The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!

Chapter 691: Chapter 691: Newlyweds Serve Tea

The day after her son’s wedding, Tong Huaqiong rarely wakes up early.

According to the customs of this era, she needs to receive tea from the newlyweds.

After Lu Zhaozhao finished freshening up, she was led to the main house by Gu Jingzhe.

At the entrance of the main house, Lu Zhaozhao forcefully pulled away her hand from Gu Jingzhe’s grasp.

Even though her mother-in-law had been very easy-going before the wedding, Lu Zhaozhao feared that being overly affectionate with her husband in front of her mother-in-law right after the wedding would ruin all the good impressions she previously made.

Gu Jingzhe didn’t let go and directly pulled Lu Zhaozhao into the room.

Tong Huaqiong saw the young couple walking in together, with a motherly smile of approval.

Charming, this couple is really charming.

Seeing Tong Huaqiong seated at the top, surrounded by Chen Sufen, Liu Yueer, and Gu Taohua, Lu Zhaozhao suddenly blushed deeply and tried to pull away from Gu Jingzhe’s hand again, but he held on even tighter.

Liu Yueer teased, "Third Brother’s hand must be coated in glue, won’t let go once it sticks."

Lu Zhaozhao’s face turned even redder.

Tong Huaqiong calmly said, "It’s good for the young couple to be so affectionate; it makes me happy to see."

Lu Zhaozhao felt much more at ease, and Nanny Dou, who was attending to her, felt the same relief.

The mother-in-law really is a good person.

Unlike some mothers-in-law who can’t stand their sons showing affection to their daughters-in-law and constantly find fault with them.

"Sister-In-Law, serve the tea."

A cushion was placed in front of Tong Huaqiong, and Chen Sufen had Granny Lei bring up the tea.

Lu Zhaozhao and Gu Jingzhe kowtowed and offered tea to Tong Huaqiong, who took a sip, put a bracelet inlaid with a ruby on Lu Zhaozhao’s hand, and gave her a box of black mother-of-pearl pearls.

These rare black mother-of-pearl pearls were obtained from Lian Hengruo.

It’s not that Tong Huaqiong is materialistic; when she saw the dowry from the Lu Family the previous day, she realized that unless she gave everything she had to Lu Zhaozhao, her gifts wouldn’t compare to those from the Lu Family.

"Thank you, Mother." Lu Zhaozhao smiled sweetly.

Then Chen Sufen gave Lu Zhaozhao a set of hair ornaments, and Liu Yueer gave her a statue of the Child-Giving Guanyin.

"Sister-in-law lacks nothing, so I just give a Child-Giving Guanyin, wishing you and Third Brother a child soon."

This idea of gifting the Child-Giving Guanyin was carefully thought out by Liu Yueer.

The Lu Family is of such a standing, Lu Zhaozhao has seen and used everything, she wouldn’t care about common gifts. But Liu Yueer wanted to win over Lu Zhaozhao before Chen Sufen because the mother-in-law valued Lu Zhaozhao highly, and Gu Jingzhe was the most promising of the Gu Family.

Winning over Lu Zhaozhao would only benefit their branch of the family.

Tong Huaqiong understood Liu Yueer’s intentions very well, but there was no need to point it out in front of Lu Zhaozhao.

Suddenly, Chen Sufen felt her set of hair ornaments wasn’t grand enough, realizing that Second Sister-in-Law’s idea was quite clever.

Liu Yueer glanced at Chen Sufen with a bit of pride.

This idea isn’t something just anyone could come up with.

Lu Zhaozhao seemed to understand Chen Sufen’s feelings and smiled, saying, "Thank you, sisters; I love all your gifts."

Liu Yueer couldn’t see from Lu Zhaozhao’s face that she favored either sister-in-law.

She initially thought she was just sweet and naive, but unexpectedly she was also very tactful.

As the yet unmarried younger sister-in-law, Gu Taohua received a hand-stitched handkerchief and a jade pendant from Lu Zhaozhao.

