As soon as Gao Suhua said these words, the onlookers felt that her argument was quite reasonable.
But Zhao Pulin still couldn’t come up with the money and wore a gloomy face, refusing to respond.
Gao Suhua obviously knew he couldn’t come up with it, yet she still said: "Can you not at least give me an answer? Don’t forget they are your daughters too. You use their dowry money to raise this illegitimate child, don’t you think they will hate you all their lives?"
That really hit where it hurts, she is definitely stirring up trouble.
Zhao Pulin looked at Gao Suhua incomprehensively. This person has spent ten years in prison, but she seems like a changed person after coming out, just look at what she’s saying.
Zhao Pulin gritted his teeth and said: "Even if I wanted to give the dowry money back now, I don’t have it, do whatever you please."
When Gao Suhua heard him say that, her face immediately turned cold: "Then don’t blame me for causing trouble here every day. If my daughters can’t live peacefully, neither can you."
In the end, it was Ge Congmei who couldn’t bear to let her daughter live like this every day. She agreed to give thirty yuan each for Zhao Xiaotao and Zhao Xiaomei, saying that’s all the money they had, take it or leave it.
Gao Suhua had become much shrewder during her years in prison, and after half a day, she said: "If you want my agreement, then let Zhao Pulin and my daughters sign a contract.
The dowry money will be considered provision for her old age; from now on, whether it’s birth, old age, sickness, or death, it has nothing to do with my daughters."
Zhao Pulin immediately objected: "No way, they are my daughters. Who ever heard of signing such an agreement? Now you’re really talking nonsense."
Gao Suhua retorted immediately: "If you don’t agree, then pay up. Otherwise, sign the contract. If you agree to nothing, then I’ll keep coming here to make trouble every day."
Ge Congmei couldn’t take it anymore, she pulled Zhao Pulin aside and said: "Zhao Pulin, just sign it. If she comes every day to cause trouble, how can we live peacefully at home? Eventually, the villagers won’t be able to tolerate us either.
Xiaoruo is still so young, can’t you think more about her?"
Zhao Pulin replied with a dark face: "What do you know? If we sign this agreement and later on there’s an illness or disaster, will they still care about me?"
Ge Congmei sneered back: "Even without signing, they won’t care about you. They can’t even manage to send holiday gifts regularly. You’ve told them that before. Did it make a difference? They still don’t send them. Stop dreaming."
Zhao Pulin thought of what his third daughter, Zhao Xiaoxing, previously said: "You now have a new family; you have a new daughter. What are we to you? You spend our dowry to support your new wife and little daughter. In the future, let her take care of you in your old age, don’t expect anything from us."
After wrestling with the thought, he gritted his teeth and said: "Fine, let’s sign. But don’t regret it later. If you end up mistreated at your husband’s house, don’t come to me."
Under the mediation of the village officials, Zhao Pulin signed the contract. He had initially wanted to exclude his eldest and second daughter and the sixth daughter who had gone missing, but Gao Suhua didn’t give him the chance. Not one daughter less was acceptable.
After the agreement was finalized, she did not forget to ask Ge Congmei for the thirty yuan. Upon receiving the money, she triumphantly left with her daughter and son-in-law Hao Hao.
After everyone had dispersed, Ge Congmei was left with only two yuan in her hand, looking at Zhao Pulin: "They’re a pack of wolves that don’t spit out bones after eating."
Some time passed, and then an explosive piece of news spread: Gao Suhua had been defrauded out of her money.
It was another woman who had served time in prison with her, claiming to take her to speculate in stocks so she could multiply her money several times over.
Being ignorant about these matters, she had followed the woman to the trading hall, but every operation was by that woman’s hand. At first, she had made some profit, making her overjoyed.
Yet, within a few days, that woman disappeared. The police had been investigating but haven’t found any clues to today. So they notified her family back home to come pick her up.
Now, Gao Suhua had become a laughing stock in the nearby townships. People thought she had become shrewd in prison, but she still got scammed in the end.
When Zhao Pulin heard the news, he didn’t know if he was angry or anxious, but his mouth broke out in painful blisters and he couldn’t even eat. Villagers deliberately ate outside his door, occasionally striking up conversations with him, making him so mad that he didn’t even want to leave his house anymore.
He felt an unbearable loss of face, but deep down, it was the money he mourned for more.