"Mother, how can you tear down a bridge after crossing the river? Let the villagers judge. Everyone knows our family's situation. Not to mention thirty taels of silver, we can't even produce two taels. It was precisely because I lent you the silver that my husband and I fell out. If you deny it now, doesn't that confirm what Changhe said back then?" As she spoke, Wu Caiwei hesitated, glancing at the crowd and quickly lowering her head, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"What did he say about me? I knew he was always stirring up trouble, which is why you never paid attention to us for so many years of marriage." Hearing this, Mother Zhou became angry. She originally thought sixty taels of silver was their entire fortune, but everyone had underestimated him.
As soon as they divorced, Liu Changhe went to town to buy a house and a shop. By any calculation, he had several hundred taels of silver, which made her feel like she had lost out. After all, in her eyes, her daughter's money was her money. No one would be in a good mood when the ducks they had caught flew away.
"Changhe said back then that this silver was earned through his hard work, and only he knows how much blood and sweat went into it. Your second and third brothers are already grown men, yet they are still waiting at home for you to support them. Even if we help you temporarily, life will be unsustainable. You will never be able to repay tens of taels of silver in this lifetime and will definitely default." The more Wu Caiwei spoke, the uglier the faces of the Zhou couple became. Wu Caiwei's voice also unconsciously lowered, and she even took a few steps back, looking at them with fearful eyes.
"You ungrateful wretch, don't forget that we are here today to seek justice for you!" Mother Zhou, seeing the people around whispering and looking at them with disdain, became furious.
"I think my current life is quite good. Of course, if you return the sixty taels of silver, my life will be even more comfortable. Please do not come to the Liu family to cause trouble again in the future. Today, the Liu family did not send you to the yamen out of consideration for me, but next time, who knows."
The Zhou couple stared at Zhou Xuee in disbelief, suspecting she was threatening them, but there was no evidence. This was so unlike her usual behavior. Every time they wanted to ask her for money, a little coaxing would make her obediently hand over the silver. This was the first time they had encountered such a strong attitude.
"Let's clarify things in front of everyone. I, Liu Changhe, owe nothing to your Zhou family. On the contrary, your Zhou family still owes Xuee sixty taels of silver. Do not cause trouble at my doorstep again, or I will report you to the authorities and let the county magistrate decide." Liu Changhe stepped forward at the opportune moment to warn them. Since Wu Caiwei had already sung her part, he couldn't let a woman bear the brunt of the struggle alone.
Seeing that he was not joking, the Zhou couple was somewhat intimidated. In fact, the Zhou family had already befriended a Jinshi scholar, so they wouldn't give up easily. The reason they fell silent was twofold: first, the money they received was enough, and second, that night, Mr. Zhou, along with some men, had aggressively gone to their residence and severely beaten Father Zhou, warning him that if he continued to damage his reputation outside, they would break both of Father Zhou's legs. They were frightened by the scene and sheepishly left with a hundred taels of silver.
In the end, the Zhou couple were just a pair of typical country folk. The mention of the authorities made their legs go weak, and their hearts pounded. They began to have second thoughts. However, leaving like this felt too humiliating. They quickly looked at the surrounding crowd and said, "Look, look at how he speaks to his former father-in-law and mother-in-law. A man like him should be cautious when doing business in the future. Alas, we are old now, and our words carry little weight. We won't be an eyesore here anymore."
Seeing the couple's sad and disappointed expressions, the crowd couldn't help but feel sympathy. They were just parents who loved their daughter, after all. Why should their daughter and former son-in-law be so aggressive?
Liu Changhe saw the shift in the crowd's attitude and felt a pang of anxiety. He had always known the Zhou parents were troublesome. He used to always tell Zhou Xuee not to associate with them. Although the Liu family had lost sixty taels of silver, he hadn't interacted with them much. This first encounter made him realize how difficult they were, and it gave him a headache. No matter what, he had to turn the tide of public opinion today, or it would truly affect his business.
"Mother should be enjoying her old age or helping her two younger brothers find wives. She shouldn't always have her eyes on me. I heard you wanted a betrothal gift of three taels of silver to marry me off to the Liu family. Not only is that Liu family man more than ten years older than me, but he's also lazy and has no stable income, making him a poor match. If he hadn't been shouting in front of me, I wouldn't have known." Wu Caiwei looked at them with sad and disappointed eyes.
The onlookers immediately erupted in an uproar. "Three taels of silver? Are they crazy? In our village, it's at most two taels, let alone for someone who has divorced."
"There must be something wrong with the other party offering such a high price. It seems the couple doesn't love her as much as they claim."
"It's the first time I've seen parents looking for a new spouse for their daughter right after she divorced."
...
While others were discussing heatedly, Madam Zhou felt as if she had been doused with a basin of cold water and sank to the bottom. They had never imagined that other marriage discussions would get out. Anyone with eyes could see what was going on.
"Who is distorting the truth? It was clearly the Liu family who fancied you and wanted to propose, but I refused. Our Zhou family would never sell their daughter." Mother Zhou asserted with conviction. If it weren't for the flustered and guilty expression on her face, the crowd would have almost believed her.
At this point, what else could they not understand? No wonder Director Liu disliked them so much. Anyone in his position would be unhappy. Their lives were going well, but these people messed everything up, and then they came to cause trouble after the couple divorced.
The Zhou parents were naturally bullies who picked on the weak and feared the strong. They had disdained the Liu family for being poor and ignored them. Later, when they heard that Liu Changhe had become rich, they wanted to get close to him, but the other party didn't give them any face, so they felt a little intimidated and didn't contact him again. Later, they contacted Zhou Xuee with a trial attitude, never expecting her to be so foolish and easily deceived.
In fact, before he went, he had already made up his mind that if Zhou Xuee refused to associate with them, they would give up. He never expected her to be so easy to deal with. With a little bit of suffering, she would give them money. Seeing the gleaming silver, she came even more frequently. Since they couldn't get anything here, he quickly grabbed Father Zhou's hand and left. Throughout the entire encounter, he never admitted to owing that sum of money.
With the main characters gone and no more excitement, the crowd slowly dispersed. Wu Caiwei, mixed with the crowd, also wanted to leave. She had heard the commotion here today and wanted to come and see what was happening, and also to help Liu Changhe out of a difficult situation.