Chapter 154 - 146: Can’t Understand Human Language?

Chapter 154: Chapter 146: Can’t Understand Human Language?

Ordinarily, when borrowing rice, people asked for it by the peck—one or two at most. But Old Mrs. Bai figured that since they’d bought a whole cartload of rice today, they must have at least five or six large sacks. She held up one finger. "One sack. We’ll just borrow one sack."

Bai Zhi almost burst out laughing. ’Borrow a whole sack of rice? She has some nerve. Her skin just gets thicker and thicker.’

Zhao Lan couldn’t hold back her anger and exploded. "A sack of rice? How dare you say that? We don’t have any. Go on, leave."

Liu grew agitated. "What do you mean you don’t have any? We heard all about it! Bai Zhi bought a whole cartload of rice from town today, so how could you not have any?"

Zhao Lan’s expression darkened. "I said we don’t have any. Don’t you understand?" She knew the people of the Bai Family all too well. Give them an inch, and they’d take a mile. If she lent them a peck today, they would be back to borrow two tomorrow, and the day after that, they would undoubtedly be asking for a whole sack.

They were experts at pushing their luck. In the past, she had always given in, not wanting to provoke them for fear they would treat Zhi’er even more poorly when she wasn’t around.

But in the end, her forbearance hadn’t bought her peace. It had only emboldened them. And so, she would not give in any longer.

Old Mrs. Bai flew into a rage, pointing a finger right at Zhao Lan’s nose. "What did you say? You have none? You heartless bitch! I raised the two of you for ten years—ten whole years! And now I come asking to borrow a little rice, and you tell me you have none?"

Zhao Lan turned, her icy gaze landing on Old Mrs. Bai’s face. It felt like a knife, scraping away at the old woman’s cheek. ’I’d really like to see just how thick that skin of hers is.’

"You raised us? Did my daughter and I ever eat a single free meal from the Bai Family? Sanzhu’s mourning period wasn’t even over before I was forced back into the fields. Zhi’er was only three years old when you started ordering her to do chores around the house! What exactly did you raise us with? Did you ever let us eat our fill for even one day? Did you ever let us have a warm winter?"

No matter the season, in the dilapidated shack she and Zhi’er shared, there was only ever a single thin quilt. In the winter, they spent nearly every night shivering from the cold.

Old Mrs. Bai was left speechless. Clearly, the things she had always taken for granted were not viewed the same way by Zhao Lan.

"But no matter what, she is still your mother-in-law. You can’t be so heartless," Liu chimed in.

"Mother-in-law?" Zhao Lan sneered, her eyes instantly reddening. "Go on, ask her! Did she ever treat me like a daughter-in-law, or like the Bai Family’s beast of burden?"

"If she were really my mother-in-law, would she have beaten my daughter to death while I wasn’t home? If she were really my mother-in-law, would she have secretly tried to sell her?"

She never wanted to speak of these things again, never wanted to bring them up. But they kept appearing before her, time and again, forcing her to relive these painful memories, constantly rubbing salt in her wounds.

Old Mrs. Bai scowled. "What’s the point of dredging up the past? Aren’t the two of you perfectly fine now? If I hadn’t agreed to let you and Bai Zhi stay, would you have what you have today? Don’t forget who dug the well you drink from! If it weren’t for that single moment of compassion I showed, who knows what would’ve become of you."

Mentioning the past was one thing, but this was too much. The more the old woman spoke, the angrier Zhao Lan became. She pointed toward the main gate. "Get out. I don’t want to see either of you ever again."

Old Mrs. Bai opened her mouth to argue, but Bai Zhi stepped in front of her mother. With her chin tilted up and her arms crossed over her chest, her posture was surprisingly similar to Hu Feng’s.

"Did you not hear what my mother said? Or are you just incapable of understanding plain language?"