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Chapter 194: IOU, indenture

Chapter 194: IOU, Contract of Sale

The paper looked a bit old, not very good. There were calligraphy on it, and the calligraphy was quite nice and neat. It was an IOU. When Su Zhi saw the content on it, she was stunned, and then her eyes lit up. She took the paper and sat on the edge of the kang, handing the paper back to Liu Si Niang.

"Fourth Mother, didn't you say that you lost your IOU? Isn't it still here? Could it be that you were lying just now, and you just don't want to ask your uncle for the money? You can't be so soft-hearted, they are much richer than you now, this is something your parents left for you, you should take it back."

Su Zhi tried to persuade Liu Si Niang. She had just read the IOU. It said that Liu Damu bought someone else's land and house, but had no money to pay for it, so he wrote such an IOU. The "Qidi Liu Ermu" written on the IOU was obviously Liu Si Niang's father. Liu Si Niang's family did sell the house and land to her uncle's family. So wasn't this the lost IOU she mentioned?

"Fourth Sister, if your uncle and his people were good to you, you could give them the house and land for free, but they don't care about you, you should think about yourself."

"Su Zhi, what did you say? Is this piece of paper an IOU?"

Liu Si Niang looked at the paper in her hand in surprise, which surprised Su Zhi. Su Zhi looked at Liu Si Niang and thought, could she really not know that this was an IOU?

"This is an IOU. It says that Liu Damu bought the house and land from his brother Liu Ermu for a total of 25 taels of silver. Because the family doesn't have that much money, he owes it first. This must be correct. Don't you know this is an IOU?"

Liu Si Niang shook her head and said, "I can't read. I always thought this was the indenture of my father. My father was a slave and was released from slavery. He kept the indenture that he wanted back. I thought it was his indenture. If this is an IOU, then the indenture that was lost was my father's! It seems that I got it mixed up. How could I have gotten it mixed up?"

Su Zhi was speechless, and stroked her forehead and said, "You thought you had thrown the IOU away, so did you never show it to anyone else?"

Liu Si Niang nodded and said, "Of course not. I regard this as my father's indenture. It is not a very glorious thing. I naturally don't want people to see the evidence that my father was a slave. I have never shown this to anyone."

"That's right. The words written on the two pieces of paper must be similar, and there are handprints on both. You have mistaken the two Zhangs. It's not uncommon for elegant and romantic people to have a romantic relationship. Now it seems that your father's spirit in heaven is really helping you. He doesn't want his family property to be snatched away from you by your uncle, and he wants to leave it to you."

"Is that so..."

When Liu Si Niang heard Su Zhi say this, her eyes turned red. Her parents died early. In recent years, her family has been bullied by her husband's family and has been accused of killing her parents. Now when she heard Su Zhi say that her father is still protecting her in heaven, she felt sad and happy. She thought that it didn't matter what others said about her, as long as her parents didn't blame her.

Su Zhi told Liu Si Niang that since this was her parents' property, she had to ask for it back and not let her uncle's family get away with it. Liu Si Niang nodded, thinking about the IOU that was lost. She knew they had stolen it. Although they were not caught, they had spent her money that day. Later, when she went to find them, they didn't look surprised at all. It was obvious that they knew she would come. Besides, if they hadn't stolen the IOU, even if there was no IOU, they should have given the money to their niece instead of just refusing to pay.

Su Zhi and Liu Si Niang agreed that they would go to Liujia Village together tomorrow.

After listening to what Su Zhi said, Shen Zian nodded and said that he would help Liu Siniang get the money back. He did this for Li Shi. During the conversation with Li Shi, he finally got the truth out of Li Shi. Li Shi really liked Liu Siniang and had decided to marry her. Then Liu Siniang would not only be the sister of his wife, but also the wife of his brother. The relationship would be even closer, so naturally he would help.

The next day, Shen Zian sent the three children to Li Shi's house and asked him to help look after them. He was going to Liushu Village today to reason and negotiate, or to ask for money from the Zhao family and Liu Siniang, which added up to a huge sum. The Liu family refused to pay even ten taels, and the total was thirty-five taels. They would definitely refuse to pay, and no one could tell if they would be pushed into a corner and start fighting again. By that time, with the children around, they might not be able to take care of them and hurt the children again.

Li Shi knew about Liu Si Niang's affairs and was concerned about them. He also wanted to go, but Shen Zian told him not to go. Now Zhao Daliang's family shamelessly said that he and Liu Si Niang had an affair. If he went to Liushu Village again, who knows what rumors would spread. Li Shi had no choice but to not go and let Shen Zian do his best.

Li Shi watched Liu Si Niang's figure sitting on Shen Zian's ox cart gradually disappear before he went back.

