The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 244: Not Bound to Ancestors

"Dashi, you heartless person. I, your mother, have tirelessly guided you lot of bad bamboo on the right path, selling snacks, buying land, raising pigs, mixing pesticides. Not a single thing wasn’t accomplished by my own hands, none were due to ancestral blessings."

Tong Huaqiong refused to acknowledge herself as part of the Gu Family, refusing to admit any connection between her and the Gu Family’s ancestors.

"With one sentence, you dismiss all of my achievements, and instead attribute the credit to ancestors who had nothing to do with it."

"And your father, does your father deserve it? Even when he was alive, he never gave me a good life; after he died, I managed on my own to live well. He’s already buried, yet you want me to give half the credit to him? How shameless you are! If you’re so fond of your ancestors and father, why don’t you just go and join them?"

"I’ve worked my fingers to the bone, earning this reputation, and before I could enjoy it, you want me to give away the credit. Now you want me to hand it over to your dead father and ancestors, next time you’ll want me to give it to you. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to."

Tong Huaqiong berated Gu Dashi fiercely.

Gu Dashi felt like crying from Tong Huaqiong’s scolding. He hadn’t expected that mentioning ancestors and his father would make his mother so angry and aggrieved.

The final remark from Tong Huaqiong, "Letting me give the credit to you," broke Gu Dashi’s defenses.

For someone devoted to filial piety, such an accusation was too severe and hurtful.

With all the sincerity in the world, he never even entertained such thoughts.

Gu Dashi quickly defended himself: "Mother, you misunderstood me. I thought your recognition by the government was such a joyous occasion, no one in our Gu Family for generations has received such praise from the authorities, so I thought it would make ancestors and father happy... My thinking was wrong, our living matters shouldn’t please deceased ancestors and father... No, both ancestors and father are dead, they can’t be happy. Even if ancestors and father stood before me, if they dared to claim your credit, I would fight them to the utmost."

Gu Dashi, feeling more wronged, was on the verge of tears.

"Mother, you misunderstood me, I don’t have any intentions of taking your credit. The reason our family has a good life now is all because of you. The reason I am on the right path is because of you. How dare I take your credit? I don’t dare now, and I will never dare in the future."

"Mother, it’s my fault; it’s me who upset you."

Gu Dashi suddenly understood why Tong Huaqiong was so angrily reactive.

His mother hadn’t relied on men for a good life when his father was alive, nor did she rely on her son to improve life after his father died. It was her who dragged their few useless bad bamboo forward with relentless effort. Now that life is better, as her son, instead of acknowledging her hardships, he mentions ancestors and father, which would anger anyone.

Gu Dashi felt shameful for being unfilial.

Thinking this, Gu Dashi wanted to slap his own face.

Tong Huaqiong snorted coldly from her nose.

"It was meant to be a joyous occasion, and yet with talks of ancestors and your father, where does that leave the living? From now on, any credit earned by anyone in our family is their credit, stop attributing every achievement to the deceased," Tong Huaqiong said.

Of course, she knew Gu Dashi wasn’t trying to steal her credit or had any intentions of giving her credit to ancestors.

It’s because of his filial piety, not anything else.

If Tong Huaqiong hadn’t responded, Gu Dashi would always put credit on ancestors and Old Gu.

Being merely filial is not enough; she had to teach Gu Dashi comprehensively that everything in the Gu Family now was brought by her, Tong Huaqiong.

Not by any Gu Family ancestors, certainly not by their deceased father.

She was unwilling to be bound to the deceased members of the Gu Family.

"You’re right, Mother. The recognition by the government isn’t due to ancestors, isn’t thanks to men, and certainly isn’t because of your son; Mother, you achieved it on your own."

"Not only does Mother not need to thank the ancestors, nor do we. We should be grateful to Mother; she’s the one who brought us a good life, who has earned the recognition that shields us. Second Brother, it’s only fair that you got scolded by Mother. You’re benefiting from her achievements yet claiming it’s thanks to the protection of ancestors and father, and that’s so unfair to Mother — why didn’t they protect you when life was tough?"

