Seeing her sister break down in tears, Lu Xiao Shu cooperated and forced some tears to wail too. It had been a while since she worked out, and all the running and avoiding countless attacks from Miao Tian Bao while protecting her sister made her feel so exhausted. Even though she was skilled in the martial arts she practised in her past life, her body was still too small and young, not providing her with the energy she needed. No amount of skills could make up for the lack of strength. She was just about to escape from the yard with her sister at any given opportunity, but coincidentally, her mother got home just in time.
“There, there. There’s no need to cry,” Miao Cui Lan was heartbroken as she patted her two precious daughters gently. She glowered at Miao Tian Bao and demanded, “What are you doing here?”
The glare full of rage and hostility made Miao Tian Bao feel that it was unfair and he grew angry as well: It was me who suffered! Just because these two brats shed some tears, it made them look as if they were the ones being bullied!
However, Miao Tian Bao had to put up with her judgments because he was too embarrassed to admit how the two girls had bullied him.
“Have you ever taught them any manners? These two little brats are rude and disrespectful, they don’t even know when to greet their uncle. I was just teaching them a lesson, it’s all their fault!” Miao Tian Bao pointed his finger at Lu Xiao Shu and Xiao Xue.
“Huh?” Miao Cui Lan scoffed, “What does how we teach our daughters have to do with you? Uncle? Ha! You must have come to the wrong house! What uncle? My daughters’ uncle is at the academy studying. When did they have another uncle?”
Miao Tian Bao was momentarily speechless.
It was true. Their father had chased her out and disowned her years ago. If she did not want to take him as her family, she was not in the wrong. While she still called Miao Chu He her brother, no one could call her out too. Whether or not she recognized anyone as her family was up to her to decide.
“Mother, this man is so violent, he was trying to hit us. He’s a bad guy!” Lu Xiao Shu pursed her lips in dismay.
“There, there, Xiao Shu, don’t be scared, my dear. Mother is here,” Miao Cui Lan stroked Lu Xiao Shu’s hair gently as she comforted her. That enraged Miao Tian Bao even more, and he thought to himself: This stupid brat, she must be born to be my mortal enemy!
Nevertheless, he could not claim to be their uncle anymore even if he was shaking from rage. Since their mother did not recognize him as her brother, then who was he to them?
“What did you come here for?” Miao Cui Lan coldly demanded again.
Miao Tian Bao held back his dissatisfaction and anger as he huffed, “My mother is sick and I’m here to fetch my sister-in-law back home to serve her! Where’s my sister-in-law? Where did she go?”
Miao Tian Bao was secretly thrilled when Miao Cui Lan’s face slightly fell. He silently thought to himself: My mother is that beauty’s legal mother-in-law. Now that Mother is sick, she, as a daughter-in-law, must serve and be good. Miao Cui Lan, let’s see if you dare to keep her from coming home with me!
Lu Xiao Shu’s heart dropped: Seems like this scoundrel really did come for nothing good. Heh! Luckily, I’m a smart little girl who has already gotten my auntie to hide.
At the same time, Miao Cui Lan’s heart dropped too: How shameless!
“Mother, I thought that auntie had already gone out for errands. Who knows when she’ll be back?” Lu Xiao Shu pulled on Miao Cui Lan’s sleeves while blinking her eyes innocently.
Just like that, Miao Cui Lan understood what she meant: This little girl really is sly!
“That’s right,” Miao Cui Lan replied, “We had her gone out to collect payments. I’m afraid she won’t be back for several days. You should go home!”
“Such a coincidence,” Miao Tian Bao sarcastically smirked, “She went out just as I arrived?”
Miao Cui Lan glanced at him, “She left early this morning. You came at the wrong timing and that is your own fault!”
Miao Tian Bao was speechless.
Miao Cui Lan laughed coldly, “Even if she were home, I wouldn’t have let her leave anyway!”
“How dare you!” Miao Tian Bao immediately retaliated, “It’s only right if the daughter-in-law serves their mother-in-law when she’s sick. How dare you stop me? Who are you to say that?”
“Who am I?” Miao Cui Lan smirked, “I am her creditor! Their wedding, banquet, and shopping are all paid using my own money! Her monthly pay now is merely two silvers, yet they’ll be taken by your mother every month. What about her food and lodging? I have her taking note of them! All this debt hasn’t been cleared yet, do you think I could just let her leave like this?
“You, you…” Miao Tian Bao was stunned. He would not have dreamt of Miao Cui Lan saying anything like this.
He huffed, “Isn’t Miao Chu He your brother? You’ve been paying for his studies, so how can you be so stingy over something so small? Heh! It seems like you’re not that nice to him!”
Miao Cui Lan replied with honesty, “You don’t have to worry about this. I think you’ve forgotten that I’m one of the Lu Family’s, I don’t have any connections to the Miao Family! Me paying for Chu He’s studies is my choice, and I do so willingly for him. Even if I throw pennies into the river for fun, it’s none of your business. However, now that I’m not happy, I want that debt to be cleared and his wife will work for me to repay that. What? Is that not allowed?”
