Chapter 408 Saying Goodbye to the Past
A large number of villagers gathered in the Liu family's courtyard to watch the spectacle.
"Oh my god, how shameful! This is the first time I've ever heard of a man being divorced by his own wife."
"It's all because of that bastard Liu Kui who has done too many bad things, otherwise how could he have been caught red-handed?"
“He stole two of my family’s big laying hens before. I went to the clan chief but it was no use. Now he’s finally getting his comeuppance. He deserves it.”
"They actually stole from Lady Sui! They brought this upon themselves..."
People outside were pointing and whispering, and Chief Liu and Village Head Liu had never felt so ashamed.
The Liu family's illustrious reputation was ruined just like that.
Once Lady Sui leaves, let's see how they deal with that scoundrel Liu Kui.
The divorce papers were quickly written. Cheng Yuanyuan bit her thumb and used the blood as ink to press her fingerprint onto the divorce papers.
Zhao Sanniu pressed Liu Kui's hand down and placed it on the divorce papers.
At this point, the divorce is officially finalized.
Liu Kui was finally free. He stood up, his gaze falling on Cheng Yuanyuan, and he sneered, "You stinking woman, just you wait."
"Alright, that's enough." Liu Lizheng glared at him, then looked at Cheng Wanwan respectfully and said, "Madam Sui, now that the divorce papers have been written, is this matter considered closed?"
"Wait a minute." Cheng Wanwan picked up the glittering gold on the table. "The premise of writing the divorce letter is that Liu Kui must return all the stolen gold. San Niu, come and count it to see if it is a hundred taels of gold."
With a slight movement of her hand, the two gold ingots disappeared into her sleeve.
Don't blame her for using tricks. Trash like Liu Kui shouldn't be given a chance. Otherwise, who knows what kind of immoral and unethical things he might do next time.
Zhao Sanniu counted the gold, his expression grave: "There are only eight ingots of gold, we are still short twenty taels."
All eyes turned to Liu Kui.
Liu Kui's eyes widened suddenly: "Impossible, it's all here, I didn't hide anything else!"
Chief Liu grabbed his cane and lashed out at him: "You bastard, tell me now, where did you hide the money? Tell me!"
"I really didn't hide anything!" Liu Kui jumped up and down after being hit. "I went to sleep as soon as I got back, and these guys came before I even woke up. How could I have had time to hide any other money!"
“If you didn’t hide it, then you’ve spent it.” Cheng Wanwan picked up a gold ingot. “This is official silver, and its value far exceeds the market price. Twenty taels of gold can be exchanged for three hundred taels of silver at a money shop. Only when this money is paid up can this matter be truly settled.”
"I don't have time to spend money, I really don't!" Liu Kui was going crazy. He was always the one who could cheat, and he had never experienced what it was like to be wronged. "Cheng Wanwan, are you doing this on purpose? There is no hundred taels of gold at all. You are trying to extort me!"
"Everyone in Dahe Village knows that the imperial court rewarded my mother with a hundred taels of gold. You have no right to question that!" Zhao Sanniu's voice boomed like thunder. "Gather three hundred taels and hand them over within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, or you'll be taken to the authorities immediately!"
Chief Liu came over to plead: "Three hundred taels of silver is far too much; we can't raise that much in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn..."
Cheng Wanwan smiled enigmatically: "Even if you were given ten days or half a month, you still wouldn't be able to gather enough people, would you?"
Chief Liu was speechless. His family had saved for decades and only had a little over ten taels of silver in savings. Three hundred taels was simply an unimaginable number.
Liu Lizheng twitched the corner of his lips. After all, he was just an uncle. Asking him to help raise so much money was not something he could be so selfless about.
“Liu Kui deserves this punishment; the entire Liu family shouldn’t suffer like this,” Cheng Yuanyuan said gently. “You two have already helped Liu Kui a lot, cleaning up his messes for over twenty years. It’s time to think about the entire Liu family. Don’t offend all the Liu family members for the sake of Liu Kui.”
