For a moment, the living room fell into silence. Some bowed their heads, some stared at each other in silence, some stood there speechless. Apart from Old Lady Lin, who had a sullen expression on her face, no one dared to speak.
Zhou Jiao had been looking at Old Lady Lin with a smile on her face, but now she saw that she finally couldn't hold back her smile and started to frown.
She smiled and said, "Grandma, you're not going to be angry, are you? Please don't. If you get so angry that you end up in the hospital, my mom will probably punish me when I get home. Don't be angry. Money is just something outside of your body. You can't bring it with you when you're born, and you can't take it with you when you die. Don't be nervous. I won't take your private money."
As she spoke, Mrs. Lin's face became increasingly gloomy. She said angrily, "Don't. Brothers should settle accounts clearly! You'd better settle it clearly. I will pay back not a cent less of what is owed to your Zhou family."
"Look, look, they say old children have quick tempers. You must have misunderstood. What's the Zhou family? My mother's last name is Lin." Zhou Jiao smiled unmoved. She secretly despised the other person in her heart and would see if he was stubborn later.
Old Master Lin sighed secretly and said, "My dear, don't say such angry words. Look at how good-tempered Jiaojiao is. If it were someone else, they would have died long ago."
"I didn't say that out of anger. Jiaojiao, can you tell me how much I owe your family? I'll pay it back as soon as possible so your dad doesn't look down on me every day."
When Zhou Jiao heard that she dared to blame her father, the smile on her face immediately faded. She said in a deep voice, "My father has done nothing wrong to you. Don't try to involve him. Since you keep asking me to settle the account, then fine. I'll tell you the amount, and it's up to you whether you pay it or not."
She then took out a piece of letter paper from the coffee table. As she wrote, she continued, "My family's savings at the time were less than $9,100. Calculating this as $9,080, with 17 years of interest plus principal, I don't know what the interest rate was in the past, but I've heard the highest annual rate was 12%. I'm not counting high interest rates, so I'll just use the lowest rate in recent years—this year's bank fixed-term interest rate of 7.92%.
$9,080, calculated with compound interest, has a 17-year interest of $12,225.31, plus the principal, which totals $21,305.31. After deducting the deduction, there's still $21,300. You paid back $10,000, and I still owe you $11,300.
Finally, there's my mother's savings. Her eighteen years of salary plus subsidies. I heard from her that she made over 50,000 yuan last year, and you paid her back 20,000 yuan. She still owes me 30,000 yuan.
This is the list, can you see if there is anything wrong with it?"
Mrs. Lin's eyes widened in shock as she spoke, and she recalled in disbelief. Suddenly, she remembered that she had indeed received considerable interest on several occasions. She immediately retorted, "You can't calculate interest like that."
Zhou Jiao nodded at her and said, "That's not the way to calculate it. If you calculate it based on an average annual interest rate of 10%, it would be much higher. After all, you are my grandmother. Of course, I don't really want to calculate it clearly. It's understandable that you always embezzle money when you need it urgently."
At this moment, everyone in the room was stunned as if they were struck by lightning.
Zhou Jiao's list went from top to bottom and finally returned to Mr. Lin.
Li Jianjun looked at Zhou Jiao with admiration. This girl's soft knife was enough to make the Lin family feel very frustrated. You say this calculation is wrong, but it's really hard to explain. She calculated every detail perfectly.
If Zhou Xiaozheng said anything wrong, she would settle the score with the old lady. If she provoked her again, Lin Lishan's savings certificate would probably become 100,000. He finally understood why his father-in-law praised her so much - so smart!
He sat there quietly, watching Mr. and Mrs. Lin and Zhou Jiao, waiting to see how they would end. At this point, he could no longer care about his wife. Lin Liying was not much better than him, staring blankly at Zhou Jiao.
Old Man Lin held the list in his hand, looked around, and suddenly burst into laughter. He winked at his wife, whose face was livid. Seeing that she understood, he gave him a look.
He smiled and said, "Since you've figured it out, I'll give it to you. I heard from your mother that this is all your private money. We don't dare owe you anything. If we don't, it might triple in a few years."
