Chapter 5
Song Zhehao thought to himself that he was too lazy to deal with this trick.
The less confident a person is, the more likely he is to resort to this kind of throwing tantrums and playing dirty.
Uncle Tao wanted to win sympathy in this way, but he didn't need to think about his reputation in the village. Even if he pretended to be pitiful, it was probably difficult for anyone to sympathize with him, right?
Song Zhehao did not say anything at first, but calmly watched Uncle Tao make a scene, letting the neighbors in the yard see his ugly appearance.
As expected! At first, everyone was just there to watch the fun, but when they saw Uncle Tao crying and rolling on the ground, they all burst into laughter and pointed and talked.
It wasn't long before everyone started mocking Uncle Tao...
A dark-skinned young man wearing a conical hat spoke first.
"Old man Tao, stop crying here. It's you who occupied their house and land, and now you're the one who's blaming them for their crimes. If your brother is really going to die, he'll definitely take you away first."
As soon as he finished speaking, another old farmer with his hair tied up in a bun continued.
"Hey! Who doesn't know that? In the past, your family's rice was so clear you could see your face in it. Ever since you welcomed your brother and sister-in-law into your family, you've become almost a wealthy family. How dare you wail here? I'm so ashamed of you."
"That's right! It's okay to take advantage of others, but you should be nicer to the orphans and widows! Look at the house you live in, it's tidy and clean, and look at how shabby the house that Grandma Tao lives in is."
"Yes! I pass by your house every day, and you curse all the time. Everyone knows that Grandma Tao takes care of all the work in your house, but you always act like you're owed something. How shameless are you?"
Many villagers came, and they usually disliked Uncle Tao's family. Now they started to talk one after another and listed Uncle Tao's faults in detail.
Uncle Tao never expected that, relying on his gray hair and old age, even if he couldn't make everyone unite against the enemy, he could at least make everyone speak for him, right?
But unexpectedly, instead of saying a word to myself, they started to criticize me?
Uncle Tao's face was a little embarrassed. He stopped crying, stood up, glared at everyone in the yard, and said unhappily, "We don't need you to meddle in our family affairs."
Then he turned around and glared at Song Zhehao, putting on a desperate attitude and said, "I tell you! Over the years, regardless of anything else, even considering that I supported your grandmother and married your mother, this land and house are what we deserve."
"I'll tell you the truth! When your grandfather passed away, he entrusted your grandmother and mother to us, and also entrusted everything in the house to us. We didn't steal it!"
"I don't believe it! You can ask your grandma if that's the case."
There is no need to ask, in the original owner's memory, Tao Hui did mention such a thing.
At this time, Uncle Tao brought up this matter to reason in order to shut Song Zhehao up. He said that it was not him who had seized the family property of his grandfather, but that it was his grandfather who gave it to him.
After hearing this, Song Zhehao burst out laughing.
"Oh? Didn't my grandfather tell you when he entrusted me with this? When my mother grows up, he'll let her find a son-in-law in the village. Then he'll give her half of the land and house and let her take care of my grandmother. The remaining half will be a thank you. But what did you do?"
"Also, my grandfather used to be a peddler. He exchanged a few copper coins for an iron cat, and later melted it down to make an iron sled. Unexpectedly, the cat turned out to be a silver cat, just painted black. He melted the silver cat into seven ingots of gold, which he kept and never spent, intending to leave them to an orphan girl and a widow to support themselves. Where did the silver ingots go?"
"What else? My grandfather originally left her a jade hairpin. He asked someone to find out about it. That hairpin is very valuable. He originally planned to use it as my mother's dowry, but I didn't expect that in the end, your daughter would marry with it."
"Let me ask again, is this my grandfather's instruction, or did your family act on their own initiative, plundering and usurping other people's property?"
Originally, these things were considered the secrets of the Tao family, and no one outside knew about them. Although Grandma Tao knew about it, she was an orphan and a widow, so she had no way to argue with others and had to rely on them for a living, so she had to bear these losses by herself.
