Chapter 4: A Bad Dad
Jiang Zifeng opened the door.
A middle-aged couple and an old man were standing outside the door.
There are patches on his body.
"Who are you looking for?"
Jiang Zifeng looked curiously at this man who looked somewhat like his father.
Lu Qingyao stepped forward and took a closer look, and found that the person looked familiar.
She remembered that the Jiang family had a relative in Jiangzhou, who was Jiang Yunze's cousin.
She had only seen him once after she married into the Jiang family.
The mother-in-law said that their cousin had bad behavior and often bullied them, an orphan and a widow, in their hometown. Seeing that Jiang Yunze had graduated from college and became rich, he often came to ask for money. The mother-in-law used to help them several times every year, but later they had a falling out and no longer had any contact with each other.
She didn't want to get involved in her husband's family affairs, so she ignored it and didn't know whether it was true or not.
The middle-aged man's eyebrows and eyes are somewhat similar to Jiang Yunze, but he is far less handsome than Jiang Yunze. He is just an ordinary farmer.
The foot...is still slightly lame.
But his eyes were clear and bright, unlike the rat or sparrow that his mother-in-law described him as.
"Brother, please come in!" Lu Qingyao tried to call out.
"I didn't expect that the Minister's wife still remembered me. I dare not call you brother." Jiang Yunhu walked in with a dark face and a sixty-year-old man, followed by a woman.
He glanced at Jiang Zifeng and Jiang Ziyan, and when he saw the mess in the yard, he frowned slightly.
"Please come in!" Lu Qingyao felt a little embarrassed as she ordered the kitchen as soon as she arrived.
After Jiang Yunhu sat down, he looked around the room. The furnishings were no different from before his cousin left. There was still only a set of worn tables, chairs, benches, and a few calligraphy and paintings.
The only difference is.
The house was clean and tidy.
But when they sat down, the two kids had no place to sit and had to stand by.
Jiang Zifeng was very sensible and went forward to pour water for the few people.
"This is your uncle and aunt..." Lu Qingyao introduced them to her two sons.
Lu Qingyao had never seen this cousin's wife, Liu Yu Niang, and had only heard of her vaguely.
All the people and affairs in her husband's family were managed by her mother-in-law, and she never interfered.
But in her eyes, no matter how much rift there is between the two families, the blood relationship cannot be erased. Since she has just arrived, it is not easy to make a final conclusion before finding out the truth of the matter.
I don’t care what my mother-in-law says about the Jiang family.
Proper etiquette must not be missed.
The two brothers stepped forward and saluted, shouting in unison, "How are you, uncle and aunt?"
"No need to do this. We can't afford your gift!" Jiang Yunhu waved his hand to avoid the two people's gifts.
The water on the table was not touched.
He got straight to the point and said, "This is Uncle Fu, the head of our Taoxi Village and the head of the Jiang family. He was invited here today to be my witness."
"witness?"
Lu Qingyao asked herself whether she had ever had any interaction with them.
Jiang Yunhu took out a stack of worn and yellowed rice paper from his arms and spread them out on the table one by one.
He said, "Since Jiang Yunze and his mother are unwilling to acknowledge us as their poor relatives, we will not shamelessly try to climb that high branch. But debts must be repaid. No matter how high an official he becomes, the debts he owes must be repaid."
Pay off debts?
Lu Qingyao was stunned. She had never heard Jiang Yunze mention such a thing.
Who owes whom?
Seeing her bewildered expression, Jiang Yunhu thought she was going to default on the debt, and a hint of anger crossed his face. "I never expected that Jiang Yunze and his mother would be such ungrateful, white-eyed wolves. Otherwise, I would never have lent them the money..."
At this point, he didn't want to say anything more and just wanted his money back.
As for the rest, I no longer dare to dream about it.
That money is nothing to those wealthy families, but to his family, it is life-saving money.
If there was even a tiny bit that slipped through their fingers, it would be enough for them to eat for a year.
