Chapter 240 You plot against me, I plot against you
Li Shunzi felt distressed after hearing Zhang's words. He could not help but complain to Gu Lianshan: "Lianshan is a fool! He listened to Tang girl's provocation and cruelly divorced you from the family!"
Speaking of Gu Lianshan, Zhang's heart was filled with complicated feelings, but more of it was hatred!
Seeing that Li Shunzi was on her side, she deliberately threw dirty water on Gu Lianshan: "Brother Lang and girl Yue are about to get married, and he is afraid that I will ask him for a betrothal gift and dowry..."
Hearing this, Li Shunzi shuddered all over and his dizzy brain calmed down instantly.
Indeed, the brother and sister of the Lin family are about to get married, and one will definitely ask for a betrothal gift and the other will ask for a dowry.
If these siblings are Gu Lianshan's children, then he should pay for the betrothal gifts and dowry!
But this pair of siblings are from the Lin family!
Raising them is already a great favor, and you still want Gu Lianshan to give you a betrothal gift and dowry?
Even the sucker can't do this!
Li Shunzi pursed his lips and suddenly understood Gu Lianshan a little bit.
Zhang had been secretly paying attention to Li Shunzi's expression and reaction. When she saw his face change and he didn't say anything, she understood.
Although this man was attracted to me, he was not a generous person. Unlike Gu Lianshan, he could spend money to support himself, but if he was asked to spend money to support his son's studies, he would most likely refuse.
Zhang paused, then continued, "Although the Lin family was defeated in the past, as the saying goes, 'A broken ship still has three pounds of nails'! The Lin family still has some savings.
And the courtyard in Linjia Village is all made of bricks and tiles. It cost twenty taels of silver to build it! If I sell it now, I can at least get fifteen taels of silver!"
Fifteen taels of silver!!!
Li Shunzi was shocked and his eyes widened immediately: "Lin, Lin's yard is so valuable?"
"Yes, it is that valuable!" Zhang nodded and then sighed.
"I originally thought of not letting Langge study anymore, and let him find a boss to work as an accountant. I would also sell the yard, let him bring the money and move to Shanghe Village with me, and spend two or three taels of silver to build a small yard next to Gu's house.
The remaining money is enough for him to marry and support a large family. With the Gu family protecting him, no one dares to bully him. As a mother, I have no ability and can only help him plan to this extent. "
Li Shunzi's eyes nearly turned red after hearing this: "That's good enough! Three or four taels of silver are enough to build three brick houses. The remaining eleven or twelve taels are enough to marry three or four wives, let alone one!"
"Yes, that's what I said to Ping An's father, but he didn't believe it! Plus, he listened to Tang's instigation and divorced me without any regard for our relationship."
At the end, Zhang's eyes turned red. She lowered her head and wiped her tears with a handkerchief. Then she threw out another bait: "Ping An's father is a fool! After selling the Lin family's yard, I can't give all the money to Lang Ge'er. I will more or less subsidize the family expenses and make life better for our family."
"Right, right, right! You are a virtuous person. It is impossible for you to give all that money to Langge'er. Besides, you have given birth to two children for the Gu family. If nothing else, just for the sake of the children, you should leave some of that money for the family!"
Li Shunzi was completely fooled by Zhang's words at this time. His mind and eyes were full of the fifteen taels of silver. He felt that Gu Lianshan had indeed done something stupid this time.
You see, you are Zhang's man, Langge'er is inexperienced, and Zhang is a woman. If you really want to sell the yard, the man in the family has to step forward to take care of this matter!
Once the yard is sold and the money is received, isn't it all up to you to decide whether to give the money to Langge'er and how much to give?
You are the head of the family. As long as you have the money in your hands, who dares to make trouble with you?
Seeing that Li Shunzi was moved, Zhang smiled and said, "When the weather gets warmer after the New Year, I will arrange to sell the yard, first find a wife for Langgeer, and then marry off Yueyatou. I will use the remaining money for self-defense and retirement."
If one is smart, one should have noticed that there is something strange in Zhang's words.
The previous words meant to give the remaining silver to her son, but now she said that she would keep the remaining silver for herself for her old age.
There is not a single truth in his mouth.
Unfortunately, Li Shunzi was completely hooked by the non-existent "fifteen taels of silver" at this time. When he heard Zhang say that she wanted to keep some money for her own self-defense and retirement, his eyes lit up surprisingly.
