Xu Erya felt a surge of emotion, realizing truly that appearances can be deceiving. Her grandaunt was clearly a wicked and spiteful person, yet she had the appearance of someone kind and gentle. Yet her mother, who had a genuinely good heart, was quite unattractive, not only with her sharp, monkey-like features but also with a face that always seemed to be suffering, her smile resembling a cry. It’s no wonder the Old Madam disliked her. As Xu Erya was lost in her thoughts, Anning already grabbed her: "Erya, come here, are you feeling better? Oh, you look much more spirited today." A flash of discomfort crossed Xu Erya’s face. Anning, pretending not to notice, continued to enthuse warmly: "Erya, quickly sit down. You’ve just recovered from a serious illness, don’t strain yourself. Lan, give up your seat to your second sister; you can sit with your Grandma later." Lan promptly complied, vacating the spot for Xu Erya. Xu Erya’s expression grew even more troubled. Seizing the opportunity, Anning began to criticize Mrs. Feng: "Sister-in-law, not to criticize you, but you really don’t care enough about your child. Erya has just been seriously ill; you shouldn’t have let her come out so early. What if she catches a draft? Our mother isn’t unkind. She wouldn’t mind if the child didn’t come to pay respect. Couldn’t you have let Erya rest in her room for a few more days, bringing her meals there? You insisted on dragging the child out. If anything happened to Erya, people might think our mother is mistreating her own granddaughter." The Old Madam immediately scowled upon hearing this. "Mrs. Feng, I never thought you’d have such ill intentions, you family-wrecking harbinger of doom..." A chill flashed in Xu Erya’s eyes. She wondered why Mrs. Wen was so kind to take care of her; it turned out she was waiting here. Could it be that her grandaunt couldn’t go a day without tormenting her mother? However, Xu Erya couldn’t bear to let Mrs. Feng be scolded by the Old Madam, and hurriedly spoke out pitifully on her behalf: "Grandma, it wasn’t my mother who asked me to come; I came by myself. I’m feeling much better now; I should come and pay my respects." The Old Madam then stopped berating Mrs. Feng but still glared at her fiercely. "Oh, so our Erya is a filial child." Anning smiled and while serving food to the Old Madam remarked, "Since you’re feeling better, you can’t keep hiding in your room. Erya, these days no one at home has been cutting pig fodder. Why don’t you start doing that from today? Once the pigs are fattened, we could sell them for a good price, don’t you think?" Mrs. Feng immediately panicked: "Elder sister-in-law, Erya is still not fully recovered; how can she do such work?" Anning smiled, "Didn’t Erya just say she’s feeling better? Kids recover quickly; one day they’re burning up, and the next they’re bouncing around. Erya does look quite sturdy to me." She covered her mouth, giggling lightly: "Besides, it’s good for children to be a bit active. I’m not asking Erya to do heavy work, just to cut pig fodder. It’s not too tiring." Xu Erya couldn’t bear it any longer. She had been tolerating Anning, not wanting to start a conflict or give the Old Madam a pretext to punish her and her mother. But now, with Anning pushing her further, if she retreated any more, she would have no room left to retreat. With anger and hate, she clenched her fists: "If cutting pig fodder isn’t tiring, why not let the cousins do it? Why doesn’t the grandaunt, who rests all day at home, do it? You, an adult, don’t do it yourself but have the audacity to order me, a child, around." Xu Erya believed that when she voiced these thoughts, others would surely find her words reasonable and support her. But to her surprise, as soon as she finished talking, the Old Madam flew into a rage. The Old Madam didn’t care whether Xu Erya had just recovered from an illness or not; she slapped Xu Erya across the face and then started scolding Mrs. Feng: "You vile-hearted woman! How can I be so wicked! Is this how you teach your child? I always said your honesty and decency were all an act, and now I see I was right. Your elder brother had died, and you can’t stand your elder sister-in-law and your nephew; you’re basically forcing them into a corner with no way out..." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel⚑fire.net Xu Erya was dumbfounded; Mrs. Feng covered her face and began to sob. Anning’s face also turned cold. She sized up Xu Erya: "Erya, I really didn’t expect you to say such things. I’ve always taken good care of you, yet you target me . You know the situation our family is in. Since your uncle passed away, I’ve been supporting the main branch. I work on my embroidery day and night to support your cousins. To produce fine work and take on more contracts, I have to take good care of my hands. I can’t have calluses or let them roughen, so every month, I give some extra money to your second and third branches to help out with work. Sometimes when I buy something delicious, I bring it home for the kids. It’s all to ask for a little help in looking after your younger siblings, but..."