Chapter 142: Chapter 67: Mrs. Wang Wants Silver

“We went to your older sister’s home with your elder brother, but her in-laws still refuse to provide the silver. They even said our family has money, why aren’t we willing to give some for our daughter? Look at that, they’re clearly taking advantage of us!” Mr. Gu gets angry just thinking about his eldest daughter’s in-laws, remembering their arrogant faces, it really makes one’s teeth itch.

“What did our brother-in-law say?” We can’t just watch him go serve forced labor, looks like we’ll have to fork out the entire amount; our family can’t be that heartless.

“What could he say? He stood to the side without a word! I suspect he’s in cahoots with his parents.”

Remembering his son-in-law’s behavior at the time made Mr. Gu even more furious. His family hadn’t even made a fortune yet, but already his son-in-law was eyeing their money. If only Wang Quanshou had come and spoken nicely, Mr. Gu wouldn’t have been so angry, but he let the daughter come to borrow money while he himself didn’t utter a nice word even when we went to their house. It was truly infuriating.

Gu Chengyu recalled that this brother-in-law, who only visits once a year during New Year, seemed to be a straightforward person due to their brief interactions, though he was a bit concerned with appearances. The New Year gifts he brought over weren’t bad. But last year, when his older sister just separated from the family, he overheard her complaining about her husband privately, saying he was too concerned with appearances and suffering for it. After just separating from the family, he’d brought over all the family’s New Year goods, leaving nothing at home.

It was probably because he cared so much about appearances that he couldn’t bring himself to come along and ask for money. And if his father-in-law came with his wife, it would only make it more embarrassing.

Without even needing to think about it, Gu Chengyu could already guess how it would end, so he didn’t ask further and instead switched the topic to the labor service matters in the village.

“So, did the villagers manage to pay the money today?”

Mr. Gu sighed, “How could they? If there’s no money, how can they pay? But the government officers extended the deadline by two more days. But just extending by two days is still not enough if there’s no money.” And today he already heard some rumors unfavorable to their family, causing him distress and worry.

When Gu Chengyu and the others arrived home, they found their house surrounded by crowds of people, three layers deep inside and out, completely blocking the courtyard gate. There seemed to be a lot of arguing going on in the courtyard, with the sharp cries of women piercing through; those who couldn’t see over the crowd even stood on tiptoe to peer inside, with some even climbing onto the wall. What on earth is going on?

Seeing this scene, Mr. Gu quickly stopped the oxcart, and Gu Chengyu jumped down from it.

“Hey? Make way! Why are you all crowding around our courtyard? Stop crowding, go home for dinner!” Mr. Gu tried to disperse the crowd and get them to go home. But though a path was made through the crowd, nobody moved, each one looking eager to watch a good show.

When Gu Chengyu and the others entered the courtyard, they found Mrs. Wang, the mother of He, and Wang Yue standing there, even the village chief was present, along with several villagers. There were quite a few people. Everyone from the Gu Family was present in the courtyard, and their faces were filled with anger.

“Ah! Changqing! You’ve come back at last! Look at my unfilial daughter! She’s just waiting to see her old mother go and die! How are we supposed to live like this? I might as well die!” Mrs. Wang sat on the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing loudly.

“Mom!” He was about to tell her mother not to make a scene, but Gu Chengyi held her shoulder down, giving her a fierce glare, and said, “Go inside and don’t come out!”

Unable to object, He could only walk towards the west wing. Her mother just wouldn’t listen, pulling a stunt like this, how was she supposed to face people now? Wasn’t she aware that her son-in-law had a cruel heart? What if this involved them too, what would she do? She risked incurring the wrath of the family and that wouldn’t end well for her. As for the threats of death, she had seen enough of that growing up, it didn’t even bother her; her mother was careful with her life!

“In-law, whatever you want to say, say it standing up! Must you act this way?” Mr. Gu looked at Mrs. Wang helplessly; that shrew, she’d do anything for money, even come to his house to cause a scene.

“Changqing! No matter what, Shan Gen is still your nephew, right? Can you just stand by and watch him sent off to die? Just lend me eighteen taels of silver, and I’ll make sure he repays you in the future. Shan Gen’s health is weak, how can he go to a place like that?” Mrs. Wang wailed while sneaking a glance at Mr. Gu’s expression.

Hearing this, Mr. Gu was furious! He knew too well it was just another scheme to leech off his family; his family was like a delicious pastry, everyone wanted a bite. Her Shan Gen’s health weak? Shan Gen was as robust and well-fed as they come; you could see the layers of fat on him, and that was all thanks to the Gu Family’s money! Did she think he didn’t know their second daughter was secretly supporting her natal family?

“Sigh! Shan Gen may be my nephew, but it’s not that we refuse to lend the money, we simply don’t have that much silver to spare!” Mr. Gu could only suppress his displeasure and continue to persuade.

“Ha! I must say, you folks from the Wang Family really have no shame! No money in your own house, so you come running to the in-laws’, do you think we’ve planted a money tree here? Is our silver blown here by the wind? So easy to come by?” Mrs. Lv looked at Mrs. Wang with disgust; how could all these Wang families from Dayang Village have so many troubles? They just gave money to Gu Xi’s family, and now another Wang is here asking for more, does her family owe these Wang families or something?

“Mother-in-law, at least my family and Changqing are cousins, also in-laws, your family sells ginseng and made so much silver, and you won’t spare a penny to save our Shan Gen? Your hearts are too cruel, this isn’t how family works! It’s not right! My daughter is also pinched by her mother-in-law, look, she doesn’t even dare speak a word to her old mother, what kind of life is she living at her in-laws’?” Mrs. Wang squinted at Mrs. Lv, hm! Such a fox! Even after all these years, they’ve all aged, but she remained so young.

“Oh my! Auntie! Don’t waste your breath! Their family wouldn’t even think of lending silver to you!” Wang Yue, who sensed an opportunity, inserted her comment. Upon entering the Gu courtyard and spotting Mrs. Lv standing there, she was surprised to find her still so youthful; even with simple wear, her beauty couldn’t be hidden. It irked her; wasn’t it that pretty face that enchanted men? Otherwise, how could Brother Sun from Dayang Village not have taken a fancy to her back then?

Brother Sun from Dayang Village, she happened to run into him once and took a liking to him; the Sun Family was doing well, skilled, never afraid of lacking food wherever they went. Who would have thought Brother Sun waited for Lv Tao all that time, until his father forced him to marry and only then did he take a wife, but still didn’t look at her? Why? If not for Lv Tao, perhaps Brother Sun would have chosen her earlier, why did he refuse to get married for so long?

Turning to see Wang Yue’s apparent age yet still needing to call her aunt, and wearing a skirt with those seductive glances clearly showing, God knows how many men she’d seduced! She was nothing if not shameless.

“This younger one’s right! Changqing, can you really be so heartless?”

On hearing “younger,” Wang Yuniang felt a bit upset; her husband’s generation was small, making everyone in the village call her aunt. Calling her aunt was appropriate, but Mrs. Wang deliberately called her “younger,” what was that about? Was it because she felt old and couldn’t use “aunt?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep