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Chapter 11: Private Money
When Su Zhi appeared in the spring water, the first thing that came into view was the white lotus flowers. Those lotus flowers were particularly fresh and charming. Although they were not as magnificent as peonies, they looked noble and otherworldly. Usually Su Zhi liked to admire them. Today, when she saw them, she could not help but feel delighted. She went up and put her face close to the lotus flowers and kissed the delicate petals. She thought to herself that the lotus flowers grown in spring water were just good, so delicate and fragrant. No wonder the flowers grew so well.
After kissing the lotus, Su Zhi squatted down, looked at the spring and said, "Spring, spring, I really underestimated you before. You are really a pool of spiritual spring. My good life in the future depends on you. But don't worry, I won't waste it casually, and I won't let you be discovered. We are one."
Su Zhi was happy here, and Shen Zian was also in a good mood over there, with smiles on his lips.
"Hey, fourth brother, you are in a good mood. What's the matter? Did your sister-in-law prepare something delicious for you? I saw that you have smoke. I wonder what delicious food you prepared. Even if you don't give it to us, you should at least send some to our parents."
Sun was carrying the dishes out, and when she saw Shen Zian, she said in a shrill voice that she really hated Shen Zian now. If her husband hadn't been pretending to be sick, and the weather was getting colder day by day, they would really have to collect firewood and fetch water for Shen Zhu every day, and also provide her with a bath tub. If that happened, all the firewood and water in the house would have to fall on their own side. After all, if they had time to collect firewood and fetch water for Shen Zhu just for a bath, why couldn't they collect firewood and fetch water for the family to cook and wash clothes?
But even so, their third branch also put in twenty cents. That was what Shen Zhang wanted. She said that since they dared to agree to Shen Zhu, they should be able to pay for the bucket, so she asked them to pay.
Sun cried and made a fuss, saying that she had no money. Wang said she would go to their room to look for it. Shen Zhu's face turned ugly, and Shen Ziju was also watching. Sun didn't want to offend so many people, especially Shen Ziju, who would most likely be the eldest master in the future. In the end, she could only bargain and offered twenty coins. Wang also ridiculed them for hiding private money. She could only say that it was given to her by her parents, but who would believe it? Her parents were just as stingy as she was, and they also stingy with her daughter. She only took things from her husband's family to her parents' home, but never brought anything back to her husband's family.
Twenty cents! A pound of fatty pork is only seventeen cents, which can buy twenty eggs!
The more Sun thought about it, the more distressed she felt. She had saved a lot of private money over the years, but twenty cents was not a small amount. She felt bad about spending her own money, and her heart bled when she took it out!
Sun hated Shen Zhang, old man Shen, Shen Zhu, Shen Ziju, and Wang, but she hated Shen Zian and Su Zhi the most. If Su Zhi hadn't taken a bath for no reason, why would she have mentioned this? If Shen Zian hadn't pushed this matter to her, how could the twenty cents have gone out? !
Sun Shi didn't think about her own mistakes at all, and only thought about the mistakes of others. She would usually say a few sarcastic words to Shen Zian whenever she saw him, and now she was even more aggressive.
Wang listened at the side without saying a word, but she was thinking about her own things.
Now Su Zhi doesn't use the public treasury's money to see a doctor or take medicine, but she used to spend a lot, almost draining out most of it. And if Shen Zian doesn't have enough money in the future, even if the Shen family says they don't care about them, they will eventually pay for their reputation. The Shen family can not think about the family's reputation for those young people who haven't married yet, but they can't help but think about Shen Ziju, who will take the imperial examination in the future, and the current court still attaches great importance to family traditions.
Wang Shi didn't hate Shen Zian, otherwise she wouldn't have thought of marrying her aunt's cousin to him. She was a little unhappy when Shen Zian rejected her sister, but Shen Zian did it for the engagement, so she couldn't do anything about it. But now she was very dissatisfied with him as her daughter-in-law. If they lived together, a sickly woman would sooner or later bring trouble to the Shen family. They couldn't get away from each other, so she had to think about the children.
