Chapter 23: The Affairs of the Gao Family

On their way back, the two of them discussed Lin Wumei.

Jiang Pan Yu took the opportunity to brainwash Tan Yanlu: “Today was truly eye-opening. That Lin Wumei’s words and actions were utterly disgusting.”

“Indeed, even a good child would be corrupted by her,” Tan Yanlu agreed.

Jiang Pan Yu continued, “They say a virtuous wife brings prosperity to three generations, but an unvirtuous one can ruin three generations as well. We don’t know about her son, but her grandson has already been thoroughly ruined. Just look at how she treated that little girl today. Whoever marries into her family would be cursed for eight lifetimes. She’s clearly not a good mother-in-law.”

Tan Yanlu, whose intelligence remained sharp when not influenced by psychological suggestion, nodded in agreement. “They say the face reflects the heart. A person’s inner nature is revealed in their appearance. That Lin Wumei doesn’t seem like someone you’d want to cross paths with. If we ever encounter her again, it’s best to keep our distance to avoid trouble.”

Jiang Pan Yu chuckled, “Well, we don’t necessarily have to avoid her. If we could be as bold as that little girl and dare to stage an accident, we might even be able to get something out of her.”

Tan Yanlu laughed too, “That little girl was quite something.”

The two of them chatted and laughed all the way back to the Educated Youth residence, where they hung the washed cabbage to dry.

Li Yunying and Zhao Xiuzhu had already prepared dinner. Once everyone was gathered, they began to eat.

Shen Shilei didn’t join them. She took her meal in a lunchbox and retreated to her room, where her occasional sobs could be heard. However, no one paid her much attention. After all, everyone there had been through similar experiences. They knew she would get through it with time.

Dinner was a simple affair—a porridge made of mixed grains and beans, and a large pot of assorted vegetables stewed together. It wasn’t particularly appetizing, but it was edible. After a long day of labor, everyone was too tired to be picky. After the meal, those on dishwashing duty took care of the cleanup, and the rest dispersed.

When Jiang Pan Yu returned to the room, she found Shen Shilei wiping her tears with chopsticks. Her hands, unprotected by gloves, had been cut by grass blades. After washing them, she had simply applied red medicine, turning both hands red.

Jiang Pan Yu noticed that Shen Shilei’s hands trembled as she held her bowl and chopsticks. Weeding wasn’t heavy labor, but it required skill. Shen Shilei, unfortunately, had been assigned to a team of hard workers who were all focused on earning maximum work points. No one was willing to waste time teaching her, and her unlikable personality didn’t help. As a result, she had to figure things out on her own, and it was natural that she would struggle.

However, crying when others were trying to sleep was impolite.

Jiang Pan Yu, who had never been known for her patience, became even more unrestrained after regaining memories of her past life. Annoyed by the disturbance, she immediately got up, stepped over Tan Yanlu and Chen Xiaoxue on the heated brick bed, and pulled Shen Shilei out from under the blanket.

“Shen Shilei, if you can’t sleep, go cry outside. If you want to sleep, then sleep properly. If you disturb others again, I won’t be so polite.”

Shen Shilei was still dazed when Jiang Pan Yu suddenly pulled her out from under the blanket.

She had originally felt that her life was bitter, with a belly full of grievances she didn’t know who to confide in, so she had been hiding under the blanket, wallowing in self-pity!

Who would have thought that Jiang Pan Yu would suddenly yank her out, scaring away all her grievances.

Even if Shen Shilei wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, she knew that this wasn’t the time to argue with Jiang Pan Yu, as it could easily provoke the anger of others. She hiccuped and stopped crying.

Seeing this, Jiang Pan Yu also stopped holding onto Shen Shilei, let go, and walked away.

The room finally fell silent. What the other female Educated Youth were thinking was anyone’s guess, but Jiang Pan Yu fell asleep as soon as she touched the blanket, sleeping soundly through the night without any dreams.

