Zhang Zongde's attitude remained as firm and resolute as it had been the previous night: "Zhang Mushuan, you didn't make this mistake out of foolishness; your heart is rotten to the core, beyond cure."
His eyes were fixed on Zhang Laowu. "Furthermore, you are not sincerely apologizing to me today. You are only doing this because you have no other choice but to swallow your pride and put on this act."
Therefore, I do not accept your apology.
I'll say it again: from now on, don't call me Uncle De anymore.
Because you don't deserve it.
Zhang Laowu never expected that he would lower himself to such an extent, apologizing to that old man Zhang Zongde in front of the whole village.
He still refuses to forgive himself.
That old man is so shameless!
If it weren't for his high prestige, he would have thought he was apologizing to him.
The first thing that flashed in Zhang Laowu's sinister eyes was anger and malice;
Then he hurriedly and frantically called out, "De..."
“You don’t need to say anything more,” Zhang Zongde raised his hand to stop him from continuing. “For the sake of you being a descendant of the Zhang family, I’ll give you one more piece of advice: do less of these immoral and unethical things. Consider it as accumulating some good karma for your most favored and beloved Fatty.”
Zhang Laowu snorted inwardly, thinking, what's the use of accumulating good karma? He might as well take advantage of the time before he gets too old to move and squeeze more money from Zhang Jizhou.
The greed in his eyes and the dark look in his eyes had not yet faded.
Zhang Zongde shook his head inwardly. If Zhang Laowu's family continued like this, they would definitely not have a good ending.
There are gods watching over you; doing too many bad things will never be good.
Since he wouldn't listen to advice, Zhang Zongde didn't waste any more words.
The village chief took the opportunity to announce that Zhang Jizhou had severed ties with Zhang Laowu.
Zhang Zongde called Zhang Jizhou over just now to discuss whether or not to take this opportunity to announce that he and Zhang Laowu had severed their ties.
Zhang Jizhou only thought for a second before agreeing to let the village chief make the announcement.
The village chief recounted again how Zhang Laowu had abused Fang Yan and her son over the years.
He also brought back the dowry that Xue Wanxue brought when she married Zhang Laowu, as well as the allowance that Zhang Jizhou sent back every month for ten years after he joined the army.
Then he recounted what happened at the Zhang family last night, including how Zhang Laowu cursed Zhang Jizhou. "Things have come to this point, and Laowu doesn't reflect on his actions. He even wants Jizhou and his wife to kneel down and apologize, and to do something, they insist that he hand over the money to them as a bullshit guarantee."
How could he possibly treat Ji Zhou and his wife like human beings?
Just like Fatty said, Zhang Laowu is definitely using Ji Zhou and his wife as money-making tools.
This chilled Ji Zhou's heart. He also worried that after he returned to the army, Zhang Laowu's family would shamelessly take advantage of his status and bully his wife and children, just like last time. That's why he had no choice but to make the decision to sever ties with his family.
From now on, Zhang Laowu's family and Zhang Jizhou's family will have no further connection.
"Everyone in the village can see that Lao Wu is not cut out for farming. In the past, he lived off Xue Wanxue's dowry, and Zhang Jizhou was also raised by Xue Wanxue using her dowry. Lao Wu never spent a penny of his own money."
Ji Zhou served in the army for ten years, and every month he would send his allowance back to him.
Over the past ten years, I've earned at least several thousand yuan, if not tens of thousands. This sum alone is enough to repay the debt of gratitude owed to Zhang Laowu, who only gave birth to children but never raised them.
Moreover, when Xue Wanxue passed away, her dowry was all taken by Zhang Laowu.
Furthermore, Ji Zhou also promised that if Zhang Laowu were to fall ill in the future, he would be willing to cover half of the medical expenses, based on the hospital receipts. He also promised to provide for Zhang Laowu's passing.
The villagers were very averse to the idea of younger generations taking the initiative to sever ties with their elders.
They had originally planned to have a serious talk about Zhang Jizhou.
But after listening to the village chief's words, they felt that Zhang Jizhou had indeed been quite good to Zhang Laowu.
Thinking back on what Zhang Laowu did to Zhang Jizhou and his wife, it's truly disheartening.
In an instant, everyone switched their stance and supported Zhang Jizhou's decision, shouting, "We should have cut ties with that scoundrel Zhang Laowu a long time ago!"
"To indulge his youngest son in such a way, insulting the third son's family and Xiaoyuzai, I really don't know if Zhang Laowu's brain is filled with water or shit?"
"Ji Zhou is really stupid. If it were me, I would have stopped giving him the allowance long ago!"
"Also, their biological mother brought so much dowry back with her, so it should be taken back too."
...
Zhang Laowu originally thought that everyone would stand on his side when it came to severing ties with his family.
Therefore, he remained calm and composed, preparing to take advantage of everyone's insults to turn the tables on himself.
However, he never expected things to turn out this way.
He was dumbfounded and didn't know what to say for a long time.
“You poor wretches are just jealous because you’re envious of our family being richer than yours.”
Seeing that everyone was on Zhang Jizhou's side, Huang Hongmei jumped out in anger, pointed at everyone, and started cursing, "That short-lived Xue, she didn't live to enjoy her dowry. She only has herself to blame for being a short-lived ghost. She deserves to let us enjoy her dowry."
Besides, the third brother is the old man's son and Bao Cai's older brother. He has to take care of us in our old age and support Bao Cai in the future!
"Pfft... You guys are really shameless. I've only ever heard of parents raising children. The parents aren't all dead yet, so why should the older brother raise the younger brother?"
"Third brother, I support you. Even if Zhang Laowu dies of illness, you'd rather donate the money to beggars than spend a single penny on him!"
"Hey Mr. Huang, if providing for your parents in old age is the children's obligation, then how much money have the children you brought with you been giving you each year to support you in your old age?"
“This is my family’s business, it’s none of your concern.” Huang Hongmei was speechless.
"Third brother, I heard that the Zhang family are a bunch of insatiable bloodsuckers. There's something called... going to court to get the money back?"
"Yes, you should get back your allowance from these ten years. It would be better to feed the money to the dogs than to feed these vampires!"
"Yes! Third brother, get the money back. We'll do our best to help you with anything we can."
Seeing everyone clamoring to help Zhang Jizhou get money, Zhang Laowu finally came to his senses and realized that Huang Hongmei, that unlucky woman, had ruined his plans again.
Enraged, Zhang Laowu kicked her, yelling, "How could I have married such an unlucky woman like you!"
Huang Hongmei was kicked and rolled several times. In shame, anger and embarrassment, she rushed over and wrestled with Zhang Laowu.
Zhang Zongde and the village chief were too lazy to try to persuade them.
No one else was likely to try to break up the fight; they all just watched like spectators at a show.
Zhang Jizhou, along with Fang Yan, Xiao Yuzai, and Qi Bei, quietly left the open space.
"Third brother's wife, did you tell your third brother what happened just now?" Aunt De asked as she followed with her grandchildren.
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