Now, Song Zhehao revealed this matter, and everyone in the yard was extremely surprised.
Suddenly, everyone's ridicule of Uncle Tao turned into merciless abuse.
Uncle Tao looked at the people in the yard who were poking his spine, and he was so anxious that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
At this moment, Tao Dazhu somehow heard the news and entered the yard with his two sons. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted, "Who is this blind man who came to my house to cause trouble? I'll smash his legs today!"
Tao Dazhu was working in the fields when he heard someone say that someone was causing trouble in his family, but he didn't know who it was. When he entered the house and saw that it was Song Zhehao, his arrogance immediately disappeared.
Seeing the three men, Song Zhehao sneered and said in front of everyone, "As expected! It seems your family is used to bullying the weak with their numbers. Seeing someone come to your house to reason, you want to use the same trick again?"
Hearing this, Uncle Tao quickly denied it and told Song Zhehao not to talk nonsense, that this was not true.
Song Zhehao didn't want to argue with him anymore, so he immediately said, "I came here today to do two things: first, to pick up my grandma; second, to get back the things my grandpa left behind that should have belonged to our family."
When Uncle Tao heard this, he jumped up and down like someone was about to cut his flesh with a knife. He shouted, "No way! The land is mine, the house is mine, and I haven't even seen the rest of the things. If you want to take these things, you'll have to break my old bones first!"
After saying that, Uncle Tao lay flat on the ground, acting like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water.
Song Zhehao looked at it and said, "Don't try to be tough with me! Since I dare to ask for it, I'm not afraid that you won't give it to me!"
After saying that, Song Zhehao squatted down, took out a piece of paper from his arms, and placed it in front of Uncle Tao's head.
"Look carefully, this is called a petition, and it's presented to the county magistrate. It clearly states that you have usurped every penny of our family. If you don't hand over what you have usurped, then this petition will be submitted to the county magistrate, and then..."
Having said that, Song Zhehao leaned over and whispered in Uncle Tao's ear.
"You've heard about it, right? The yamen faces south. If you don't have money, don't come in. No matter if you're right or wrong, you'll be stripped of your money once you get in. Anyway, my house is just a shabby house with broken tiles, so I can't extort much money. Besides, I'm a scholar, so the county magistrate won't make things difficult for me."
"As for your family? They've made a lot of money, and it's all money earned through dishonest means. Not only will you have to pay back what you owe them, but even the money you've saved over the years will probably end up in the government's pockets. If they don't skin you three times, you'll never get out of jail. Think carefully about what you're going to do."
Hearing this, Uncle Tao's furious expression froze, his lips trembling constantly. Then he suddenly glanced at the complaint paper, quickly tore it into pieces, and stuffed several pieces into his mouth. He said with a chuckle, "Hey, hey! Now that you have no complaint paper, let's see how you're going to file a complaint?"
Song Zhehao sneered at Uncle Tao's naiveté and pointed to his head, saying, "Everything on that petition is in my head. I can go back and write another one right now, and it'll be even more detailed than this one. I think by then, your family's fate will be even worse."
Upon hearing this, Uncle Tao's face turned pale.
What Song Zhehao said just now were not the drunken talk of a drunkard. As Uncle Tao was knowledgeable and experienced at his age, he knew very well what the government had been like.
Uncle Tao had heard a lot about how wealthy families had gone to court and ended up losing everything and even their families.
If Song Zhehao really did this, then all the family business that he had worked so hard to protect would be gone.
At this time, Tao Dazhu, who had seen how powerful Song Zhehao was, slipped over to Uncle Tao's side, gave Song Zhehao a wary look, and whispered in Uncle Tao's ear, "Dad! This kid is very sinister, you'd better be careful! He's read so many books and must have seen a lot. He has plenty of ways to deal with us."
After hearing what Tao Dazhu said, this man who had always been a rough man was scared, and Uncle Tao suddenly became nervous.
Uncle Tao pushed his son away and said impatiently, "I told you to think about the bracelet, but now, instead of thinking about it, your grandson and his wife are giving away all the family property I worked so hard to build."