"You are still young, why do you need old-age care? Besides, a woman still needs a man to rely on. Why not, why not find another one..."
As soon as these words came out, Zhang immediately lowered her head and pretended to be embarrassed.
Li Shunzi also blushed and kept rubbing his hands, feeling a little expectant and a little uneasy.
Zhang turned sideways to him, lowering her head so that no one could see the expression on her face. She only walked out: "You haven't eaten yet? I'll go cook something for you."
Li Shunzi stood up and stopped her: "Don't bother, I came here for breakfast this morning. I can't stay any longer, my mother has gone to buy something, and I should leave too. If I delay any longer, I'm afraid people will get suspicious."
At the end, Li Shunzi was afraid that Zhang would misunderstand his meaning, so he explained: "Don't think too much, I don't mean anything..."
"I know what you mean." Zhang interrupted him, her cheeks flushed, "You are doing this for my own good, I understand it in my heart."
Li Shunzi felt hot inside and felt that Zhang was a considerate person. Gu Lianshan was really blind to divorce her!
The two talked for a while at the door. Although they did not break the window paper, the atmosphere between them reached a new level.
Only when there was really no time to delay any longer did Li Shunzi turn around and leave, heading towards the corner gate.
Like Zhang's young wife, she followed him closely, opened the corner door herself, and walked him out.
Li Shunzi looked at her reluctantly: "Don't worry about the firewood and food at home, I will send you a truckload tomorrow!"
Zhang pretended to refuse: "I have made you spend money every time, and I feel guilty..."
"Why should I feel guilty? You are an orphan and a widow, and you are in trouble now. I should take better care of you."
Li Shunzi thought it was nothing. He couldn't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child. Now that he was planning to marry Zhang, he had to appease her first.
After waving to Zhang, Li Shunzi went back along the same route.
Zhang did not close the door and go back to the courtyard immediately, but stood outside the door and watched him go. Her eyes were full of reluctance, as if she was a wife seeing her husband off on a long journey.
Li Shunzi looked back from time to time and kept shouting at her to go back.
Only when Li Shunzi turned back for the third time and asked her to go back did Zhang return to the yard.
After closing the door, he hurried into the house, picked up the brazier on the ground, and brought it back to the south room.
There was no warmth in the south room at this time. Lin Yue, who was sitting on the bed, had a grim expression on her face and was holding back her anger.
When she saw her mother bringing back the brazier, she knew that the man surnamed Li had left.
Unable to bear the disgust in her heart any longer, she questioned Zhang coldly, "You can also embroider flowers and plants! Go take some work in the embroidery workshop, even if it's a bit tiring and hard, at least it's clean and innocent! Why do you have to do this shameful way?!"
This remark hit Zhang's sore spot. Who was he scolding?
What do you mean by clean and innocent?
Is she not clean now? Is she not innocent?
Zhang was so angry that her face turned pale and she reached out to hit Lin Yue!
"Hit me!" Lin Yue didn't back down this time and insisted on letting her hit him. "There is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable! Sooner or later, Mr. Li will find out that you are lying to him, and sooner or later, the people from Linjia Village will find us!"
Zhang raised her hand high, looked at her daughter's stubborn face, and couldn't bring herself to do it.
She and her husband have only two children, and she loves them very much, no matter whether it is a boy or a girl.
Now that the girl is grown up, her face is the most precious thing and she cannot be hit casually.
After a moment's stalemate, Zhang withdrew her slap, sat down on the edge of the bed, and tears fell from her eyes.
"I know you are arrogant and look down on my behavior! I don't want to do this, but we three have to spend money everywhere now!"
Zhang wiped away her tears and told Lin Yue in detail where the money would be needed.
"The rent is two hundred copper coins a month. We three mothers need money for food, drink, and toilet.
In addition, your brother needs money to study, he needs money to marry a wife, and you also need money to get married. These three things alone can overwhelm your mother!
Not to mention that my mother could only do the embroidery work, even if we did it together, we wouldn't be able to cover all the expenses!"
"You got it by hooking up with someone named Li?" Lin Yue didn't believe it. The Li family was not a wealthy family.
"You know what the situation is like at Li's house. No matter how much you try to coax him, he can't come up with money! If he had money, he wouldn't be still unmarried at this age!"
"The Li family is not rich, but they are not so poor that they cannot afford to marry a wife." Lin Yue had basically only been to Shanghe Village a few times, so there were some things she didn't know.
