"Mother." Yang Baihui called out as soon as she stepped through the door, "I’m back."
Yang Anshi had truly become scared these past few days; she could see that glittering kitchen knife whenever she closed her eyes and would often wake up from nightmares, so she really had no peace.
But these past few days, Yang Peili had stopped talking to her because he held a grudge, her second daughter-in-law was sickly herself, and her little girl had left. She felt she had so much grievance with nowhere to express it. Now hearing her eldest daughter’s voice, her eyes immediately brightened and she called out through the window, "Baihui, come in quickly..."
"Mother, what’s happened to you?" Yang Baihui was startled as she entered and saw the much thinner, pale-faced Yang Anshi. "Are you ill?" When Yang Baihe had gone to find her, she had indeed mentioned that Dani had bullied the family, but deep down, she could never imagine her mother being disadvantaged. Therefore, seeing Yang Anshi like this was truly a surprise.
"Ah!" Yang Anshi sighed, "My dear Hui, mother regrets..." she said and, holding her daughter’s hand, tears started to fall.
"What’s exactly wrong?" The light in Yang Baihui’s eyes flickered, "What does mother regret?"
"Mother regrets, that to get your brother that wretched woman, you were wronged." Yang Anshi’s regret grew as she spoke, and soon she was wailing loudly with grief.
The corners of Yang Baihui’s mouth twisted in irony, but her words came out warm-hearted, "Mother, it’s been so many years, why bring it up now?" She sighed and added, "Luckily, I was blessed with two sons, and my evil mother-in-law died early. Now that my sons are grown, and their father has lost his temper, I can finally live my life..."
Yang Anshi felt even more guilt towards her eldest daughter and cried louder.
Yang Baihui originally wanted to say something comforting, but in the end, said nothing and just watched her own mother cry.
The two young girls from the fourth branch of the family, who were playing in the courtyard, were startled by the sound of their nanny’s crying. Daya, who was five, knew a little about the world and had always seen her granny as a formidable figure—others cried in her presence. It was the first time they heard their granny crying, which terrified them. They immediately grabbed each other, the three-year-old Erya in tow, and ran outside to send word to their grandfather.
The three-year-old Erya, who had also been frightened into wanting to cry at the sound of her granny’s sobs, had her mouth covered by her sister, who then dragged her out of the courtyard.
"Don’t cry, we must quickly find grandfather to come back, or else we’ll probably get beaten again," Daya finally released her hand and whispered to her sister. Seeing that her sister’s face was smeared with snot, she wiped it on Erya’s dress, cleaning her own hand.
Erya nodded hastily, sniffling, and followed her sister into the fields.
Yang Ruxin never took Yang Baihui seriously, anyway. As far as the old house was concerned, she had no desire for mercy. Whatever move the other party made, she would just handle it. Those people were not worth the soft-heartedness.
So, after returning home, she had her sisters-in-law put away the things they had bought and went to the house next door.
"Did the negotiation succeed?" Gu Qingheng asked as soon as Yang Ruxin walked in.
"How did you know?"
"Because your footsteps are very light." Gu Qingheng smiled.
"It was a success, but it wasn’t with the Shen Family that we did business," Yang Ruxin sat down opposite Gu Qingheng, "but we’ve signed a contract with Baiwei Restaurant’s competitor, Quanshun Building."