Chapter 79: New Year Greetings Incident
"I want to see the master! Let me in, why don't you let me in? I have been working diligently for the Zhou family for so many years, why don't you let me do it? Master, Master Zhou!"
Liang Jinyu heard a commotion as soon as she arrived at Zhou's door. She was cautious and didn't go over directly.
Two servants from the Zhou residence were seen escorting Old Man Chen out. Old Man Chen was struggling and shouting, wanting to see Old Master Zhou.
"Throw it out!" Zhou family housekeeper raised his hand and shouted angrily.
The two servants threw Old Man Chen out like a sack. Old Man Chen fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
"It's already a mercy of the master to let you go directly. If you still make a fuss, don't blame me for being rude. Get out!" The butler shouted with a fierce face.
Old man Chen tried to get up but failed, so he just sat on the ground and begged, "Who would fire someone during the New Year? My whole family is waiting to have dinner, and my daughter-in-law is pregnant. Butler, please be kind and say a few good words to my old man for me."
The housekeeper sneered: "This matter was decided by the Third Aunt. It's useless for you to beg the old man. If you don't want to suffer, get out of here!"
Old man Chen was in a daze. Third aunt? He didn't even know what Third aunt looked like, so how could he have offended him?
Liang Jinyu estimated that Old Man Chen would not leave for a while, so she went out the back door.
The woman who opened the door was surprised: "What is this, young lady?"
Liang Jinyu explained the purpose of her visit, and the old woman hurried in to report it and came back after a while.
"Young lady, please come with me." After the old woman came back, her attitude became even more respectful.
Liang Jinyu carried the New Year gift and walked with the old woman for a long time before arriving at the Zhou family hall.
There were several people sitting in the hall, and Liang Jinyu only recognized Mr. Zhou and Yuan Shanting.
"Miss Liang, how come you came in from the back door? But there was a blind servant blocking the front door?" Yuan Shanting stood up and greeted her.
Seeing Yuan Shanting stand up, Mr. Zhou was puzzled, but he still stood up as well.
Liang Jinyu smiled and said, "That's not the case, it's just because I happened to pass by the alley behind the back door."
Liang Jinyu made up an excuse, said some words of New Year greetings, and then handed all the New Year gifts to the maid beside her.
Not to mention Yuan Shanting, even Master Zhou didn't believe it. Just at this moment, a servant came in.
The other party was a tactless person who didn't even know that there was an outsider and he should be discreet. He shouted, "Sir, the driver named Chen is outside and he is adamant about seeing you."
Liang Jinyu's eyelids twitched, and just as she was thinking about leaving quickly, she heard Mr. Zhou's sullen face saying, "How dare he make trouble? If he hadn't been drunk, how could my En'er have gotten into trouble? What a shameless bastard!"
Liang Jinyu listened and suddenly remembered her previous life, feeling strange.
In his previous life, Old Man Chen was indeed dismissed by the Zhou family, but it was not because of drinking. According to Old Man Chen himself, someone in the mansion had a grudge against him and deliberately harmed him.
Dani also said that old man Chen was beaten to death by another man's wife because he committed adultery with that man's wife.
Since the person who committed adultery with him was not Chunniang, could it be someone in this mansion?
"Master, leave this matter to me. I will send them away immediately!" the servant standing in the corridor interrupted.
Liang Jinyu took a sip of tea and glanced at the man. He was short and thin. If she remembered correctly, she had seen this man before.
That day when she came to Zhou's house to borrow money, she saw him, Old Man Chen and another man leaving the gate together.
Liang Jinyu thought back to what she heard talking about that day and felt more and more suspicious.
Mr. Zhou impatiently sent the man away, then turned back to explain to Yuan Shanting: "His name is Wang Xiao, he has been with me for many years, and he is quite smart."
Yuan Shanting nodded indifferently. Although the Zhou family was respectful to him, he was an outsider after all and it was not appropriate for him to keep interfering.
"There is something I hope you can forgive me for." Yuan Shanting turned and said to Liang Jinyu.
Liang Jinyu came back to his senses and said with a smile, "Boss Yuan has helped me a lot. If you have anything to say, just tell me."
Yuan Shanting ordered his servants: "Go and get the things."
After a while, the servant brought a letter.
"After that day, I told my father about the girl."
Yuan Shanting smiled bitterly: "My father scolded me severely, saying that your father had done him a great favor and that he should give him ten thousand taels of silver. I only gave the girl a thousand taels of silver and asked her to write a promissory note. It was really..."
Yuan Shanting shook his head in shame and handed the letter to Liang Jinyu: "This is the IOU that the young lady signed that day. I am returning it to you today. I should have given it to you a long time ago, but I didn't know where the young lady lived, so I kept it."
It's impossible not to be surprised. This is one thousand and two taels of silver, and they just gave it away like that.
As expected, the Yuan family is one of the three richest families. They are indeed rich.
"I can't accept this." Liang Jinyu declined. "I came here to ask for help because I was desperate, but this is not to repay a favor. I think my father would have helped someone else if the person buried in the snow was someone else."
Yuan Shanting looked at the letter, hesitated for a moment and said: "Since the young lady is unwilling to accept it, then if the young lady has any difficulties in the future, just come to Zhou Mansion to find me. Although Yuan is just a businessman, I will definitely help if I can."
Liang Jinyu said gratefully: "Boss Yuan's words are worth a thousand gold."
Yuan Shanting waved his hands and said, "Miss, you are too polite. By the way, where do you live now? If you don't have a place to live, I can arrange it for you."
"No need, I have already bought a house in the city."
As he was speaking, a scream suddenly came from outside.
Mr. Zhou scolded unhappily, "What's the matter?"
The servants hurried out to check, and Yuan Shanting's face looked a little ugly.
Seeing this, Liang Jinyu pretended to hesitate and said, "There is something I don't know whether I should tell you or not."
"Just tell me what you want." Yuan Shanting said.
Liang Jinyu then told the Zhou family about the last time she saw old man Chen. She only said what she heard and saw. As for whether there was any connection between them, the Zhou family needed to investigate it themselves.
"That's impossible. Wang Xiao is a house-born boy who has always been with the old man. How could he be so close to a coachman?" the old woman serving nearby questioned.
Mr. Zhou slammed the table in anger: "How dare you, Wang Xiao, hide such an important matter from me!"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Shanting thought for a moment, then called his personal servant and whispered a few instructions.
After hearing this, the other party immediately ran to the backyard.
At the same time, Wang Xiao came in from outside with a look of wanting to take credit: "Master, the matter has been resolved."
Mr. Zhou frowned and stared at the other person.
Wang Xiao quickly realized that something was wrong and asked stutteringly, "Grandpa, what did I do wrong?"
"Kneel down before me!" Mr. Zhou shouted angrily.
Wang Xiao shook his head innocently and knelt down.
"Let me ask you, who was drinking with Lao Chen that night?" Mr. Zhou questioned.
Wang Xiao's eyes flickered: "Master, I don't know about this."
"You still dare to quibble. I don't think you will cry until you see the coffin. Someone come here!" Mr. Zhou shouted.
Wang Xiao was so frightened that he immediately fell to the ground and confessed: "Master, it was Lao Xu!"