Chapter 576 - 496: Shifting Blame
Chapter 576: Chapter 496: Shifting Blame
Grandma Tang said angrily, "Who your son marries is none of our business, but I won’t accept you saying my dried fish is rotten. You owe me an apology!"
"What do you mean it’s none of your business? If it weren’t for this girl making such a relentless scene, would my daughter and I have been unable to come home for the New Year? If I had been able to come home and see Shaofeng, he wouldn’t have made that mistake!" Tian Xueqin shot Xiao Man a venomous glare, as if another second of looking at her would make her sick.
Xiao Man shrugged. ’Alright, so Gu Shaofeng marrying Wu Xiangyun does have a little to do with me, but I certainly didn’t go out of my way to help. That was all Zhang Qingwan’s doing!’
Grandma Tang laughed in fury. "Tian Xueqin, I must have been blind to ever think you, the Gu family’s second daughter-in-law, were a decent person. Your ability to twist right and wrong is truly unparalleled! Fine, believe whatever you want. With an attitude like that, I don’t expect an apology. Since you hate me so much already, then there’s no need for us to see each other anymore. And yes, this is directed at you—you don’t need to have any further contact with the Tang family."
She reached out and pulled Xiao Man close. "This is my granddaughter, Tang Manman. In your eyes, Shaoling might be the best thing in the world, but Manman is the apple of my eye. She’s not some ’this girl’ or ’that girl’ for you to refer to! If you can’t learn some respect, I’ll take it up with your mother-in-law and ask her how she raised you!"
Tian Xueqin’s face stiffened. Seething, she was about to retort when she caught sight of a group of people approaching from another walkway and quickly shut her mouth.
Granny Gu was back from the hospital. Walking with her were Gu Qifan and Gu Shaoqin, along with Grandpa Gu, Gu Qiyuan, and two staff members.
The two staff members branched off to tend to their own duties before they drew near. Spying Grandma Tang, Granny Gu said with a smile, "Oh my, I am so sorry to have kept you all waiting here. Something came up with the family. I tried calling your house from the hospital, but you’d already left. Still, it’s good you’re here. The ingredients are all ready, so we can start making dumplings."
Grandma Tang snorted. "Forget it. As if I’d dare make dumplings in your house. I’ll be lucky if you don’t accuse me of poisoning the food!"
"What’s that supposed to mean? What did I do now? Hey, don’t you start with me. My granddaughter is in the hospital, I’m telling you, I’m not in the mood for this!"
As she spoke, Granny Gu frowned at Tian Xueqin. "Why are you still dawdling here? You’ve been gone forever just to grab a few clothes. Shaoling is already asleep after her shot, and Mrs. Lin is with her. She’ll definitely be looking for you when she wakes up, so hurry up and get back there!"
Tian Xueqin mumbled an affirmation and was about to slip away with her head down when Grandpa Gu greeted Grandma Tang. He patted Xiao Man’s head and smiled at Grandma Tang. "Sister-in-law, didn’t you say you were coming over to make wild-vegetable dumplings? I’m looking forward to eating them. My brother will be here soon, too."
Grandma Tang said seriously, "Like I just said, I don’t dare make any food in your house again. The dried fish I gave you was perfectly good, yet Shaoling gets a stomachache from it! I’ll have to be more careful with food from now on. We’ll just eat things ourselves and not give them away so freely."
"What are you talking about? Shaoling’s stomach bug wasn’t from your fish... Oh, right! You, wait, don’t go yet! Come back here!"
Remembering what she wanted to ask, Granny Gu quickly called out to stop Tian Xueqin. "You, explain this to me. What was the deal with that batch of dried fish sent over before the Spring Festival? The driver told me himself that you’re the one who had it delivered. It smelled off to me the moment it arrived. It didn’t seem fresh at all, more like old, stale stock. So I had Aunt Zhu stash it at the bottom of a kitchen cabinet, thinking we’d see if we could air it out in the sun later. If not, we’d just toss it. It’s not the kind of thing you can give to people. I never imagined that before Aunt Zhu even had a chance to throw it away, you’d dig it out and cook it for Shaoling, getting her sick! What were you thinking? If you can’t buy fresh fish, or you don’t have the money, then don’t buy it at all! It’s not like we’re that desperate for a taste. Why do you keep bringing old, spoiled junk into this house? You’re only hurting your own family! Just look at poor Shaoling. Don’t you feel the least bit sorry for her?"
Tian Xueqin was taken aback for a moment, then protested, "Mom, the batch I had sent over was perfectly fine! They were all dried fish made from big, fresh fish! I inspected them myself!"
"Is that so? No one has touched that bag of dried fish. Aunt Zhu said the smell was so strong she wrapped it in three layers and was debating whether to give it to someone for their cat or just throw it out. Didn’t you even look at it when you took it out to cook for Shaoling? Most of them were small, palm-sized fish, with hardly any large ones in the mix. My eyesight is perfectly fine—I’m not blind!"