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"Kneel down!"
Xie Shengcai slammed the table angrily, causing Ruyi to shiver in fear and immediately kneel down obediently. She knelt so hard that it hurt, and she let out a cry of pain, her face showing a wronged and innocent expression.
Wang Clan couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He stood up to help her, saying, "The ground is cold; let her get up. Whatever needs to be said can be said. She's now part of the Gao Family; do you really want to beat and scold her so badly that she can't go back? If she gets hurt from kneeling, won't she suffer in the Gao Family? After all, she's our daughter."
"Don't help her! She's become this way all because of you!" Xie Shengcai coughed angrily.
Ruyi hurriedly tried to persuade him, scolding Xiao Lihua in her heart as she thought about how she would eventually make Xiao Lihua understand the consequences.
Xie Shengcai waved his hand and pushed Ruyi aside, saying to her, "Don't try to persuade me. If you were really afraid I would die from anger, you wouldn't have done something so embarrassing! Look at you, for the sake of marrying a rich man, you've thrown away your dignity! You wanted to hit the wild goose but ended up getting pecked in the eye instead. It's fortunate that that Gao person acknowledged you; what would you do if he didn't? Do you still want to save face? Do we, the Xie Family, still want to save face? I wish I could beat you to death for being so shameless! Kneel down! It's not even worth it if you kneel until you die!"
Xie Shengcai was truly furious because Ruyi was his youngest daughter. With Wang Clan doting on her and always praising how good Ruyi was, he had high hopes for her to marry into a good family. Even if she couldn't support her older siblings, at least she could bring him some pride. Yet now Ruyi had become a concubine, and it was all due to her own actions. As an honest man, Xie Shengcai felt both ashamed and angry.
Ruyi nearly fell over from being pushed and said pitifully, "Father, I didn't do anything wrong; it was that Zhao person who harmed me! He already had a grudge against the young master and was impatient with my attempts to befriend him, so he set me up. Then he spoke ill of me to Sister Four. Sister Four never liked me anyway, and Zhao Linting could provide them with financial support; naturally Fourth Brother and Sister Four believed him. Now they're blaming everything on me—I'm truly wronged!"
Wang Clan said, "Ruyi, why didn't you mention this earlier? If you had told me, I would have gone to seek justice for you!"
Xie Shengcai also questioned her; he was somewhat skeptical of her words.
"I wasn't clear about it before; it was the young master who told me. Father, Mother, my life is so miserable. It's one thing for others to look down on me, but you're my parents; you can't look down on me too! If that's the case, I'd rather die!" Ruyi said as she took out a beautifully embroidered handkerchief to wipe her tears, looking pitiful.
Wang Clan rushed over to hug Ruyi and cried loudly. She didn't care whether what her daughter said was true or not; she just wanted to believe her daughter and hoped that the old man would believe her too so that there wouldn't be any fighting at home. While crying, she scolded Xie Shengcai not to blame their daughter anymore.
Seeing Ruyi crying so sadly made Xie Shengcai start to doubt his previous beliefs. However, thinking of Xie Youshun made him feel that his son wasn't someone who would lie. Even though he preferred to believe that Ruyi wasn't the kind of daughter who would do something shameful, he also didn't want to believe that his son would wrong his sister or deceive them all.
Ruyi sobbed as she heard Xie Shengcai's words: "Father, Fourth Brother might have been deceived too."
"Exactly! Fourth Son might have been tricked as well; he's completely enchanted by that wife of his! Deceiving him is like playing with a monkey!" Wang Clan said. She had always been dissatisfied with Xiao Lihua; originally disliking Xiao Lihua's bad temper even more now that this capable and eloquent Fourth Daughter-in-law was around because she felt that regardless of whether Xiao Lihua was good or bad, she was unfilial towards her. Although she didn't dote on Xie Youshun much either, he was still her son; she believed he wasn't bad but had been led astray by his wife.
Xie Youshun listened and began to believe some of it. He was someone who cared about his reputation and naturally didn't want to believe that his daughter could be so shameless. Now hearing that his son had also been deceived made him more willing to accept Ruyi's explanation. However, thinking about Xiao Lihua's recent behavior and her efforts in repairing bridges for the village made him feel that this Daughter-in-law didn’t seem like someone who would intentionally wrong their family.
"I think Fourth Brother's Wife has also been deceived; there's no reason for her to harm our family like this. I suspect it's that Zhao Gongzi who looks down on you and Young Master Gao; that's why he harmed you without wanting to offend Fourth Son and them out of fear of not getting more benefits from them later," Xie Youshun concluded.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. He told Wang Clan and Ruyi: "You can't blame Fourth Son or Fourth Brother's Wife; after all, we're family."
Ruyi wiped her tears and said: "Yes, I'll listen to Father as long as my Parents don't blame me."
Wang Clan patted Ruyi's back and said, "Fourth Son and his wife really don't understand anything. They trust outsiders but not their own family; it's truly frustrating! I need to have a serious talk with them. We can't let them give our financial opportunities to others. Even if they won't work with Gao Family, we can do business ourselves. With so many people in the family, are we really worried we can't make a living?"
Ruyi said, "Mother, do you think Fourth Brother and the others refuse to have anything to do with Gao Family because of Sister Four?"
"Isn't it because of her? They say they were wronged by Gao Family back then and absolutely refuse to get involved with them." Wang Clan regretted marrying such a daughter-in-law just to save money. After all these years of trouble, now that they finally had money, it didn't belong to her anyway, which only made her angrier. It even harmed her Ruyi.
Ruyi anxiously said, "Father, Mother, do you know that Fourth Brother and the others are the ones who helped Flavor Fragrance Tower create Tea Egg and the sauce? Because of this, Gao Family's business has suffered greatly. The young master even told me to persuade Fourth Brother to sell him the recipe. Now that they say they won't have anything to do with Gao Family, I won't be able to fulfill the young master's request. When I go back, he will definitely blame me for not doing my job well. What if he neglects me?"
