My Happy Daily Life After Being Reborn-Chapter 26 - 16 Bills of Exchange
26: Chapter 16 Bills of Exchange
26 -16 Bills of Exchange
Upon hearing this, the three elders’ faces changed instantly.
Second Aunt Zhou Fengqin furrowed her brow and angrily said, “Go to hell with your talk of servants and slaves!
Which family doesn’t want a bride price when they marry off their daughters?
Are they supposed to sell their daughters into servitude at their in-law’s?
What’s wrong with 3,000 yuan?
My niece is of such good character and appearance, she even got into Capital University effortlessly.
Isn’t she worth the 3,000 yuan bride price?”
“I’ll give you 3,000 yuan, now you go and get a university graduate for me to see?”
This argument was somewhat far-fetched, but Zhou Fengqin’s expression was truly frightening, as though she would chop anyone who dared to argue.
No one around her dared to make a sound.
Lin Xiaoguai lowered her head and sniffled, feeling both moved and sarcastic.
Her uncles, aunts, and cousins were all present, yet her biological brothers were nowhere to be seen.
Shen Mincheng smoked quietly, saying nothing, apparently lost in thought.
After a long while, he slowly said, “What exactly are you here for today?”
“What are we here for?” Lin Nianqiang scoffed coldly, suddenly grabbing Shen Xiaobao’s face and deforming it.
“How about I throw this little bastard into a manure pit, then you can ask me what we’re here for, hm?”
Saying this, he looked around, quickly locating the manure pool beside the vegetable garden outside the courtyard.
With that stance, if Shen Mincheng said something unpleasant, he would surely do as he threatened.
Shen Xiaobao was completely stunned; he had been struggling earlier, but now he didn’t dare to move.
With a flick of his hand, cigarette ash flecked with red light sprinkled from his pipe, but Shen Mincheng didn’t care, and in a much calmer tone said, “Let’s talk this out, there’s no need for grievances…”
“No need for grievances?” Zhou Fengqin suddenly pushed Wang Zhaodi’s face into the mud, raising her voice, “You’re telling me there’s no need for grievances?
How can you say there are no grievances when my niece almost miscarried because of your family?
Your Shen Family might be generous, but my Lin Family’s girl won’t suffer in silence!”
Pointing at Shen Xiaobao, she cursed, “This little rascal is so young, yet he dares to commit such heinous acts.
What will he be capable of when he grows up, murder and arson?”
Although Zhou Fengqin’s words might be sensational, they weren’t without reason.
The Yuanjiazhuang villagers, who already disliked how the Shen Family doted on their children, began to whisper among themselves.
Shen Mincheng’s face turned red, stammering out, “Xiao Bao wouldn’t do what you’re saying, he’s just too rough, accidentally bumping into Chi’s wife.
She was already physically weak…”
“Shut up!” This time it was Aunt Li Fangmei who spoke, her face filled with slight anger, “Who are you calling physically weak?” She looked around at the villagers, “Folks, you can ask around, my niece might have been born late, but she was full-term, with no health issues from the womb.
Her parents doted on her, she never lacked for nutrition or had anemia like others might, so how did she become so frail not two months after marrying into this family?”
She glared coldly at Shen Mincheng, “Don’t try to slander others for the misdeeds you committed.”
“What nonsense about the child being rough.” Zhou Fengqin spoke coldly, “Do you think we didn’t inquire beforehand?
I’ve seen plenty of rough children, but I’ve never seen ones who push others into the river during the dead of winter, almost causing them to lose their lives.
I’ve never seen any that when upset throw firecrackers in other children’s faces, and I’ve definitely never seen any smash an elder in the clan’s head with a large rock after being scolded!”
“And there’s plenty more, shall I go on?”
“Don’t even mention it, due to Wang Zhaodi’s indulgence and protection of her favorite, Shen Xiaobao committed no small amount of wicked deeds.
Take that child who was pushed into the river; originally not robust but certainly healthy, he fell ill ever since and had to drink medicine every winter.
His parents, being honest folks, failed to get any compensation from the likes of that shrew, Wang Zhaodi; instead, they were ridiculed thoroughly.
The child who had fireworks thrown at his face didn’t fare much better.
Although his features weren’t destroyed, one of his eyes was injured, heavily myopic though not blind.
Unfortunately, the girl only had a widowed mother, leaving her nowhere to seek justice.
The unfortunate elder from their clan who received a head injury was even worse off.
An old man in his sixties, not only was his dignity tarnished, but he also spent nearly half a year bedridden.
His family got some compensation, but only a sack of sweet potatoes, not even enough to cover their medicine for ten days.
At that moment, there happened to be family members of two involved parties present.
Seeing them, the others began to mutter, thinking that there might really be something problematic about the child…
Some began to sympathize and denounce vocally.
‘Last month, one of my chickens went missing.
That day, only Xiao Bao came to play with my Niuniu in the yard, and the next day, I smelled chicken cooking outside Min Cheng’s house.
I even counted their chickens; none were missing.’
‘My luck was even worse.
I hid the money I made from selling eggs under the tablecloth, planning to buy cooking oil and salt.
Then, just after I shelled some peas in the kitchen, it was gone.
At that time, only Xiao Bao had entered the house, tired from playing, and asked me for water.’
‘My daughter-in-law had no milk, so I got some baby formula from relatives in the city, which is all my granddaughter depended on.
Yet, Xiao Bao always stole her bottle when we weren’t looking, making my granddaughter cry from hunger at night.
