What is this? She had no way to refute. After all, Miao Cui Lan was a special case, her surname was Miao, but she was disowned by the Miao Family. However, she had money and she had always helped the Miao Family clan whenever needed. She even sponsored Miao Chu He’s studies. Those old crackheads from the Miao Family might look very fair and just with their strict expressions, but those were all a facade! They were all secretly on Miao Cui Lan’s side. Especially now that the b*stard, Miao Chu He, was deemed a prodigy, the elders got so happy with him as if he could just come out as the first place in his exams right away! Tsk, screw him too! Let them see how they would fare against fate!
“It’s all your fault!” Miao Tian Bao heaved, “I heard that back then, you urged Father to break ties with her and chase her out of the house! You still have the nerves to say?”
Madame Xia was rendered speechless, and she stammered, “How would I know that she would turn out like this?” She thought that back then, she would be hurt so deeply that she would not be able to live on. Who knew that vixen was firm and every day became a better day! To be honest, she had already regretted her decision long ago, and regretted doing something so stupid.
If things were different, come to think about it, I would’ve become her legitimate mother now! She wouldn’t be able to do whatever she wishes just like that!
“I don’t care! I don’t know what wicked deed you did!” Miao Tian Bao spatted, “I want to get married. Go and arrange a marriage for me!”
“Alright, alright! Mother has been thinking about this too! You’re not young anymore and it’s time to start a family. I’m waiting for my grandchildren too!” Madame Xia’s sour mood was replaced with a cheerful grin when her son mentioned that.
However, her smile faltered a second later.
It was because Miao Tian Bao emphasized, “I want a girl who has the looks of my sister-in-law. Go and ask around for me.”
Madame Xia’s smile quivered as if a bucket of ice was dumped onto her. She scoffed, “That wrench? Why would you want someone like her? She’s obviously a ****, you won’t have a peaceful day at home if you marry someone like that! That small and delicate body probably could never carry a baby!”
“I want someone like that! I like that kind of girl!” Miao Tian Bao demanded, “What baby? I don’t care!” At the thought of kissing and holding that delicate and fair beauty, Tong Yu Er, in his arms, Miao Tian Bao subconsciously grew lustful. He thought to himself: How did that Miao Chu He get so lucky to meet such a beautiful girl? None of the girls I’ve seen could compare to her. What a pity, it would’ve been great if I could bring her home today!
The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he grew.
“This matter isn’t as simple as you think.” Even if Madame Xia loved her son, but marriage was a huge matter. How could she simply let him mess around? She felt disgusted to think of having a wrench like that girl as a proper daughter-in-law.
At her son’s dismay, she hastily added, “How about this? You marry a good wife first and we can find a girl like that later on.”
Miao Tian Bao gave it a thought: This way I would have two women. I’m not suffering any losses and it would be to my advantage anyway! His frustration was replaced with joy as he nodded in agreement. It was just that when he remembered Tong Yu Er’s beautiful face and what happened at the Lu Family’s earlier today, he got annoyed again as he thought to himself: Just wait and see!
However, after he learned his lesson and not to mention Miao Cui Lan’s irrefutable words, Miao Tian Bao did not dare to create trouble at the Lu Family’s house anymore. However, as the New Year’s gradually approached, his opportunity finally arrived.
Would Miao Chu He and Tong Yu Er dare to not come home during New Year’s? Even if they did not want to, they had to come home. Miao Tian Bao could imagine watching that beauty as much as he wanted. He could even look for chances to take advantage of her, and that made him giddy and hopeful.
As for Miao Chu He, so what if he is a prodigy? He’s just an arrogant prick that bullies others just because he could memorize things easily. Even if I laid a finger on his wife, would he dare to spread the news? After all, that’ll only make others look down on him if he dares.
Here at the Lu Family’s, Miao Chu He and Tong Yu Er were in a dilemma. It was New Year’s Eve and they should at least go home for tonight.
To be honest, Miao Chu He had already gotten used to that place. It was normal for him to ignore his stepmother and stepbrother. He couldn’t care less about their taunts and jeers anyway. Whatever they could do to him or dare to do to him were not many.
On the other hand, it was different for Tong Yu Er. As soon as they mentioned going back there, her face fell and was replaced with fear. Her eyebrows would be knitted together and Miao Chu He felt distressed because of that, but there was nothing that he could do.
“It’s just two or three days, you’ll be back on the second day of New Year. Even if you go back, you won’t be home all the time. You’d be visiting the elders to greet them and give your well wishes! It will be over very soon!” Miao Cui Lan held Tong Yu Er’s hands gently as she said, “Go on, you have to go home no matter what! Otherwise, Madame Xia would use this as an excuse to create trouble. Even if our third great uncle is caring, he might not be able to protect you this time!”
“I, I understand…” Tong Yu Er forced a smile on her pale face.
