Chapter 38: Completed 1/3

As Li Qingzhi passed by Yao’s house that day, he noticed the chaos inside.

At a time like this, Mr. Yao definitely wouldn’t want anyone coming to his house… Li Qingzhi didn’t go over and returned home instead.

Building a house at home was a big deal! Jin Xiaoye was quite happy about it, and although Li Damao and Li Ermao didn’t understand why their mother was so happy, they felt happy too when Jin Xiaoye was happy.

But they didn’t celebrate because something had just happened next door.

At Yao’s house…

Jin’s aunt brought her three sons to Yao’s house and was quarreling with Mr. Yao and his wife. As for Yao Zhenfu… he hid inside and didn’t come out.

Jin’s aunt had a loud voice. She recounted everything from Jin Moli being mistreated by Yao’s mother over the years to Jin Moli’s dowry being swindled by Yao Zhenfu. By the end, she was choked with emotion. “My good daughter, did she come to your house just to suffer? If that’s the case, I might as well take her back!”

Mr. Yao remained silent with his head lowered. Yao’s mother was not very polite to Jin Moli, but she didn’t dare to show her temper to the Jin family.

They kept apologizing, but they refused to agree to sell their five acres of land for a hundred taels of silver.

They didn’t even tell Jin’s aunt that they had already sold the land, afraid that the Jin family would get angry and things would escalate.

Mr. Yao and his wife remained silent, and Jin’s aunt left resentfully as night fell.

After Jin’s aunt left, Yao Zhenfu came out from inside the house. “Dad, why don’t you just sell the land? It’s already been two days out of the three!”

Mr. Yao realized how unreliable his son was, but he didn’t tell him that they had already sold the land.

Now hearing his son say this, Mr. Yao felt even more disappointed. “If we sell five acres of land, we’ll only have five acres left!”

Yao Zhenfu said, “Don’t we still have five acres left?”

Mr. Yao was so angry that he couldn’t speak and couldn’t help but slap his son again.

If it had been before, Jin Moli would have gone up to Yao Zhenfu to inquire about his well-being, but now she didn’t want to move.

Yao Zhenfu had a lover in the county town and spent so much money on her. It really hurt her feelings.

She had been so good to Yao Zhenfu before because she didn’t want to be treated like the previous Jin Xiaoye by Yao Zhenfu, but now that Yao Zhenfu was like this…

So what if she was abandoned by Yao Zhenfu? She had already given birth to children for him. Could Yao Zhenfu still abandon her?

Even if Jin Xiaoye made a scene, she hadn’t done anything wrong!

After Yao Zhenfu was slapped, he felt resentful towards Jin Moli for not asking about him and for revealing his embarrassing affair. When they returned to their room, he erupted in anger: “Jin Moli, have you lost your mind? Didn’t I tell you not to talk about my affairs? How am I supposed to face anyone now?”

“Are you going to stop people from talking about what you’ve done?” Jin Moli couldn’t help but cry.

This only fueled Yao Zhenfu’s fury. He blamed Jin Moli, feeling that if she had been better, he wouldn’t have sought comfort elsewhere.

Jin Moli’s tears flowed even more profusely.

They quarreled, and the next day, Jin Moli went back to her mother’s house.

The Yao family was too preoccupied to pay attention to her. Early the next morning, Mr. Yao took Yao Zhenfu and rowed to the county town.

They arrived at Xuniang’s residence and exchanged a hundred taels of silver with Xuniang’s husband for the letters Yao Zhenfu had written to Xuniang and some of the tokens he had given her.

Before they went, Mr. Yao was worried that Xuniang’s husband would demand more money after receiving the silver, but he didn’t.

When they left Xuniang’s place, Yao Zhenfu breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn’t have to worry about Xuniang’s husband reporting him to the authorities anymore!

“Dad, since you already had the money, why didn’t you tell me earlier? I’ve been worried sick,” Yao Zhenfu complained to his father.

Mr. Yao didn’t answer. He silently untied the rope securing the boat and got on his boat first.

He picked up the bamboo pole on the boat and propelled the small boat away swiftly.

Yao Zhenfu, who hadn’t boarded the boat yet, was dumbfounded. What was going on with his father? Was his father abandoning him?

Today, he didn’t have a single cent on him. If his father left, how was he going to get back?

Yao Zhenfu shouted, “Dad, Dad!”

But Mr. Yao ignored him, rowing away.

Left behind by his own father, Yao Zhenfu felt angry and anxious. After his anger subsided, he could only slowly make his way back.

He had never walked from the county town to Miaoqian Village in the past ten years he had spent in the county town.

Mr. Yao felt sorry for him and always made sure to pick him up and drop him off.

But today, Yao Zhenfu had to walk back alone.

As he walked, he wished he could cover his face with his sleeve, fearing that someone might recognize him and mock him if they saw him.

The people in the county town probably didn’t know about him and Xuniang, but since he left the school, his father’s actions, such as asking his teacher for money, must have spread.

As he walked, he felt terrified whenever someone glanced at him, afraid that they were mocking him…

But Yao Zhenfu was overthinking. People from other villages didn’t recognize him.

But the people from Miaoqian Village did!

As soon as Yao Zhenfu returned to Miaoqian Village, he heard someone say, “Isn’t this Yao Zhenfu? Just came back from the county town? Did you go see your sweetheart?”

The speaker was Yao Zuming.

Yesterday evening, Yao Zhenfu’s affair had already spread throughout Miaoqian Village.

Yao Zhenfu, who was once revered by everyone as a scholar, had gotten himself into such trouble… The people of Miaoqian Village sighed in dismay.

But most people wouldn’t say anything to Yao Zhenfu’s face; they would only talk about it privately. Only people like Yao Zuming would go to Yao Zhenfu and mock him.

Yao Zuming’s last name was also Yao, and his grandfather was the brother of Yao Zhenfu’s grandfather.

However, the two families had fallen out long ago and didn’t get along.

Yao Zhenfu’s expression changed repeatedly.

But Yao Zuming continued to laugh, “I heard you were caught by her husband when you were fooling around with your sweetheart? Were you even wearing pants when you got caught? Yao Zhenfu, did you get beaten up? If I were that man, I would have given you a good kick to make sure you can’t perform as a man anymore!”

Yao Zhenfu was furious. “I was wearing pants!”

Yao Zuming laughed heartily. “I heard Mr. Yao is selling land to compensate. Yao Zhenfu, you’re no longer a young master. You’ll have to work in the fields with us in the future!”

Yao Zhenfu couldn’t take it anymore. He covered his face with his sleeve and ran back home, locking himself inside.

For many days after that, the people of Miaoqian Village talked about the Yao family’s affairs, just like they used to talk about Li Qingzhi.

The Yao family remained unsettled.

When Aunt Jin learned that Mr. Yao had sold the land to someone else, she went to Yao’s house to cause a scene again and demand compensation.