Before Su Tang even made it home, the orange cat came back first. It said directly to Su Tang, 'Today Su Nuo wore his new clothes and went outside. Many people saw it so they began to gossip like 'They just started living on their own, so where did they get the money for clothes?' and Madam Wu said that she had lost thirty copper coins, so...'
The orange cat had sighed to himself when he had found out what happened. It was just like he always said, 'No matter what time, space, or background, the two-legged animal was always a very terrible and dark creature'.
Back when Su Tang and her brother had been adopted into Su Laochuan's household, Su Yonggui and Madam Zhao had actually been pretty happy about it. And, even though the people in Sujia Village knew that it would not be easy for the sister and brother pair after the adoption, no one had raised any objections. That was because this sort of adoption was actually not that rare in the village, whenever a family had no heirs to carry on their line, they would usually adopt a child from one of their relatives.
It was just that in most cases the adopted children would be nephews, cousins, or the like. Su Laochuan adopting such a distant relative this time was a little out of the ordinary but, in any case, the adoption had already been completed so no one had anything to say.
After all, everyone had their own lives and their own personal business. However, before they were adopted, Su Tang and her brother had always worn what were basically rags. Although they were washed clean, they were still obviously very shabby, which was why everyone was always talking about Madam Wu back then, saying that she was not good to the children of the previous wife.
Because of that, Madam Wu had spent a long time feeling like she was under constant attack from her neighbor's remarks but without any ability to respond. Over time a large grudge had accumulated in her heart but, unfortunately, there had never been any opportunity to vent that grudge. However, today a chance had finally appeared: Su Nuo had worn new clothes when he went out to play with his friends.
Dongzi and Huzi were also very poor so when they saw Su Nuo wearing new clothes they couldn't help but envy him. But children were simple and they did not think too much about it. Adults, on the other hand, naturally had some thoughts when they saw Su Nuo in his new clothes.
For instance, when Chen Xiuxiu saw what Su Nuo was wearing, she immediately went and told Madam Wu about it. She even went on to say that although the clothes were for two small children, the price of the material alone would cost at least twenty copper coins, and that wasn't even mentioning the fine craftsmanship.
Because they were so well made, some of the villagers speculated that Su Nuo's clothes must be ready-made clothes that he had bought from town, and the price of those kinds of ready-made clothes was known to be very expensive. So how could two children, who had only been separated from their old family for a few days, have enough money to buy new clothes in their hands?
Madam Wu instantly took advantage of this opportunity to say that she had some money in her room that had been 'lost', heavily implying that Su Tang or her brother had stolen the money from her. The village was only so big, so the news spread quickly, and when Su Tang came back from the town also wearing new clothes, the villagers began to point and talk.
Heh, that Madam Wu could just say something casually, and she and Xiao Nuo instantly became a pair of thieves? Su Tang sneered inside.
She had always known that Madam Wu would not just let them go so easily. After all, she had originally intended to kill Su Tang and her brother, so now that they survived, even if they're reputation for having an adverse fate was cemented, it wasn't enough for a person like Madam Wu. If they had really died then, in a few years, maybe everyone would just forget that a sister and brother had been tortured to death by Madam Wu, and maybe no one would even remember the first wife, Madam Liu, anymore.
But Su Tang and her brother did not die. Not only did they not die, they actually began to live well, much better than they had been before. Just their existence was an intolerable reminder for Madam Wu. As long as the villagers could see the siblings every day, they would all remember how those two children were adopted by Su Laochuan's household, but they would also remember who their real parents were and how they came to be adopted in the first place.
Those two were like two huge living pillars of shame that would always serve as a constant reminder to Madam Wu and the other villagers. As long as that sister and brother pair were still alive, Madam Wu always felt like she was on pins and needles. Whenever she saw that their lives were getting better, it made her feel like hot ants were crawling around in her guts, and whenever she remembered those two were still breathing, her heart would be full of unhappiness.
So it was plenty worth it to lose thirty copper coins to corner those brats. Just by spending a few coins, so long as the two children could not explain the origin of their clothes, they would become thieves reviled by everyone in the village. Plus, incidentally, Madam Wu would be able to 'reclaim' those nice clothes and sell them or pass them to her own children.