Chapter 399: Chapter 399: The Dead Old Man Chapter 399: Chapter 399: The Dead Old Man Rural households aren’t so particular; such behavior is quite normal. Madam Xie didn’t think it strange and filled everyone’s pockets with generous handfuls of fried fruit until they were completely full and could hold no more.
The women left happily, as they still had to go to the hall to cook; with so much meat and vegetables tonight, their entire family could enjoy a full meal. Just the thought of it delighted them.
Old Lady Mo had been incessantly nagging these past days, complaining that Madam Xie and her daughters, these worthless bones, had actually received ten thousand taels of silver and had no notion of being filial to her, their grandmother. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
Unfortunately, Big Bull, that Plague God, was squatting night and day at their home, preventing her from making a scene. She had no choice but to stay at home and nag Old Master Mo daily.
“Old man, look at those worthless bones. They’re being so generous, inviting the whole village to eat but don’t know to show any filial piety to us, the old ancestors. It’s way out of line,” Old Lady Mo said.
Her complaints against Old Man Mo were growing. This old man, in his incomprehensible foolishness, had recently been siding with Xuexue, that stinking girl. As clever as she might be, she was a loss-making venture; how could she compare to her own grandson in terms of closeness? He was truly a muddled fool who couldn’t tell inside from out.
Old Lady Mo nagged him every day, and Old Master Mo was so annoyed he could die: “Then you just don’t eat at the hall tonight. You’re so heated up; you probably can’t even swallow your food anyway.”
“Why wouldn’t I eat? That’s my money. I have to eat even more to make it back. Tonight, I’ll take a basin there and bring back a big basin of meat to eat at my leisure at home.”
Faced with Old Lady Mo’s brazen shamelessness, Old Master Mo was momentarily at a loss for words.
In the past, he hadn’t really minded her unreasonableness. But lately, perhaps because she’d been so annoying, it was becoming increasingly intolerable for him.
Finally, Old Master Mo choked out a retort: “If you’re not afraid of shame, then go ahead and fill it. Just don’t sit at the same table with me; that’s all.”
“It belongs to our family. I’ll take as much as I want.”
After saying this, Old Lady Mo glared fiercely at Old Master Mo: “You dead old man, who would want to sit at the same table as you? Stay away from me. I don’t even want to see you, it’ll make me lose my appetite.”
“All the better, I’ll sit with Qiangqiang then.”
Mentioning Mo Xiaoqiang made her blood boil. Ever since that incident when Mo Xiaoqiang had unsuccessfully tried to separate the family, he had ignored her for some time. Auntie Sun was even more arrogant, relying on Mo Xiaoqiang’s support. Now, she didn’t do any housework; when mealtime came, the pair would show up together, and after eating, they’d just walk out hand in hand without lifting a finger.
When told to work, Mo Xiaoqiang would throw back a single retort: “Tell my wife to work? Sure, but on one condition: we split the household first.”
This had infuriated Old Lady Mo to the point of internal injury. Yet she had no way of dealing with them. For the sake of her grandson’s tuition, she had to hold back. After all, they couldn’t truly split the household, or else there’d be no funding for Hengjian’s education. She didn’t want to jeopardize her grandson’s future; she still hoped he would bring honor and glory to the Mo family.
“You dead old coot, go if you want. You might as well live with your son.”
“Okay, then. Let’s split the household with Qiangqiang, and I’ll stay with him. I don’t want to see you either, always nagging and annoying me to death.”
“You dead old coot, you just want to make me angry.”
Knowing that what she feared the most was splitting the household, Old Man Mo deliberately brought it up just to rile her up, causing Old Lady Mo to seethe with rage.