Chapter 518: Chapter 518: The Forceful Granny Bo
The eldest daughter-in-law of the Bao Family looked indignant. "Mom, I don’t like the sound of that.
You can criticize my daughter all you want. But the moment I say one thing about Lin Sisi, you act like I’m trying to start a rebellion.
What’s so bad about my daughter? She’s a hundred times better than Sisi! Why can’t you see how wonderful Tingting is?
Tingting’s maternal grandfather is an elementary school principal. The child I raised is naturally top-notch. The Lin family might be richer than our Bao Family, but you..."
"Enough out of you! Is today’s incident really about Tingting and Sisi?
Tingting is an unmarried young woman, yet she brazenly went to block that girl from the Xiao Family and even declared she was going to steal her fiancé. Do you have any idea how serious this is?"
Granny Bo, unable to contain her anger, cut her eldest daughter-in-law off, her eyes filled with disappointment.
She looked at her eldest son sitting in the seat of honor in the living room, then at her second daughter-in-law who was enjoying the show from the sofa, and her third daughter-in-law who looked completely bewildered.
She was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Though she had been a strong-willed woman for most of her life, she believed she had always treated her sons and daughters-in-law well.
Granny Bo was sixty-eight this year. After her husband died in the line of duty when she was thirty-six, she took his survivor’s pension and single-handedly raised their three sons and two daughters.
She had originally planned to take that money and stay in her old hometown, raising her children on her own.
But her husband’s brothers were eyeing his pension greedily, and her own siblings kept finding excuses to borrow money.
Everyone wanted a piece of the pie. If she hadn’t been forceful, would there have been anything left of that pension for her and her children?
Even though her eldest son was eighteen at the time, her youngest daughter was only seven. And she had siblings from both her own family and her husband’s who wanted to take advantage of them.
This was especially true of the lazy old bachelors in the village. Jealous of the pension money she held, they came to her door one after another proposing marriage, claiming they didn’t mind that she was a widow with children.
She knew that if she were to remarry, her five children would never be able to grow up in peace.
So she resolutely took her children, fled her hometown, and moved into the family residences of this large compound.
She used her late husband’s connections to get her eldest son into the army, and in the following years, her two younger sons as well.
She poured her heart and soul into raising her children, hoping they would become people useful to the country, because they had all grown up on that pension money.
Just as heaven rewards the diligent, her three sons all became very successful, the new elites of the compound, and her daughters also married into good families.
Over twenty years ago, those siblings from the Bao Family also wanted to come and freeload, but the travel expenses for the trip were too high.
The main reason was that no matter how they cried poor to her, she remained hard as iron and wouldn’t spare a single dime.
She knew that if she let them take advantage once, her family would face endless trouble down the line.
Moreover, she would turn around and cry about her own pitiful poverty, scaring those siblings away.
It wasn’t easy for them to come from the countryside, and if they had to lose money on each trip, no one bothered coming anymore.
She was the helmsman of the Bao Family, guiding her three sons to high positions in their respective fields. She admitted she might have been a bit overbearing.
But as a widow with orphans, if she hadn’t been forceful, could they have even survived? Could the Bao Family have achieved its current glory, bringing honor to their ancestors?
It was precisely because of her indomitable, strong-willed nature and her strict upbringing of her children that the Bao Family was where it was today.
Her great-grandchildren were already several years old. Her family had four generations living together in harmony.
Granny Bo enjoyed immense respect not just within the Bao Family, but throughout the entire compound.
A few years ago, after her eldest great-grandson was born, she handed over the management of the household to her eldest daughter-in-law.
She figured her eldest daughter-in-law, born and bred in the Imperial City, came from a respectable, scholarly family, even if not a powerful one.
Who knew she was someone who couldn’t tell right from wrong? A frustrating piece of work with even less worldliness than a country woman like herself.
The eldest daughter-in-law, feeling Granny Bo’s scorn, couldn’t help but retort, "I have to say, Mom, that’s going a little too far.
My daughter has been well-behaved and sensible since she was little. Don’t you know what kind of temperament she has?
Our Tingting has always been gentle and kind. She’s not a big brute like that girl from the Xiao Family. How could she possibly block her?
You may believe it, but I don’t. I’d bet it was that girl from the Xiao Family who foolishly came to provoke my daughter.
She got engaged today, so she wanted to show off in front of my daughter. The way I see it, that Xiao Family girl is the one with malicious intentions!"
Hearing her eldest daughter-in-law’s unrepentant nonsense, Granny Bo immediately flew into a rage.
She took a step forward, her trembling, wrinkled finger pointing at her eldest daughter-in-law as she cursed, "What on earth are you spouting?!
You think I don’t know what kind of character your daughter has? Stop twisting the facts here. Just look at how you’ve spoiled her.
Haven’t you heard what people in the compound say about her? With that personality of hers, a few years back she would’ve been dragged out and publicly shamed!
I’m laying it all out right here, right now. If you don’t start disciplining Tingting properly, then either this old woman packs her bags and goes back to her hometown...
...or you pack your bags and get out! The Bao Family can’t afford to support a woman like you who can’t tell right from wrong and ruins our family’s reputation!"
"Mom, what do you mean by that? How have I ruined the family’s reputation? I was just standing up for Tingting."
The eldest daughter-in-law immediately shrieked, "You’re Tingting’s own grandmother! Seeing her beaten black and blue, don’t you feel any pity for her at all?
It’s one thing if you don’t feel sorry for her, but how can you side with an outsider and speak up for that vicious girl from the Xiao Family?"
’You’ve disappointed me so much.’ The eldest daughter-in-law of the Bao Family didn’t dare say these words out loud, but the sentiment was written all over her face.
Granny Bo was so angry she started to laugh. "That little speech just now, that’s what you really think, isn’t it?
So, I, the mother-in-law, don’t dote on my own granddaughter, and I’m even siding with an outsider to help the Xiao Family girl.
You actually encouraged your daughter to seduce someone else’s fiancé. You’re really something else!
Do you have any sense of right and wrong at all? Did all those years of education go to waste?
In this compound, there are plenty of girls who have a secret crush on Mu Ziquan and the young men of the Xiao Family.
Do you see any of them shouting out loud that they want to marry them? That’s because those girls have a sense of shame.
Any girl with a bit of traditional modesty wouldn’t dare step forward and express her feelings.
But your Tingting? Oh, she’s something else. Not only does she dare to think it, she dares to brazenly go and cause trouble for the man’s fiancée.
You two coddled and spoiled her. Whenever I tried to say a word of criticism, both of you would complain that this old woman talked too much.
Especially you, Eldest. You think you’re so great now with your high rank and authority, and you’ve spoiled her to the point where she fears nothing and no one.
Last time, at the Mu Family’s home, do you have any idea who she and Sisi offended?"
Mr. Bao, who had just been caught in the crossfire while sitting there: ...
Although he had been in a high position for many years, he didn’t dare talk back to his mother. She was simply too formidable.
"Mom... you... that’s malicious slander!" The eldest daughter-in-law, her thoughts exposed, flew into a rage out of shame.
’I was just worried about my precious daughter and had talked back a little. I never expected to be slandered like this by my mother-in-law for just speaking a few truths!’
"Malicious slander? You still dare to argue? Eldest, take a good look at what kind of person you married!" Granny Bo roared, pointing at her eldest son and his wife.
