“Xu Qingsong, even if you died, my grandma wouldn’t be affected,” Gu Zhou said coldly.
If Xu Qingsong hadn’t pushed him, how could he have ended up marrying a foolish wife?
Strangely enough, though, he didn’t seem to hate him that much.
“Keep pretending to be tough. That old woman treats you like the apple of her eye. Now that she knows you brought a fool home, she’ll probably be furious.”
“Get lost!”
“Just wait. You’ll have your turn to cry.”
The buck-toothed man spat toward Gu Zhou’s back.
The woman with the red birthmark put on an ingratiating smile.
“Husband, let’s go. We need to hurry and gather some wild vegetables.”
“You’re still the best. Even though you have a birthmark on your face, it doesn’t stop you from working. You’re much better than that fool.”
Whenever he smiled, his prominent buck teeth stood out even more, almost like a rabbit’s.
But the woman didn’t dare show the slightest hint of disgust.
“From now on, I’ll take you into the forest every day.”
Even if they didn’t find anything, being able to anger Gu Zhou made all his effort worthwhile.
Inside the little wooden house.
Grandma Gu boiled a large pot of hot water and scooped it into a wooden bucket.
“Go wash yourself. Looking like this, you’ll embarrass the Gu family if you go outside.”
Ji Yun…
She didn’t want to look this filthy either.
It was all because she had been struck by lightning, and the original owner’s clothes had been poor quality to begin with. That was why they had ended up torn and ragged.
The old woman looked at her tattered clothes, then went back to her own room and brought out a set of clothes.
“Wear mine for now. We’ll see how you behave in the future. If you perform well, we won’t mistreat you.”
Ji Yun closed the door and comfortably took a bath in the kitchen.
There weren’t many toiletries in the house, so Ji Yun grabbed a handful of coarse salt from a jar and rubbed it over her body.
The rough grains rubbed against her skin, making her sigh in comfort.
After scrubbing herself clean, she scooped up the hot water and rinsed away the dirt.
Fortunately, her body was thin and slender, so she could still fit into the old woman’s clothes.
The colors were a little old-fashioned, but at least they were clean.
Looking at the dirty clothes on the floor, Ji Yun frowned.
They were so badly torn that they could hardly even be mended.
Just how poor had the original owner’s family been?
Wearing Grandma Gu’s clothes, Ji Yun let her long hair fall down her back.
It was fluffy and dry, and even after getting wet, it refused to straighten.
Finding it irritating, Ji Yun simply cut off part of it.
It looked much neater afterward.
Grandma Gu looked at her after she had washed and secretly nodded.
She could bathe herself and even wash herself thoroughly.
She wasn’t completely useless after all.
Without realizing it, Grandma Gu’s standards had already dropped.
“Do you know how to wash clothes?”
Ji Yun nodded.
“All right, come with me. I’ll take you to the place where we wash clothes.”
Grandma Gu sighed heavily.
She had thought that once her grandson got married, he would finally be able to live a better life.
Who could have known…
Sigh.
Her grandson’s life was truly miserable!
Ji Yun carried a wooden basin and followed Grandma Gu.
The old woman walked very slowly because of her bound feet.
After walking for about half an hour, they arrived beside a small pool of water.
“Wash them here.”
Ji Yun chose a shady spot beneath a tree and squatted down.
She first soaked the clothes, then began rubbing them clean.
Grandma Gu watched her the entire time.
Seeing that Ji Yun knew what she was doing, the resentment in her heart eased somewhat.
She could work, so she wasn’t completely foolish.
While they were washing, another woman arrived at the water carrying a basin.
“Mother, is this Gu Zhou’s foolish wife?”
The woman stared directly at Ji Yun.
Grandma Gu’s expression immediately turned cold.
“Who are you calling ‘Mother’?”
“I’m Gu Zhou’s biological mother. There’s nothing wrong with calling you Mother. Why are you so angry?”
“Gu Zhou doesn’t have a shameless mother like you.”
The old woman spoke impatiently.
Ji Yun was secretly surprised.
She had thought Gu Zhou only had his grandmother.
She hadn’t expected his mother to still be alive.
“Does she even know how to wash clothes?”
The woman picked up Ji Yun’s clothes and examined them carefully.
“Don’t let her fall into the river before she even manages to wash anything.”
Ji Yun immediately snatched her clothes back, too lazy to bother with her.
“Not much of a person, but quite a temper.”