Miao Tian Bao glared at her, his face turned red obviously from anger. However, he could not deny the truth in Miao Cui Lan’s words even if he was very frustrated. The money was hers and if she was kind enough to help Miao Chu He pay for his studies, as long as he accepted it, who could oppose her decision? If she wanted them to pay her back, again, who could butt in and say no? Moreover, what made him even more frustrated was that he knew that she was obviously using that as an excuse to protect them from him, yet he could not do anything about it!
Lu Xiao Shu looked up at her mother who was like a soldier in a cold warzone, she admired her mother and praised, “Mother, you’re so amazing! They said to die from anger, this must be it! Mother, I admire you!
Miao Cui Lan smirked again, “It’s getting dark soon, please leave and go home! Your mother is sick and yet you, as her son, aren’t by her bedside serving and taking care of her. Tsk, look at you brothers, Chu He and his wife are paying for her expenses, so you should also do your part to be there for her. That would be a matter of course, right? Why are you not leaving yet? We don’t welcome you here!”
Miao Tian Bao was just about to say that Miao Chu He did not pay for anything, but he remembered that Madame Xia would come collecting his wife’s pay every month, so he kept his mouth shut. He scoffed and glared at Miao Cui Lan scornfully. Meanwhile, Lu Xiao Shu bared her teeth at him fearlessly.
As soon as Miao Tian Bao left, Miao Cui Lan obnoxiously shut the gates, leaving Miao Tian Bao stomping his feet in annoyance.
“Mother, you’re so cool! You got rid of that bad guy!” Lu Xiao Shu cheered and grinned at her.
“Little girl, you came up with those naughty ideas, didn’t you?” Miao Cui Lan wanted to chastise Lu Xiao Shu but found it amusing. Speaking of which, Miao Tian Bao would not have chased and hit them without a reason, it must have been this girl’s being naughty again.
“Absolutely not! It was he who started it! Lu Xiao Shu quickly explained.
Xiao Xue nodded in agreement, “Yes, she’s right! It was him!”
“Alright! Oh, you both, you’re so brave! Promise me that you won’t do it again anymore. You’re still so little, you’d get hurt!” Miao Cui Lan laughed as she led them to wash their hands and face.
“When I grow older and become as big as you, I won’t be scared of him anymore!” Lu Xiao Shu immediately heeded her mother’s words.
“Oh, my dear!” Miao Cui Lan chuckled, shaking her head at her daughter.
“Sister,” Tong Yu Er emerged from the backyard, and she gently smiled, “Sister, you should take some rest, I’ll do it. I’ll be done in a moment to prepare the meals.” Then, she took the towel from Miao Cui Lan and wiped the two girls’ faces.
“It’s alright, you can accompany them to play and have a break before we prepare the meals together. You must have been frightened just now,” Miao Cui Lan smiled at her.
Tong Yu Er shook her head and grinned, “Xiao Xue and Xiao Shu made me hide, so he didn’t see me and I’m fine. Luckily, Xiao Xue and Xiao Shu are alright too.”
“That’s the way!” Miao Cui Lan laughed, “You should be smarter next time. If he dares to come again, you should just hide. Talking to someone like him would only tarnish you! Meanwhile, these two little ones are naughty so they won’t get into too much trouble with him!”
Tong Yu Er nodded, “Fortunately, you got back on time, or else I wouldn’t have known what to do!”
Miao Cui Lan took a glance at her delicate and weak body. She gave off such a gentle temperament, Miao Cui Lan could not help but sigh, You’re a lady who came from a well-off family, of course, you wouldn’t have any experience with a bully like him. No wonder you’d be afraid of him. There isn’t anything we could do about that anyway.
“To be honest, you’ll get used to it after some time. We’ll have to be aggressive when dealing with people like him, but we’ll have to be reasonable too. That way, we’ll have nothing to be afraid of.”
“You’re right. I’ll learn to do it in the future.” Tong Yu Er nodded.
Miao Cui Lan’s eyes crinkled as she nodded, “Take things slowly, there’s no need to rush. Whatever happened today shouldn’t be dwelled on. Alright, I’ll be in the house resting. Check if the girls got hurt anywhere.”
Tong Yu Er agreed cheerfully.
When Miao Tian Bao returned home in a rage, he kicked the gates open and gave Madame Xia a fright. She thought that there was a thief and she rushed out of the house. As soon as she saw her son, her expression was replaced by a smile. However, when she noticed her son’s angry face, she got worried and asked, “Ah Bao, what’s wrong?”
Miao Tian Bao scoffed and glared at her, “You dare to ask? It’s all your bad idea!”
“I…” Madame Xia was confused. Only then, she realized that her son came home alone, and her face grew dark as she demanded, “Where’s that wench? She dares to not come home even when her mother-in-law is sick?”
“She’s not home!” Miao Tian Bao stated indignantly, “Miao Cui Lan said that even if she were home, they wouldn’t let her come anyway.” Speaking of Miao Cui Lan, he repeated everything she said.
Madame Xia was so worked up that her eyes were blazing with rage, “How dare she!”