Zhang said: "The man surnamed Li had three arranged marriages in the past few years, but one of the girls he was engaged to died and two were injured. People outside said that he was unlucky in marriage, and he has not been able to marry in all these years.
If the Li family tries hard, they can still get a few taels of silver, especially the cow at home. Although the appearance is not very good, it is a cow after all, and it is not very old. It can still be sold for more than ten taels of silver."
Hearing this, Lin Yue thought her mother was crazy: "The cow is probably the most valuable thing in the family. Will they be willing to sell it? Even if they really sell it, will the silver fall into your hands?!"
"Don't worry about it!" Zhang said confidently, "Mother will not marry him. Mother just wants to get some money from him, especially the cow!
If we really sell it, the money we get can send your brother to a better school, and we won't have to worry about money for a year."
After saying that, she stood up and left with a resolute look on her face.
Lin Yue fell silent. Even her grandmother admired her mother's methods. Whatever she planned, she rarely failed.
This time he looked very confident, probably he had thought of a plan.
Coming out of the south room, Zhang stood outside the door of the north room, hesitating whether she should knock on the door and go in.
After hesitating for a while, he remembered that the two hundred copper coins given by Li Shunzi were still in his son's room, so he had to bite the bullet and knock on the door.
"Brother Lang, is mother coming in?"
"Come in." Lin Lang actually responded to her, which made Zhang surprised and happy.
When I pushed the door open, I found my son still sitting at the desk reading.
Zhang felt distressed instantly: "Take a break. You must be tired after reading for so long."
As he said this, he walked forward and wanted to help him tidy up his desk.
Her eyes fell on a corner of the desk and Zhang paused. The string of copper coins she had brought in earlier was placed on it, so how come it was gone now?
Glancing at her son, Zhang asked him tentatively, "Brother Lang, the copper coins on the desk..."
"I put it away." Lin Lang openly admitted that he took it himself, and then asked in confusion: "Why? Aren't those copper coins for me to buy ink sticks?
I thought you had remembered that I wanted to buy an ink stick, so you sent me two hundred copper coins. It turns out that it wasn't true? It seems that I misunderstood. I will take out the copper coins now..."
"I didn't misunderstand you, I didn't misunderstand you!" Zhang waved her hands repeatedly, trying to stop her son from getting up, with a smile on her face.
"The copper coins are for buying you ink sticks. I heard your father say a few years ago that only good ink sticks can produce good calligraphy! Use the two hundred copper coins to buy it first. If it's not enough, I'll get you more later."
Lin Lang was very satisfied with what he said, and his anger subsided a little.
He knew his mother well. As long as he said so, his mother would definitely agree with him without hesitation.
Thinking of this, he smiled at Zhang again and said, "I know you are worried about your son's studies. After the new year, my son wants to go down and try. If he can get into high school, then our family's life will be better."
This cake just hit Zhang's heart, and she was delighted: "My son will definitely pass the high school entrance exam!"
Lin Lang smiled conceitedly: "My son thinks so too, he will definitely be admitted to high school!"
He thinks he is extremely talented and has been studying very hard in the past two years. He will definitely pass the college entrance examination next year!
Zhang was very optimistic about her son's confidence and pointed outside: "There is half a chicken in the big pot outside. I will stew it for you. You should study well in the room. You can eat in the afternoon."
Half a chicken?
Lin Lang's mouth was watering, and he nodded modestly: "That's fine. The nights are long and the days are short in winter. I'll have dinner earlier so I can rest earlier after dinner and get up early to study tomorrow."
Zhang was so happy about her son's diligence that she couldn't stop smiling. She tiptoed out of the north room and closed the door.
When they left the house, it started to be windy outside. The cold wind made it hard to open their eyes, but Zhang didn't complain at all.
She first lit the stove and boiled a small pot of hot water, then put the half chicken that was frozen like a stone into the pot to thaw.
When the chicken is thawed, take it out and chop it into small pieces.
Then put the chopped chicken into the pot with changed water, cover it with a lid, add firewood, and cook it.
Zhang’s cooking skills were not very good. In the past, the Lin siblings might have found fault with her.
But now, the brother and sister, who had suffered a lot, no longer had the heart to find fault. They just wanted two meals a day, to be full at each meal, and to have meat every now and then.
Just like the half chicken in the pot, the other half was eaten three days ago, and the remaining half was saved for today.
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