Chapter 3 Borrowing Money
"You don't need to pay for this money, I'll figure it out myself!" Zhou Chengli said stubbornly.
Song Yushu almost burst out laughing. He didn't know whether to call him naive or cunning. After this incident, Old Mrs. Zhou was afraid of becoming estranged from her precious grandson, so how could she possibly ignore it?
Sure enough, Old Mrs. Zhou quickly cheered up: "Chengli, Grandmother is not blaming you. Since Grandmother has taken this on, you don't need to worry about the money. Just focus on your studies and bring honor to our ancestors in the future!"
"Grandmother! Your unfilial grandson will study diligently from now on, and will become a scholar to serve you!"
Zhou Chengli was indeed moved to tears.
"Go back and read your books first, Grandma will take care of the rest," Grandma Zhou reassured her grandson before getting down to business.
"Second brother, how much silver can you offer?"
"Mother, your son only has three taels of silver left," Zhou Lao Er said with a guilty look.
“How could that be! You work at the carpenter’s shop in town, don’t you earn five hundred coins a month? And didn’t your ex leave you a dowry?” As she said this, Old Mrs. Zhou looked at Song Yushu meaningfully.
"Why are you looking at me? Do you think I'm the one who spent the money?" Song Yushu didn't indulge him at all.
"What are you saying? You're his stepmother, after all. Are you really not going to give him a single penny? Aren't you afraid people will talk behind your back?" Old Mrs. Zhou scolded her for being so shameless.
"You're really forgetful at your age. I made it very clear at the village entrance that I, as his stepmother, would not interfere in his affairs, and that it would be none of my business if he became successful in the future. You may be confused, but the rest of the villagers are not. Everyone heard it!"
Song Yushu was practically ready to crack open a handful of melon seeds, eager to see the drama unfold.
"You! You shrew... Second son, you speak!" Old Mrs. Zhou was so angry she almost fainted, so she had to change the subject.
"Mother, all the money was used for Chengli's education. My monthly salary of five hundred coins is not even enough to buy paper and pens for Chengli. I was able to squeeze out three taels, which was only after I took on a lot of private jobs to save up," Zhou Lao Er could only confess honestly.
Helpless, Old Mrs. Zhou took a deep breath and turned her gaze to the eldest and third wives.
"Mother! You know, your eldest grandson Chengwu's wedding two years ago emptied our savings. We really had no other choice!" Zhou's eldest daughter-in-law quickly tried to play the victim upon seeing this.
“I know none of you want to spend money, but the situation is different now. Chengli is the hope of our Zhou family. Consider this money a loan from you. Once he passes the imperial examination in two years, will we still worry about not being able to pay you back? You are all short-sighted! Here’s what I’ll do: this old woman will contribute seven taels!”
Old Mrs. Zhou is a shrewd old woman; how could she not know their little schemes? She caught them red-handed every time.
As expected, the eldest and third wives relented, and the two families contributed five taels. Adding the three taels that Old Master Zhou had and the seven taels that the old lady had, they still had five taels left.
"Go ask the Wei family. As the wife's family, they can't possibly disrespect you, their son-in-law, for raising their daughter like this, can they?"
In the end, Old Mrs. Zhou set her sights on the original owner's family.
"Hahahaha... Oh dear! You're really getting senile! Zhou Lao Er's wife's family isn't the Wei family, it's the Zhang family, the one before him. These past few years, he and Zhou Chengli have been going to the Zhang family for holidays. They can't possibly go to the wrong place when it comes to borrowing money, can they?"
Zhou Lao Er's face turned pale and then red, like a palette of colors. Now he really couldn't go to the Wei family to borrow money.
Song Yushu cursed inwardly. Zhou Lao Er and Zhou Chengli didn't give the original owner any face. For the past few years, they had been visiting relatives at the Zhang family, leaving the original owner to go back to her parents' home by herself. Now they wanted to borrow money? No way!
