Chapter 17 Old Woman Wang_1

"Pah, I told you these doctors are heartless, trying to rip us off of our money and then kicking us out."

Despite being kicked out of the Medical Hall, the old woman, Wang, was still not ready to close her mouth, simply delighting in saving three taels of silver.

As for her husband's leg, he was already of an age where he was, in a manner of speaking, half in the grave. What was the big deal about losing a leg?

"Mother! You've offended the doctor, what about dad's leg now!" Li Liang was irritated looking at his mother's smug expression. Although his mother was usually a bit unclear, he usually didn't have much to say, after all, she was his biological mother. But now that his his father's leg was almost gone, how could she be so stingy?

"You unfilial son! Three taels of silver to treat a leg? He's a bloody swindler!" Old Woman Wang was agitated and promptly slapped Li Liang, leaving him standing there dumbfounded.

"Let's go home, and get the money from that little whore."

Upon hearing this, Ms. Wu's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly squeezed next to her mother-in-law: "Mother, are you saying to get the silver from Widow Lin?"

"Well, if we hadn't gone up to East Mountain, would your father have been bitten by a snake?" Old Woman Wang said as she started to leave, without any intention of caring for old Mr. Li's condition.

"Exactly, if she had told us about the Chestnut Forest earlier, guided us up the mountain, father-in-law wouldn't be in this predicament."

Ms. Wu chorused, laughing inwardly thinking that Ms. Lin was about to be in serious trouble, then turned to call her son and Li Tian.

In the end, only Li Liang and Liao Hui were left with their two daughters, looking after the "unconscious" Li's elderly father.

"Husband, what do we do now?" Ms. Liao didn't have much confidence, ever since she had married into the family she'd only birthed two daughters. Her parents-in-law had never liked her and were even harsher on those from her room. Whatever silver they earned was accounted for down to the last coin and handed over to the public family pot. If her mother-in-law didn't care, her father-in-law's leg was likely going to be ruined for good.

"Lets take father home, find the village doctor and see if he can do something." Li Liang wiped his face. This doctor from the Medical Hall had said it would take at least three taels of silver. Going back to find the village doctor was probably just an excuse, but he and Hui didn't even have three wen coins combined, what else could he do?

In the end, Li Liang carried his father on his back, while Ms. Liao led their two daughters slowly back to Lihua Village.

Nanzhi had just finished rendering pig fat, was about to pack up the lard residue when she heard knocking at the courtyard gate.

"Gougou, come here."

Calling a halt to Gougou for wanting to open the gate, Nanzhi picked up a firewood knife from the side before slowly approaching the gate.

"Mother, what if that little whore isn't home?"

Hearing the familiar voice outside the gate, Nanzhi sneered inwardly. Was this Ms. Wu coming to make trouble again?

"It can't be, I just caught the scent of fat meat from her house."

Hearing the elderly voice from outside the gate, Nanzhi hesitated before recalling from her memory who this could be - it should be Ms. Wu's mother-in-law, Wang Ponzi. Recalling what kind of person Wang Ponzi was from her past life's memory, Nanzhi's face darkened.

To Nanzhi, Ms. Wu was just a clown, a person who bluffed without thinking, but Ms. Wu's mother-in-law was well known for her brash and relentless behaviour.

Thinking about it, Nanzhi took Gougou and entered the house without intending to entertain the two people outside the door anymore.

Since Ms. Wu and Wang Ponzi had come to her door, it must mean that something had happened. According to their logic, they would probably lay the blame on her.

If she couldn't provoke them, then she would just avoid them, if a dog bit her, she couldn't bite it back. Besides, twilight was beginning to set, Li Zheng and his group would probably be back soon.

"Mother, aren't we going to open the door?" Gougou asked, hand full of a piece of lard, mouth full of delicious food.

"Gougou, be good, remember, smart people don't fight battles they're not prepared for." Nanzhi thought for a moment and felt that she didn't say it plainly enough, so she added, "The people of Shi Tou's family are not good people, we don't need to entertain them."

