It’s true, after being reminded by Anning, Mr. Gu also realized that his improved health was Xiao Yuan’s doing.
He and Mrs. Gu muttered a few times privately about Xiao Yuan’s great medical skills, and they were both quite grateful to him.
As the weather turned colder, the sales at the Gu Family’s bun shop became increasingly popular.
But just at this time, something quite disgusting happened.
This was stirred up by Anning’s second aunt. Original content can be found at novelꜰire.net
Mrs. Gu’s surname is Zhu, her name is Zhu Xiuzhi, and Anning’s second aunt is Zhu Xiumei.
Both sisters lived in Qing City. Initially, the Gu Family was in poor condition, while the Mei Family was better off, with both Zhu Xiumei and her husband Liu Yu employed; Liu Yu was a manager at a company, even though it was just a small department, he was quite arrogant.
Zhu Xiumei was an elementary school teacher.
This condition was much better compared to the original state of the Gu Family, thus, Zhu Xiumei looked down upon Mrs. Gu and mocked her whenever they met during festivals.
Recently, Zhu Xiumei learned about the Gu Family opening a bun shop.
She didn’t care at first, thinking how much money could a small bun shop earn, it was just enough for the Gu Family to scrape by.
But later, not just one or two people told her how good the business of the Gu Family’s bun shop was and how much money it was making.
Zhu Xiumei then took the opportunity to visit once.
Indeed, she saw the long queue in front of the Gu Family’s bun shop, and Zhu Xiumei felt quite envious.
If Zhu Xiumei was unemployed, she would definitely ask Mrs. Gu to help at the bun shop, perhaps even thinking about taking charge of the shop.
But since Zhu Xiumei had a decent job, how could she act on her envy towards the Gu Family; she couldn’t just resign.
She came up with an idea.
She went to the Gu Family’s bun shop daily to get buns.
When the girl selling buns charged her money, she would argue that she is the sister of the owner, they were relatives, how could they charge her for eating a couple of buns?
Once or twice, Mrs. Gu tolerated it.
But it became a daily occurrence.
Later, Zhu Xiumei simply had her daughter Liu Lingling go to the bun shop for lunch every noon, and after eating ask Mrs. Gu for money to buy drinks and snacks.
Mrs. Gu, as the girl’s aunt, could afford to buy her niece snacks, but it was too much to ask every day to eat and drink at their expense.
Although the Gu Family was not short of money now, Zhu Xiumei’s obviously exploitative attitude really annoyed Mrs. Gu.
But what could she do about being annoyed?
Was she supposed to drive her own niece out?
Both Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu were honest and decent people, they really couldn’t do such a thing.
Then, Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu got so angry when they got back home.
Anning didn’t know about this before.
She had been busy studying, making money, and dating Xiao Yuan.
But one time, Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu came home late, and Anning started to worry, so she went over to the bun shop, where she talked for a long while with the shop employee Sister Wang and learned about the situation from her.
She was also rendered speechless at that moment, feeling that what Zhu Xiumei had done was indeed quite disgusting.
If earlier Zhu Xiumei and Mrs. Gu had a good relationship, or if she had helped the Gu Family before, Anning would have accepted it if she ate a lot.
But the two families originally had a poor relationship, almost not interacting, and yet she appeared at this time to take and eat, it was really infuriating.
Later, when she got back home, Anning discussed this matter with Mrs. Gu.
Mrs. Gu’s eyes reddened with anger when she brought it up: "I never expected your aunt to pull something . What was she even thinking? Just to spite us?"
Anning nodded, "Probably, my aunt is always trying to be on top, always hoping her family can outdo ours, that would be perfect for her. If our family does better than hers, she can’t stand it and will try every way possible to create trouble for us."
Mrs. Gu was at her wit’s end: "So what do we do?"
Anning patted Mrs. Gu’s shoulder assuredly: "Don’t worry, you both shouldn’t get involved. I’ll handle it. Trust me, I’ll make sure to return the displeasure."
Anning wouldn’t let herself be taken advantage of; whoever thought to gain at her expense would have to wait.
Although she and Zhu Xiumei weren’t enemies.
Zhu Xiumei often mocked Mrs. Gu a bit, but she never really did anything to seriously harm the Gu Family. It wasn’t worth considering her an enemy, but teaching her a lesson was still acceptable.
After finishing her homework, Anning sent Xiao Yuan a message, telling him he didn’t need to pick her up from school for the next few days, and that she had some stuff to handle, so Xiao Yuan should have dinner by himself at night.
Xiao Yuan quickly asked Anning what was going on.
Anning explained the situation with Zhu Xiumei.
After hearing it, Xiao Yuan was speechless; indeed, all kinds of people existed in this world.
However, thinking of his own parents, who often left him speechless, he didn’t know what to say either.
Still, he secretly resented Zhu Xiumei for causing trouble, making it so he couldn’t have dinner with Anning for several days.
That day, after school, Anning went straight to Zhu Xiumei’s house with her schoolbag.
Zhu Xiumei was an elementary school teacher for lower grades, so she usually finished work quite early, and would head home to cook. Despite being quite imposing outside, she was pretty agreeable at home, making her home quite cozy.
Anning rang the doorbell at Zhu Xiumei’s place.
Zhu Xiumei was cooking and thought it was her daughter who forgot her keys again, so while walking to open the door she said, "Forgot your keys again? How come you don’t just forget yourself?"
But when she opened the door, it was Anning.
She paused for a moment: "Ningning, what’s up?"
Anning walked straight in, taking off her shoes while speaking to Zhu Xiumei: "Aunt, my parents have been very busy lately, always at the bun shop, and they don’t have time to look after me. I’ve been eating buns until I’m sick of them, so I had no choice but to come here. I need to eat at your place for a few days to change things up. What are you cooking tonight?"
Anning made herself at home heading towards the kitchen: "Aunt, make some extra, I’ve been eating a lot lately because I’m growing."
Zhu Xiumei was almost dumbfounded.
The original Anning had been a particularly delicate and shy child, not very outgoing nor talkative, and hardly ever visited Zhu Xiumei’s house.
But Anning’s behavior now was not at all shy, acting as if she was in her own house.
"Oh my, aunt, this isn’t enough food, make a few more dishes."
Seeing the dishes in the kitchen, Anning called out, "I love shrimp, do you have any? Make some shrimp, and some braised pork too. Your braised pork is superb, I’m really craving it."
She spoke while opening the fridge to check the stock: "Let’s see what’s here, and I might just order a few more dishes."
Zhu Xiumei was really annoyed.
But she was also someone who cared about face.
Though she loved to needle Mrs. Gu and take small advantages, she really couldn’t bring herself to kick out her own niece.
Anning checked what was in the fridge; when she saw it, she couldn’t help but get excited: "Oh my, aunt, you have abalone, why don’t you make some? This drink isn’t good, it has additives, just make me a fresh juice please, I’m dying of thirst after running over here."
Zhu Xiumei’s face turned stormy: "I don’t know how to make juice."
Anning smiled: "No worries, I do."
She picked a few oranges from the fridge, washed them in the kitchen, took a cup, and squeezed the oranges by hand, quickly filling the cup with juice.
Zhu Xiumei jumped in fright: "Okay, okay, I’ll make it, I’ll make it. You’re such a little tyrant."
Anning retorted: "I can’t be, I don’t have the skills to become your ancestor."