Chapter 197 - 189: Old Mrs. Bai’s Skills
Chapter 197: Chapter 189: Old Mrs. Bai’s Skills
She racked her brain but couldn’t think of a better solution. Both her daughters-in-law came from poor families, so she couldn’t count on them. She’d long lost contact with her own maiden family, so they were out of the question. As for the now-wealthy Zhao Lan and Bai Zhi, she couldn’t even get close to them anymore. Never mind borrowing six taels of silver; she couldn’t even borrow a single liter of rice from them now.
Finally, she gritted her teeth and took the Jade Pendant from her neck. Just as she was about to hand it to Liu, Ms. Zhang stopped her. "Mother, a man should be the one to pawn things. It’s not good for a woman to go. The pawnshop owners are experts at taking advantage of people. If they see a woman, I’m afraid they’ll push the price down."
Old Mrs. Bai said, "Yes, you’re right. A man should go. Dazhu can go."
Ms. Zhang seethed inwardly. ’That old hag! She only ever thinks of the first family when there’s something good, but when it’s time for beatings and hard labor, she remembers the second family. In her eyes, is there any difference between the second and third families? This is only because we’re poor. If she had money, who knows how quickly she’d kick our second family to the curb.’
She swallowed her anger and forced a smile. "Mother, two people going is better than one. At the very least, they’ll look more imposing. When the pawnshop’s Shopkeeper sees them, he’ll have to show some restraint."
Old Mrs. Bai thought that made sense, so she nodded. "That’s reasonable. Then let Erzhu go along too. It’s good for the two brothers to look out for each other."
Liu was not pleased. She had been overjoyed just a moment ago. ’Who knew how much this Jade Pendant could fetch? If Dazhu went alone, he could skim ten or twenty taels for himself, then conveniently ’lose’ the pawn ticket. Who would ever know the real amount it was pawned for?’
But now, with Erzhu going along, wouldn’t it be impossible for her to hide even a single mace of silver?
"Mother, surely there’s no need for two people to go, is there? It’s just pawning a single Jade Pendant. It looks exquisite, I admit, but I don’t think the quality is all that great. It probably won’t fetch much. We’d be lucky to get ten taels for it. Do we really need two grown men for that? Besides, we should keep a man at home. What if Doctor Lu brings people over? What are a few women like us supposed to do?"
Ms. Zhang laughed. "Sister-in-law, to hear you talk, one would think Doctor Lu is some kind of bandit or ruffian. When has Doctor Lu ever caused us trouble? Even when he brought the officials, it was just to deliver a notice. He didn’t do anything to us. Besides, we still have Da Bao and Fugui at home."
Old Mrs. Bai knew Liu’s character better than anyone. How could such a petty scheme escape her notice? She shot Liu a sidelong glance and huffed, "Stop your pointless scheming. Don’t say another word. Dazhu and Erzhu will go together. The brothers can watch each other’s backs."
’It was true she favored the first family, but that was on the condition that *she* was the one to distribute the family’s assets, not that the first family could just help themselves. Those were two entirely different matters.’
Ms. Zhang reached out, took the Jade Pendant from Old Mrs. Bai’s hand, and smiled. "I’ll go get Dazhu and Erzhu right away."
After Ms. Zhang turned and left, Liu finally snapped back to reality. "Mother, what did you mean by that? What have I supposedly been scheming about?"
Old Mrs. Bai snorted coldly. "You know perfectly well whether you have or not. I turn a blind eye to some things, but only to leave you with a bit of dignity. Don’t mistake me for a senile old fool."
The old woman had been in charge of the household her entire life. She too had once been like Liu, living in the Bai family courtyard with her own mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. What kind of scheme could possibly escape her eyes?
The kind of tricks Liu was trying to pull were ones Old Mrs. Bai had already used and discarded in her youth.
If she hadn’t possessed some real skill back then, she never would have been able to secure the largest plot of the Bai Family’s land when the family assets were divided.