Looking at the little one who seemed to be in a daze, Nanzhi thought that he was just too young to understand, but then suddenly heard him ask a question.

"Are they both sick?"

Nanzhi nodded, smiling as she gently touched Gougou's little head, "They are both sick, always looking to bully others. Gougou, you can't learn from them, you know that right?"

Gougou nodded vigorously, "Gougou understands."

Outside, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law duo had cursed for a while and realised that no one was responding, which made them somewhat suspicious.

"Is the young widow really not at home?" The old woman, Wang Po, looked bad. She had been bullying the people in Lihua Village for many years, there was no reason she couldn't deal with one small widow.

"No, I don't know. Her household is so poor now, they probably can't even afford meat or oil." Ms. Wu also felt somewhat dry-mouthed. She had been cursing here with her mother-in-law for about half an hour. If Ms. Lin really was at home, she should've run out with a stick like last time.

Could they have gotten it wrong? Was the widow Lin and the child not at home?

Nanzhi naturally didn't know about the thoughts of the two women outside. Hearing the voices of insults stopping outside, she was a bit curious.

Had those two left?

After a thought, she thought it was impossible. If they could leave so easily, that wouldn't be like Wang Po.

Her former self had also seen the ability of Wang Po to make a scene.

Wang Po had given birth to three daughters and two sons. When she was about to get married, the first two daughters were already married, leaving only the youngest daughter, Li Zhu. Although Li Zhu was four years older than her former self, she remained unmarried.

All because Wang Po insisted that her youngest daughter marry a rich family in the town, saying the men in the village were not good enough for her.

She prolonged the situation until Li Zhu was nineteen. It was rumored that she felt if it lasted any longer, Li Zhu would be too old to marry and wouldn't receive a good dowry, so she reluctantly settled for her former self's husband's family.

Because Shen Xiaolang was the only son of the Shen Family, with fertile farmland and one of the only two brick houses in the village. Plus, Shen Xiaolang could hunt. Their homes were close, so she thought as long as her daughter married into the Shen Family, wouldn't all of the Shen's goods be essentially hers?

An arrangement was initially being considered by both the Shen and Lin families, but when Wang Po proposed the marriage to the Shen Family, they naturally rejected her. Yet, she remained persistent and schemed.

She taught Li Zhu to pretend to faint on the road when Shen Xiaolang came back from hunting. While he bent over to check on her, her clothes would be dishevelled. Wang Po would then appear with people at just the right time; if anyone saw them, the Shen family would naturally have to agree to the marriage.

In the end, they didn't encounter Shen Xiaolang returning from hunting, but a young hooligan from another village.

The hooligan saw a girl collapsed by the roadside and went over jokingly. When Wang Po led people over, she saw Li Zhu in a man's arms; from a distance, she thought it was Shen Xiaolang.

When she rushed over to confront them but found it was the young hooligan, it was too late to change her story. The village women had already seen everything.

Wang Po knew that the hooligan's family was quite wealthy, not as good as the Shen Family but still good enough, and insisted that he was the one who harassed Li Zhu.

In the end, left with no option, the hooligan agreed to marry Li Zhu but said he would only give three taels of silver as a dowry. Wang Po wasn't satisfied and made a fuss at his house, finally squeezing out ten taels of silver.

This should have been the end of the matter, but Wang Po wasn't satisfied. She kept insisting that Li Zhu bring goods from her husband's house to support her own. If she didn't, Wang Po would either beat or scold Li Zhu, even causing a ruckus at their home.

In retaliation, Li Zhu's husband's house started treating her worse. A wise person would generally give in, but Wang Po, like a possessed woman, continued to make frequent visits to that house.

Eventually, Li Zhu, unable to bear the cold treatment of her husband's family and her own mother's pressure, committed suicide by jumping into the river. Everyone thought Wang Po would calm down, but instead, she brought a knife to the village chief, Li Zheng.

Not to seek justice for her late daughter, but to ask for more silver. In the end, Li Zhu's life was only worth fifteen taels.

At that time, the original body had only been married to the Shen Family for two months and found the whole scenario inconceivable. What kind of mother would treat her own child like that?