Chapter 142: Demanding Money

Chen Feng sat on the heated brick bed without moving, watching as Mrs. Wang anxiously stowed away her sewing and the needlework basket into the bed cabinet. She then grabbed the silk clothe that Chen Lu would wear the next day and also stuffed it into the bed cabinet, locking it. She then got up, went over to collect a set of delicate porcelain teacups bought in Dingzhou and placed them in a box, locking it as well.

This whole demeanor was completely like fortifying against bandits.

After quickly finishing these tasks, Mrs. Wang saw that Chen Feng was still sitting on the bed without moving. She hurried over to pull her up and ushered her from the west room to the east room opposite, saying, “A’Feng, be obedient, whatever happened, don’t come out.”

As Mrs. Wang closed the door to the east room, the two nosy pets, Zhui Feng and Wangcai, also squeezed inside.

Mrs. Wang composed herself before going out to open the fence door. Her face was calm as she said, “Mother, third brother, why have you come?”

Mrs. Ding said, “If you don’t come home to see your mother, your mother has no choice but to come to your house to see you.”

Wang Cai first greeted Mrs. Wang with a smile, “Big sister, you’ve gained weight, it seems you’re living quite well.” He then said to Mrs. Ding, “Mother, we haven’t seen big sister for a long time. Weren’t you just saying how much you missed her? Why are you saying this now?”

Mrs. Ding snorted and remained silent.

Mrs. Wang then inquired, “Is father’s health okay?”

Mrs. Ding coldly retorted, “If you want to know, why don’t you go and see for yourself?”

Seeing that Mrs. Wang was standing at the door without inviting them into the courtyard, the mother and son were not polite and walked past her into the house.

They walked ahead, with Mrs. Wang following behind, and entered the room, then turned into the open west room.

As they entered the west room, Chen Feng pushed the east room door slightly ajar to eavesdrop.

As soon as they entered, Mrs. Ding started to complain, saying, “Wang Juan, I brought you up as if you were my own daughter. Now that your family is prosperous, why don’t you go back and show some filial piety to your parents? You are so unfilial.”

Mrs. Wang remained composed, saying, “My family hasn’t become prosperous.”

Wang Cai chuckled, “Big sister, we’ve all heard, your family bought a huge piece of land and plans to build two grand courtyard homes. My goodness, even our wealthy landlords in the village aren’t as extravagant as this.”

Mrs. Wang responded, “That land was bought by my daughter, and the house was built with money from my daughter. I didn’t contribute a single penny. I have no money for you, you can leave.”

Mrs. Ding and Wang Cai, seeing only Mrs. Wang in the house, were not afraid, and sat on the heated brick bed. Mrs. Ding took out a long pipe from her waist and placed it in her mouth, while Wang Cai hurriedly lit it for her.

After lighting the pipe for Mrs. Ding, Wang Cai looked around, then patted the large lock on the bed cabinet.

After taking a few puffs, Mrs. Ding said, “Wang Juan, how have you treated your mother and your brother? We’ve come from afar to see you, and you won’t even serve us tea, prepare a meal, or buy chicken and meat, and now you want to drive us away. You can let us leave, but first hand over twenty taels. I heard that your foolish daughter’s illness has improved, and she’s become the needlework master at Tangyuan, surely earning a good sum. Your daughter knows how to respect her parents, as her mother, you should learn from her.”

Glancing at the silver hairpin on Mrs. Wang’s head and her silk coat, Mrs. Ding added, “Oh, you’re wearing gold and silver, yet you lie that you have no money. Hurry up and produce the silver.”

Wang Cai also remarked, “Big sister, that twenty taels isn’t for us, it’s for father, who is ill.”

Mrs. Wang ignored Wang Cai and said to Mrs. Ding, “My father allowed me to be sold by you twice, openly receiving fifteen taels of silver, and I know you also received silver secretly. I have repaid my debt of gratitude to my father with that money. Also, after you sold my second brother, I severed all ties with that family.” Her voice choked as she spoke, and she forcefully suppressed her resentment, raising her voice, “You can leave, and don’t come to my house again. From now on, don’t even think about squeezing even a penny out of me.”

Since Mrs. Wang was married off to the sickly Chen Ming, Mrs. Ding was seeing Mrs. Wang for the first time today. Over the past decade, Mrs. Wang had never returned to her maternal home, but that deadbeat had sent Wang Cai to the Chen household to see Mrs. Wang twice. Not only did Mrs. Wang not bring back even a piece of candy for her family, she only gave Wang Cai a piece of cornbread and didn’t even offer a meal.

When Wang Cai returned home, he said that Chen Ming was bedridden, breathing heavily, while Mrs. Wang had given birth to a fool, and the family was so poor that it rang with emptiness…

After hearing these words, Mrs. Ding became even more wary of this family.

However, a few days ago, someone from their village had come to spread the news that Mrs. Wang’s family had become prosperous, and that the foolish daughter had recovered from her illness. Due to her skill, she had become the needlework master at Tangyuan, earning a lot of money, and they were even planning to build two grand courtyard homes…

She and Wang Cai were no longer composed, realizing that they had raised this daughter for nothing, as she had made a fortune and had not shown any filial respect to her maternal family. She had originally wanted to bring the old man along, but that stubborn ghost refused to come, claiming that he was too ashamed to face his daughter.

Mrs. Ding had no choice but to bring her own son to Xiangluo Village, hoping to ask Mrs. Wang for some money. She also thought it would be best to rekindle this family relationship, hoping that it would bring more prestige to their family in the future.

In Mrs. Ding’s memory, Wang Juan had always been a silent and obedient, timid girl, who had been easy to control since childhood. She never expected Mrs. Wang to no longer fear her and to dare speak in such a manner.

She had walked such a long way with her old arms and legs, she couldn’t have made the trip for nothing.

Mrs. Ding’s face darkened, and she cursed, “You ungrateful wretch, I raised you with my blood and sweat, and you dare to speak such disrespectful words. Tell me, will you give the silver or not? If you dare not, I will go and tell the villagers that you have been married for over a decade and have never returned to your maternal home. Not to mention showing respect to me, your stepmother, your father is still your real father, right?”

Mrs. Wang had also thrown caution to the wind and raised her voice, “You better say that to others. Tell them how you sold your ten-year-old stepdaughter to be a child bride, how you enticed me, promising to treat my second brother well if I obediently went to the Chen household. But what did you do? You sold me, and two years later, you sold my brother when he was barely six.” Mrs. Wang burst into tears, then continued, “You have no conscience. I told you that when I grew up, I would earn money to support my brother, but you still sold him. Let me tell you, even if I had money now, I would rather throw it into the river than give it to you again.”

Mrs. Ding was furious. This Wang Juan was rebelling. She stood up, lifted the long pipe, and struck Mrs. Wang. She cursed, “I’ll beat you, you disobedient and unfilial thing, how dare you insult your mother…”

Mrs. Wang dared to argue back but didn’t dare to fight back, letting out a few “ouch” sounds as she was struck.

Chen Feng had been eavesdropping by the east room door. When she heard the sound of the table and chairs being knocked over in the west room, and then Mrs. Wang’s “ouch” sound, she quickly pushed open the door and ran to the west room, grabbing a burning stick from the stove as she passed by.