"Mrs. Wei! Do you really think I wouldn't dare let my second son divorce you?" Old Mrs. Zhou was also angered by Song Yushu's repeated provocations.
"Divorce? How dare your Zhou family divorce me? My Wei family isn't one to be trifled with either. I've had two children with the Zhou family, so if you're so capable, make Zhou Lao Er divorce me!"
Song Yushu wanted to leave the Zhou family, but definitely not to be divorced.
"You!" Old Mrs. Zhou was so angry that she fainted, and the Zhou family was thrown into chaos.
"Oh! The old lady is really getting old. She's so happy to hear that Zhou Chengli is getting married!"
After Song Yushu left the room, he said one more thing.
"She's really crazy..." The twins were also startled by her, but they didn't dare to come out and provoke her.
Three days later, the Zhou family reluctantly accepted the marriage and sent twenty taels of silver to the Zhao family.
This made the Zhao family quite famous in Zhoujia Village.
"Have you heard? The Zhao family really asked for twenty taels of silver as a bride price!"
"They've gone mad! Has the Zhou family lost their minds? Twenty taels of silver is enough to marry someone from town, but they insist on marrying a peasant. What are they thinking?"
"She's just burning through too much money! If it were me, I definitely wouldn't give it to her! Zhao Yuzhi isn't any different from anyone else, is she?"
The women of Zhoujia Village would bring up this matter whenever they had time, so Zhao Yuzhi didn't dare to go out at all.
Finally, fearing that the Zhou family would change their minds, Zhao the Cripple set the wedding date for three months later and hurriedly took the money to the gambling den to squander it.
The Zhou family suffered a great loss this time and also had grievances against the Zhao family, but they didn't say anything out of consideration for Zhou Chengli.
After the marriage was arranged, Zhou Lao Er was in a hurry to earn money, so he simply didn't come back and moved directly to town, which saved Song Yushu a lot of trouble.
"Mother, you should be calmed down by now. We haven't cooked for a long time." Zhou Lao Er is no longer with us, and Zhou Chengli and Zhou Chengyu have gone to the academy. Now it's just Zhou Chengzhu and her daughter Song Yushu at home.
"Go to the vegetable garden, pick the vegetables and wash them clean. Don't just wait to eat all day long!" Song Yushu was unlike the original owner, who not only raised his two children to be completely pampered but also didn't remember any of the original owner's kindness.
"Didn't you say I wanted to marry a rich young man? What if my hands get ugly from doing heavy work? Besides, you're used to doing it, why don't you want to do it anymore?"
Zhou Chengzhu's words left Song Yushu speechless.
"The past is the past, and the present is the present. Just go wash the vegetables when I tell you to. Why are you talking so much nonsense?" Song Yushu didn't hold back and shouted at her with his hands on his hips.
"Why are you being so fierce?" This trick worked very well on Zhou Chengzhu. She was so frightened that tears welled up in her eyes, and it took her a while to pull up a cabbage and wash it.
Song Yushu sighed, but didn't care about the cabbage that was almost crushed. He turned around and cut a piece of cured meat hanging from the roof beam.
"Didn't the eldest brother and younger brother not come back? Why are you still stir-frying meat?" Zhou Chengzhu didn't hold a grudge, but she almost accused Song Yushu of being a spendthrift.
"Shut up, if you don't want to eat, don't pick up any more food later!" Song Yushu's words immediately silenced her.
Soon, the kitchen was filled with delicious aromas. Zhou Chengzhu forgot about her sullenness and stood around the dish of stir-fried cured pork and cabbage, her eyes glued to it.
Song Yushu ignored her and thought, "Let her watch if she wants. She won't go hungry anyway." He picked up his bowl of rice and started eating. Zhou Chengzhu immediately ran to scoop more rice.
After eating and drinking his fill, Song Yushu began to think about making money. He had a plan in mind, but he didn't know if he could successfully open a stall.
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