t see him, so he headed back to Qinghe Bay.

By the time he reached Qinghe Bay, it was completely dark.

The darkness brought by night amplified the despair.

After all, another day had passed, and the five-day deadline was drawing closer.

And the whereabouts of the silver were still unknown.

Under the parasol tree at the entrance of the Gu Family home, Gu Dashu ran into Liu Yueer, who had returned from borrowing money from the Liu Family.

Liu Tiechui’s scolding of Gu Dashu was still echoing in Liu Yueer’s mind, and she couldn’t help but want to tear into Gu Dashu.

If her man weren’t so lazy and irresponsible, perhaps they could have saved some silver over the years, combined with the borrowing from her natal family, they wouldn’t be in such a passive situation.

The reason her elder sister-in-law and father were reluctant to lend her money was because Gu Dashu left an impression of someone who couldn’t manage life, making them wary of lending money like throwing dumplings at a dog—gone forever.

After all, nobody’s money grows on trees!

"Stop scratching, I went to my elder sister’s house in the town to borrow money." Gu Dashu said.

Liu Yueer only felt a turn in her path and stopped scratching Gu Dashu, asking, "Did you get it?"

Gu Dashu awkwardly shook his head, "Gu Baishuang is heartless, didn’t even let me in."

"And you’re still showing off? Your face is really big. Your son’s about to be castrated, and you still have the nerve to play tricks on me here. What did I do to marry into the Gu Family?"

"Gu Dashu, tell me, what do you have besides your face? If I had listened to my parents and married into the town back then, I wouldn’t be here."

"Why did I have to eat the pine nut candy you gave me back then? If I hadn’t been tempted by your candy, would I have opened my legs for you? One wrong step, every step wrong."

The more Liu Yueer thought about it, the angrier she got, and the more she scolded.

She even revealed her own background in her rage.

Tong Huaqiong was brewing mung bean gruel with Chen Sufen and Gu Taohua, and hearing Liu Yueer’s increasingly fiery scolding, she paused her nosy nature, walked to the door, and shouted at Liu Yueer.

"Liu Yueer, what are you babbling about? Do you think you’re the heroine of a scandal, attracting the whole village to listen to your gossip to make you happy?"

Seeing the couple’s state, Tong Huaqiong understood that Gu Dashu hit a wall with Gu Baishuang and didn’t borrow the money.

"Mom, did you hear? I met Matchmaker Wang in the evening, and she said... she said that Shengjing Palace is extensively selecting palace maids and eunuchs. They want to let the county’s castration master castrate Yaozu and send him to be a eunuch... Mom, what are we going to do?"

"Our Old Gu Family will have no descendants."

Liu Yueer started to cry.

"Second daughter-in-law, what did you say? You said there’s a castration master in the county?" Tong Huaqiong’s eyes lit up.

Liu Yueer nodded, wondering why her mother-in-law wasn’t worried but seemed happy.

A perverse old widow, could she really hope the Gu Family would have no descendants?

"Do you know where the castration master is?" Tong Huaqiong asked with burning eyes.

Great!

She had been thinking of castrating the family pig while feeding it with Man Er today. She originally planned to ask the village head if there was anyone who castrated pigs and had casually mentioned this while making mung bean paste just now.

The eldest daughter-in-law, Chen Sufen, said she’d never heard of castrating pigs and doubted they’d find someone willing to do it.

Liu Yueer’s news was exactly what she needed.

Castrating a human and castrating a pig shouldn’t be much different, right?

If those castration techniques work on people, they should work on the Gu Family’s pigs too.

Tong Huaqiong decided to invite the castration master to castrate the pig someday.

"It was Matchmaker Wang who said it, I’m not sure."

Liu Yueer cursed Tong Huaqiong to death in her heart. She always felt she cooperated well with her mother-in-law in this family.

Since she married in, she and her mother-in-law were quite compatible, lounging and slacking together, gossiping about families here and there, even bullying Chen Sufen together. Now her mother-in-law had changed her ways and just left her behind.

Such a cruel widow, kicking a past ally to the curb.

Now she was just waiting for the second house to have no descendants, huh?

"Mom, did you hear what Yueer said, that Housekeeper He wants Yaozu to become a eunuch."

In recent days, every piece of news was more explosive than the last, leaving Gu Dashu mentally fried.

He almost wanted to just close his eyes for good!

Yet his mom acted as if it were nothing and was still asking where the castration master was?

Is she considering a fake marriage with the castration master to save Yaozu?

"If the Gu Family can’t protect Yaozu’s lineage, I’ll have no face before the ancestors." Gu Dashu looked heartbroken.

"You never had any face to begin with." Tong Huaqiong said, "Don’t think you’re someone important, the Gu Family’s ancestors probably don’t want to see you anyway."

Tong Huaqiong scolded Gu Dashu, seeing Liu Yueer cry hopelessly, she spoke harshly: "Aren’t there still three days? Live people don’t get stifled by urine, pull yourself together and go get some silver. Get as much as you can."

"If Yaozu really gets castrated, blame yourselves as parents, not me as the grandmother."

Noticing Liu Yueer holding the red dates sent by Sister Liu, Tong Huaqiong’s inner evil mother-in-law emerged, snatching the dates and returning to the stove.

Great, red dates!

Tomorrow she’ll have Chen Sufen wash, cut, and make date paste.

She can make fragrant date cake.

In her previous life, there was a date cake shop near her school, always with a long line, a must-visit place for anyone in Beijing.

She ate there for four years in undergraduate and two years in graduate school, and whenever she went home during holidays wanting some, she’d recreate it from memory, creating a recipe exactly like the shop’s.

When school resumed, she’d give her roommates her cake to try, and they couldn’t tell if it was from the shop or made by her.

In the kitchen, Chen Sufen and Gu Taohua were busy.

One stood by the stove, the other fed the firewood, both getting enchanted by the aroma of mung bean paste, not hearing the commotion at the door.

Man Er sat beside Gu Taohua, watching the fire, as the pampered little aunt didn’t really know how to control it. If the pot of mung bean paste got scorched, grandma would scold someone, so she taught her aunt how to control the fire.

Tong Huaqiong washed her hands, pinched some of the cooled mung bean paste nearby.

The mung bean paste was finely and fragrantly cooked, but Tong Huaqiong was not entirely satisfied. If only there were butter or odorless lard, it would taste even better.

But in this era, there was no butter, so she’d have to hurry the castration master to geld the household pig.

Even if Tong Huaqiong wasn’t entirely satisfied with the mung bean paste’s taste, it was still more fragrant than the green bean cakes at town shops.

"Mom, the mung bean paste cooked according to your instructions is so fragrant, the green bean cakes will be even more aromatic once made." Chen Sufen said, sifting the mung bean paste meticulously, filled with admiration.

"It’ll definitely taste better than the ones in town shops." Gu Taohua’s mouth was watering.

"When it’s done, you each can have a piece to try." Tong Huaqiong said in a delighted mood. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Big sister-in-law works the hardest, I’ll eat half, and give the other half to her." Gu Taohua jokingly said to Chen Sufen.

Chen Sufen’s hands trembled slightly, her little sister-in-law finally seemed human, showing concern for her as the big sister-in-law.

Chen Sufen was more motivated than ever.

Tong Huaqiong took the sieved mung bean paste from Chen Sufen to the side board, ready to start making mung bean cakes.

Contrasting the lament in Gu Dashu and Liu Yueer’s room, the whole kitchen was bustling with activity.