Grandma Yu sipped her soup that had more water than oil in it and then looked at her daughter and son-in-law's bowls, naturally they had more oil in them and looked even more flavourful than hers. Even Yu Tong's bowl had a bit of oil despite her going against her parents every day, she heaved a sigh and placed the bowl on the table before licking her lips—- she was used to this treatment ever since she injured her back, her son in law would cook light flavoured food for her, saying that he was doing it for her because more oil and spices will hurt her health. 

  　　But she knew it in her heart that her son-in-law was deliberately cutting edges when it came to her because she could no longer earn as much as she used to and compared to her daughter who was the sole bread earner, she had absolutely no status in the family even though she was the matriarch. 

  　　" Caihong what is your stand on this?" asked Grandma Yu as she looked at her daughter who was taking a bite out of her savoury pork. Yu Caihong paused before she started chewing her food, she took her sweet time as she finished swallowing before she turned to her mother and answered, " Daddy is not saying anything wrong, mother. We are a family in the end, even if there were a lot of differences between us, Dong Dong and Cheng Cheng are still cousins… she can do this much for her brother, right? I mean compared to sending the mers who can bring nothing, it would be better to send her cousin who has better prospects than her mers would be a lot more fruitful, wouldn't it?" 

  　　  (I can't remember the second aunt's name, she was mentioned so little sorry)

  　　Grandma Yu stared at her daughter in disappointment and then turned to her husband who was brimming with confidence now that his daughter was on his side. " You see, even if Caihong agrees! So why not you, don't you want Cheng Cheng to become successful? Then why are you acting so stubborn? She treats you well doesn't she? If you go and ask her to give you a few hundred taels, she will not say no will she? And if she does you can always pressurise her a little, after all, you are her grandmother." 

  　　Yu Tong chuckled as she dipped her flat pancake without any vegetables or egg in it in the soup that had nothing but water before snorting. " If granddaddy thinks that you can pressurise sister Dong then you are wrong, she is not someone who will respond lightly if you try to put pressure on her in fact," she took the bite of her soaked pancake and continued, " She will just cut off every relationship with our family, we all know that the reason she is treating grandma well, isn't because she wants to be filial but because she sympathises with grandmother who is treated like this." 

  　　She motioned to Grandma Yu's soup which had no oil in it and a plate that only had residue of pork fat. 

  　　" Yu Tong, shut up if you don't know anything," snapped Qiu Bai as his eyes flickered uneasily. " Your grandmother's health is not good that's why I give her light food, it has nothing to do with me trying to cut her share, I am just worried that her body won't be able to take  it after all she is getting old." 

  　　" You know it better than anyone if you are doing it because you worry about grandma's health or there is any other reason." Yu Tong commented as she tore off the hard pancake and threw it all in her bowl because she wasn't used to eating pancakes made out of camel's skin. " But my point was that you will get nothing by pressuring sister Dong, she will not act as you want her to, stop wasting your time and maybe ask Cheng Cheng to start saving money properly, he visits those shady places every day… even though he was born with a privilege over everyone else, he shouldn't misuse it as he pleases." 

  　　Qiu Bai's expression turned awkward as he glared at his daughter. " He is still young, it's fine for him to have a bit of fun, what's wrong with it?" 

  　　"What's wrong with it?" laughed Yu Tong as she placed her bowl down with a thump. " Everything is wrong in it, I work hard every day but my salary is snatched from me before I can even keep it in my room, in the name of your brother wants this and he wants that, if he wants so many things then he might as well start working, it's not like the academy stops students from picking up odd jobs since they know how hard it is for a family to support scholars." 

  　　" Yu Tong!" Yu Caihong snapped at her daughter who curled her lips up, smacked her chopsticks on the table and walked out of the house. " Give that food to the pigs since you gave me their share anyway." She called out as she headed to the house of one of her friends working at the dock. 

  　　" This girl! She has gotten rowdier and rowdier these days!" shouted Old man Yu as he smacked the table. " What's wrong with supporting her brother? He is our family gem who will bring thousands of taels instead of us giving them out! And she doesn't  understand his worth, if only she had a mer for her brother and had to save for his dowry, she would have understood how important Cheng Cheng is!"