Zhou Jiao glanced at Old Lady Lin, but didn't refuse. She just smiled and said nothing. Whoever holds the money has the right to speak. It wasn't her grandfather's turn to make the decisions in the Lin family.
After a while, the Lin Aiguo brothers finally stood up and walked outside, and then many members of the Lin family followed them out.
Zhou Jiao saw that only Mr. Lin and his wife, Lin Liying and her husband, and herself were left in the living room. Seeing that Mrs. Lin was still motionless, she stood up and said with a smile, "It's okay, I'm leaving."
Mrs. Lin stared at her, and when she saw that she was really about to leave, she said, "Come back to the room with me, and we'll talk."
Zhou Jiao looked her over, then pursed her lips and nodded, following her into the bedroom. She left behind Mr. Lin, who bowed his head in silence, and the embarrassed Lin Liying and her husband.
In the bedroom, Old Lady Lin sat on the bed, staring at Zhou Jiao, who had walked in without even saying hello. She recalled the many times she had met Gu Mingzhu, who had also treated her with such indifference—as if she were the offspring of that bitch, three generations of her had the same moral character!
"At that time, one dollar was equal to one gram of gold. Based on the market price at the time, $11,300 converted into gold was exactly 22.6 kilograms. I'll settle the account with your mother for the $30,000."
Zhou Jiao nodded. She had no objection. It didn't matter if she didn't give it to him. She had other uses for the money anyway. As for her mother's money, she could just let them deal with it themselves.
Mrs. Lin counted out a box of gold with a painful heart, and she cut the last ounce of gold in half with a pair of large scissors to make up the difference.
Zhou Jiao looked at the remaining gold with a smile. She guessed the old lady still had quite a bit. What a miser! She was used to taking advantage of others.
Finally, for some strange reason, Mrs. Lin picked out a set of gold and jade jewelry from her jewelry box and handed it to Zhou Jiao, which surprised Zhou Jiao - this old lady really did not follow the ordinary path.
Zhou Jiao carried the suitcase, and the old lady returned to the living room with two large boxes of jewelry. With a smile on her face, the old lady asked Lin Liying to call them in and asked Zhou Jiao to sit down first.
Come on—it was only then that Zhou Jiao realized that old age was still the best. No wonder she'd given her entrance fee in advance; it turned out the old lady was going to perform. Sigh…was there any need to sugarcoat the situation?
As soon as everyone from the Lin family came in, they saw the old lady in the living room waving at them with a smile on her face. Mr. Lin was chatting and laughing with Zhou Jiao beside her. They were immediately very happy - it seemed that the problem was solved.
So kids, you are too young! The veteran actors are getting into the role again.
"Okay. Jiaojiao and I just made an agreement. I don't have anything on hand, so I can only let her in. Luckily, she is my granddaughter, so I will give her some as a token of my appreciation. Now I still have these two boxes of jewelry, and I have no use for them when I get old. Since we are dividing the family property today, I will give them to you. Don't ask me for them again in the future."
Zhou Jiao smiled at this. Where would her mother get the thirty thousand yuan? She said nothing, just watching the other man perform, his descendants supporting him. She believed there was more to come.
"Before I divide the food among you, I have to pick some for Shanshan first. Thanks to this child's help over the years, our family has been able to live a good life. Jiaojiao, you pick first." Old Mrs. Lin looked at Zhou Jiao with a loving face.
Zhou Jiao knew she was reluctant to part with the gold, which could be exchanged for cash, and planned to compensate with jewelry. While jade is priceless, she knew these items were incredibly cheap these days—thirty thousand yuan could buy an entire living room. She thought the old woman had a bad character. She had just said she'd settle the score with her mother, but now she was backtracking.
"You choose," Zhou Jiao said resolutely. Picking wool? If you can, divide up all the remaining gold. This petty-mindedness is really annoying.
Mrs. Lin said to her husband with a hearty laugh, "Look, this child is really polite. Jingru and Xiaoyu, what do you two sisters-in-law think of me leaving a box for your eldest sister?"
