Chapter 7 Who is the Sucker?
On the yellow mud road at the entrance of the village, the second and third sons of the Chen family were carrying Wang Shuanzi one after the other and were hurrying back, followed by a few unfamiliar faces.
As they got closer, a woman recognized them and said, "They look like Wang's family. Wait and see. This is going to be a good show."
Seeing the Wang family heading to the Chen family in a mighty manner, several women could no longer sit still, and hurriedly put away their shoes and followed them.
When the villagers saw the fight, word spread quickly, and in a short while, everyone who had time to spare in the village ran to Chen's house.
"Chen Youshun! Chen Youshun, get out here!"
The one who was shouting was the old man of the Wang family. He was over fifty years old and his face was full of age spots, but his voice was still loud.
Old Man Chen and Mrs. Wang heard the noise and came out of the house one after another. When they saw the Wang family filling the yard, Old Man Chen's face changed.
"Shuanzi, Shuanzi." Wang ran over crying, but before she could touch Wang Shuanzi, she was pushed out by the old lady of the Wang family.
"You don't need to be so hypocritical. What were you doing before? Why did I give birth to a heartless, money-loser like you? Don't touch him!"
"Mom, this has nothing to do with me. It's all Liang's fault. It was that bastard who instigated her brother to do it!" Wang pointed towards the kitchen.
Liang Jinyu came out holding a spatula, her expression calm: "I can't stand hearing what mother said. There were so many people present at the time, and everyone heard it clearly. It was father who said to catch the thief. Who knew that the thief would be my uncle? If you had admitted it earlier, my uncle wouldn't have broken his leg."
Many villagers who were joining in the fun outside the yard followed to catch the man, and they nodded in agreement when they heard this.
"Yes, at that time I heard Lao Chen shouting, 'Catch someone, catch someone.' Who knew they were their own relatives?"
"Wang is guilty and dares not speak out, so he hurts others and himself."
"......"
Listening to the voices around him, the old man of the Wang family looked livid: "It's no use saying this now. Chen Youshun, if you still recognize me as your father-in-law, just tell me what to do about this matter."
Old Man Chen glanced at Wang Shuanzi on the stretcher and asked Chen Laicai, "Second Brother, what did the doctor say?"
Chen Laicai hesitated: "It's just a fractured bone, but it's not a broken bone. After some time of recuperation, I can still walk."
"Bullshit, he can still walk even if he limps, but how can he be the same as a normal person?" The old man of the Wang family scolded, and then said, "My family finally arranged a marriage for him, and it seemed that the marriage was about to be completed. Now he has become like this. Do you want my Wang family to be extinct?"
Old man Chen couldn't bear such a serious crime, and said with a dark face: "Dad, this can't be blamed on my family. Shuanzi ran away on his own at the time, and we didn't expect it to turn out like this."
"Bah! If you hadn't chased him, how could he have escaped? Now his legs are broken and his wife is gone. If you don't take responsibility, who will?" The old lady of the Wang family asked harshly.
Seeing the Wang family's aggressiveness, Old Man Chen immediately lost his temper: "So what do you want to do?"
"For the sake of Shuanzi's sister, twenty taels of silver can be used to find Shuanzi another wife, and the rest will be for medical expenses." The old man of the Wang family was not vague and directly named the price.
When these words were spoken, everyone present gasped.
"You're asking for too much. The Chen family can't earn more than 20 taels in the whole year." Chen Dani poked her head out of the kitchen and said with a sigh.
Liang Jinyu lowered her eyes and thought, the Wang family came prepared and would not stop until they got the money. But the Chen family was not a pushover and would never compromise.
Since neither party wants to suffer a loss, the loss must be borne by others.
Thinking of this, Liang Jinyu hurriedly waved to Dani and whispered a few words in her ear.
Chen Dani just looked at her in surprise, without asking any more questions, she bent her body and sneaked into the main room.
As expected, Old Man Chen refused to pay, saying that the grain was not sold at a high price this year and that the family had no money. He also said that the man was not injured by the Chen family, so even if he wanted money, it would not be paid to the Chen family.
Wang was indeed a person who had just slept in a quilt. She immediately understood what old man Chen meant and quickly replied, "Liang Dingfang beat him up, so the money should be paid by her surname Liang!"
Liang Jinyu sneered in her heart, she knew it was like this, even if the situation had changed in this life, the Chen family was still the same.
"I don't have any money either." Liang Jinyu replied in a neutral tone.
"Who are you kidding? You clearly told the boss that as long as he helps you——"
"Mom!" Chen Lai Fu interrupted Wang hastily, then turned around and glanced at Liang Jinyu nervously, fearing that he would make her unhappy.
When other people saw this, they all said that Chen Lai Fu was afraid of his wife. Look what an honest man he is.
"Help me with what?" Liang Jinyu asked coldly.
At first, she didn't have to marry Chen Lai Fu. It was Chen Lai Fu who said that she had done him a favor, so he swore to keep her secret and give her a place to settle down.
But she never liked to owe favors to others, so she promised Chen Lai Fu that as long as she got the household registration certificate, she would give him 100 taels of silver as a reward.
Now it seems that the Chen family has been eyeing the money for a long time.
Come to think of it, if she didn't have that money, why would Wang agree to let her marry into the Chen family?
"No, it's nothing. My mother was angry and said nonsense. Don't take it to heart." Chen Lai Fu said hurriedly, his honest face full of helplessness.
In the past, Liang Jinyu would have felt guilty seeing Chen Lai Fu like this, thinking that she had caused him trouble, but now she only felt disgusted.
"My brother and I fled here. We are lucky to be alive. How can we have any money? Besides, I am the wife of Chen family now. If you want money, you can ask Chen Laifu. He is my husband and all the money in the family is with him."
After saying this, Liang Jinyu simply went back to the kitchen to avoid seeing it.
When the Wang family heard this, they had no intention of agreeing, and the two sides started arguing again.
"Sister, have I gotten into trouble again?" Liang Dingfang looked up and asked when he saw her come in.
Liang Jinyu comforted him, "How could that be? You took action because you listened to me."
"But didn't my sister say that we must not take action at any time? Will they report to the government?" The firelight from the stove reflected in the boy's light brown eyes, revealing fear and uneasiness.
Liang Jinyu was slightly startled, and her heart felt as if it was pricked by a needle, causing a sharp pain.
She lived a miserable life in her previous life, and Ding Fang also suffered a lot of injustice. He was obviously doing the dirtiest and most tiring work, but he was looked down upon even when he could eat. He had no idea how many times he had been whipped by Old Man Chen, both openly and secretly.
Later, Chen Lai Fu raped her. She knew that the Chen family would not let her go, so she gave up.
She wanted Dingfang to leave alone, but he refused because he was worried about her.
On the day she died, Dingfang went to the mountains with the villagers to find food. He said he wanted to kill a pheasant for her to nourish her body.
The weather was so cold and the snow was so heavy that Liang Jinyu couldn't even imagine how desperate he would be when he came back and saw only her cold corpse.
"I got the things." Chen Dani tiptoed into the kitchen and interrupted Liang Jinyu's thoughts.
"Mom, mom, where are you doing?" Chen Lai Fu's voice came from outside.
"Don't stop me. It's her own fault. Why should we, the Chen family, be held responsible? Get out of my way!"
Liang Jinyu glanced outside and saw Wang running into her room angrily, followed by the sound of rummaging through drawers and cabinets.