Chapter 529 - 530: Negotiation
Chapter 529: Chapter 530: Negotiation
Huang Pingguo had never known that his family could twist the truth so completely.
Even though they had accompanied the Master and Madam all the way to Lingnan, the couple had never mistreated them on the journey. Let alone the fact that upon arriving in Lingnan, they had made such excellent arrangements for them.
A surge of regret finally welled up in his heart. He wondered if today’s troubles would have been avoided entirely had he listened to Zhuang Datou back then.
He looked over at the house next door. It was quite peaceful over there. He had no idea what Zhuang Datou had told his family to keep things so quiet, with not a single person coming out to cause a scene.
It wasn’t that the Zhuang family didn’t want to cause a scene; they simply didn’t dare to anymore.
Right from the start, Zhuang Datou had threatened them, declaring that if they dared to stir up trouble and refused to follow his arrangements, he would burn all bridges.
How could his parents allow themselves to be controlled by him like that? They had immediately tried to throw open the front gates, but Zhuang Datou firmly blocked their path. He had informed them in a chilling tone, "If you really blow this up, I’ll go right back to the Master and sign a new indenture contract, selling myself into servitude once more.
"You’d better think this through. If I can’t even protect my own freedom, what makes you think you’ll get anything out of this?
"Oh, you don’t actually still think you can get this house and my savings, do you? All of this is my wife’s dowry. If I write up a divorce paper, it will have absolutely nothing to do with our family anymore."
That short speech alone was enough to completely intimidate the Zhuang family. As long as one wasn’t a fool, they knew exactly how to weigh the pros and cons.
Father Zhuang, Zhuang Tian, sighed. "I know you don’t welcome us bringing the whole family over.
"It truly is unreasonable to burden you with so many people.
"But we had no choice. We simply couldn’t survive back home."
Zhuang Datou looked at his father coldly. "Dad, for all the years I wasn’t around, you all still managed to live quite well.
"Now, with no disasters or calamities, and with good weather for the crops, you’re suddenly telling me you can’t survive?"
Exposed, Zhuang Tian wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. "Life at home is bitter. It won’t starve anyone to death, but I don’t want the whole family to continue suffering in poverty for the rest of our lives.
"You’ve made something of yourself now, so you can’t just think about living a good life on your own.
"You have to give your brothers a helping hand. Only when all you brothers are living well can we, as your parents, have peace of mind."
Zhuang Datou scoffed. "Dad, what you’re saying is ridiculous. I only have the life I do now because of my own hard work.
"My older and younger brothers all have able hands and feet. By relying on their own labor, it’s not like they can’t put food on the table.
"Besides, I’m just an ordinary man working for someone else right now. I don’t have the capability to pull everyone else up."
Zhuang Tian turned around to stop the rest of the family from speaking up, then earnestly tried to persuade him. "We are all one family. If there’s an issue, we can sit down and discuss it properly."
"If you had shown this kind of attitude the moment you arrived, it wouldn’t have been impossible to negotiate," Zhuang Datou retorted. "But look at what you’ve all been doing these past few days!
"The moment I wasn’t home, you bullied Dongmei. Such a large family, all with perfectly good hands and feet, yet you all expected a single pregnant woman with a heavy belly to wait on you hand and foot. Why didn’t you mention being a family back then?"
At this point, Mrs. Zhuang could no longer hold back. "I knew that cheap bitch was playing tricks behind our backs! What kind of daughter-in-law doesn’t do chores or serve her parents-in-law?
"You haven’t been by our side for so many years and haven’t fulfilled your filial duties, so what’s wrong with making her do a bit more now?
"Don’t forget that your sister-in-law has been managing everything inside and outside the house all these years, and she never complained!
"So what if she has a heavy belly? Which family’s women don’t give birth? Why is she the only delicate one? Don’t forget, she came from a servant background anyway! She should have long been used to the work of serving others!"
Zhuang Datou watched her performance coldly. Had Zhuang Tian not stopped her, she probably would have spewed even uglier curses next. His aunt and Grandma Zhuang, who were standing to the side, were also about to speak up, but his uncle stopped them both.
Zhuang Datou sneered, "Since you all look down on us so much, why even bother coming to find us?
"Let me put this plainly. I’m just trying to make a living myself; I have no ability to support so many people.
"Didn’t you sell your fields and house back home? That’s fine. Over the next few days, I’ll help you find sellers here so you can buy a house and fields first. When the time comes, who knows, I might even lend a hand.
"But if you make this too ugly and demand too much, then don’t blame me for being ruthless.
"After being away from home for so many years, I didn’t reach my current position without learning a few tricks.
"If you don’t believe me, we can wait and see." Zhuang Datou directly laid down the law, heavily threatening them to establish dominance.
Sure enough, his words were highly effective. The family members who had been ready to explode in anger now shrank back like quails, hiding to the side.
Only Zhuang Tian still looked unwilling to concede. He wheedled and pestered for a while, saying many heart-tugging words and spouting a whole bunch of grand principles. Finally, he managed to get Zhuang Datou to relent slightly.
"I can give you an additional fifty taels of silver at most," Zhuang Datou said. "But before I hand over the silver, you must have a clerk draft a family division deed for me. From now on, aside from the basic filial support I owe you two elders, I want absolutely no further connection with any of you."
Right now, Zhuang Datou only wanted to cut the Gordian knot and get his life back on track.
"Fifty taels is too little for so many of us! That’s only enough to buy a few acres of land; it won’t be enough to feed us at all," Zhuang Tian continued to haggle.
"Even for these fifty taels of silver, I’ll have to borrow from my employer first," Zhuang Datou replied. "If you’re not willing, that’s fine too. We can all just waste time in a stalemate.
"However, starting today, I will no longer cover any of the household expenses.
"Dongmei’s heavy belly makes it inconvenient for her to move around, so it’s impossible for her to come back and serve you either. We’ll all just have to make do and live like this."
The complexions of everyone in the Zhuang family paled. They had always known that Zhuang Datou wasn’t nearly as easy to manipulate as Huang Pingguo. Previously, they had relied on familial ties and their past affections to get by. But now, he wasn’t entertaining any of that. He was directly laying out the harsh reality, putting all his conditions on the table and leaving absolutely no room for them to negotiate.
If Dongmei were still here, they might have been able to leverage her a bit, but now that she wasn’t even coming back, they couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of regret. If they had known earlier, they would have treated Dongmei better, or at least maintained a decent facade.
Truth be told, this was all because they had been influenced by the Huang family, having learned these tricks from that shrew over there. They had simply thought that if they didn’t assert control over their daughter-in-law the moment they arrived, they wouldn’t be able to run the household.
Well, look at them now. After spending these past few days constantly testing the waters and offending people, things had escalated to a point where they were completely unmanageable.
Panic set in for Zhuang Tian. They had moved the entire family over to start everything from scratch. Those fifty taels of silver wouldn’t be of much use in the grand scheme of things.
"This is far too little! They say even a dilapidated home is worth a fortune. Aside from the money, you should at least help us prop up a new household."
"A dilapidated home is worth a fortune?" Zhuang Datou sneered openly. "I just went back for a visit not too long ago. All those broken trinkets at home—even if you bought them all brand new, it wouldn’t cost more than two taels of silver.
"I’ll add another five taels for you, but I have only one demand. You must leave Tian Village, and you must move far, far away."
"You unfilial child!" Grandma Zhuang forcefully struck her bamboo cane against the ground. "Believe it or not, we’ll take you to court!"