I’m not being stingy; the formula really isn’t cheap.’
…
‘Why don’t you confront and demand an explanation?’
‘Demand an explanation?
How?
Is Wang Zhaodi someone who listens to reason?
Better not be slapped in the face for it.’
Those people’s voices grew louder, Shen Mincheng’s face grew darker, and Wang Zhaodi, far from being embarrassed, looked utterly resentful.
‘Enough, stop talking!’ Shen Mincheng looked towards Li Fangmei, ‘Our Shen Family is at fault here.
Speak, in-law, whatever you ask that we can do, we won’t shirk our responsibility.’ He had realized that this old lady was in charge; if she wasn’t satisfied, his family wouldn’t have peace today.
Lin Xiaoguai raised her brows in slight surprise; this father-in-law didn’t seem as useless as she had thought.
But then again, no matter how fierce Wang Zhaodi was, she was just a woman, a woman depending on her second marriage with a child in tow.
If Shen Mincheng hadn’t been so partial, she wouldn’t have been able to act so outrageously in the Shen Family.
‘Divorce!’ Li Fangmei declared decisively.
The scene fell silent immediately, not even allowing for an uproar before a petite daughter-in-law stepped forward, ‘Fellow villagers, it’s not that our Lin Family is being aggressive, but really…’ she sighed before continuing with a bitter smile, ‘This time our younger sister was in trouble, Shen Xiaobao is not to mention, for all his mischief, he is still a child, but these adults…
When our sister complained of stomach pain, no one paid any attention, a living person bleeding so much in her room, and nobody noticed.
If Shen Chi hadn’t returned just then, it might have been one dead body and two lives lost.
We’re truly frightened.
Living with such elders, not even ten lives for our sister would be enough.’
Saying this, her eyes filled with tears, ‘You all know the situation with Shen’s family better than I do; if she were our real mother-in-law, no matter how hard it gets we would stomach it, as it isn’t right to separate blood from flesh.
But since she is just a stepmother, even if our hearts are wide, we can’t let our own daughter be mistreated.'”
Memories had faded and it took Lin Xiaoguai considerable effort to remember that this young wife belonged to her Brother Xiaoxi, who appeared delicate but was actually efficient and straightforward, greatly favored by her Aunt.
By rights, Lin Xiaoguai should have called her a sister-in-law by marriage, but the three families were close, and her Second Uncle always said calling her formal sister-in-law was too distanced.
She had her own sister-in-law, and calling both ‘sister-in-law’ might cause confusion.
Eventually, it was the Second Aunt who decided, saying Wanwan was still young and there was no need to be too formal, so ‘sister’ was fine.
Her given name was Tang Hanfang, and being a junior high graduate, she was definitely considered an intellectual here.
Lin Xiaoguai always called her Sister Hanfang.
“Some things, I can’t feel relieved unless I speak out,” Tang Hanfang said with a face full of frustration, “Everyone knows that when Shen Chi married our younger sister, he offered 3,000 yuan as betrothal gifts, supposedly exhausting his family’s savings.
But that wasn’t actually the case.”
The villagers exchanged puzzled looks.
What did she mean by that?
Tang Hanfang, with tears in her eyes, said, “Don’t laugh at me—when the young couple got engaged, my Mom had asked for three spins and one ring with sixty-four legs, and Shen Chi agreed without hesitation.
But when it came to the wedding, everyone knew the actual situation.”
“I know about that.
Shen Chi had asked Shen Shu for the money, but Uncle Shen’s money was all spent on Shen Zhu’s wedding and for Xiao Bao, and he simply couldn’t come up with it,” a gossip-loving daughter-in-law from Yuanjiazhuang chimed in.
“If that were really the case, we wouldn’t have anything to say,” she paused, “even though Shen Zhu is just a stepson.”
Tang Hanfang opened the cloth bag she was carrying and pulled out a stack of papers, showing them to the villagers.
“What’s this?
I can’t read.”
“Seems familiar.”
“Zhaodi, tell your dad what this is.”
“These are bills!”
“What kind of bills?”
“Bills for sending money!”
“What!?”
The villagers exploded in confusion, each putting intense focus on the bills in their hands.
Shen Mincheng seemed to realize something, his expression drastically changing.
“This one is for fifty-two yuan.”
“This one’s for twenty-six yuan.”
“Mine’s one hundred ten yuan.”
“Mine’s ninety-seven yuan.”
…
“One hundred ninety yuan.”
“Five hundred eighty yuan.”
“Two hundred yuan.”
“Two hundred sixty yuan.”
“Four hundred fifty yuan.”
“Eight hundred yuan.”
“One thousand yuan.”
“1,100 yuan.”
As the numbers called out grew larger, the shocked gasps from the crowd grew louder.
With an indignant expression, Tang Hanfang said, “As everyone might have guessed, these are bills documenting the money Shen Chi sent home, and this isn’t even all of it.
Some of the earlier ones have been lost.”
“Shen Chi did indeed ask Old Shen for money for the dowry, but he was asking for his own money!”
“My goodness, there’s nearly ten thousand yuan here!” someone roughly calculated, crying out in shock.
“These were all sent by Brother while our Mom was still alive; he kept nothing for himself.
Especially before he joined the army, Brother made his fortune by speculating and almost got caught by the Red Guards for profiteering.
You could say he earned this money risking his life.
After Mom passed away, knowing the kind of man Dad was, Brother stopped sending money home, only leaving some household money during familial visits,” Shen Xiu whispered to Lin Xiaoguai.