Since Liu Si Niang got married, she has never returned to Liushu Village. She hated her uncle's family in her heart. From their act of stealing the IOU, she knew that they would not want her to come back after marrying her off. So she did not go back to see them. They came to see her twice, but then never came again. She knew that it was because they saw that she had no status in the Zhao family. They could not even get a meal when they went there. They knew that they could not find any money on her, so they stopped visiting her.

Looking at Willow Village now, Liu Si Niang felt that nothing had changed.

"Su Zhi, I remember that when you were little, you often played under this big willow tree. You were so proud at that time, and all the boys and girls listened to you. Your mother said that you were destined to be rich and noble, and that you would definitely marry into a wealthy family in the future. You wore better clothes than us, and even had candy to eat. I envied you at that time."

When Su Zhi heard this, she thought that Zhao Yang really loved Zhao Xiaomei so much. She also asked around and found that Zhao Yang really went to see Zhao Xiaomei every year. It seemed that Zhao Yang's love for this daughter was really different. She treated Zhao Xiaomei like a treasure pot. So now that she has money, Zhao Yang would go to her to ask for money. Zhao Yang thought it was natural. Because of this, Su Zhi felt that Zhao Xiaomei was not abandoned by her parents when she married into the Shen family, so she would not hate them and would be filial to them.

"If I had known that my parents would die so early, I would have been willing to be sent to a nunnery."

Su Zhi patted Liu Si Niang's hand comfortingly and was about to say something when she heard a voice shouting.

"Hey, isn't this Si Niang? You're willing to come back? I thought you had forgotten about our uncle and his mother! Did you hear that your uncle got into trouble here, and you wanted to give him some money?"

When Liu Si Niang heard the voice, her brows slightly wrinkled. She looked over and saw her aunt Yang standing there.

Su Zhi thought to herself that shameless people are everywhere. This Yang is worthy of being her mother's sister. She is just as fond of taking advantage. Her mother took advantage of her daughter, but at least she raised her and it was legitimate. This Yang is only Liu Si Niang's aunt, and she has already occupied other people's houses and lands. Now she still wants to take advantage. Isn't she afraid of being struck by lightning?

Liu Si Niang said, "Auntie, I came back this time with something to tell you. It just so happens that you and the Zhao family also need to talk about it, so let's talk about it together."

When Yang heard this, her eyes rolled around, wondering what on earth had Liu Si Niang come back for suddenly. She didn't know and wanted to ask, but when she looked at Shen Zi'an and Su Zhi, she didn't ask. She greeted Su Zhi and Shen Zi'an warmly and asked them to go and persuade the family.

"Little sister, your mother asked for ten taels of silver. That's too much. It's like asking our family to sell our house and land and live on poverty. We are real relatives! How can you force us like this! You were there that day and saw it. It's not all our fault that your sister-in-law fell. Besides, didn't your sister-in-law give birth to a big fat boy smoothly? Mother and child are safe, this is a happy event. Five hundred coins we gave is already a lot. We can buy dozens of pounds of pork! This meat will definitely keep mother and child fat!"

Yang cried bitterly to Su Zhi and stretched out her hand to pull Su Zhi's arm.

Su Zhi took back her clothes and said, "As a daughter, I can't make the decision about my parents' affairs. You should talk to my mother. I'm going home now and will talk about this matter later."

Yang kept talking about how difficult her family's life was along the way, attracting more and more people to come and watch the fun. However, Su Zhi just lowered her head and pretended to be embarrassed. She would not make this decision for her family, and she also wanted to make the Liu family bleed. Five hundred coins was really too little.

"Sister, you're here! We've been waiting for you!"

When Lianhua saw the oxcart coming, she hurried over and looked at the cart. She saw a bundle on it and took it down happily.

Su Zhi smiled inwardly, thinking that there was indeed cloth in there, but it was all in strips and small pieces, which she used to make diapers and small clothes for her little nephew. It was unlikely that an adult could make clothes out of it. Lian Hua was going to be disappointed.

Zhao Yang was a little surprised to see Liu Si Niang coming, but she didn't say anything. She knew that Liu Si Niang and Liu Damu's family were not of the same kind, and she might be able to use Liu Si Niang to provoke that family, so she was quite nice to Liu Si Niang. Zhao Daxi and Zhao Yuanbao didn't have any ill will towards Liu Si Niang, they just ignored her.

Su Zhi went to see Zhang first and gave her the bundle. Zhang was very happy when she saw that it was full of fine cotton cloth. She loved her son very much and she wanted him to use good things. Although Su Zhi didn't give her good things, she became more affectionate to her, thinking that it was the third day of her baby's birth and she would definitely give her some money, right?

After a while, all the Liu family members came to the Zhao family.