Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 152 Zhou Dalang Crying Loudly

At this point, Li said with some sympathy: "Mrs. Hu pretended to be generous in front of everyone and gave the shop to Zhou Dalang, but secretly forced him to pay the silver for his crime."

"Zhou Dalang, who had no money, could only sell the shop to raise money. However, the people who came to buy the shop were all relatives of Mrs. Hu, and they had agreed to keep the price very low."

Li had a disapproving expression on her face: "Mrs. Hu just wants to force Zhou Dalang into having no money at all, so that he can come back and kneel down to apologize to them and continue to live with them so that he can continue to enjoy the service of Zhou Dalang and his wife."

Shen Yu was surprised and asked, "Why are only Mrs. Hu's relatives here to buy the store? Logically, this store has a good location and the price is low, so many people should be rushing to buy it."

Li curled her lips and said, "Mrs. Hu said early on that she was only willing to sell the house to her relatives from her mother's side. Although the house was transferred to Zhou Dalang's name when the family was divided, they have divided the family again, so Zhou Dalang can disown these relatives."

"But business requires harmony and wealth, and no one wants to mess with this old woman. Zhou Dalang probably knows about our relationship with Captain Xing, so he wants to use Captain Xing to suppress Mrs. Hu and sell the store to us."

Shen Yu hesitated a little: "This Mrs. Hu is so difficult to deal with. If we really buy her store, will she cause trouble for us? Then we won't be able to do business."

Li became tough this time: "What are you afraid of? She just bullied Zhou Dalang and it was easy for her to bully him. Does she think everyone is so weak and easy to bully? We just need to be on our guard against her."

Thinking about the rogue look of Mrs. Hu, Shen Yu couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Zhou Dalang.

Shen Yu and Li discussed it. If the head of the police department replied that it was indeed Zhou Dalang who was responsible for paying the silver for the crime, and combined with the information that Li had inquired about, Zhou Dalang's words were still credible.

When Zhou Dalang comes tomorrow, I will agree to buy his shop.

The next day, when I came back from closing the stall, I had just sat down for a while when there was a knock on the gate.

Li quickly got up and opened the door. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Zhou Dalang standing at the door with an angry look on his face.

Mrs. Li's attitude was much better than yesterday. She greeted him in a very good mood, "Zhou Dalang, why are you here so early today? Come in quickly."

Zhou Dalang forced a smile and looked behind him warily before walking into the yard. He sat dejectedly at the small table without saying a word.

Shen Yu said, "Zhou Dalang, my mother and I have discussed the matter and are planning to buy your store. When do you think we should go to the government to apply for a deed?"

Zhou Dalang still said nothing and just sat with his head down.

Shen Yu and Li looked at each other and wondered if Zhou Dalang felt that the store was selling the goods too cheaply and changed his mind?

As a few people were wondering, Zhou Dalang suddenly lay down beside the table and burst into tears.

An adult man in his early twenties was lying on the table, crying like a wronged child, confusing the entire family.

For a moment, no one knew what had happened to Zhou Dalang, so they could only sit aside and wait quietly.

Dun Dun and a few others were originally in the next room. When they heard the crying, they came over. Looking at the scene, no one dared to say a word.

The three of them stood silently behind Li and Jiang, watching Zhou Dalang's shoulders twitching as he cried.

After a long while, Zhou Dalang finally stopped crying and raised his sleeves to wipe his face.

Seeing the family across from him staring at him, he couldn't help but feel ashamed and said in a hoarse voice: "Miss Shen, the shop can't be sold."

Shen Yu asked Dun Dun to pour Zhou Dalang a glass of warm water and asked curiously, "Did something happen?"

Zhou Dalang's eyes were red. "After I returned yesterday, my parents forced me to go to the county government with one of my mother's relatives to sign the deed, and they only allowed me to accept 500 taels of silver."

Zhou Dalang gratefully took the cup of water handed to him by Dun Dun, picked it up and drank it all.

He calmed down and continued, "Of course I don't want to. If I go to pay the silver for my crime, I will have to borrow another twenty taels of silver from my parents. Not only will I have no money to take my wife and children away, but I will also have to continue living with them in order to pay back the silver to my parents and have food to eat."

Zhou Dalang slammed the cup in his hand and said bitterly, "Then what's the point of me risking the charge of being unfilial and begging the county magistrate to allow us to divide the family property?"

Zhou Dalang couldn't help sobbing again: "Do we, a family of three, have to live with them for the rest of our lives? Thinking about the vomiting and diarrhea when Xiaobao was poisoned, I shudder when I see my mother again."

Shen Yu sighed, and Li and the others all looked sympathetic.

However, this was Zhou Dalang's family affair and they could not interfere.

At this time, Jiang, who had been listening silently, said, "Zhou Dalang, is your name written on the deed now?"

Zhou Dalang nodded, and then said helplessly: "Parents are as great as the sky. It doesn't matter if my name is written on the house deed. No matter what, they are still my parents who raised me for more than ten years. If I go against their wishes, they can go to the government to sue me."

Jiang shook her head and said calmly, "If you didn't fulfill your filial piety, your parents would go to the government to sue you. Now you are selling your shop to raise money to pay your parents' atonement. Others will only praise you for being filial."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Dalian raised his head and looked at Jiang with hope, as if a drowning person suddenly grabbed a branch in despair, hoping to be saved.

Jiang paused, then continued, "Moreover, as far as I know, the government does not only accept silver as compensation for crimes. If the prisoner really has no silver, he can also pay with real objects."

Li and the others didn't understand what Jiang meant, but Shen Yu did.

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Auntie Jiang, what you mean is that you want Zhou Dalang to mortgage the store to the government on the grounds that he has no money, so that Mrs. Hu can't force Hu Dalang to sell the store at a low price, right?"

Zhou Dalang had a bewildered look on his face. He looked at Jiang hesitantly and said hesitantly, "But will the government really buy this store? Can it only be exchanged for 520 taels? Can I get more? If this is all, then I still don't have enough money to leave."

Jiang was also a little unsure. She said uncertainly, "The government offices in different places are different. We should go and ask the government. As long as the county lord opens his mouth, we should be able to get more compensation."

The lazy look of the county magistrate flashed through Shen Yu's mind, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

At this time, there was another knock on the gate.

Zhou Dalang was so frightened that he trembled all over and whispered, "Oh no, oh no, did my mother's relatives follow me? I sneaked here this morning."

Mrs. Li was relatively calm, and said in a firm tone: "What are you afraid of? This is my home, not that Mrs. Hu's home."