Chapter 194 - 186: Mrs. Bai Luo
Chapter 194: Chapter 186: Mrs. Bai Luo
"That spendthrift! That damn girl! If she keeps squandering money like this, how long will it last?" Old Mrs. Bai’s heart ached as if it were her own family’s silver being spent.
Liu chimed in sarcastically, "Even if she is squandering it, it’s her own money. It’s not like we can do anything about it."
Old Mrs. Bai huffed, "Who says we can’t? Is her surname not Bai? As long as she’s a Bai, it’s my business! Did the Bai Family raise her for twelve years for nothing? This is a debt that must be settled."
This was exactly what Liu had in mind. She’d brought this up with the old woman precisely to plot a way to get a piece of Bai Zhi’s good fortune. With Old Mrs. Bai leading the charge, if they failed once, or even twice, could they possibly fail a third time? Not unless Bai Zhi and Zhao Lan wanted to give up any hope of a quiet life.
Ms. Zhang came out of the house and said to the furious Old Mrs. Bai, "We can argue about other things later. What are we eating today?"
For the past few days, they had been going out to forage for wild vegetables, but they only ever gathered enough for that day’s meals. It had been pouring rain this morning, so they hadn’t gone out. Now it was noon, and there was nothing in the house to cook.
The old woman was hungry too. Those wild vegetables weren’t filling at all; they went right through you in less than two hours.
She shot Ms. Zhang an irritated glare. "Eat, eat, eat! Is that all you can think about? Can’t you focus on something else?"
Ms. Zhang scoffed. "Think about something else? Like what? I’m so hungry my stomach is touching my spine. What energy do I have to think about anything?"
’When it came to being a miser, if that old woman claimed to be second-best, no one would dare claim to be the first. She clearly had the money for rice and grain but refused to spend it, letting the entire family starve and suffer. When they all starved to death, let’s see if she could take her silver to the Netherworld to spend.’
"This is the place!"
Doctor Lu’s voice sounded from outside. Old Mrs. Bai whipped her head around to see Doctor Lu at the door with two constables. The constables were glaring at her coldly. The older, middle-aged one asked, "Are you Mrs. Bai Luo?"
Old Mrs. Bai’s heart began to pound violently, and cold sweat broke out on her forehead. The memory of the last time she was brutally beaten by two constables was still fresh in her mind. Now, seeing two more... Before anything had even happened, her legs had started to tremble.
"Yes, I am Mrs. Bai Luo."
The courtyard gate wasn’t shut, so the two constables entered along with Doctor Lu.
The constable asked Old Mrs. Bai, "Lu Changchun reports that the Bai Family owes him six taels of silver and has failed to repay it. Is this true?"
Old Mrs. Bai remembered that the IOU had been torn to shreds. ’As long as I deny it to my dying breath,’ she thought, ’no one can prove we owe the money—not even the Emperor himself!’ Buoyed by this thought, she suddenly found her courage, lifted her chin, and declared, "That’s nonsense! When has the Bai Family ever owed him money? This is clearly extortion."
Liu chimed in, "Exactly! He says we owe him money, and we’re just supposed to believe him? Where’s the proof? If it’s all just talk, then I can talk too. I could say Lu Changchun owes me one hundred taels of silver!"
Doctor Lu snorted. "I knew you wouldn’t own up to it. Did you think I’d dare bring the constables here if I didn’t have proof?"
With that, Lu Changchun produced a slip of paper from within his robes. On it were two bright red thumbprints.
The moment Old Mrs. Bai saw it, she cried out, "Impossible! He can’t have the IOU! The IOU was—!" She clamped a hand over her mouth, having nearly blurted out the truth. If the constables heard that, she’d be in serious trouble.
The constable glared at her. "Was what? Speak clearly!"
The old woman immediately changed her tune. "It’s clearly a forgery! I’ve never owed him any money."