As Tong Huaqiong’s ardent supporter, Gu Taohua believed whatever her mother supported was correct, and whatever her mother opposed was wrong.

Needless to say, the official recognition of Tong Huaqiong from the government inspired Gu Taohua greatly.

It turns out that a rural woman through her own wisdom can also receive government recognition.

This was something Gu Taohua never imagined.

You could say it strongly challenged her beliefs.

Remembering when her father passed away, Gu Taohua felt like the sky was falling; how would life be without a father, what if they were bullied?

Now she found that all her worries hadn’t come to pass, and instead, under her mother’s leadership, the Gu Family not only saw better days but also received recognition from the government.

Once the plaque is displayed, how many people would envy and admire? Whoever wants to bully the Gu Family like Xu Yong and Xu Zaohua would need to take a good look at the plaque on the door in Qinghe Bay.

Stung by Gu Taohua’s words, Gu Dashi felt even more guilty and stammered to Tong Huaqiong, "From now on, I must be more filial to you and follow you in bringing even better days to our family."

Gu Dahuan simply stated, "In our hearts, Mother truly surpasses all ancestors."

Tong Huaqiong twitched at the mouth; her stepson’s obedience towards her was a tad over the top.

Liu Yueer saw her husband being scolded by her mother-in-law and felt uneasy, fearing she might lose the favor she had gained, leading to consequences for the second household.

Gu Dashi had eventually caught the attention of her mother-in-law, and a medical shop in Pingchuan County was about to be entrusted to him. He could not afford to upset his mother-in-law and spoil everything.

Thus she said to Tong Huaqiong, "Dashi said the wrong thing and deserved the scolding. Mother, I assure you, you’re the only one I’m devoted to; in my heart, what do the Gu ancestors matter? You’ve always known, even when father was alive, I showed more devotion to you than him."

Liu Yueer wished she could hold her mother-in-law’s hand and reminisce about the good times they shared.

Jingzhe spoke from the side, "Mother, I’ll earn a noble title for you in the future."

Tong Huaqiong didn’t oppose these words and instead smiled and accepted them.

As the mother, wasn’t it expected for her son to earn a noble title for her?

Even if she herself managed to obtain recognition, it didn’t prevent her from accepting her son’s filial devotion.

Tong Huaqiong replied to Jingzhe, "Alright then, I’ll wait for my son to earn me a noble title."

Jingzhe laughed with excitement!

His mother was willing to accept his promise of earning a noble title, showing that in his mother’s heart, he was different from the rest of the Gu Family. His mother was willing to bind deeply with him, providing him with motivation.

Seeing Tong Huaqiong accept Jingzhe’s promise of a noble title, others positively expressed their intentions.

Gu Dahuan said, "I will help Mother take good care of our land and keep the granaries full."

Gu Dashi said, "I shall expand and strengthen our medicine shop."

Gu Taohua said, "I’ll follow Mother’s lead, and one day I’ll earn government recognition myself."

Even Yaozu and Man Er positively chimed in.

Yaozu said, "I don’t want to study; I want to be a general when I grow up, to protect Grandmother."

Man Er said, "I want to learn to read; I want to be a boss in the future."

"When I grow up... When I grow up, I’ll be as filial to my adoptive grandmother as I am to my birth grandmother."

Liu Yanhong, seeing everyone expressing themselves to Tong Huaqiong positively, related to the situation, as it often happened in scenarios where his grandmother discussed how he would be filial when grown.

So he couldn’t help but join in.

Everyone: "..."

Tong Huaqiong contemplated, wondering why a County Magistrate’s son was getting involved.

Everyone engaged in the warmth of the moment, and night soon fell.

Before bed, Tong Huaqiong suddenly recalled something, stopping Gu Dahuan for a word.