Wang had this idea, so she always kept silent when Sun was looking for trouble with Shen Zian. She thought that Sun could get Shen Zian and his wife out of this house, so that she wouldn't have to worry about filling a bottomless pit for them all day. Now she heard Sun say that Shen Zian and his wife had eaten well, and she thought so even more.
Li was serving dishes at this time. Seeing and hearing this, she looked at Shen Zian with some worry. She knew that Shen Zian's marriage to such a daughter-in-law made his family hate him. Now he could keep the money he earned and eat a special meal with his wife. This made some people in the Shen family envious and jealous. In fact, she was also envious. Who doesn't want to keep the hard-earned money in their own hands? Who doesn't want to give their loved ones something good to eat? But she didn't vent her anger on Shen Zian like others did. Shen Zian was a good person, and she was also worried about this brother-in-law.
"Third brother's wife, what are you talking about? It's time to have dinner at home, so why would my fourth brother and his family cook? I think they are just boiling water. Fourth brother, my fourth brother's wife looks much better."
Li is trying to find a way for Shen Zian to succeed.
When Shen Zian heard Li mention Su Zhi, his unhappy mood improved a little and he said, "She is much better. She is no longer itchy and the spots on her body have not spread any more."
"That's good. Fourth brother, take the food back quickly. Don't let her go hungry. People get anxious easily when they are hungry, which is not good for her condition."
Shen Zian nodded, took the food and left. When he passed by Sun, he said, "Third sister-in-law, if you are so filial, you can go and pay your respects to your parents in person. I remember that you went to the Li family embroidery shop at the last market, and I heard that you made a lot of money that time."
Sun's face turned pale, and she quickly glanced at Wang and said in a sharp voice: "What nonsense are you talking about? You must have seen it wrongly, I didn't go there. You are wrongly accusing me!"
"You can find out whether you have been wronged or not by going there and asking. By the way, you can only ask Madam Li who collects embroidery there. Your embroidery only passed through her hands."
After Shen Zian finished speaking, he ignored Sun and left sick. Originally, he didn't want to care about women saving private money. He had done this before, and it can be said that no one in this family didn't do this. This matter is excusable. But Sun was very idle and had time to find trouble with him, so of course he had to find something for her to do.
"Sun, I told you that you hid your private money. It turns out that you are really capable. Let us see what we can do about this matter!"
Wang and Sun had always been at odds with each other, and now that she had caught Sun's weakness, how could she let him go? So she snorted and walked out with the last bowl of rice, thinking that if she went out and told Sun now, she would probably be able to save the meal.
"Sister-in-law, don't listen to Fourth Brother's nonsense! He is talking nonsense, don't tell our parents! Sister-in-law, don't go, I will give you half of the money!"
Seeing that Wang ignored her, Sun had no choice but to reluctantly offer her some benefits.
Wang did stop, but her words were heard by others, and by Shen Zhang and Shen Zhu.
"It turns out that the third sister-in-law is so rich and generous that she is willing to give half to the eldest sister-in-law. Last time, she just wanted to make a bathtub for me, but she still owed me money. In the end, she was so poor that she cried when she got 20 cents. It seems that my relationship with you is not very good, not as close as you and the eldest sister-in-law."
Shen Zhu pursed her rosy lips and looked at Sun. Her voice was still tender, but it was full of dissatisfaction, which made Sun blush and pale. Wang also looked unhappy. It would be a lie to say that she had no interest in Sun's private money, but she was just hesitant. Now that she was heard, she felt really awkward. At this point, she went with the flow and repeated what Shen Zian said. She thought that if Sun's money went into the public treasury, even if she didn't, it would be good for her parents to have more money and not force them too much.
After hearing this, Shen Zhang glared at Sun and asked Wang to search Sun's house. If Sun went to get the money himself, he would definitely hide it. It would be better to let someone search directly.
Sun cried and shouted in panic, and the whole family who were preparing to eat came over. However, this was Shen Zhang's order, and Sun was wrong, so everyone remained silent. Shen Ziping and his three sons and one daughter wanted to stop, but when Shen Youfu glared at them, they all wilted.
Finally, Sun's hidden secret money was searched out, amounting to about three taels of silver. Watching the glittering silver pieces going away from her, Sun fainted.