The next day, while working, Jiang Pan Yu deliberately asked the aunties about Gao Shaolin’s family.

After all, Lin Wumei had caused quite a scene by the well yesterday, and the news had already spread throughout the village.

It wasn’t strange for Jiang Pan Yu to be curious about the Gao family now. Even in Tan Yanlu’s memories from her past life, she knew that the Gao family was difficult to get along with, especially Gao’s Sister-in-law, who always suspected that Gao Shaolin and Tan Yanlu had some lingering connection, often making veiled criticisms of Tan Yanlu.

Jiang Pan Yu wanted to start from this angle to get more detailed information and share it with Tan Yanlu later.

She wanted to prepare Tan Yanlu, letting her know what kind of den of wolves the Gao family was. She needed to subtly make Tan Yanlu aware of what kind of people the Gao family and the male lead, Gao Shaolin, really were.

The most important point was that if Tan Yanlu found out about the Gao family’s eldest son borrowing a seed, Jiang Pan Yu didn’t believe Tan Yanlu would still develop feelings for Gao Shaolin!

If, after understanding Gao Shaolin’s family, Tan Yanlu still developed a crush on him, then Jiang Pan Yu could only say that such a female lead wasn’t worth saving. After all, you can’t wake someone who’s pretending to be asleep.

As soon as Jiang Pan Yu brought up the Gao family, the aunties started chatting about them.

Yang Guiying said, “To be honest, the Gao family and Lin Wumei aren’t very well-liked in the village.

The eldest son and the younger son, Gao Shaolin, are almost 10 years apart. Do you know why?”

“Why?” Jiang Pan Yu asked earnestly.

“Because after Lin Wumei gave birth to the eldest son, she had five daughters in a row before finally giving birth to Gao Shaolin.

Those five daughters weren’t sick or unable to survive—it’s just that the Gao family didn’t want them. As soon as they were born, Old Gao threw them into South Mountain Gulch.”

Yang Guiying even explained to Jiang Pan Yu, in case she didn’t know, that South Mountain Gulch was a place with wolves.

Throwing a few little girls there—how could they possibly survive? The Gao family was exceptionally cruel.

After Lin Wumei gave birth to Gao Shaolin, she had another daughter, who was also supposed to be thrown into South Mountain Gulch.

However, it was around that time that the village started promoting gender equality, discouraging favoritism toward boys and emphasizing that women could hold up half the sky. The village didn’t allow children to be abandoned, so the Gao family’s youngest daughter managed to survive.

It was also because of the changing times that the Gao family now has a daughter and a granddaughter.

However, Old Gao is extremely biased toward boys. Under his influence, the entire family looks down on women.

Even though Lin Wumei is a woman herself, she treats her own daughters the same way. Being a daughter-in-law in the Gao family is even more difficult.

When the eldest daughter-in-law of the Gao family first married into the household, she was often bullied by her mother-in-law, especially in her younger years when she hadn’t yet conceived. She was tormented to the point of losing her human form, and it wasn’t until she later gave birth that things improved somewhat.

The youngest daughter-in-law of the Gao family, Gao Shaolin’s wife, was fair and clean when she married into the family.

However, within just half a year of marrying into the Gao family, because she hadn’t shown any signs of pregnancy, she was tormented by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law until she became as thin as a stick.

That youngest daughter-in-law finally managed to conceive, but in the dead of winter, while heavily pregnant, she went to the riverside to wash clothes and slipped into an ice hole. By the time she was discovered, both she and the baby were dead, her body frozen solid.

In the Mermaid’s memory, there was no mention of how the male lead Gao Shaolin’s first wife died, nor was there any mention of the Gao family’s tendency to torment their daughters-in-law.

Such old, hidden matters are difficult for non-locals to uncover.

Tan Yanlu couldn’t find out about these things in her previous life, so naturally, they didn’t appear in her memories.