Holding the handkerchief, Gu Taohua was silent; she wanted to say that although by tradition the newlywed sister-in-law should give her embroidery to the unmarried younger sister-in-law, the Gu Family didn’t need to adhere to this tradition, as the Third Sister-in-law shouldn’t trouble herself, especially since she couldn’t even tell what the embroidery depicted.

Lu Zhaozhao smiled embarrassedly; she truly wasn’t skilled at embroidery.

"Auntie Third."

"Hello, Auntie Third."

Man Er, Yaozu, and Xiao Long approached to greet Auntie Third.

Lu Zhaozhao gently ruffled each of their heads; each child received a set of clothes, and Man Er got an extra set of jewelry, while Xiao Long and Yaozu received a Jade Ruyi each, and another was given a set of writing materials.

"Thank you, Auntie Third."

The children received the gifts and thanked her in unison.

"We’re one family now, so feel at home here like you do at the Lu’s, do whatever you like," Tong Huaqiong said like she was leading a company meeting.

Lu Zhaozhao nodded with a smile.

Tong Huaqiong then put away her smile and warned Gu Jingzhe, "Don’t upset Zhaozhao, take good care of her and respect her, or I’ll break your legs."

Gu Jingzhe said, "I will definitely follow Mother’s instructions, listen to Zhaozhao all my life, never upset her, and never make her sad."

The whole room erupted in laughter.

Even Nanny Dou couldn’t help but turn away and smile.

When she returns to the Lu Family in three days, she will definitely tell Old Master of the reasonableness of the mother-in-law.

"I’ll take Zhaozhao to meet Mr. Su," said Gu Jingzhe.

In this era, a teacher is considered equivalent to a father.

Gu Jingzhe has no father, so he considers Mr. Su as a half-father.

Now that he is married, besides paying respects to his mother, he also needs to pay respects to his teacher.

"Go ahead," said Tong Huaqiong.

Gu Jingzhe, holding Lu Zhaozhao’s hand, stepped out of the Gu Family’s gate.

The villagers love to gossip when idle, and the hot topic now is Gu Jingzhe’s wedding, especially Lu Zhaozhao’s dowry.

The villagers paused their gossip as soon as they saw Gu Jingzhe holding Lu Zhaozhao’s hand emerging, with curious and ambiguous glances focused on their clasped hands.

For no one had seen such a couple before.

To the villagers of Qinghe Bay Village, it’s good if a young couple is affectionate, but holding hands in public is improper.

Even Gu Dashi and Liu Yueer, known as the ’eloping couple,’ never held hands in public.

"Oh my, Jingzhe, where are you taking your wife? To your grandparents’?" someone inquired.

"To Mr. Su’s place."

Gu Jingzhe, holding Lu Zhaozhao’s hand, calmly passed through the center of the gossip hub.

Initially, Lu Zhaozhao felt very embarrassed under the crowd’s watchful eyes, but gradually calmed down by Gu Jingzhe’s demeanor.

In the backyard, Mr. Su and Tong Pandie were already waiting for them.

Gu Jingzhe picked up Hua Er, and Lu Zhaozhao gave Hua Er the same gift as Man Er’s.

"Teacher."

"Sister Pandie."

On the way, Lu Zhaozhao was puzzled and asked Gu Jingzhe how she should address Tong Pandie and Mr. Su.

Gu Jingzhe said Tong Pandie and Mr. Su are treated separately; Tong Pandie is their cousin, not addressed as teacher’s wife.

Tong Pandie was very excited; Lu Zhaozhao felt a sense of familiarity with this cousin, as if she had met her before but couldn’t recall when.

Mr. Su gave Gu Jingzhe some advice, and Tong Pandie held onto Lu Zhaozhao’s hand, gifting her two sets of personally stitched clothes.

Lu Zhaozhao touched the patterns on the clothes, expressing her fondness.

Tong Pandie had always been sparing with words to Gu Jingzhe, but this time she repeatedly urged him to cherish and be good to Lu Zhaozhao, making Gu Jingzhe swear again in Mr. Su’s presence.

After sitting at Tong Pandie and Mr. Su’s place for a while, Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao were about to leave.

According to custom, they still needed to visit their grandparents, greet the clan members, and go to the ancestral hall to offer sacrifices.