OBS Chapter 4 Debt Collection!
Chapter 4 Debt Collection!
But Zhao's face remained impassive. She greeted Shen Yuan with a smile, "Yuan, you just got back and you're already rushing to my house. Is there something you need to give your aunt? Come on in! Chunhua and Qiuyue have been waiting for you since they heard you were going to the city to see Brother Yu. They didn't even eat breakfast this morning, they're just waiting for you!"
"Auntie, I really brought you something good this time." Shen Yuan pretended not to see the greed in Zhao's eyes and smiled gently and obediently.
"Open it and let me see!"
As Zhao spoke, she made a move to take the wooden box from Shen Yuan's arms, but Shen Yuan nimbly dodged it.
"Auntie, don't worry, let's go inside first."
"Yes, yes, you must be tired from coming back from the city. Hurry up and rest at Auntie's house!" Zhao warmly welcomed Shen Yuan into the courtyard, but her eyes were fixed on the wooden box in Shen Yuan's hand.
This box doesn't look very big, so what good stuff is inside?
Is it the silver bracelet she's been talking about to Shen Yuan lately, or the red rouge she's been wanting to buy in town these past few days?
Zhao was eager to open the box immediately, but Shen Yuan deliberately kept her in suspense and didn't say anything, so she couldn't ask directly out of politeness.
Upon seeing Shen Yuan, Chu Chunhua and Chu Qiuyue, who were playing house under the courtyard wall, immediately put down their bowls and plates and ran towards Shen Yuan, calling out, "Sister Yuan! Sister Yuan!"
The two of them kept calling her "Sister Yuan," each one sweeter than the other.
But Shen Yuan remained unmoved.
In her previous life, she was demoted to a princess's mansion as a slave, while the two Chu sisters were brought to the capital by Zhao and lived in the house that the emperor had bestowed upon Chu Yuning.
On Xiao Yunyan's birthday, Zhao brought Chu Chunhua and Chu Qiuyue to offer their congratulations. When the two Chu sisters entered the princess's residence and saw her, they immediately put on airs and ordered her around, even making her kneel on the ground to serve as a human cushion for them when they got off their sedan chairs.
She still remembers Chu Qiuyue's face back then.
"Your Highness, this vile woman is utterly despicable. How could she be my brother's childhood sweetheart? She's not even from the same hometown! My brother doesn't know her at all!"
"She's just a refugee from our village, of unknown origin. She's learned some pharmacology from somewhere and thinks she's a doctor. Her hands have touched countless men's wrists; I find them filthy even to look at. Your Highness, please don't believe her nonsense!"
"Sister Yuan, what are you thinking about? Why aren't you saying anything? Are you too tired? Sit down and rest! This box looks quite heavy, let me help you carry it!"
Two voices overlapped in Shen Yuan's mind. Shen Yuan suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Chu Qiuyue in front of her. Seeing that Chu Qiuyue wanted to take her wooden box, Shen Yuan pushed her away.
Chu Qiuyue didn't expect Shen Yuan to push her, and she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
"Yueyue, are you alright!" Madam Zhao quickly helped her youngest daughter up, her gaze towards Shen Yuan carrying a hint of resentment: "Why did you push Yueyue?"
"Mother, don't blame Sister Yuan, she definitely didn't do it on purpose."
Chu Qiuyue smiled at Shen Yuan without any hesitation. She had her hair styled in a double bun with two pink ribbons tied around it. When she smiled, she had a pair of dimples on her chubby little face, which made her especially adorable.
Shen Yuan was completely charmed by Chu Qiuyue's innocent and adorable appearance and treated her like his own younger sister.
But the person who ultimately stabbed her in the heart was her younger sister, whom she had cherished for decades.
Shen Yuan ignored Chu Qiuyue and found a rattan chair to sit down. "Which of you can go next door and invite Uncle Village Head over? I'll open this box when he gets here."
Why are you looking for the village head?
Zhao found it strange, but she didn't stop Chu Chunhua from calling for help.
Before long, Chu Chunhua invited the village head over.