Liu Kui roared, "You wretched woman, you're no longer a member of the Liu family! You have no right to speak here..."
"Then I'm qualified!" Aunt Liu walked over. "Three taels of silver is fine, but three hundred taels is not!"
Aunt Liu, the second aunt, also came in with a cold expression: "He stole money to go out and live a life of debauchery, eating and drinking to his heart's content. Why should our whole family help him raise money? No way!"
"He's almost forty, and he's still causing trouble every day. It's time for the government to teach him a lesson."
"Report to the police, report to the police immediately!"
The Liu family members all came in, chattering away, and their opinions were surprisingly unanimous.
Chief Liu closed his eyes: "That's enough, I'm too old to manage this anymore, it's all up to Lady Sui to decide."
He's almost eighty years old, and his life is almost over. Then this happened. He really has no face to meet his ancestors.
"Grandpa, Grandpa!" Liu Kui cried out anxiously, "What will I do if you leave? You can't just watch me go to jail... I didn't pay any money, I really didn't pay any money, I'm innocent..."
Chief Liu shook his head, leaned on his cane, and walked out with faltering steps.
Cheng Wanwan said calmly, "Tie them up."
Zhao Sanniu didn't hesitate any longer. He and the four patrolmen stepped forward, pinned down the struggling Liu Kui, tied his hands and feet, and shut his foul mouth that kept cursing. Then they carried him up and threw him onto the carriage.
"Father..." Liu the eldest was anxious, looking at Cheng Yuanyuan with a face full of reproach, "Mother, you are really too cruel. I never thought you could be such a heartless person!"
Liu Lao Er added, "You divorced your husband in front of so many people. Have you thought about how we sons feel? If our father can't hold his head up, we sons can't hold our heads up either. How are we supposed to live our lives?"
Cheng Yuanyuan's eyes reddened slightly as she was reprimanded by her two sons.
"Big brother, second brother, you have no right to talk about Mother like that." Liu Sanmao stood in front of his mother. "When Father beat Mother, you didn't stand up for her. Now that Mother is divorcing Father, you have no right to condemn her choice. From now on, big brother and second brother will continue to be members of the Liu family, and my two older sisters and I will take Mother's surname, Cheng."
He turned his head and took Cheng Yuanyuan's hand, "Mom, let's go."
Cheng Yuanyuan took a deep look at the courtyard. When she first came here, it was just a small courtyard like this. Now that she was leaving, it was still the same dilapidated courtyard. She had worked hard for this family for more than 20 years, but it seemed that nothing had changed...
Her eyes fell on her two eldest sons, her two daughters-in-law, and her two grandsons. There was condemnation in her sons' eyes, her daughters-in-law had no expression, and the little grandsons knew nothing and were playing in the mud.
This family has truly fallen apart.
"Da Mao, Er Mao, you two have grown up and need to learn to be responsible for your own families," Cheng Yuanyuan said softly. "Be good to your wives, educate your children, and don't follow your father's path. Mom is gone this time and she probably won't come back. Take this money."
When Da Mao and Er Mao were young, they would protect her. Later, her mother-in-law told the two children that it was only natural for men to hit women, and the two children gradually became numb to it.
Fortunately, her grandmother passed away when Da Ya was four or five years old; otherwise, the three younger children would have...
She took out the wages that Cheng Wanwan had paid in advance and put them in her eldest son's hand. It was three hundred coins in total, not much, but it was the only thing she could take out right now.
"You think you can get my and Er Mao's forgiveness for this little bit of money?" Boss Liu sneered. "From today onwards, my relationship with my son is severed. You can leave now!"
Cheng Wanwan grabbed Cheng Yuanyuan's hand and said, "Big sister, it's getting late, let's go."
Cheng Yuanyuan lowered her head, held back her tears, and got into the car.
The carriage slowly walked out of Liujia Village, leaving everything from the past behind.
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