Old Mrs. Ding was tired from nagging and was about to have a drink of water to rest when suddenly her personal maid came over and whispered a few words in her ear.
After hearing this, Old Mrs. Ding dropped her teacup on the ground with a clatter, and then shouted, "Go! Go and call your master over here right now!"
What on earth happened? Why are they selling off their family property?
A hint of mockery flashed in Madam Ding's eyes as she listened. With such a spendthrift son, it was only a matter of time before the family went bankrupt.
Unfortunately, her two children are still minors, and she, as a stepmother, is incompetent and cannot fight for anything for her children.
Soon, Master Ding walked in with a worried look on his face.
Grandma Ding quickly stood up and asked, "What exactly happened? Why are you selling your property?"
Master Ding lowered his head and replied, "My son is incompetent and simply cannot repay Ding Jun's gambling debts."
We're out of money now, and I've already sold the land in the south of the city.
But that's far from enough to pay off the gambling debts of the casino.
Moreover, his son heard that he had recently spent 20,000 taels of silver to redeem a courtesan from a brothel.
Anyway, these are the only businesses the family owns; once they're all dealt with, it'll save us a lot of trouble.
Ding Jun was the eldest son left behind by Ding Yuanwai's first wife.
When Grandma Ding heard this, her heart sank. She knew her son was always filial and would never lie to her.
But is the Ding family's vast business empire truly finished?
Moreover, judging from her son's tone, he seemed to harbor a great deal of resentment towards her.
If her eldest grandson squanders the family fortune on gambling and whoring, how can she face the ancestors of the Ding family in the afterlife?
As Mrs. Ding grew older, she felt increasingly guilty and eventually fainted.
Luckily, the nanny next to him helped him up so he didn't fall.
Immediately, the Ding household was thrown into chaos again as people rushed to summon a doctor.
A hint of satisfaction flashed in Madam Ding's eyes. If it weren't for this old woman, how could the Ding family be in its current predicament?
To Madam Ding's surprise, Master Ding did not panic. Instead, he calmly instructed the servants to feed Madam Ding water.
He then turned to Madam Ding and said, "Madam, you've worked so hard all these years. I'm sorry to you and to the two children."
Now the Ding family's assets have been squandered by that rebellious son, and debt collectors are coming to our door. I have no choice but to sell our ancestral property to pay off the debts.
But we can't touch your dowry; we still have two children, and we need to think about their future.
So now you should take the two children and leave the Ding residence.
This is probably the most touching thing that Master Ding has said to Madam Ding in all these years.
However, Madam Ding gave a bitter smile and said, "It's too late for you to say these things now, sir. My dowry has already been used to subsidize it over the years."
Master Ding asked in surprise, "How could that be? I remember you brought quite a dowry when you married into the family."
Madam Ding scoffed, "No matter how much dowry there is, it can't withstand such squandering."
Every year, the old lady would throw a lavish banquet for her birthday, and the old man, wanting to save face and receive unique birthday gifts, would spend money like water.
Master Ding frowned and said, "Wasn't that money from the household?"
Madam Ding retorted sarcastically, "All the money from the manor was given to Ding Jun by the old lady, and in the end, it was all my dowry that filled the hole."
At this moment, Old Mrs. Ding slowly woke up, glared at Madam Ding and said, "What? It's just a few taels of silver that cost you, and you're already complaining to your husband about it."
Perhaps because Madam Ding had suffered too much injustice in front of Old Madam Ding, she no longer wanted to endure it at this moment.
He said with a sneer, "The few taels of silver you mentioned are worth thirty or forty thousand taels. Since you don't care about my few taels of silver, just give it back to me. I'll take Xiu'er and Xiu'er and move out."
All these years you've taken advantage of my family's lack of support to bully my mother and me, and I've had enough.
You deserve more than half the credit for the Ding family's current predicament.
If you hadn't been so blind to right and wrong, and hadn't indulged Ding Jun and the Ding family, they wouldn't have ended up having to sell their land.
"You might not even be able to keep the ancestral home you live in now."
Old Mrs. Ding saw that Mrs. Ding was not giving her any face at all, practically tearing her face off and rubbing it on the ground.
No longer caring about maintaining his usual amiable image, he trembled with rage, pointing his finger at Madam Ding and shouting, "Rebellion! Rebellion! Utter rebellion!"
But now that things have turned ugly, Madam Ding is no longer going to care about Old Madam Ding's feelings.
Seeing that Madam Ding showed no remorse, Old Madam Ding scolded Ding Yuanwai, "Look at the good wife you married! You just watch her talk back and I don't care?"
Master Ding thought to himself that over the years, Old Madam Ding had not been very kind to Madam Ding.
His unwavering favoritism towards his elderly mother had truly broken his wife's heart. Therefore, he couldn't allow his mother to bully his wife this time; it's said that neglecting one's wife will bring ruin. Perhaps this was retribution for his actions.
So he said, "Mother is right. I need to discipline her properly. I'm divorcing her."
Upon hearing this, a hint of despair flashed in Madam Ding's eyes. It seemed that all her efforts over the years had been wasted.
However, Old Mrs. Ding hesitated, because over the years, Mrs. Ding had really not done anything wrong.
Besides bearing children for the Ding family and ensuring their prosperity, he was also quite filial to his mother-in-law, sending her all sorts of good things.
She was only so wary of her because she was worried that her eldest grandson would be taken advantage of.
Moreover, the Ding family has already declined, and if Madam Ding really leaves, it will be difficult for her son to find a wife again.
Thinking of this, Old Mrs. Ding hesitated for a moment, wanting to say a few words to ease the tension and keep Mrs. Ding there, but Mrs. Ding turned and left instead.
Even if Old Mrs. Ding wanted to persuade them to stay, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Seeing that Madam Ding had left, Master Ding quickly said, "Mother, I'm going to see if the doctor has arrived yet. You should rest for a while. Don't think too much; things can always be resolved. Even if I have to eat coarse food in the future, I will still pay off Ding Jun's gambling debts."
After saying that, he resolutely turned and left.
Even when Grandma Ding called him from behind, he didn't turn around.
Grandma Ding regretted it. She had lived a life of luxury all her life and didn't want to live such a poor life.
Master Ding followed Madam Ding back to her room and saw that Madam Ding was already packing her things.
Seeing this, Master Ding sighed and said, "I'm sorry to have wronged you."
Madam Ding sneered and said, "I wouldn't dare accept that. Keep those words to your parents."
After saying that, he quickened his pace in packing his things.
Master Ding then spoke up, "I know you're angry with me right now, but could you please listen to me for a moment?"
I just said I was divorcing you because it was for your own good, and of course, even more so for Xiu'er and Xiu'er.
Upon hearing this, Madam Ding stopped packing and looked at Master Ding, seemingly waiting for an explanation from him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com