Chapter 266
Chapter 266: Picking the Soft Persimmon
Madam Kou looked down on the girlfriend that her second son had found. In her eyes, the girl was not as rich as the eldest daughter-in-law, and unlike the youngest daughter-in-law, she did not have a professor for a mother who could open doors for her youngest son.
But what she did not know was that the girl had a very capable older brother. After he found out what kind of people the Kou family were, and also learned about the background of the Kou brothers and their wives, he gave the young couple an idea.
He told them to talk tough to Madam Kou and her eldest son: if they did not hand over the money, the couple would go to the eldest son’s company and to the TV station to expose all the nasty things those two had done to their own son and his brothers.
This threat hit both of their weak spots in one blow. With no way out, the mother and son finally, though very unwillingly, returned the money that should have belonged to the second son in the first place.
Because of this, the third son made a huge fuss, forcing the eldest son to take out another sum of money to help him get married. But the eldest son also made it clear that this was a one time thing. There would be no next time, or the third son would pay for it.
From this alone, you could see that her two sons each had their own selfish plans, and the brotherly relationship had long since cracked. Only Madam Kou was still stuck in her fantasy of a loving mother, filial sons, and harmonious brothers. She aimed all her anger instead at the second son she disliked and his girlfriend.
Madam Kou sneered: “That brother and sister make it sound so nice, but they only pushed him to cut ties with us because they had their eyes on his money. He was just stupid and thought that slut really cared about him. I bet that right after he cut ties with us, they coaxed all his money out of him. Who knows where he is now, suffering and crying his eyes out. Too bad, even if he regrets it now, it is already too late.”
Du An Rao gave her a complicated look. From those words alone, she could tell that after the break, Madam Kou had never again cared about any news of her second son. No wonder she knew nothing about his current life.
She said calmly: “You only care about money, so you think everyone else is the same. I am sorry to disappoint you, but your second son was not tricked out of all his money like you imagined. Instead, he married his girlfriend. After the wedding, he turned down his wife’s idea of using that money to treat his injured finger. He chose instead to use it to take over a small shop so the two of them could run a business together.”
“Now their business is booming. They have bought a home and a car, and they have two children. Their family is peaceful and happy. His wife’s family treats him very well and sees him as one of their own, so he treats them like his own parents and is filial to them. Every weekend and every holiday, he takes his wife and children back to visit them, so they can enjoy their grandchildren and have a warm family reunion.”
“The family love he could not get from you, he finally found somewhere else. As for you, you can only work as a nanny and servant in the homes of your two unfilial sons, getting picked on and abused, living a life worse than their dog.”
Du An Rao glanced at Madam Kou’s darkening face and let out a cold laugh: “You gave birth to four children. If all four were outstanding, with good character, filial and polite, that would be one thing. Then I could at least understand your long lecture about my grandfather and grandmother not having children. I might even think you were putting yourself in their shoes and really thinking for their sake.”
“But you have had so many children and your life is still a complete mess, even worse than people who never had kids or had only one or two. How do you have the nerve to judge other people’s families?”
“An An is right!”
The Du family members reacted at once. When they recalled what this woman had just said about Du De Sheng and Du Wei Shuai’s family, then compared it with the state of her own family, they only felt it was ridiculously ironic.
Du He Xuan crossed his arms and said with a cold laugh: “Your own two biological sons cannot be relied on, yet you still expect juniors from another branch of the family to be especially filial to Granduncle. You yourself are willing to let your sons abuse you and treat you like a doormat, but Granduncle is not stupid. Why would he ignore the home of the First Branch and, like you, rush off to live in someone else’s doghouse?”
Du De Sheng thought, “…” The logic was right, but for some reason it still sounded strange.
Someone said: “Come to think of it, we sat in the front yard for so long just now and never heard anyone mention some so-called eldest nephew of Granduncle. Yet she, an outsider, knows everything about it and cares so much. Could it be that she has some connection with that eldest nephew’s family and cannot stand how good Granduncle is to Grandma Qin and our An An, so she came here on purpose to stir up trouble?”
“That is only because she is stupid.” Du Yi Han looked at Madam Kou with visible disgust.
After he went to City B, he had been busy working in the lab, but that did not mean he ignored everything outside, especially since his little sister was still out there. He paid even more attention because of that.
He had already heard a little about the grudge between Du Wei Shuai’s family and his own little sister. He did not feel that this unpopular old woman could have any real connection with that snobbish family that always flattered the powerful and stepped on the weak. The best explanation was that she was really stupid beyond saving. Maybe someone had just casually goaded her a bit, and she rushed over to jump out as the leading bird, just to disgust Du De Sheng and their whole family.
“She never had much of a brain in the first place. Would anyone with a brain rush onto someone else’s wedding and stick their face in to bring up something as big as their heirs?”
Compared to Madam Shen from before, Du An Rao actually cared more about what this Madam Kou had just said. After all, her Granduncle and Grandma Qin loved each other deeply, and it was impossible for any third party to come between them. Grandma Qin knew this better than anyone and would not overthink that part.
But what Madam Kou had just said was different. Du An Rao was not sure whether Grandma Qin would start thinking too much after hearing it. After all, not wanting to have children and not being able to have children were completely different things. If Grandma Qin really started brooding over it because of those words, would that not be…
Not to mention, this woman had also gone out of her way to bring up some people that Du An Rao already felt disgusted with.
She said coldly: “Before my grandmother and I appeared, my grandfather had already cut ties with Du Wei Shuai’s family. Your own child, who you gave birth to, raised, and taught yourself, cannot be trusted, yet you want my Granduncle to rely on juniors who have conflicts and grudges with him and who are not good people to begin with. Are you afraid that my Granduncle’s old age will be too peaceful? The worst part is that you tried to use that kind of Spring and Autumn brushwork to twist things around and dump this blame on me and my grandmother. You really have no shame.”
Although this was the first time Du Yu Xi had heard about the matter between Du De Sheng and that eldest nephew’s family, once she combined Du An Rao’s words with this woman’s outrageous speech just now, she quickly understood most of the story.
She said sharply: “Maybe it is because she herself is that kind of person. Those two sons treat her like that, yet she still thinks they are filial and sensible and can be trusted. The other two children let her take whatever she wanted and obeyed and relied on her, but she tried every way to destroy them, pushed them until they had no way out but to run away, and still thinks it is the children’s fault. Her way of thinking is really not like normal people.”
“It is not just that her thinking is strange. She likes to pick the soft persimmon to squeeze. She only dares to be fierce to the people who favor her at home, but when it comes to those who truly want to hurt her, she does not even dare to let out a fart. She only bullies the weak and fears the strong.”
“Well said!”
As soon as Du An Rao finished speaking, a sudden burst of applause sounded behind her.
Everyone turned in surprise toward the sound and saw that at some point, several middle aged and older people in formal clothes had appeared behind them.