The village head entered the courtyard, first glancing at Zhao Shi, who immediately lowered her head and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. Only then did the village head approach Shen Yuan and ask, "Yuan girl, why did you call me here?"
Because he usually got his medicine from Shen Yuan's house, which was half the price of what he got in town, the village head was very friendly towards Shen Yuan.
Before Shen Yuan could speak, Zhao Shi interjected, "Yuan'er went to the city to see Yu'er yesterday. She must have bought some good things there to give to you, the village head!"
After saying that, Zhao turned to Shen Yuan and said, "What exactly did you bring back this time? Open it up and let everyone see!"
"it is good!"
Shen Yuan smiled and opened the wooden box. Zhao Shi immediately craned her neck to look. Chunhua and Qiuyue squeezed to the front, their eyes wide open. After seeing that the box contained only a few pieces of paper, Zhao Shi frowned.
"What are these things?" Where are her silver bracelet and rouge?
Shen Yuan chuckled: "This is the marriage certificate and IOU that your son wrote for me himself!"
Zhao's expression changed. "What do you mean by bringing this out now? Could it be... could it be that you're trying to force me into marriage? Didn't I tell you that my son would marry you after passing the imperial examination? There's still a year until the autumn examination, what's the rush?"
"And this IOU? What IOU? Our family has never owed you any money! That money was all given to my son voluntarily by you, it can't be considered a loan!"
Shen Yuan had long anticipated that Zhao would not acknowledge these IOUs, which is why she invited the village head to uphold justice.
"I've come today for two reasons: first, to annul my engagement with Chu Yuning; and second, to collect a debt from your Chu family!"
"Break off the engagement? You mean...you want to break off the engagement?" Zhao was stunned. She never expected that Shen Yuan would take the initiative to propose to dissolve the engagement.
Although she looked down on Shen Yuan, she had to admit that Shen Yuan was very capable. Every time she went into the mountains, she managed to gather extremely valuable medicinal herbs, and she also knew medicine and how to make money. At least for now, their Yu'er couldn't do without Shen Yuan; they needed the money she earned! They couldn't break off the engagement!
Thinking of this, Zhao gave Chu Qiuyue a look, and Chu Qiuyue immediately stepped forward and took Shen Yuan's arm.
"Sister Yuan, did my brother upset you during our trip to the city? I apologize on his behalf, please don't be angry with him anymore, okay? I just want Sister Yuan to be my sister-in-law!"
"You don't want me to be your sister-in-law, you want me to be the Chu family's money bag!" Shen Yuan pulled away Chu Qiuyue's hand and looked down at her: "Chu Qiuyue, you're only nine years old, how come you're full of scheming and plotting? Did your Chu family eat with their cunning from a young age?"
Chu Qiuyue was ridiculed, and the innocence and cuteness on her face vanished instantly. Her face darkened as if she was trying her best to endure it.
Shen Yuan ignored her and walked up to the village head. She first spread out the marriage certificate: "Uncle Village Head, this is the engagement certificate that Chu Yuning wrote in front of you three years ago. Your fingerprint is also on it. You were our witness on the day of the engagement, and you are also our witness on the day of the annulment!"
The village head didn't answer directly, but first glanced at Zhao before thinking and saying, "Yuan'er, this marriage was arranged by the elders of both families. How can a girl like you decide her own marriage? Your grandmother should be invited over."
Are you going to let Grandma come over and get upset by the attitude of the Chu family?
Villagers don't have many formalities; an engagement or annulment is considered settled simply by informing the village head. Shen Yuan knew the village head was intentionally protecting the Zhao family.
After all, he also shares the surname Chu and is Chu Yuning's second uncle.
Shen Yuan knew that she couldn't possibly accomplish both things today, but at least one thing had to be achieved.
So she took out the IOU from the box again. "Uncle Chu said I can't make my own marriage agreement, but as a creditor, I can at least make my own debt agreement! Over the past ten years, Chu Yuning has borrowed a total of one hundred taels of silver from me. I want you to repay this money today, or I will take it to the yamen and go to Ziyun Academy with the yamen runners to collect the debt!"