Chapter 170: Unfilial
Zhang Laosan pointed at Zhang Zhaodi’s nose and cursed: “Filial daughter, you this unfilial daughter, I really raised you for nothing, better to raise a dog than to give birth to you and raise you.”
Zhang Zhaodi dug in her ear, letting Zhang Laosan curse without retorting.
Wei Shi rushed over to crash into the pillar, and the people around really didn’t stop her. She was in a dilemma and didn’t dare to crash, so she could only sit on the ground and throw a tantrum: “Old heavens, quickly send down a bolt of lightning to strike dead this unfilial daughter.”
Zhang Pandi tugged at Su Yaoguang: “What do we do now? If they come make trouble every day, how can we do business?”
“Then let them make trouble, it can entertain our customers.” Su Yaoguang said, “Once they get tired of making trouble, they’ll find it boring.”
Although she said that, Su Yaoguang still had Jia Chunni go to the yamen to report the case. Soon Captain Qian arrived with two officers to keep watch.
Wei Shi and Zhang Laosan cowered at the sight of the officers’ official uniforms, and seeing the officers looking fierce with knives at their waists made them even more cowardly.
“This unfilial daughter has grown bold wings. If we keep making trouble, we won’t get any cheap advantage. If we anger her, she might really send us to prison. Look how hard her heart is now, she doesn’t care about us old couple at all. Child’s father, what do we do? She has so much money, even a squeeze from her fingers could let us continue the family line and live well, but she refuses to help her younger brother.”
Zhang Laosan strode toward Zhang Zhaodi: “Your mother and I gave birth to you, so you should show filial piety to us. You don’t want us coming to make trouble every day, right? Give us a sum of money, and we won’t bother you anymore.”
“No, a daughter showing filial piety to her parents is only right. I will give you fifty copper coins of filial piety money every month like other filial daughters, on time each month, without shorting you a single coin.” Zhang Zhaodi said.
“Fifty copper coins?” Zhang Laosan glared at her. “Are you sending off beggars?”
“Go ask around outside. How many married daughters still show filial piety to their parents? Providing for parents in old age and burial is the son’s duty. That’s how you taught us before. Have you forgotten?”
“One hundred taels. Give me one hundred taels, and we won’t bother you anymore.” Zhang Laosan said angrily.
“I say, old man, does your family not have a mirror? Even if no mirror, you have urine, right? Why not take a piss and look at yourself? One hundred taels of silver—you must be mad with greed for money. For ordinary families like ours, we couldn’t earn one hundred taels in a lifetime.”
“Is she an ordinary family? She has money!”
“Other orphan and widow families live so miserably, and you didn’t help them. Now that they’ve finally turned things around, you want to suck their blood. Truly shameless.”
“Then how much can you give? Fifty copper coins is impossible, otherwise I’ll come make trouble with you every day.”
“At fifty copper coins a month, that’s six hundred coins a year, six taels of silver in ten years. I figure you can live at most twenty more years, so twelve taels of silver. Forget it, don’t say I’m an unfilial daughter. I’ll give you fifteen taels! The second and third are working here for me. If you go trouble them later, I’ll give you their shares too. They just work for me, earning only two hundred coins a month each. Can’t give you fifty coins, so two people together fifty coins—that’s another twelve taels of silver, totaling twenty-seven taels of silver.”
“I’ll give you twenty-seven taels of silver at once. You sign the deed, clearly stating we’ve fulfilled our duty as daughters. No matter what happens to you later, you can’t come to us anymore. This silver severs our relationship once and for all.”
Zhang Pandi and Zhang Yingdi exchanged a glance.
When Wei Shi and Zhang Laosan appeared, they knew once big sister sent them off, it would be their turn next. This couple despises daughters yet won’t let go of their value. Now that big sister handled it for them, they no longer had to be controlled by others. Only now were they truly free.
“Fifty taels.” Zhang Laosan narrowed his eyes, bargaining.
“Thirty taels.”
“Forty-eight taels.”
“Twenty-nine taels.”
“You…”
Zhang Zhaodi toyed with her fingers. Her once rough hands had become tender, the wrinkles smoothed by her precious daughter. Now she had the confidence to bargain with others.
The initiative was in her hands; she was no longer the fawning beggar.
“Thirty taels it is.” Zhang Laosan could only compromise.
Zhang Zhaodi now was too hard to control. If he didn’t agree, he might not even get thirty taels.
Zhang Pandi, her mother, and Zhang Yingdi all showed joy.
As long as they got rid of this biased couple of parents, their future days would be peaceful.
Jiang Jing put away the needle in her hand.
Su Yaoguang saw her action and smiled: “If you stick that needle in, what would happen to him?”
“Nothing much, just that he’d lie in bed for life, never able to get on the ground again.” Jiang Jing said. “Someone who only brings trouble to others should trouble himself properly.”
Under everyone’s witness, Zhang Laosan and Wei Shi pressed their handprints, took thirty taels of silver, and from then on cut ties completely with their three daughters.
“Is this Zhang Laosan stupid? Thirty taels of silver seems a lot, but if he maintained a good relationship with his daughter, who knows how many thirty taels she’d give him.”
“He’s not stupid; he wants it too. But Shopkeeper Zhang isn’t stupid either—how could she fill their bottomless pit?”
“I heard he never cared for the three daughters these years. The three daughters lived worse than each other, yet he never cared. When marrying off the three daughters, he demanded high betrothal gifts. He used the betrothal gifts to marry a wife for his son and build a house, completely ignoring his daughters’ lives.”
“Serves him right.”
Zhang Pandi looked at the deed in her hand and said to Zhang Zhaodi: “Big sister, is it this easy?”
“If we didn’t have the government backing us, with their throwing tantrums and rogue behavior, they could make trouble for a year and a half without issue. But common folk don’t fight officials; they cower at the sight of officials.” Zhang Zhaodi said. “If they come to you again later, all of you be tough with me—no more giving them opportunities for extortion.”
“Of course not. If they think we’re soft persimmons, easy to grasp, we’ll say our silver is all deposited with big sister. If they want it, go get it from big sister.”
“Good, you’ve gotten clever, pushing all trouble onto me, huh?” Zhang Zhaodi pinched Zhang Pandi’s cheek.
Zhang Zhaodi stuffed two taels of broken silver to Captain Qian, asking him to treat his brothers to tea.
Captain Qian had only stood there as a figurehead for a bit, so taking this silver felt a bit embarrassing. But since the other insisted, he didn’t refuse again. Anyway, he could just take better care of Peach Blossom Workshop in the future.