“Mother, Mother, how about I follow Uncle and Auntie back?” Lu Xiao Shu suddenly blinked innocently as she suggested.
Tong Yu Er momentarily lit up in joy, but her smile faltered. The New Year festivities were supposed to be spent with families together, how could they take Xiao Shu with them?
“Mother, please let me go with them! I’ll protect Auntie. I’ll teach a lesson to whoever dares to bully Auntie!” Lu Xiao Shu said confidently. She was excited at the thought of having to teach that creep a lesson.
Miao Cui Lan felt bad to refuse when Miao Chu He and his wife were eager to go with the plan as well. The little girl was very enthusiastic about it, so she could not help but to chuckle and nodded, “Alright! With you around, if things don’t go right, you’ll be there to make the most out of it. Go on and accompany your uncle and auntie, but don’t you dare to cause them trouble. If anything goes wrong, don’t come crying for me!”
Miao Chu He and Tong Yu Er were ecstatic as they thanked their sister. Miao Chu He laughed, “Don’t you worry, Xiao Shu is still a kid, she’s still very young. Even if she’s naughty, no one will take her seriously.” It would be embarrassing to make a fuss over a naughty kid.
“You’re right, I feel a lot better with Xiao Shu around,” Tong Yu Er smiled shyly. It was a weird feeling that she could not understand, but she felt that Lu Xiao Shu would be able to help her out ever since that day when Miao Tian Bao came looking for her. The little girl calmly told her to lock the door and to hide before playing pranks on Miao Tian Bao. She unconsciously began to develop an unexplainable dependency on this little girl.
Once their problem was solved, Miao Chu He and his wife brought Lu Xiao Shu back to the Miao Family’s house after lunch. Lu Xiao Shu’s legs were short and she could not keep up with them, so Miao Chu He carried her on his back while Tong Yu Er carried two bags filled with two sets of clothes and some daily essentials. From afar, they looked like a family of three.
Once they arrived at the Miao Family’s, Madame Xia and Miao Tian Bao were there. If it was just another day, Miao Tian Bao would have gone out to keep himself entertained early in the day, but he knew that Tong Yu Er would be coming back today so he purposely waited for them at home.
From far, Miao Tian Bao could see Lu Xiao Shu riding Miao Tian Bao’s back with just a glance, he got so angry that he pointed a finger at her and spat, “What are you doing? Why did you bring this brat with you?”
Lu Xiao Shu struggled to climb down from Miao Chu He’s back, then she took Tong Yu Er’s hand as she stuck her tongue out at Miao Tian Bao. Before he could curse at her, she said with a straight face, “Mister, you shouldn’t be saying words that could bring bad luck on New Year, or else you would have bad luck for the rest of the year! Oh, you said that word just now, you should quickly chant ‘amituofo’ a few times before bad luck really follows you! Don’t you agree with that, Madame?”
“You!” Miao Tian Bao was so mad that he could not form a sentence, even Madame Xia held him back from retorting. Madame Xia forced a crooked smile as she glared at her son, thinking: She’s just a little girl and you’re a grown-up, why should you get angry over a little girl? What she did not know was how difficult Lu Xiao Shu could be, that girl was more difficult to deal with compared to dealing with ten girls of her age.
Madame Xia felt uncomfortable at Lu Xiao Shu greeting her son as “mister” and her as “madame”, but what could she do when the girl’s mother was not her “daughter”. It was not wrong to greet them with that.
“Isn’t this Miao Cui Lan’s girl? Why did you bring her along for the New Year?” Madame Xia’s gaze was fixed on Miao Chu He as she asked.
“That is,” Miao Chu He smiled, “Xiao Shu is very close with Yu Er, so she wanted to follow Yu Er back home for the holiday. I thought that since she’s merely a kid, she won’t be much of an addition so I brought her along.”
Madame Xia huffed, “Her parents allowed it?”
Lu Xiao Shu smiled sweetly and bobbed her head, “They allowed it. I love my auntie very much and my parents would promise me anything if I asked nicely! Madame, have you made anything delicious?
Madame Xia was startled, suddenly realizing that she had landed in a big mess.
She merely ignored Lu Xiao Shu as she frowned, “It’s good that you’re back. Hurry on and clean up the yard, make sure that the entire place is clean inside out, chop up some firewood, and don’t forget to prepare dinner tonight. Wake up earlier tomorrow morning, you’ll have to cook the meat and prepare the chicken to worship the gods! I’m very tired these few days, so I’ll be off to take a rest!”
As expected, Miao Chu He and Tong Yu Er obeyed without a question.
Miao Tian Bao glanced at the bags they were holding, demanding, “You came home without bringing anything?”
Miao Chu He smiled bleakly, “Of course, I’ve been studying at the academy, how would I have any money for gifts? Haven’t Yu Er already sent her salary back home every month?”
Miao Tian Bao huffed at his words without any retorts.