The woman snorted.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and wash them. Don’t tell me I have to do such a little task for you, old woman.”
“Mother, she’s just a fool. Why are you shouting at her? What if you scare her even more? Wouldn’t that make things worse for Gu Zhou?”
“They say even a tiger won’t eat its own cub. Gu Zhou came from your womb. How can you bear to see him suffer?”
“Mother, listen to yourself. It’s not as though I was the one who matched him with a fool.”
“Get lost! Where did this dog come from, barking here?”
“Old woman, you’re being unreasonable. This river doesn’t belong to you. Why can’t I come here?”
The woman put her hands on her hips and retorted.
Ji Yun ignored their quarrel and continued washing her clothes.
The river water was clear, and small fish occasionally swam past.
Ji Yun became interested.
When she had time, she could come here and catch some fish.
The woman followed her gaze and laughed mockingly.
“Fool, those fish are too small. They’re nothing but bones. They don’t taste good.”
Ji Yun rolled her eyes at her.
Who are you calling a fool?
“You little brat! You learn all the bad habits and none of the good ones. Who are you rolling your eyes at?”
The woman raised her hand and was about to slap her.
Ji Yun activated the supernatural ability inside her body and secretly gathered lightning at her fingertips.
If the woman dared touch her, she could definitely electrocute her and send her stumbling.
This was something she had learned from her earlier attempt to communicate with the spider.
It had yielded a small result.
“Try touching her with even one finger.”
Grandma Gu shouted angrily.
“I’m disciplining my own daughter-in-law. What’s wrong with that?”
“You’ve already remarried. You have nothing to do with the Gu family anymore. What right do you have to call yourself her mother-in-law?”
“Hmph. Say whatever you want. Gu Zhou is still my son. No one can change that.”
The woman picked up her basin and left.
Old hag, just wait until the day you die. Once you’re gone, controlling Gu Zhou will be easy.
“Hurry up and wash. What are you staring at?”
Ji Yun…
So she had suffered another completely undeserved misfortune.
She silently squatted back down.
Suddenly, a black fish between the cracks of the rocks caught her attention.
It was an electric eel, if she wasn’t mistaken.
“What are you still standing there for? Let’s go home.”
Seeing Ji Yun staring motionlessly into the water, Grandma Gu simply reached out and pulled her along.
Ji Yun instinctively gathered lightning at her fingertips.
After thinking about it, she concealed it again.
Although the old woman had a somewhat stern expression, she wasn’t a bad person.
Besides, Ji Yun really needed a place to stay right now.
It wouldn’t be wise to make an enemy of her.
“If you run into that woman again, don’t be polite with her. Understand?”
Ji Yun nodded.
When they returned, Gu Zhou had already come home.
He was carrying a rabbit in his hand, but it looked extremely thin and scrawny.
Grandma Gu frowned.
“Why is this rabbit so skinny?”
“The drought has dried up all the grass. There’s hardly anything to eat around the outskirts, so even the wild animals have become thin from hunger.”
“Sigh. That’s true. If this drought continues, something will happen sooner or later.”
“The animals have all fled deeper into the mountains. There are fewer and fewer animals around the outskirts…”
Gu Zhou also looked helpless.
“Keep the rabbit for now. Tomorrow, take it to the market and sell it for some rice and grain.”
Gu Zhou had been thinking the same thing.
Ji Yun busied herself hanging the freshly washed clothes on a bamboo pole.
Just as she finished, Grandma Gu’s voice rang out.
“Why are you standing around? Go cook!”
“Grandma, let me do it.”
Every grain of food in the household had been obtained with great difficulty. They couldn’t afford to waste any of it.
“Let her go. The Gu family doesn’t support idle people.”
Gu Zhou stopped in his tracks.
That was true.
He couldn’t stay home all the time.
If she could at least handle the household chores, that would be good. At the very least, Grandma wouldn’t go hungry.
Ji Yun silently went into the kitchen.
Grandma Gu was still worried, so she followed her.
Ji Yun first scooped a bowl of brown rice from the grain jar.
Brown rice, in this case, was simply rice that had only had its coarse outer husk removed.
Grandma Gu immediately cried out,
“Are you trying to kill me? You took out that much! If we eat all of that in one meal, what are we supposed to eat afterward?”
Ji Yun put half the rice back and looked at Grandma Gu.
Grandma Gu coldly said,
“Put some more back.”
In the end, only about one-quarter of the original amount remained.