Chapter 268 - 260: Forget What Favor? Betray What Loyalty?
Chapter 268: Chapter 260: Forget What Favor? Betray What Loyalty?
However, the wooden bucket was empty—not even a single bread crumb remained...
The other bucket was in the same state; not a single drop of congee was left...
There had been leftovers, but Zhao Lan had told Wu Jiang and Li Cheng to take it all home to their wives and children, so not a scrap remained.
Zhao Lan frowned at them. "What do you think you’re doing? Is this a robbery?"
Liu flew into a rage, viciously throwing the cotton quilt in her hands to the ground. "Rob you? Rob you of what? There isn’t a damn thing in this bucket! What is there to rob?"
Zhao Lan didn’t want to argue with her. It would be too embarrassing to make a scene and get red-faced in front of so many people.
She turned to A Wu. "A Wu, let’s go back. Just ignore them."
Old Mrs. Bai shot Liu a glare, angry with her for throwing a tantrum at such an inopportune moment. Didn’t she understand the situation? They were the ones asking Zhao Lan for a favor. Losing her temper before they even got the money—wasn’t that just shooting themselves in the foot?
Old Mrs. Bai put on a placating smile and said to Zhao Lan, "Zhao Lan, dear, don’t listen to your sister-in-law. She just has that awful temper. Why bother with her? Come here, I have something to tell you."
Old Mrs. Bai reached for Zhao Lan’s arm, intending to pull her aside to speak privately.
Zhao Lan recoiled, dodging her touch. "I have nothing to say to any of you," she said coldly.
Liu shrieked, "Zhao Lan, you can’t be so ungrateful! After all these years, if it weren’t for the Bai Family, would you be where you are today? Would your Zhi’er have grown up this big, safe and sound? Now Dazhu’s in trouble! You can’t just stand by and let him die!"
’Ungrateful?’
’What kindness is there to forget? What loyalty is there to betray?’
Zhao Lan wanted to laugh. It was pointless, them dredging up the same old arguments. She didn’t want to waste any more breath on them. She sighed and turned to A Wu. "I’m heading back first. Can you manage the cart on your own?"
A Wu quickly replied, "Yes, I can. You go on back. I’ll be fine by myself."
As Zhao Lan tried to leave, Old Mrs. Bai and Liu hurried to block her path. Old Mrs. Bai said, "You can’t go. Dazhu had a bad fall and is injured! He needs money to save his life, you can’t turn your back on him! Last time, when you broke your hand, didn’t I give you two taels of silver for your treatment? Oh, wait, no—it wasn’t two taels, it was four taels! A full four taels of silver! Don’t you dare tell me you’ve forgotten."
Zhao Lan stared coldly at Old Mrs. Bai. "Oh, I haven’t forgotten. I haven’t forgotten how my hand was broken, or how my daughter was nearly beaten to death by you two vicious hags. And you still have the nerve to come here and ask me for money? Do you really think I’m going to give you any?"
Old Mrs. Bai and Liu were both stunned. They had never seen Zhao Lan like this—so cold, even ruthless. The harsh expression on her face instantly extinguished most of their arrogant bluster.
Hearing this, A Wu, who was standing to the side, grew furious. ’Aunt Lan and Miss Bai are such good people,’ he thought. ’To think they suffered so much at the hands of these two wicked women.’
When Old Mrs. Bai reached out to grab Zhao Lan’s arm again, A Wu shoved her aside. "Just talk if you want to talk. Keep your hands to yourself!"
Liu scrambled to steady her mother-in-law, who A Wu had nearly knocked over. She shrieked, "And who are you? This is our family’s business! What right do you have to interfere?" Her cruel eyes raked brazenly over A Wu as she sneered, "Don’t tell me Zhao Lan decided Hu Changlin is too old and useless, and has taken a fancy to a young man like you? Are you her new lover?"
A Wu was about to explode with rage. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to march over and give her a piece of his mind.
Zhao Lan quickly stopped him. "A Wu, don’t! Just ignore them. They love spouting baseless nonsense. If you so much as lay a finger on them, they’ll lie in bed pretending to be sick for a month."
Unfortunately, Zhao Lan’s words had just given Liu and Old Mrs. Bai an idea!