"What nonsense are you saying?" Zi Qian roared, she could not believe it. She knew that Old Master Zi and the rest of the Zi family were shameless and lazy but she did not expect them to be this ruthless. They wanted Zi Mu to sell himself and his family all because they did not want to take out the fifty taels that Zi Mu earned with his hard work. Was this kind of a joke?
Zi Qian looked at Old Master Zi and then said, "This money was earned by Zi Mu! If he wants to take it out to pay for the money that he used up on his daughter's treatment, he can do that! Who gives you the right to keep his money?"
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"The money was given to me by Zi Mu when our family did not separate!" Old Master Zi stubbornly insisted. He huffed and then said, "Since this money was given to us before the separation it belongs to our family. There is no need for you to say too much, Village Head. This is our family matter."
Zi Qian felt like she was going to lose her head if she continued to talk to Old Master Zi. She turned to look at Old Madam Zi and asked again, "I am asking you once more, Old Madam Zi. Is this what you want?
In the future, if Zi Mu makes it big and redeems himself, you will not be able to cling to him because not only did you help him pay the money back but you also forced him to separate from your family. Once he becomes a slave, he will lose his status and will have nothing to do with your family."
Zi Mu turned to look at his mother. Though he did not have much hope he wished at least his mother would show him some mercy.
Thus, she ignored the pleading gaze of her son and then said, "Forgive me, Ah Mu. But the family has no money or water, we cannot help you since you were the one who acted impulsively. Take this as your lesson."
She made it sound as if Zi Mu was the one who was in the wrong.
"There is no need to make it sound so good, Old Madam," Yu Dong sneered. "The truth is that you have two good for nothings who cannot earn a penny and now you are pushing a burden and two baggages on my head because you dare not expect anything for these useless sons of yours."
Her words caused Old Madam Zi to flush red while Old Master Zi turned angry. He looked at Yu Dong and said, "My eldest is destined to become a rich and powerful person! He is a lucky star, just wait!"
Though he would have loved to say something even more harsh, he dared not to say anything too harsh in case Yu Dong found trouble with him.
Yu Dong snorted. She said, "Of course, I will wait. I also want to see how someone gets rich and famous by staying at home and eating all day without working. If I get to know the trick then I will apply it as well."
Her words were sarcastic causing the Zi family to flush red in shame but she did not care about them. Instead, she turned to look at Zi Qian and said, "You saw what happened, Village Head Zi. I gave your village face by not calling the yamen, now if the rumours of the Sand Village's Villagers selling humans to shirk their debts spreads, you cannot blame me."
Villagers were bound to gossip and Village head Zi would not be able to stop them. Thus Yu Dong wanted to clear this blame earlier lest someone said that she ruined the reputation of Sand Village.