CHAPTER 158: CHAPTER 158: PERFORMING A PLAY

Xiao Wang cursed inwardly. ’Nostalgia’? What a load of nonsense! It’s all about that precious piece of land, isn’t it? They just don’t want to sell it to us. Who do they think they’re fooling with such a clumsy lie?

While Xiao Wang was inwardly scoffing, Sun Mei continued, "You might not know this, but just the other day, Shopkeeper Wang from Guang Ju Restaurant—you know, the one right next to your tavern—came to our home. He offered fifty taels of silver for our foundation plot."

Sighing, she said, "Ah, but my stubborn daughter refuses to sell it and has hidden the deed to our old house. We’ve been unable to find it. So, it’s not that we don’t want to help you; we simply can’t."

Zhao Chun and his wife exchanged glances, not believing a word of it. They saw Sun Mei’s story as nothing more than an excuse to avoid selling them the property.

However, they weren’t going to give up. They decided to keep pressing the matter and wouldn’t rest until they got what they wanted.

Now it was Tongtong’s turn. Feigning childishness, she pouted, "I won’t sell the old house! I’m saving it for when my big brother grows up so he can have a new house built there! I’ve hidden the deed, and none of you will ever find it, HMPH!"

Sun Mei tried to persuade her gently, "Tongtong, sweetheart, you can’t be so willful. How about you find the deed for Mommy? I’ll keep it safe for you. When your big brother is older, we can build him a house, okay?"

Tongtong remained stubborn, flailing her arms and shouting loudly, "No, no, I won’t!"

Sun Mei pretended to be angry and scolded her, "You naughty child, why won’t you listen? Don’t you realize how valuable that deed is? What will we do if it gets lost? You must bring it to me now, or I’ll give you a good thrashing!"

When Sun Mei said this, Zhao Chun and Xiao Wang, standing to the side, exchanged a look. It seems the stories about that treasure vegetable garden are true!

Mrs. Sun now looked genuinely angry. She grabbed Zhao Zhitong and smacked her bottom. Zhao Zhitong, defiant, promptly threw herself to the ground and began to employ a tactic that had proven utterly useless against her mother in her previous life: rolling on the floor and thrashing about.

It was the very picture of a naughty child throwing a tantrum.

Sun Mei, panting heavily with anger, yelled, "You child! It seems I’ve spoiled you rotten! Just see if I don’t teach you a proper lesson today!"

With that, she landed a firm slap on Zhao Zhitong’s bottom.

Zhao Zhitong’s wails grew even louder.

Just then, Zhao Dong quickly stood up, rushed over, and grabbed Sun Mei’s hand. "Don’t actually hit the child!"

Zhao Cheng, Zhao Yu, and Zhao Ya also rushed over to block Sun Mei.

Sun Mei’s eyes were red with anger. Crying, she yelled, "You’re still crying? It’s because I’ve spoiled you rotten! None of you stop me today; I absolutely have to teach this wretched girl a lesson!"

Zhao Zhitong, rolling on the ground, cried and screamed, "Mommy’s a bad person, a horrible person! I won’t give it to you! Even if you beat me to death, I won’t bring it out!"

With Zhao Zhitong crying on the ground, Sun Mei furious, and Zhao Dong, Zhao Cheng, and Zhao Yu holding her back, the scene was utter chaos.

Unable to bear it any longer, Zhao Chun and Xiao Wang exchanged glances and stood up.

Xiao Wang feigned a comforting tone. "Second Sister-in-law, don’t work yourself into a state. Children need to be taught patiently, slowly. You can’t rush these things."

Sun Mei finally reined in her anger, though her expression remained dark and her tone unfriendly. "Heh, I’m afraid I’ve made a fool of myself in front of you, Younger Brother and Sister-in-law. This child is truly too much, alas!"

Xiao Wang took Sun Mei’s hand and laughed, this time genuinely. "Second Sister-in-law, don’t be angry. She’s still young; she’ll understand when she’s older. Oh my, it’s gotten so late already! We won’t disturb you any longer today. We’ll come back tomorrow."

"Ah, alright. I’ll see you out," Sun Mei agreed, her expression still sour.

Together with Zhao Dong, she walked Zhao Chun and Xiao Wang out of the house.

Once the door was closed, Sun Mei deliberately stood in the courtyard and yelled loudly, "Still crying, are you? Just see if I don’t give you a good beating today!"

This was followed by the sound of Zhao Zhitong’s loud wails.

Outside, Zhao Chun and his wife exchanged mocking, calculating glances before heading home.

As they walked, Xiao Wang couldn’t help but gloat, "TSK TSK, look at Second Brother’s daughter, rolling on the ground and throwing a fit! She has none of the graces of a young lady. If you ask me, she’s utterly ruined!"

She snorted. "HMPH! Acting like that... And just a moment ago, Second Brother was claiming all the young girls in his family are wonderful and will have no trouble finding husbands. PAH! The only ones who won’t struggle to marry are my Yun’er and Cai’er! As for his family’s spoiled little wildcat, and that timid, unpresentable Zhao Ya from Eldest Brother’s family—they’ll be lucky to end up with a common village farmer!"

Xiao Wang wore a triumphant grin, particularly when thinking of her eldest daughter, Zhao Yun, who excelled in dance, music, and painting. Her smile couldn’t have been broader, imagining the fine, wealthy family her daughter would marry into.

Zhao Chun nodded in agreement. "Second Brother’s daughter is indeed quite something, but this works out perfectly for us. I suspect that little wildcat really did hide the deed to the old house!"

With a smug smile, he told Xiao Wang, "Children, especially willful ones like her, are so much simpler and easier to deal with than adults. Tomorrow, you go find that little wildcat. Find a way to get the deed from her!"

Xiao Wang also smirked confidently. "Don’t you worry. It’ll be no problem at all. She’s just a spoiled little brat; coax her a little, and she’ll tell you anything!"

The two deceitful people, busy with their schemes and plots, leisurely made their way home.

「Meanwhile, at the Zhao family residence.」

Sun Mei, still muttering under her breath, pressed her ear to the door to listen. Then, she whispered, "They should be long gone by now, right?"

Zhao Dong nodded. "They should be."

Zhao Cheng cracked open the door, peeked out, then closed it again. He turned to Zhao Dong and Sun Mei. "Gone. They’re gone."

Sun Mei finally let out a sigh of relief. "They’re gone at last! Heavens, I’m exhausted! So, what did you think? My acting was pretty good, wasn’t it?" She looked at Zhao Dong proudly.

Zhao Dong replied, a little exasperated, "It’s certainly much more convincing now. You nearly gave me a real fright earlier."

Sun Mei’s slap on Zhao Zhitong earlier had genuinely startled Zhao Dong. He only relaxed after reaching out and feeling the cotton padding on her bottom.

Just then, Zhao Zhitong scrambled up from the floor, trotted over, and clung to Zhao Dong, asking excitedly, "Daddy, what about me? What about me? Was my crying convincing?"

Zhao Dong scooped the little one into his arms. "Yes, you were brilliant. You really did look like a naughty child who deserved a spanking."

Then he said to Sun Mei, "Still, that was a brilliant move by you two. It got that couple to leave straight away. Otherwise, who knows how long they would have stayed."

Zhao Zhitong beamed with pride. "And my plan isn’t over yet!"