Chapter 16 IOU
"Stop hiding, explain yourself clearly, Chengli, are you aware of this matter?" At this moment, Old Madam Zhou no longer cared about giving Zhou Chengli face and asked sternly.
"I... I only found out recently, Grandmother. This has nothing to do with Yuzhi. It was all her father's doing," Zhou Chengli said, feeling immense pressure under the watchful gaze of the old lady, but he still chose to protect Zhao Yuzhi.
This scene not only chilled the heart of Old Mrs. Zhou, but also made the members of the first and third branches of the Zhou family restless.
"Zhou Chengli! You knew she was a gambler's daughter and you still married her? You're trying to kill us!"
"No wonder you demanded twenty taels of silver as a bride price! You used it to pay off your gambling debts! We even lent you money to get married, and you're such an ingrate!"
At this moment, Qian Yue had no time to think about Song Yushu's prescription and started criticizing Zhou Chengli and his wife.
"This time it's fifty taels! Mother, our whole family couldn't save up this much money even after several years. Are you really going to make us pay for Zhao the Cripple's money?"
"Second brother! Say something!"
The eldest and third branches of the Zhou family got anxious and urged Zhou Lao Er to demand an explanation.
"Let's go find Zhao the Cripple first. It's not appropriate to convict Chengli's father-in-law based on just one side's story!" Zhou Lao Er could only hope that this was a lie.
“Alright, let’s call the village head over to be a witness as well,” Song Yushu didn’t mind at all. Right now, she just wanted to resolve these matters as soon as possible and leave the Zhou family.
However, after the village head arrived, Zhao the Cripple was nowhere to be seen. It wasn't until a villager returning from town told them that Zhao the Cripple was still at the gambling den and had been detained by the gambling den's people that they stopped wasting time.
Now Zhou Lao Er no longer had any illusions, and Old Madam Zhou immediately told Zhou Chengli to divorce his wife.
“Grandmother! Yuzhi and I are truly in love, and I could never abandon her!” Zhou Chengli pulled Zhao Yuzhi down to kneel, expressing their determination.
“Chengli! Our Zhou family is not a wealthy family, where would we get so much money to waste on Zhao the Cripple! You still have to take the imperial examination in the future, how can you associate with someone like Zhao the Cripple?” Although Old Madam Zhou was angry that he did not consider his family for the sake of a woman, she did not intend to fall out with this grandson.
"Get up! How can you act like this when you're all grown up?"
“I won’t get up until you agree to let me be with Yuzhi! Grandmother, what do these things matter once I pass the imperial examination and become a Juren? Please give me another chance.” Zhou Chengli always knew what Grandma Zhou valued most: that he could pass the imperial examination and bring honor to the family.
"Mother! Last time the Zhao family asked for twenty taels of silver, and this time Zhao the Cripple lost fifty taels. If the gambling den comes knocking, it won't be a joke!"
Qian Yue was afraid that the old lady would give in again, so she quickly spoke up to persuade her.
"Everyone in the village knows that it's hard for someone who's started gambling to quit. Look at the Li family a few years ago, their son got into gambling, they had three fingers cut off but he still couldn't quit, and in the end the family was ruined. Chengli, let's not get involved with the Zhao family!"
Despite the persuasion of both the eldest and third wives, the old lady could not overcome Zhao Yuzhi's position in Zhou Chengli's heart. In the end, she could not bear to part with her scholar grandson and did not allow Zhou Chengli and Zhao Yuzhi to separate.
"Has the old lady thought it through? If this deal doesn't go through, there won't be another chance like this."
Wei's mother took the opportunity to exert pressure.
"Mother, please agree. I'm sorry to them. Keeping them in the Zhou family isn't a good thing," Zhou Lao Er said, as if he had exhausted all his strength.
“Village head, you saw it too, and I ask you to be my witness. I signed a divorce agreement with Zhou Lao Er, gave Qing ten taels of silver, and Zhou Chengyu and Zhou Chengzhu will have no further relationship with the Zhou family,” Song Yushu repeated.
"Alright, I understand. You'll sign another severance agreement later and go through the formalities in the county." The village head had a pretty good understanding of the situation. Although Song Yushu had left a bad impression on him over the years, no one wanted to be associated with someone like Zhao the Cripple, so it was normal for Song Yushu to want a divorce.
Grandma Zhou couldn't take it anymore. The repeated shocks, coupled with her advanced age, caused her to faint before the Wei family left.
So when Song Yushu had the Wei family move all the poultry from the backyard, no one stopped him. The Zhou family is now in complete chaos.
When Song Yushu left with his two children, Zhou Lao Er looked at the empty house inside and out and felt a pang of sadness.
However, before he could recover, the people from the gambling den came and caused trouble.
They went to the Zhao family first, only to find that the Zhao family only had a few children who were of no use. So, following Zhao the Cripple's advice, they went to the Zhou family. A group of people came to the door with knives and sticks and blocked Zhou Lao Er and his family at the entrance.
What are you doing?
"Is Zhao the Cripple your in-law? Of course we're here to ask you for money!"
The people at the gambling den glanced around and saw that the pigsty and other places were empty. They thought to themselves that Zhao the Cripple was dishonest and had lied to them that his son-in-law's family was rich and raised a lot of poultry, but they didn't expect there to be nothing there.
"He owes the money, why should we pay it for him?" No matter what, Zhou Lao Er couldn't agree to this debt. Zhou Chengli's wedding had already emptied the family's coffers, and now he still owed money. If this fifty taels were attributed to him, there would really be no way to pay it off.
"Didn't Zhao the Cripple say his son-in-law was a scholar? How come he can't even pay back fifty taels? If he doesn't pay, we'll chop off Zhao the Cripple's fingers! And none of you will get away with it!"
The people at the gambling den started making threats.
"Chengli! My father is still in their hands, what should we do? They're not really going to chop off his fingers, are they?" Zhao Yuzhi was trembling with fear, clinging to Zhou Chengli's arm and refusing to let go.
"No, they're just trying to scare me. I'm a scholar now, so they won't go too far," Zhou Chengli had never encountered anything like this before. He was initially bothered by Zhao Yuzhi's deception, but seeing her frightened, he felt a pang of pity.
"This must be Scholar Zhou, right? Our boss admires scholars the most. That Crippled Zhao is your father-in-law. You won't abandon him, will you? Here's what we'll do: write down the IOU, pay it off within a month, and we'll release him immediately!"
The people at the gambling den naturally noticed them, and after guessing Zhou Chengli's identity, they became a bit more polite.
"No! Chengli, fifty taels is owed by Zhao Lao Er, it's not a small amount, and it's not our debt, we can't sign it!" Zhou Lao Er understood the seriousness of the matter and quickly stopped Zhou Chengli.
“Chengli, I don’t want to drag you down either, but he is my father after all, and I can’t just ignore him. I’ll sign and put my fingerprint on it! I will absolutely not implicate the Zhou family!” Seeing his hesitation, Zhao Yuzhi quickly stepped forward and pretended to sign the IOU.
"Let me do it! We're husband and wife, it doesn't matter who signs," Zhou Chengli said without hesitation, and wrote and signed the IOU.
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