Flavor Fragrance Tower first introduced Tea Egg and Pickled Egg, then later launched the sauce, making their business increasingly prosperous and severely impacting Gao Family's business. Gao Family wouldn't just sit back and watch; they spent considerable effort figuring out who supplied Flavor Fragrance Tower with such products. Because of this reason, Ruyi was treated quite well after entering Gao Family; Su Yuanchun couldn't find a way to trouble her.
Ruyi learned the reason from Gao Zhengping and thought she must persuade Fourth Brother and the others to help her establish a foothold in Gao Family. She believed it was something they owed her and that they would agree. However, now her parents said Fourth Brother and the others wouldn't have anything to do with Gao Family, which made her anxious.
Xie Shengcai and Wang Clan were also taken aback and didn't know what to do.
Ruyi returned home, while Xie Youshun and Xiao Lihua didn't go to the old house. They had previously refused any involvement with Gao Family due to Ruyi's issues with the people at the old house. Now that Ruyi returned home, they wanted to express their stance.
However, Xie Youkang came over inviting them for dinner. Xiao Lihua declined and asked Xie Youshun to go instead; she felt very reassured about him.
Xie Youshun quickly returned and told Xiao Lihua what happened: Ruyi asked him for the recipe for making sauce, but he was unwilling to give it to her. She wanted a recipe that could earn money like making sauce, which he naturally wouldn't agree to. After directly refusing her, he came back having only eaten half a meal.
Xiao Lihua said, "There's still food left at home; hurry up and eat. It's your share too. Here are your chopsticks."
Seeing Xiao Lihua lift the lid off the pot revealing plenty of rice inside, Xie Youshun immediately picked up his chopsticks and took a soft steamed bun that was still warm into his mouth, eating heartily—one bite of bun followed by one bite of vegetables—enjoying it immensely. He thought that his wife's cooking was delicious; even plain stewed cabbage tasted better than the stewed meat at the old house.
After finishing dinner, just as Xiao Lihua finished washing the dishes, Ruyi arrived accompanied by Fang Family, Zi Clan, and a Maid.
"Sister Four, I've come."
"You're here; come in and sit."
Xiao Lihua thought she was still not giving up. She couldn't just kick her out and planned to refuse again later; at worst, they'd fall out completely since their relationship had already soured enough. She would rather cut ties with someone like Ruyi. With Ruyi entering Gao Family, she could imagine many exciting things happening in the future; she didn't want to get involved.
Seeing Xiao Lihua's cold attitude towards her made Ruyi resentful. She followed behind into the room and sat on the kang (a traditional heated bed), smiling at the two children playing with toys on it—Wood and Stone—who sweetly called her aunt. Ruyi looked at Stone's head injury and asked if it still hurt before instructing the maid to place some snacks on the edge of the kang for them.
After thanking her, Stone and Wood didn't go for the snacks; they weren't lacking in treats as their parents always bought them plenty of sweets at home. Their mother often cooked delicious meals for them; they were no longer those two poor kids who drooled over snacks.
Ruyi ignored the two children further, sent the maid out, then straightforwardly stated her purpose to Xiao Lihua: Xie Youshun had refused her request. She believed it was because of Xiao Lihua that she came seeking help from her instead. Fang Family chimed in supportively while Zi Clan sat silently beside them. When Fang Family asked her something, she only said a couple of sentences about not letting family become estranged or something similar. Inside she felt frustrated thinking that her parents pushed her here because they saw her relationship with Fourth Brother was good; she certainly didn't want to help smooth things over either—if it were up to her, she wouldn't want any involvement with Gao Family!
"Ruyi, if you talk about anything else, we can continue our conversation. But if you bring up anything related to the Gao Family again, please leave. Helping the Gao Family is something I would never do, even if it costs me my life," Xiao Lihua said very directly.
Xie Youshun replied, "What are you talking about, life and death? Ruyi, if you mention this matter again, you can leave now and never call me your brother again."
Despite Ruyi's pleas, they remained unmoved, leaving her to sit there in frustration.
The Fang Family said, "Sister Four, since you don't want to have any ties with the Gao Family, then you shouldn't have any ties with that Hua Gongzi either! If you have any recipes, don’t sell them to others. Let's do business ourselves in the Xie Family. When the time comes, we can prosper together. If our Xie Family thrives, Ruyi will also have a better life in the Gao Family, which means you would have helped Ruyi. Ruyi, wouldn't that mean you won't be angry with your Fourth Brother and Sister Four anymore?"
"That works too. Fourth Brother, if you still recognize me as your sister, then agree to this!"
Ruyi had already discussed this idea with her Parents at home. She believed that rather than giving the Gao Family the Secret Recipe and letting them prosper while they could easily discard her later, it was better for her own family to succeed. After all, it was what her mother taught her; the Wang Clan preferred to hold power tightly.
Xiao Lihua glanced at Xie Youshun, realizing he hadn't mentioned this matter to her. Xie Youshun frowned; their parents hadn't discussed this with him either.
"Fourth Brother, Sister Four, will you agree or not? You can't always think of giving good things to outsiders, right? Now that you're living well, you should also think about your family," Ruyi said with a furrowed brow: "Don't you want our parents and your brothers and sisters to live well?"
The Fang Family began to echo her sentiments.
The Zi Clan remained silent; she truly regretted coming along but felt she couldn't refuse when her mother-in-law asked her to come.
Xiao Lihua thought this was like a stubborn adhesive that couldn't be shaken off; there was always a way for it to stick around. She contemplated whether she should explode again this time—this time more fiercely.
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