"What a loser!"
After cursing, Uncle Tao took a long breath and said helplessly and reluctantly: "Okay! Okay! Okay! Today, I, an old man in the world, have fallen into your hands. I accept any loss I suffer."
"But I'm telling you! Don't even think about taking possession of this land and this house! Your grandfather did leave behind a few ingots of silver, but not seven, but three. Because your grandmother lives in my house, those three ingots of silver are also in my house."
"As for the jade hairpin, it's long gone. If you want it, I'll return the three ingots of silver to you, but you have to take your grandma with you!"
After saying this, Uncle Tao looked at Song Zhehao nervously to see how he would react.
Song Zhehao paused and said softly, "Okay then!"
Suddenly, Uncle Tao was overwhelmed with joy. He had not expected Song Zhehao to agree and had always thought that he would continue to make trouble. He pointed at Song Zhehao and said, "Everyone is watching us. You can't go back on your word."
Song Zhehao said, "If you don't believe me, I can write you a written document."
Hearing this, Uncle Tao seemed quite satisfied at first, but then he shook his head like a rattle and said quickly, "No! No! We are all illiterate. If you want to frame us, where can we go to seek justice? Just swear an oath."
Only after Song Zhehao swore an oath did Uncle Tao finally agree.
After a while, Uncle Tao took out three ingots of silver, and then Song Zhehao asked Grandma Tao to pack her clothes and prepare to take her home.
Grandma Tao looked at Song Zhehao eagerly, not knowing whether she should go back with him or stay here.
Song Zhehao comforted Grandma Tao and said, "Grandma, let's go! You don't have to suffer here anymore. Our family can afford to take care of you in your old age."
Hearing this, Grandma Tao suddenly felt sad, wiped away her tears, and said in a trembling voice: "Oh!"
After witnessing what happened today, Grandma Tao knew that her little grandson had grown up and would be able to set up his own household and take care of the whole family.
Seeing Song Zhehao take the silver and then take Grandma Tao away, Uncle Tao couldn't help but smile triumphantly.
Uncle Tao sighed in his heart, he was still too young, compared to him, an old veteran, he was still far behind!
In fact, what Song Zhehao said just now was all true. The land and the house belonged to their family, the hairpin was theirs, the seven ingots of gold were real, and the matter of his grandfather's will was also real.
But all these years have passed, the hairpin has been given as a dowry to that heartless daughter, and only three ingots of silver are left. As for the land and the house, they are Uncle Tao's lifeblood, and he will not give them up unless it is absolutely necessary.
Unexpectedly, after I tricked this guy, he actually agreed.
Although Uncle Tao was extremely saddened by the loss of the three silver ingots, he was satisfied when he thought that he had saved his house and land.
However, Uncle Tao didn't know that after leaving the Tao family, Song Zhehao was extremely satisfied, and an expression of insight appeared on his face.
In fact, Song Zhehao only planned to take Grandma Tao away on this trip. As for those silver ingots, he must have spent some of them over the years. It was already very good to be able to get three silver ingots.
As for the land and the house, although they belonged to their family, Song Zhehao never thought about it.
Because, Song Zhehao knew clearly, according to the original plot, in a few years, the imperial court would come here to suppress the bandits, and the bandits would abandon their camp and flee. Before they fled in all directions, they would come to the village to rob houses.
By then, this big house will be a source of trouble, and the dozen acres of land will be even more of a disaster.
In the original plot, when the bandits came down the mountain to rob, Wen Xiaoqiu happened to be working at Uncle Tao's house. Because he was beaten by Tao Dazhu, Wen Xiaoqiu escaped that night, and Uncle Tao's family all went out to look for Wen Xiaoqiu that night.
That's why their family was spared.
Now that Song Zhehao has taken Grandma Tao away, Wen Xiaoqiu will naturally not come to his house again. When the bandits come down the mountain to harm the gentry and rich people, no one will come to save his family.
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