Han Ruochen sighed. In fact, Tong Zhaodi had no idea that if not for the fact that she had hired her, the people from the Tong family would have already sold her away. It was all because of her that Tong Zhaodi was able to stay safe till now. If the Tong family were not eyeing the twenty yuan that Han Ruochen gave Tong Zhaodi every day, they would have sold her away long ago.

"Stop crying; I will not send you away." Who asked this woman to be her childhood friend? Even if she did not want to care about her, she had to take care of her.

"Really?" Han Ruochen’s words were nothing less than a fresh breeze after being stranded in the desert for too long. Tong Zhaodi looked at Han Ruochen with bright eyes that were shining under the moonlight. She looked at Han Ruochen as if she were her saviour, and it made Han Ruochen shiver uncomfortably.

She waved her hand and said, "Just get in and stop making trouble from now on. If your parents say something, try to fight back. I can help you once, but I cannot help you all the time." Han Ruochen was worried that Tong Zhaodi wouldn’t fight back when the time came. The woman was too naive and simple.

She believed that the people from the Tong family would not kill her, but Tong Zhaodi did not know that there was more than one way to kill a person. Only a fool like her would actually believe such a stupid thing.

Tong Zhaodi nodded with a look of embarrassment on her face. Han Ruochen was right. She could help her today, but she could not help her all the time. She had to come up with a way to deal with her family on her own, or else she would end up being sold like a pig at an auction!

At the same time, Aunt Tong returned home. When she pushed open the door, Tong Yan rushed forward and asked eagerly, "Mom, how is it? Did Ruochen agree?" Han Ruochen had won his heart from the second he saw her the last time. Ever since then, Tong Yan stopped visiting the widows of the village, as he wanted to marry Han Ruochen as his wife. If he wanted to bring such an excellent woman into his house, then he needed to make sure that he cut off the previous entanglements cleanly.

When Aunt Tong saw how excited her son looked, she suddenly felt jealous of Han Ruochen. Her son had never been this enthusiastic toward her either. To think that her lazy son would become so active when it came to Han Ruochen, how could she not feel upset? However, she still sucked in a breath and calmed down. Han Ruochen was a really good candidate; if she could make Han Ruochen her daughter-in-law, then it would not take long for her to hold her grandson in her arms.

What was more, Han Ruochen was a really good-looking woman; if she were to give birth to a grandson, then he would definitely be good-looking. As for her son being hoodwinked by that woman, humph, she would deal with Han Ruochen once she became her daughter-in-law. She would see how that woman would cause trouble then.

"How can that be done?" Aunt Tong was angry just thinking about how Han Ruochen refused her. "As soon as I brought up the matter, Han Ruochen refuted me on the spot. She said that you and she were not close with one another and that would harm her reputation; she refused to let you work for her, and even threatened me with Zhaodi’s job, saying that if I insist, then I can take Zhaodi away with me."

"How can that be done!?" The first one to make a fuss was the eldest sister-in-law. Feng He thought about the extra income of twenty yuan, and her heart started to thud wildly. "Mom, please tell me that you did not agree. Zhaodi’s income is a really good supplement to the income of our family. We can finally eat white rice and meat without any worry."

Feng He was worried that if the job were gone, then she would be forced to go back to the bitter days when she would have to eat coarse grains. After all, her father-in-law was not a skilled fisherman and even had his leg broken. As for her husband, he did not know how to catch fish and spent most of the day doing odd jobs; only Tong Zhaodi was the one who could earn a decent sum of money in this family.

She did not want to lose this supplementary income just because of her mother-in-law’s biased attitude.

"Of course I am not that stupid." Aunt Tong snorted as she sat down on the plush chair in the garden. She then said to her daughters-in-law, "I did not agree, but it’s such a shame that Ah Yan did not get the chance to work under Han Ruochen. If that woman had agreed, then I would have definitely fought for more salary for Ah Yan."

Aunt Tong was furious and disappointed. If she knew that this was going to happen, then she would have definitely stopped Tong Zhaodi from following Han Ruochen from the start. Maybe that way, she would have pushed Tong Yan to work under Han Ruochen. But now it was too late.

When Tong Yan heard that Han Ruochen had refused him, he was so disappointed that he could not help but wilt like a little flower. He said to his mother, "Mom, I really like Han Ruochen. If I don’t marry her, then I will never marry anyone in this life!" Tong Yan had used this tactic many times in his life and knew that if he threw a tantrum, then his mother would definitely listen to him.

Sure enough! As soon as he said those words, Aunt Tong turned pale. She said to her son, "How can you say such a thing? What is so good about that woman? Even if she is not willing to marry you, Mom can look for someone else. My son is so good, he will definitely get another woman to marry him."