He clutched the yellowed IOU tightly. "I've come to your house many times before, but was always driven out by your doorman. I wanted to sue him, but after all, our surname is Jiang, and suing him wouldn't benefit the Jiang family. It's been more than ten years since he was in high school, and he hasn't paid back a cent. We farmers can't compare to you wealthy families. That money is the savings of two generations of our family. Now that you've returned to the old house, you should pay back the money your husband owes you. From now on, our two families will keep their distance and owe each other nothing."
Lu Qingyao was confused and had to ask her son to show her the IOU.
It really is... Jiang Yunze’s handwriting!
The amount of money borrowed and the year, month and day are written clearly.
It doesn't seem fake.
"Mother, a total of one hundred and ten taels of silver..."
Everyone looked at Jiang Ziyan in surprise as he spoke.
The boy just scanned it like this...
It's all been calculated.
Lu Qingyao looked at her youngest son.
He was gifted since childhood and had the ability to remember everything he saw. He had read the Four Books at a young age and was also good at arithmetic.
"Brother, is Yan'er's calculation correct?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Jiang Yunhu stared at the little kid in front of him with his eyes wide open. He looked only seven or eight years old, but he was already so powerful!
Uncle Fu found it unbelievable, as the teachers in their village couldn't calculate that fast.
Jiang Miaomiao lay in her mother's arms, sucking her fingers, listening to the conversation with her ears perked up, her eyes darting around among them.
She finally understood now that her mother had an ungrateful in-law family.
Her scumbag father borrowed his cousin's savings to take the imperial examination, and when he succeeded, he turned against him and kicked him away.
What an ungrateful and ungrateful person!
No wonder my mother and brothers came to this remote place.
Looking at Lu Qingyao's stunned expression, Jiang Yunhu was a little displeased, "Don't you believe it?"
Lu Qingyao came back to her senses, "Brother, I'll pay back the money...but can you give me some time?"
If it were in the past.
One hundred taels is really nothing, just the money for a few sets of clothes.
But now, I don’t have enough cash, and I need to pawn some jewelry to pay it back.
But even so, whether it was true or not, she had to pay it back, even if it wasn't for her in-laws who had already been extremely disappointed.
Also plan for the days ahead.
Everyone loves money, and money is something that tests people's hearts.
"That's good. I'll be your witness here today. After you pay off the money, our two families will have nothing to do with each other anymore." Uncle Fu was a little surprised, thinking that he would have to spend a lot of time explaining.
After all, she is a girl raised in a wealthy family and is sensible.
"Brother, I only have fifty taels of silver on me right now. Can I pawn the remaining sixty taels of silver tomorrow and return it to you?" Lu Qingyao looked embarrassed and asked her son to bring out the silver.
I left Beijing in a hurry and didn't bring much cash with me. I spent some money on the way, so now I only have fifty taels left.
Jiang Yunhu looked at his wife, thought about it, and nodded in agreement.
"Okay, then we'll come back tomorrow to get the rest."
I've heard before that his cousin married a noble lady from a wealthy family, but now this noble lady appears in this remote place.
It’s incredible to think about it.
Although I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find anyone tomorrow, I saw how pitiful the mother and her two children looked. They had a little child in their arms, didn't even have a servant, and had to pawn their jewelry to pay off their debts.
Are you afraid of some disaster?
It doesn't necessarily have to be returned tomorrow, as long as she is willing to acknowledge it.
I wonder what happened to that ungrateful Jiang Yunze?
Looks like I'll have to ask someone about this someday...
Jiang Yunhu took the silver and stood up to leave, but saw his wife still sitting there.
Liu Yu Niang hesitated for a moment and then said, "Sister-in-law, are you planning to stay here permanently, or just for a few days?"
Are you worried that she will run away?
Lu Qingyao raised her eyes and looked at the woman who looked a bit shrewd. "We plan to stay here for a long time."
"Sister-in-law, I didn't want to say these words, but since you're well-educated and well-mannered, I'm just going to let it out..."
…...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com