Chapter 11: Spit the Silver Out, Mother

The village head shook his head, staring at Zhao Jiagu with a confused look. “What kind of nonsense are you doing? No wonder your mother is so angry. Is there any chance of turning this around? Maybe you should think about it again. She’s a good mother, and you’re really going to give up your family for such a woman?”

Zhao Jiagu knew it was embarrassing with all his dirty laundry being aired by his mother, and he felt uncomfortable.

His face turned bright red, but he stubbornly insisted, “It’s not that I want to split the family, they forced me!”

“But no one forced you to do something so shameless,” the village head countered.

Seeing that Zhao Jiagu was so stubborn, the village head didn’t want to continue wasting time on pointless talk.

He turned to Chen Shuilian and said, “There’s a saying, ‘While parents are alive, don’t split the family.’ But what he did is truly outrageous. Even if a family were to separate, it would be unavoidable at this point. So, what do you think, how do you want to handle the division?”

Chen Shuilian said boldly, “Write up a legal document to notarize it and have him quickly leave! Do you really think I should divide my belongings with him?”

The village head was speechless.

Very strong, very domineering, just like Chen Shuilian’s usual style.

Zhao Jiagu’s pupils widened, and he immediately shouted, “No, I don’t agree!”

Chen Shuilian sneered. “You’ll agree whether you want to or not! I’ve raised you for twenty years, spent so much money on you, and you know it! Not only that, but you’ve dragged down your two younger brothers, and they’re still supporting you. Now, you want to split the family and take money from me? Stop dreaming! You owe me, and you owe them!”

The village head was speechless.

Rough words, but they made sense. What Chen Shuilian said was true.

He rubbed his beard and innocently looked at Zhao Jiagu. “Your mother is right. Look at how she’s treated you, and how she’s treated your two younger brothers. The villagers can see it. Even your job in the county was thanks to your mother’s hard work. Since that’s the case, even if the family divides, and she doesn’t give you anything, you won’t starve. Just do what your mother says.”

The village head said this with a hint of self-interest. He couldn’t afford to offend Chen Shuilian. As long as what she said made sense, he had no problem backing her up.

As for Zhao Jiagu, this young brat, he didn’t take him seriously.

After all, you could offend anyone, but not Chen Shuilian.

This foul-mouthed woman couldn’t be dealt with by physical force, nor could she be out-argued.

When Chen Shuilian heard the village head’s words, she suddenly slapped her thigh. Of course, she almost forgot this matter!

“Good thing you reminded me, village head! What about the deposit for the tavern? You still need to pay me back today!!!”

Zhao Jiagu: “…”

He couldn’t get anything from the family division, and now she wanted to take the silver back?

Zhao Jiagu stared at the village head in frustration.

It was all the village head’s fault!

He really had to bring up every little thing…

The village head noticed Zhao Jiagu’s resentful gaze. He looked up at the sky, looked down at the ground, but just didn’t look at Zhao Jiagu.

This wasn’t his problem.

Seeing that Zhao Jiagu remained silent, Chen Shuilian became even more forceful. “Speak up, don’t play dead. Otherwise, I’ll go stir up trouble at your tavern and make it impossible for you to work there! Fine, I won’t take the money, but don’t even think about keeping your job at that tavern. I’ll give that money to the tavern, but not to you!”

“Mother—” Zhao Jiagu dragged out the word. She was trying to drive him crazy.

At that moment, a sense of resentment swelled up in his heart.

“I can’t possibly come up with that much silver right now! And what’s this nonsense about a family division? This is just an excuse for me to leave with nothing! I don’t agree to this! If it comes to it, I’ll take it to the county office and see what the magistrate says!”

“This…” As soon as the village head heard Zhao Jiagu mention going to the county office, he immediately looked at Chen Shuilian with a troubled expression.

Though they were in the right if it went to the county office, he worried that the county magistrate might not have a favorable impression of their village…

And they couldn’t push him too far.

A cornered dog might jump over the wall—what could a person do when pushed too far? Who knew what Zhao Jiagu might do in his frustration?

Chen Shuilian wasn’t afraid of Zhao Jiagu. She immediately put her hands on her hips and shouted, “Go ahead, let’s go to the county office right now! Let the magistrate see what kind of unfilial son you are!!!”

Her imposing presence caused Zhao Jiagu to shrink back.

If they actually went to the county office, he didn’t dare to go…

The fear ordinary people had of the county office was instinctual.

But he couldn’t just walk away like this. Even if he did, he had to fight for himself a little.

Zhao Jiagu forced himself to remain calm on the outside and started negotiating with Chen Shuilian.

“Alright, the family division can happen, but the ten taels of silver will be my family separation fee. As for everything else, I don’t want anything else.”

“You dream on! Do you think you’re worth even ten taels of silver? The silver won’t be given to you, and there’s no way you’ll get anything else from this family!” Chen Shuilian retorted.

Seeing both sides at an impasse, the village head stepped in to mediate.

“I think…” he said, “You should both step back a little. Jiagu, ten taels isn’t a small amount. Your mother had to sell all the land to get that much silver together for you. If you take all of it, what will they have to live on? Shuilian, since you’re the one pushing for a family division, you can’t just sweep everything away. You have to offer something that the other side can agree to.”

He took a deep breath and continued, “How about this? You each take five taels, that way no one will have any objections.”

Zhao Jiagu bit his lip, clearly reluctant.

That was five taels less…

Seeing his hesitation, Liu Hong, who had been standing nearby, quickly whispered in Zhao Jiagu’s ear, “Why don’t we just go with what the village head said? It’ll save us from tearing each other apart, and we might end up with nothing. After all, we don’t have the upper hand in this matter. Besides, once we’re married, what’s mine is yours. You don’t need to worry about the five taels. If you don’t have the silver now, I can lend it to you and pay them back.”

Zhao Jiagu’s mind raced upon hearing this. Of course, Liu Hong had money.

Now that Liu’s family had no one left, all their property was hers.

The fact that she said this meant she was truly devoted to him, and that all the silver in the future would be his. What was the point in quarreling over a small amount now?

Once again, Zhao Jiagu felt certain he had made the right choice.

He patted Liu Hong’s hand and said, “Let’s not rush into paying them right away. We’ll deal with it later, I’ll see if I can drag this out for a while.”

He wasn’t ready to part with the silver just yet. What if, after some time, his mother changed her mind?

Then, he wouldn’t have to give up any silver.

Yes, Zhao Jiagu still didn’t believe that Chen Shuilian would treat him this way.

Whether he was deceiving himself or not, was still unclear.