Chen Jingru glanced at Zhou Jiao, nodded, and said, "Of course. Mom, can you give Jiaojiao my gold?"
"No need. Just keep that for yourself. I'll give Jiaojiao more when I have the chance." Old Mrs. Lin said quickly.
Zhou Jiao smiled knowingly. This aunt-in-law was quite understanding. What a pity. The fact that she had helped her daughter conceal the matter of Zhao Chuangguang had made her lose hope in anyone in the Lin family.
Jiang Jiangyu didn't bother to reply to the old lady. She took advantage of the moment to linger beside Zhou Jiao. She gently kicked the suitcase with her toes and whispered in her ear, "How much did she pay you back?"
Zhou Jiao didn't bother to pay attention to this idiot. She avoided her and shook her head. Such obvious movements, looking at who is the fool? Everyone in the Lin family knew that most of the money was spent on this idiot, and they were still restless.
After Zhou Jiao saw the old lady distribute the jewelry, she stood up and said, "Grandpa, I'm going back to see the children first. Give the things that were distributed to my mother to her personally."
Li Jianjun stood up and said, "I'm sending Jiaojiao back. I just want to talk to my brother-in-law about something."
Seeing the old man nod, Zhou Jiao said hello to everyone and followed him out.
After leaving the yard, I saw Zhang Guoqing coming over from a distance. Seeing Zhou Jiao, he immediately ran over, looked her up and down, and seeing that she was fine, he smiled and said, "Why are you so late? Uncle, come with me. I brought back some goodies, let's have a drink."
"Okay. I have to go and see what good stuff it is. Come here, my weight has increased rapidly. Aren't you going to visit guests, why are you eating and taking things?" Li Jianjun said with a smile.
Zhang Guoqing looked at him, gave him a thumbs-up, and praised him: "Uncle, you can eat as much as you want, but you are still very handsome. This figure is definitely this. What kind of guest is this? It's an old friend. I saw someone give him Sichuan Laojiao and took it home directly. I heard my dad say it's a century-old Laojiao. Isn't it awesome?"
Zhou Jiao covered her mouth and laughed, "Brother, you're famous for grabbing good wine when you see it. Why didn't Uncle Liu guard against you?"
"Uncle Liu still has a small jar. When Aunt saw it, she almost asked me to bring that jar back. They're taking the train tonight, and Aunt was worried it would be difficult to carry. Oh, and Aunt asked us to go home and visit her."
Zhou Jiao nodded. She would definitely visit him when she returned to the provincial capital.
"Are you back? Sit down and rest. Did they give you any trouble?" Zhou Xiaozheng asked hurriedly as soon as he saw his daughter.
Hearing this, Li Jianjun burst into laughter. "Brother-in-law, you underestimate Jiaojiao. You've heard of compound interest, right? Here, here's the evidence! It's a pity you weren't there tonight."
Zhou Xiaozheng took the box but didn't open it. He weighed it, glanced at Zhou Jiao, and waited for her explanation.
"9,080 yuan principal, compounded annual interest rate of 7.92%. A total of $21,300. Here's the 11,300 grams of yellow croaker I'm paying you back. Mom, don't count it. Grandma doesn't want to settle the 30,000 yuan with me. You'll have to go to her to settle it. Dad, tomorrow you can give half to Grandma Song to donate to the charity." Zhou Jiao was amused to see her mother happily counting on her fingers. She pulled the list out of her pocket and handed it to her. She had secretly taken it before leaving, fearing that she might leave evidence.
Zhou Xiaozheng laughed happily and said, "Okay. Let's make your Grandma Song happy again. Xiaowu, come over with your uncle and have a drink. Shanshan, you and Jiaojiao, don't pack your things. While Ping An is sleeping, come over and drink your red wine. Oh, this is a good day, we should celebrate."
Li Jianjun burst into laughter. He hadn't expected Zhou Xiaozheng and his daughter to be so generous, donating half directly. His mother-in-law would probably be pissed if she found out.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
