169: Chapter 169: News (Revised) 169: Chapter 169: News (Revised) Looking at Lady Lin crying, he couldn’t help but feel that she was crying for him to see.

Didn’t she know that him being like this now, the last thing he wanted was for others to cry?

How inauspicious!

His own wife, not showing any understanding at this time, what the hell was she crying for?

In his heart, he still knew clearly that now, only Lady Lin was by his side.

If he really quarreled with her, he couldn’t move, and he still had to rely on her.

He held back, Wang Yongfu didn’t cry out in hunger anymore, closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep.

Lady Lin had been crying for a long time, yet Wang Yongfu hadn’t comforted her with a few words or made any apologies like before, which made her feel cold inside.

It had only been a few days, and it was already so difficult to serve him, with any little lack of thoroughness he’d sulk.

He didn’t have the slightest bit of tenderness towards her, how was she to get through the days to come?

The couple, under one roof, were both harboring dreams of their own and filled with resentment towards each other.

By the time Old Granny Zhang arrived in town with Jindou and Jinhu, the couple still didn’t want anything to do with each other.

Jindou and Jinhu went to see Wang Yongfu’s injuries first, while Old Granny Zhang went to pay for the medicine.

Indeed, without the ginseng whiskers, the cost of the medicine was halved.

With about one silver a day, it was enough.

Old Granny Zhang went ahead and paid for five days’ worth of medicine, giving an extra Twenty Large Coins, and got a meal plan at the medical establishment.

They provided a bowl of porridge for Wang Yongfu every day and just enough food to fill the stomachs of those accompanying him.

In the past few days, there hadn’t been time to consider this expense.

Knowing that the head of the family had given Lady Lin several dozen Large Coins, she went off at Wang Laozhu for an entire night, berating him for not knowing how to manage the household and being so lavish with spending at a time when they were tight on money.

Today, upon her arrival, she learned that you could get food at the medical establishment for cheap; yet, she found out that Lady Lin had been there for several days and hadn’t taken advantage of this, but had been buying food from outside, and she instantly grew furious.

What a wasteful woman!

The several dozen Large Coins could have covered a month’s worth of expenses at home, yet this wasteful woman squandered it all.

Old Granny Zhang clenched her teeth and huffily went to see the Debt-Collecting Ghost’s eldest son.

She was so shrewd; she instantly understood that the eldest son and Lady Lin seemed to be in a silent standoff.

She couldn’t help but think that they deserved it!

He had always claimed to be filial to his old mother, protecting Lady Lin as if she were precious, claiming to discipline her, even slapping her in front of her, all of which, the force of it, was like swatting a mosquito.

Now, with a troublemaker from the Lin Family stirring things up, the couple had started to sulk at each other.

Watching this, why did it feel so satisfying?

However, she didn’t show it on her face.

She just sat in a chair and had Jindou and Eldest Brother recount the situation of the Li Family, as if to give Eldest Brother an explanation.

She deliberately omitted the part about keeping Wang Yongzhu at home to bring in a son-in-law and transferring the dry land to her name in the future.

Wang Yongfu listened for a long time in silence while Lady Lin began to hesitate.

A few more acres of land had been added to the household, and no matter how you looked at it, this should have belonged to the eldest branch.

After all, it was her man who had exchanged half his life for it, but when she met Old Granny Zhang’s gaze, she hardened her heart.

With these in-laws around, the eldest branch could forget about reaping any benefits.

At the most, when the time came for dividing the family assets, she could remind Jindou and the others that the land must not be taken by anyone else, thus doing her part.

Thinking this way, Lady Lin stopped talking as well.

Wang Yongfu gave Lady Lin several glances, thinking she would say something, but unexpectedly, Lady Lin bowed her head, seemingly acquiescing to everything.

Old Granny Zhang didn’t care for these niceties and went straight out, leaving the eldest branch of the family free to talk without her presence.

Upon leaving the side room, she encountered someone who had come to see Doctor Ma.

The person accompanying the patient was an old woman about Old Granny Zhang’s age.

The two talked in the yard, as they had nothing else to do, and hit it off right away.

