met free Chapter 181: Settlement
Chapter 181: Settlement
"Master." Seeing him getting up to leave, Liu called him hurriedly, but Li Dajiang seemed not to hear her and just walked away.
Looking at Li Dajiang's leaving back, Li Jiaojiao felt a chill in her heart. Li Dajiang no longer cared about her.
"See, big brother doesn't agree." Li Laosi crossed his arms, with a malicious look on his face.
Liu became more and more anxious: "Jiaojiao, do you have any valuables on you? Take them out."
Knowing that she would not be allowed to stay today unless she gave him something, Li Jiaojiao hesitated for a long time before slowly taking out a handkerchief from her bosom. When she opened the handkerchief, there was a gold bracelet inside. The bracelet was engraved with intricate patterns and was as thick as chopsticks. It could probably be exchanged for more than ten taels of silver at a pawnshop.
"Jiaojiao, this is your fault. Why didn't you take out such a good thing earlier? Why did you have to ask you for it? This is your food money. Please stay here." Li Laosi winked at Jiang, who understood and took it openly. She would go to the county town to pawn it for silver tomorrow.
These will be enough to last for a while.
Old man Li smoked his pipe one puff after another and looked up at them. The eldest brother's family and the fourth brother's family, it depends on who is scheming, neither of them can be worry-free.
Li Jiaojiao officially moved into the Li family. Originally, Liu and Jiang each did one day's work at home. But after Li Jiaojiao came, Jiang suggested that since Li Jiaojiao wanted to live here, she had to do one day's work as well, which meant that the three of them took turns doing it.
Liu objected to Jiang's proposal on the spot, saying that Jiaojiao was pregnant and they were from the same room, so it was unfair to divide the property like this.
"Sister-in-law, there are four adults in your family, plus the one in your belly, that's five people. How much do you need to eat in a day? We have four people in our family, and two children. Your family won't suffer any loss if we count this."
Jiang finally understood. Ever since that bitch Zhao Lanlan ran away, Old Man Li seemed to have lost his soul. He didn't care about anything at home anymore. Everything was decided by the first and fourth wives. Not to mention Old Lady Li, who only knew how to eat and drink all day long. She and Liu were the ones who fed him.
When she was in a good mood, she would be fed once or twice a day. When she was in a bad mood, she would not have a drop of water for the whole day. Old Mrs. Li's weight was dropping at a speed visible to the naked eye. Several times, she was so hungry that she rolled off the kang and crawled out to ask for food. Even so, she didn't dare to scold again, because if she did, she would starve to death.
Since Old Man Li didn't care about the matter, Jiang and Liu had a big fight. In the end, they both took a step back, Jiang did it for two days and Liu did it for three days, and the matter was finally resolved satisfactorily.
The gold bracelet was exchanged for ten taels of silver, and the Li family lived a good life for a few days with the ten taels of silver.
There were both chicken and meat. I hadn't tasted meat for many days, so I bought five pounds of meat and two chickens at once.
The family seemed to be living their good life again.
Zhang Yaozu was sentenced, but after being arrested, he behaved well, actively cooperated with the trial, and took all the blame on himself.
So Zhang Wenbin was acquitted, and he himself was exiled to Ningguta.
When he learned the news, Zhang Yaozu burst into tears in prison. He thought of Zhang Wenbin's mother again and thought of what he had done over the years. He felt extremely regretful. He must have let his original wife down, so this was a punishment from God.
Zhang Wenbin was stripped of his title of scholar, banned from official career again in his life, and all his property was confiscated.
Zhang Yaozu felt somewhat relieved when he learned that Zhang Wenbin was acquitted.
"Son, when I'm gone, you must keep a low profile and don't be reckless." Zhang Yaozu looked at Zhang Wenbin in front of him and knew that he would die and would never come back.
"Dad, I know. You must take good care of yourself when your son is not around. I hope you can come back before you die." Upon learning that he was acquitted, Zhang Wenbin was very happy, but he didn't dare to show it on his face.
"You can't come back. This farewell is forever." Zhang Yaozu knew that Ningguta was an extremely cold place. He didn't know how many exiles had died on the way before they even got there. It showed how harsh the environment there was.
Zhang Wenbin was released the next day. He had no money at this time, and his clothes were already in tatters. His body, which had already been hollowed out by beauty, had sunken eye sockets, a sallow complexion, and a thin body that became even thinner. It seemed that a gust of wind could blow him down.
He could not go back to the backyard of the county government office, and his three concubines were nowhere to be found, along with their children. The three concubines were worldly women, and they were the first to run away when something like this happened.
With nowhere to go, Zhang Wenbin had to look for a few people he usually got along well with, but he was rejected by everyone. Either they were not at home or they simply disappeared.
Originally, he wanted to borrow some silver, but he couldn't borrow a single penny. However, he had to find a place to stay, and he thought of Li Jiaojiao again. Li Jiaojiao was his wife, and she must be in Qinghe Village now.
Although he knew the Li family's temper, he really had nowhere to go. He was tired and hungry, so he finally decided to go to Qinghe Village.
It took Zhang Wenbin half an hour to walk this distance. He almost fell down several times, but he still persisted.
Finally arriving at Qinghe Village, Zhang Wenbin knocked hard on the Li family's door.
It was Jiang who opened the door. When he saw who was outside, his face immediately darkened and he reached out to close the door without thinking.
Zhang Wenbin saw her movements and quickly stretched out a leg to block the crack in the door to prevent her from closing it.
"Zhang Wenbin, what are you doing? Move your legs away. I want to close the door." Jiang said angrily.
"Aunt Four, I'm Zhang Wenbin. I'm here to look for Jiaojiao." Zhang Wenbin quickly reached out and pulled the hair on his forehead so that Jiang could see his face clearly.
Jiang turned his nose up and snorted coldly.
"I'm not deaf or blind, and I can see you. I closed the door to prevent you from coming in. Jiaojiao is not here, so go away." Jiang ordered her to leave directly.
A poor man, he had never looked at her straight in the eye when he was the son of the county magistrate. This was the first time that Zhang Wenbin called her fourth aunt after he married Li Jiaojiao.
She didn't dare to respond to the call of "Fourth Aunt", as she might end up relying on their family. She could still accept Li Jiaojiao reluctantly, but she absolutely could not accept another Zhang Wenbin.
If you want to live in the Li family, you have to bring money. Without money, there is no way.
"Aunt Si, I know Jiaojiao is in there. Jiaojiao is my wife after all, and she's pregnant with my child."