Lin's face paled. She had thought that by rejecting the matchmaker Zhao, the matter would be over.
But she never expected that Old Man Chen and his wife would be so vicious, colluding with Matchmaker Zhao to harm her young daughter. If it weren't for her daughter's quick thinking...
She dared not think any further. "How could these heartless bastards do such a heinous thing? They're worse than beasts! Let's go, Qingya!"
After leaving the courtyard, Chen Qingqing recounted in detail how Old Man Chen and his wife had drugged her.
Upon hearing this, Madam Lin was filled with shock and anger. She had initially been somewhat worried for Chen Ruolan, but upon learning that Chen Ruolan was also involved in the plot to harm her daughter, she gritted her teeth in fury.
******
When Grandma Chen returned to the house, she was grinning from ear to ear, her pride barely concealed. "How was it? Did you handle things well tonight?"
"Brilliant! This was handled flawlessly, like scooping dumplings out of a gourd."
Old Chen, his eyes beaming with smiles, began to flatter him.
"Old woman, without your strategic planning and brilliant scheme, we wouldn't have had such a smooth night. You are truly a great hero of our family!"
"That's right, no matter what, our family's hard times are finally over."
As she spoke, Old Mrs. Chen reached into her underwear and took out the silver notes and ingots.
"We thought we would have to rely on our third son to live a good life, but we never expected that when people are lucky, even a big fortune can trip them up. With this money, the two of us old folks will have nothing to worry about for the rest of our lives."
Old Chen stared wide-eyed, swallowing hard. "I've lived this long and never seen such a big silver ingot before. Old woman, let me take a good look."
He held the heavy silver ingots in both hands, so excited he almost cried. "Great, great! Our Chen family is finally rich again!"
Grandma Chen rolled her eyes at him, annoyed. "That's enough looking. I haven't had enough of it yet!"
Old Chen reluctantly placed the silver ingots on the kang table, then his eyes fell on the silver notes. "Old woman, these colorful ones must be the legendary silver notes."
"Alright, don't bother looking at this anymore. If you break it, you won't be able to get the silver out."
"Yes, yes, I won't move, I'll just take a look." Old Chen examined it for a long time and felt something was wrong. "Old woman, this banknote looks a bit damp."
Old Mrs. Chen touched it, and her heart sank. Oh no, it really was wet.
It's all that blind and impatient Fan Tong's fault. In the middle of the night, without looking around, he came up and started pulling and dragging her. He almost scared her to death, and she even wet her pants. If he had torn the banknotes, how would she have gone to the bank to exchange them?
She quickly and carefully opened the banknote. Fortunately, it was not damaged. She placed it on the kang table, blew on it, and explained, "I was a little nervous just now and broke out in a sweat. Luckily, I took it out to check. If it had been left to rot overnight, it would have turned into mud."
"Come on, let me blow on it for you," Old Chen puffed out his cheeks and leaned in.
Old Mrs. Chen's face darkened, and she pushed him away, saying, "Go to the side and wait. What if you blow it and ruin it? You're such a busybody."
"Alright, alright, keep bragging, I won't interfere anymore, okay?" Old Chen looked at the silver notes in front of him, feeling quite pleased. With money, he would never have to suffer so much again.
He'll build a large two-courtyard house, hire a few maids, and then he'll be the patriarch, and his wife will be the rich lady.
If the third son were to pass the imperial examinations and achieve official rank, Ruolan would become a true scholar's daughter. Who wouldn't be envious of such a life?
Thinking of this, he quickly stepped forward with a grin, "Old woman, tonight is a special night for us, shouldn't we celebrate?"
"What are you trying to do?" Old Mrs. Chen misunderstood Old Mr. Chen's intentions, thinking he was up to something again. She glared at him fiercely. "You frivolous old man, what are you celebrating? I haven't even had enough money yet, I don't have time for that."
Seeing the look of disgust on her face, Old Chen knew she had misunderstood. He was so anxious that he started hitting his head and hurriedly explained.
"Old woman, what are you saying? How am I being inappropriate? What I mean is, since we've accomplished such a success, how about we take out that half-empty bottle of liquor you've been saving and have a couple of drinks to celebrate? If you don't want to, fine, why are you glaring at me like that!"
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Chen suddenly understood and smiled awkwardly, "Oh, I see. Okay, okay, there's no problem with that. Hurry up and take out the half-bottle of liquor from the cabinet."
"Okay, I'll go get it right away."
Old Chen was overjoyed, and after rummaging through the wooden cabinet for a while, he finally managed to find the wine.
"Old woman, should I go and call Ruolan over so she can share in the joy?"
"No, no, no, don't go looking for trouble."
Old Mrs. Chen quickly stopped her.
"Have you forgotten what Ruolan said before? She doesn't let us go into her room unless it's necessary, and she repeatedly told us that we must not disturb her while she's sleeping. If we wake her up, she'll fight us to the death."
"Yes, yes, you're absolutely right. I remember last time, she hadn't gotten up even when the sun was high in the sky. You were worried she was hungry, so you brought her some porridge and eggs into her room so she could eat them in bed."
But that girl had a really fiery temper and didn't appreciate it at all. Not only did she smash the porridge bowl on the ground, but she also picked up an egg and threw it outside without a care.
It hit me squarely on the forehead. Thinking about it now still gives me chills. If it had been a bowl of porridge thrown at me, it probably would have sent this old man to his grave.
"Alright, let's not dwell on the past. After all, she's our most beloved granddaughter!" Grandma Chen said, pouring two bowls of wine. "Come on, old man, let's both drink this wine to the fullest today and drink until we're completely drunk."
"Don't bother this old woman, just satisfy your craving, save it for the New Year."
Old Mrs. Chen curled her lips and said, "Look at your poor, wretched mind. You don't know how to enjoy life at all. But things are different now. We have money. We can buy more tomorrow after we finish this drink. From now on, we can have wine with every meal."
"Oh, that's great! Come, old woman, let me toast you."
"No need for formalities, we're an old married couple, we're together."
After finishing her sentence, Old Mrs. Chen drank it all in one gulp.
Old Chen tilted his head back and drank it down, smacking his lips in satisfaction. "It would be even better if there were some snacks to go with it."
"Yes, I have snacks to go with my drinks."
"What kind of snacks are we going to have with our drinks? Where are they?"
"Then, go inside and dig it out. I guarantee you've never eaten this before."
Old Man Chen followed Old Woman Chen's gaze and pointed to the quilt, "You mean here?"
Grandma Chen nodded and smiled, "Yes, open it for me."
.........
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