Very quickly, they started addressing each other as ‘sister.’

“`

It was said that Old Granny Zhang’s son was also here for medical treatment.

After a couple of probing questions, she learned it was Wang Laozhu, the unlucky son of the Wang Family, whom everyone in the town knew about from a few days ago.

She suddenly remembered something and, with an air of mystery, leaned in close to Old Granny Zhang’s ear, “I say, Sister Zhang, I have something to tell you, something to do with your family.”

Old Granny Zhang’s heart skipped a beat and she leaned in with perked ears.

This gossipy old lady was surnamed Yang, known around town for her chatterbox tendencies.

She loved to pry into others’ business and enjoyed wandering the streets, always carrying a belly full of fresh gossip.

As it happened, Old Granny Yang lived right next to the He Family’s shop which was also their neighbor.

Behind the shop, there was a small yard with a cloth store at the front.

Since Second Sister He’s husband ran errands for a merchant caravan and could bring back fashionable and affordable goods, they rented the shop from the He Family to sell fabric and other items.

Although their stock was limited, it was inexpensive and varied, so business was quite good.

Second Sister He had her own home not too far away, and they used the yard behind the shop as a warehouse, hiring a trustworthy man to watch over it.

Some days ago, that yard started buzzing with activity – many coming and going.

Then, Second Sister He mentioned that her younger brother had moved in and asked everyone to look after him a bit.

Along with him moved a young wife with a growing belly, and everyone assumed she was the Sister-in-law of the He Family.

The second day after they settled in, the elderly He couple followed suit and made a scene in the yard.

It was chaos with shouting and threats of hanging oneself with a rope or slashing one’s own throat.

One would cry out, “If you don’t drive this little wench out, mother won’t live anymore!”

Another would clutch her stomach and wail, “Husband, my stomach hurts so much, is the baby not going to make it?”

It was like watching a play.

Neighboring busybodies, with nothing better to do, would take their seats on stools by the courtyard wall to watch the drama unfold each day.

Gradually, it became known that the young wife was none other than Miss Li, the talk of the town recently for cuckolding the Wang Family.

Her brother had attempted murder, and as a result, the eldest son of the Wang Family suffered and became disabled, right?

It was said that after her brother’s violent act was discovered, Miss Li fled to the He Family overnight.

When they found out, they wanted to break off the engagement, but He Dawei was truly unable to let go of Li Jinzhi.

The He elders refused to approve their marriage, leading to a standoff.

Every day, the mother and daughter-in-law would clash in more than three hundred rounds of battles at home, tormenting He Dawei to the point that he finally took his fiancée to live in the town.

Unwilling to let Li Jinzhi go, the He elders followed, causing daily domestic strife and dragging up each other’s past misdeeds.

Faces were torn, and in the heat of anger, secrets spilled out.

In just a few days, the private matters of the He Family were known by almost everyone in town.

Every time Second Sister He came to open the shop, she had to endure pointed fingers and whispers, which eventually became unbearable, leading her to decide to sell the shop.

The young wife, who was never outdone in arguments with her future mother-in-law, incited He Dawei to take over the shop.

Then she began running it every day as the shopkeeper’s wife.

Mother He, unwilling to let an unwelcome daughter-in-law take charge, also got involved.

The domestic quarrels stopped, and they started competing to sell more goods instead.

If a customer took a liking to something and the young wife quoted three coins, before the customer could respond, Mother He would beckon the customer over, claiming her daughter-in-law was clueless and out of her depth, willing to sell it for just two coins.

When another customer arrived and Mother He served them, as soon as a price was mentioned, the young wife would say that buying from her side would save even more coins.

The single shop bizarrely managed to do the business of two.

Now, everyone on that street who knew the gossip loved to shop at the He Family’s Shop, especially when both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were present, undercutting each other’s prices and offering the customers a great deal.

Then, it was said that every evening, after closing the accounts, the two women would start cursing each other, sometimes even coming to blows, wearing the marks on their faces.

Yet, the next day, they would open the shop and conduct business as usual.

It had truly become the laughingstock of the town.

“`