Chapter 197 - A Slap in the Face (1/2)

In fact, Yu Bo only gave the swindler two hundred taels. He planned on waiting until his mother had collected enough money so that he could give that person the remaining one hundred along with the rest of the money all at once. Unexpectedly, that swindler was arrested in just a day.

He reckoned that they wouldn’t be able to retrieve the money that he gave out, so he didn’t give the one hundred taels back to his mother and kept it as his own private savings. In terms of money, his mother had always been very generous towards him, but it was more convenient to have some money in his own hands.

Madam Zhang fixed the disheveled hair around her temples. Her troubled expression made her look somewhat ferocious. After thinking about it, she still couldn’t accept the fact that they had lost the three hundred taels just like that. She told Madam Li to help Zhang Quan’s wife, and then she went out and walked towards the direction of the old elm tree at the entrance of the village.

At that side, Old Yu was crouching under the elm tree and quietly listening to the village head and his eldest brother’s conversation. Yu Lichun noticed that his third brother’s face didn’t look very good, so he asked after him in concern. However, he didn’t get a reply, which made him feel even more perplexed.

The village head and Yu Lichun turned the topic of this year’s harvest over to his youngest son, Yu Jiang, “I heard that Dajiang is helping with the seafood acquisition and the business is doing very well ah! Is he really simply helping, or does he get paid?”

Thinking of the bonus that his youngest son brought home every day, Yu Lichun smiled like a blossomed chrysanthemum flower, “Dahai is a kind and upright child. He isn’t stingy about sharing his profits and also thinks of his brothers when he has money-making opportunities. This seafood acquisition business with the Zhou Family is an opportunity that Dahai gave us, so it’s considered a collaboration between our families. As for the income, it’s alright…”

Yu Lichun understood the principle of ‘one shall refrain from exposing their own wealth in public’. If he foolishly told others about the income that Yu Jiang received these past few days, it might lead to envious people causing trouble for them. It was still better to keep a low profile. However, he couldn’t control the expression on his face, which didn’t look like the face of someone who wasn’t making money.

The village head stroked his beard and jokingly scolded, “This guy, you won’t even tell me the truth ah! Would I steal your business opportunities?”

Yu Lichun chuckled and said, “It really isn’t much. It’s just a little more than the wage one gets from working at the docks for a day. It can’t be compared to your youngest son, who works with officials!”

The village head’s youngest son was the secretary of the neighboring county’s county magistrate. He didn’t get a high salary, but he considered to be a ‘civil servant’. The village chief had always been proud of his youngest son!

The two were chatting ardently when Madam Zhang came out of the village. She politely greeted the village chief and her eldest brother-in-law with a nod, and then she said to Old Yu, who deliberately ignored her, “Xiaobo’s father, bailiffs from the yamen came to our house and said that they’re investigating the case of Xiaobo being scammed. No matter what you’re still the head of the household, so come home to help entertain the guests!”

Old Yu hummed and hawed, and didn’t say anything for a long time. In the end, he sighed heavily, slowly got up with his hands clasped behind his back, and walked towards his home.

Madam Zhang quickly followed behind him on her bound feet and the two remained silent the whole way. When they were about to reach home, Madam Zhang finally broke the silence, “Husband, I know that you’re blaming me! But it’s something that has already happened, and we can’t go back to redo it. We still need to continue living our lives. Xiaobo is someone with a promising future. It’s just that he has bad luck this year. Didn’t the fortune teller say that there will be a high-ranking official in our family in the future? Xiaobo is your son, so you can’t disregard his affairs ah!”

“Help? How am I supposed to help? When you two, this pair of mother and son, discussed behind my back about buying your way into the academy, why didn’t you think about discussing it with me, the father? Now that you guys have encountered a problem, you suddenly remember that Xiaobo has a father?” Old Yu spoke in a muffled voice. Had it been in the past, Madam Zhang would have already started arguing with him.

But, after what happened last night, she no longer had the right to be so bold and confident. Madam Zhang thought about it and said, “Let’s put everything aside for now. Xiaobo said that the swindler has been caught already and they just need us, the victims, to be questioned in court before they can convict him. But, the three hundred taels… we might not be able to get back. That’s Xiaobo’s travel expense for when he goes to take the imperial examination in the capital in the future ah!!”

“Things that don’t belong to you, even if you get it, you still won’t be able to keep it! The three hundred taels was supposed to be used to save Dahai’s life, don’t you feel guilty for taking the money at all? Ay——It serves you right that you can’t get it back!” Old Yu remembered the time when his second son was lying in bed and on the verge of death, and how they urgently needed this money after separating from the family. However, they had confiscated the money… He felt a mixed sense of shame and remorse within his heart.

Madam Zhang had to suppress her emotions in order to not argue with Old Yu. She continued to patiently say, “Husband! If there really isn’t any way to get the money back, then I will give up on this idea. However, we have a chance to get some of the money back. If we don’t make some efforts, Xiaobo wouldn’t have any traveling expenses when he goes to take the imperial examination in the future. As his parents, wouldn’t we regret for a lifetime?”

Old Yu frowned and said, “Didn’t the money get swindled away by the fraudster? We can still get it back?”

“Didn’t the swindler get caught? The local authorities can definitely get the money back, or at least get a portion of the money back. But, I don’t know if they will give the money back to us…” Madam Zhang was thinking about how to get Old Yu to go to the old residence and ask for their help.

With furrowed brows, Old Yu brows puzzledly asked, “If the local authorities don’t want to give it to us, what can we, common folks, do?”

Madam Zhang took this opportunity and said, “We can’t do anything, but isn’t Xiaocao’s godfather…”

Old Yu glared angrily at Madam Zhang and snorted, “You just made a promise last night. You wouldn’t have forgotten about it already, right?!! At that time, we all agreed to go our separate ways and not disturb one another. It hasn’t even been a day, yet you have already forgotten the pain after your scars have healed?”