Chapter 552: 552 The Plot of Zhu Family’s Old Mom 1
Auntie Hua said, “I heard it clearly from afar. Zhu Mei-shi regretted selling Su Qingyue and wanted her to return to the Zhu Family and marry Zhu Nengwen. She specifically mentioned Dashan’s disadvantages, such as his illiteracy, and said that Su Qingyue looked down on Dashan. That’s when Dashan got angry.”
“So that’s what happened.” Li Wang-shi rolled her eyes. The Xiao family and Li family had been neighbors for decades, and now that the Xiao Family had become rich while the Li Family remained poor, she naturally felt uncomfortable. She was on good terms with Zhu Mei-shi, and when Zhu Mei-shi wanted to sell Su Qingyue before, she had asked her first due to their close relationship. When she didn’t buy Su Qingyue, Zhu Mei-shi sold her to the Xiao family.
Comparing the Xiao family’s success to the Zhu family’s, she naturally hoped that the Zhu family would do better and spoke up in favor of the Zhu family. “Ah, you don’t know, when Su Qingyue was with the Zhu family, she really liked Zhu Nengwen. She admired that he was a well-read scholar. I heard from Zhu Mei-shi that once, Su Qingyue even took the initiative to sleep on Zhu Nengwen’s bed. She not only got driven away by him, but he also beat her.”
She paused and continued, “There’s not a single good man in the Xiao family. In my opinion, if Zhu Nengwen were willing to lower his head, he would be much better than them. If he were to coax Su Qingyue, she’d definitely be willing to go back with him to the Zhu family.”
Auntie Hua said, “I didn’t have much contact with Su Qingyue when she was in the Zhu family. She would keep her distance from me, as if she was scared of strangers. But I dealt with her a while ago, and we even went to the neighboring village together. I went to have wedding wine, and she went to sell mushrooms. I don’t think she’ll go back to the Zhu family.”
“How can you be so sure?” Li Wang-shi didn’t agree. “Everyone says that Dashan hasn’t even consummated the marriage with Su Qingyue. Xiao Qinghe is a paralyzed guy, and who knows what he’s up to. Chuan is in poor health; it would be strange if she didn’t go back to the Zhu family.”
“Mind your own business.” Auntie Hua said and left.
Feeling snubbed, Li Wang-shi went back to her room with Li Yibao.
In the Zhu family’s yard, Zhu Nengwen was reading a book non-stop. The more he read, the more he thought of Su Qingyue’s fair skin and graceful figure.
Despite her ugly face, he was starting to become attracted to her body.
He also thought about the 300 taels of silver she earned. If they hadn’t sold her, those 300 taels would be theirs!
Zhu Mei-shi entered the yard carrying a load of firewood, placed it in the corner, and glanced at her second son. “There’s my second son, studying.”
Zhu Nengwen put away his book. “Mom’s back. You don’t look too good.”
Zhu Mei-shi’s wrinkles deepened from her frustration. “Did you hear about Su Qingyue earning 300 taels of silver and buying a carriage?”
“You know and yet you’re still so calm?” Zhu Mei-shi thumped her chest. “That 300 taels of silver should be ours! If only I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have sold that damned girl. It’s killing me!”
Zhu Nengwen felt frustrated too. “I told you before not to sell her. She barely ate anything, just had a bite of food, and you often didn’t give her enough to eat. It costs more to feed a dog than her. She could do embroidery and earn a few copper coins, handled all the chores at home, in the field, and everywhere else. She was diligent and hardworking. It would have been a good idea to keep her as a lowly maidservant. But you insisted on selling her.”
“You can’t blame me entirely.” Zhu Mei-shi was unhappy as well,