jdhmnovel Chapter 37 Flies
Chapter 37 Flies
Chapter 37 Flies
At the No Return Building, Old Zhang saw Wang Wenzhou enter and quickly went to greet him.
"My dear son-in-law, you've arrived. The private room upstairs is ready! Let's have a good drink together today."
Wang Wenzhou was puzzled. What was going on today? Old Zhang insisted on inviting him for drinks. He wanted Old Zhang to go to Zuihualou, but Old Zhang refused to go no matter what. Old Zhang had treated him well, and Wang Wenzhou couldn't refuse him, so he had no choice but to come.
Wang Wenzhou followed Old Zhang upstairs to the second floor and into a private room.
The food on the table was already prepared, a very plentiful spread.
"Old liar, what exactly do you want with me today?" Wang Wenzhou asked as he sat down.
"My dear son-in-law, let's drink this first!" Old Zhang picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.
After finishing his drink, Old Zhang said earnestly, "My dear son-in-law, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but how could you lock your mother-in-law in jail yesterday? She's your own mother! If word gets out, it will sound terrible! Wearing that label of unfilial piety on your head will make people gossip behind your back!"
"Old Zhang, who told you that? That's not my mother, it's a fraudster impersonating her!" Wang Wenzhou lied.
"Nonsense! Jiaojiao told the old man everything that happened yesterday! You're wrong, son-in-law!" Old Zhang frowned and complained.
"Sigh!" Wang Wenzhou sighed, stood up, and lifted his shirt, revealing a series of scars on his back that were particularly noticeable. Sheng Lan had been heartbroken and kept wiping away tears while applying medicine to him last night.
"Look! This is all from my mother!" Wang Wenzhou said with a bitter smile, "I don't know if it's just bad luck lately, but ever since I came to Hanshan County, I've been getting beaten up! On my very first day, that little bastard Li Hechen beat me up, and before my injuries had even healed, Jiaojiao beat me up too. These past few days, Jiaojiao has learned her lesson and hasn't hit me anymore. But when my mother came, she started beating me again!"
“My dear son-in-law, filial piety has always been the most important virtue! It’s only natural that your mother beat you! How could you lock her up in jail? Listen to my advice, go and kowtow to your mother to apologize, and ask her to come home.” Old Zhang advised.
“It’s not that I wanted to lock my mother up, it’s that she forced me to do it!” Wang Wenzhou said, taking a sip of wine.
"Don't try to fool this old man! My dear son, you don't know! It's all over Hanshan County now, everyone's talking about how the magistrate locked his own mother in jail. I'm so ashamed of myself that I can't even lift my head up!" Old Zhang said with a bitter smile.
“You only know that I locked my mother up, but do you know why?” Wang Wenzhou asked.
Old Zhang shook his head, thinking, what else could it be? It's just because your mother-in-law got angry and beat you up!
Wang Wenzhou thought for a moment and then said, "Parents are like gods to their children. But parents' ideas are not necessarily right! The reason I put my mother in jail is because she interfered with my plans."
"Hmm?" Old Zhang frowned, looking at Wang Wenzhou suspiciously. "Xianxu, are you trying to fool this old man again?"
"You should know about the city entry tax, right?" Wang Wenzhou asked.
Old Zhang nodded and said, "The grand prize of a thousand taels of silver is known not only in Hanshan County, but throughout the entire Hezhou Prefecture. The number of guests at Bugui Tower has increased several times over these days. Most of them are from out of town. I'm so busy that I can't even leave, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to invite you, sir, over for a chat."
“This thousand taels of silver is my own money. I came to Hanshan as the magistrate only to do something practical for the people of Hanshan. But Old Wang, who is also the old steward of my mansion, absolutely refused to let me pay this money. Yes, a thousand taels is a huge sum of money. But for our newly established Earl’s mansion, this amount of money is nothing.”
Wang Wenzhou took a sip of wine and said, "Old Wang is making trouble for me, and I have no choice but to lock him up in jail since I can't stand being beaten and scolded by him every day. Yesterday, my mother came and started hitting and scolding me as soon as she entered the house, demanding that I release Old Wang from jail."
"Hmm?" Old Zhang carefully recalled his granddaughter's account, and it seemed that his son-in-law hadn't lied after all.
Wang Wenzhou said with a righteous air, "My mother thinks the same as Old Wang, and doesn't want me to spend a thousand taels of silver on the grand prize. As you can see, because of the city entry tax, the population of Hanshan City is gradually increasing. With more people, any business is easier to do. When people earn more money, their lives will definitely get better."
"Yes, these days, I've heard from several old friends that business in Hanshan County is booming. My No Return Tower's income has increased several times over compared to normal days. Your son-in-law is truly dedicated to the people; he is indeed a descendant of the Marquis of Xinjian," Old Zhang praised.
“Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety have been mutually exclusive. My mother doesn’t agree with my plan. I can only keep her in jail for a while. After another half month, once the lottery results are announced, I will definitely bring my mother back. Anyway, the money has been spent, and she has no way to pursue me,” Wang Wenzhou said.
Old Zhang shook his head slightly. His son-in-law was not an unfilial person, and his mother-in-law had not done anything wrong. When the old man learned that his son-in-law had taken out a thousand taels of silver, he also felt heartache.
"How about this, I'll take some time to persuade your mother-in-law not to interfere in your affairs, and then you can apologize to her and take her home," Old Zhang suggested.
"Alright! If you can persuade her, how could I not apologize?" Wang Wenzhou nodded. Although he didn't acknowledge his mother as his biological mother, she was still the original owner of the body's mother. Keeping her locked up in jail indefinitely wasn't a good idea.
"That's settled then! Let's have a good drink, you and me!" Old Zhang felt that the matter was settled, not because his son-in-law was unfilial, but for another reason. He was in a great mood and pulled Wang Wenzhou to drink.
An old man and a young man were drinking and chatting happily when suddenly a commotion broke out downstairs.
"What do you want to do?"
Zhang Jiao's voice was loud, and Wang Wenzhou could clearly feel the anger in it.
"I'll go down and see what's wrong. Has Jiaojiao gone crazy again?" Wang Wenzhou said with a smile.
"Ahem..." Old Zhang coughed awkwardly a few times and said, "This old man will go down and take a look too."
Wang Wenzhou walked down the stairs and found several men pointing at Zhang Jiao and cursing.
The leader had only one eye, with a scar across his right eye, which was quite frightening. As he spoke, the fat on his face jiggled, making him look very menacing.
"Jiaojiao, what's wrong?" Wang Wenzhou walked over and asked.
"Who are you? What's it to you?" The one-eyed man glared at Wang Wenzhou with his only eye and said coldly.
"They ate and dashed! They didn't pay for their meal!" Zhang Jiao said angrily.
"Hey! Have you no shame?" One-Eyed cursed, "I came here to eat, and at the end of the meal, I found several dead flies in my plate! I finished all the food! I don't even know how many flies I ate! How disgusting! You still want your money back? You should be the ones paying me back!"
“赔钱！快赔钱！”
"What a lousy restaurant! There were even flies in the food!"
"Damn it, I'm never eating at this lousy place again! Pay up!"
The seven or eight people who came with the one-eyed man were all foul-mouthed, cursing and demanding compensation.