Chapter 241: At Ease Now
“Keep the four hundred and thirty coins,” Grandpa Chen said gently. “Buy Xiaoshan some good food with it.”
Chen Laoyi’s tears fell even more. He turned around and supported Chen Xiaoshan, whose leg was not well, with his wife as they left.
“Stop!” Grandma Chen shouted anxiously, afraid that Chen Laoyi would not give the money.
However, before she could finish her sentence, Chen Laoyi shouted without turning his head, “I’ll go back and get the money!”
Grandma Chen was given the cold shoulder and cursed, “To think he’s the eldest! How could he treat his own mother like this!”
“Mother, you should speak less.” Said Chen Laoer.
Grandpa Chen looked at Chen Laoer and said, “How much are you offering?”
Chen Laoer sighed. “He’s already given eight silver, so I’ll give eight silver too. Father, let me make it clear to you. This is the betrothal money from my son-in-law’s family when my daughters were married off, as well as the money I earn from my own work. I can only give this much. I’m not young anymore, and I don’t have a second son or a son-in-law who will marry into the family. There’s no hope for me in the future. If Chen Laoba has money in the future, he must return it to me. Otherwise, my wife and I will end up on the streets.
“He’ll definitely pay you back if he has the money.” Grandpa Chen said. “If he doesn’t return the money, even if I die, I’ll still haunt him. Your mother and I dote on him the most, but you’re also my son. Isn’t that right, Chen Laoba?”
Chen Laoba immediately agreed. “Yes, yes, don’t worry. As long as I’m alive, I’ll take it as a loan from you. I’ll definitely return it in the future.”
“Are you all relieved now?” asked Grandpa Chen.
In reality, no one was at ease.
Eight silver each. They had saved up so much money for almost their entire lives.
Usually, they would hide it for fear of others finding out. However, their eldest and second brothers had already come out, and their parents had forced them to expose themselves too. Also, they really didn’t want to have the reputation of watching their younger brother get beheaded.
Chen Laosan, Chen Laosi, Chen Laowu, and Chen Laoqi all said that they would pay eight silver.
Because Chen Laoliu’s family had a live-in son-in-law, it took a lot of money to find such a marriage. It was more expensive to find a live-in son-in-law than to marry a wife. He really couldn’t take out eight silver, so he said, “Father, Mother, even if you skin me alive, my family can’t give eight silver. We can only give five silver. If you don’t believe me, you can search my house if you don’t believe me.”
“Some of us just aren’t that dedicated.” Grandma Chen immediately gave him a sidelong glance. “We know about your family’s situation. Five silver it is. How much is this in total now?”
“Including you and dad’s pension, it’ll be sixty-six silver in total,” said Chen Laoqi.
“That should be enough. If not, I’ll have to borrow from my relatives.” Grandpa Chen sighed heavily.
“It’s definitely enough!” Xue Zhuzi said. “That’s so much money! I know Xue Dagui. I think sixty silver would make him so happy that he wouldn’t immediately report it to the authorities. Didn’t Chen Laoqi say we only needed sixty silver at the beginning? You and Grandma should pay less. Just four silver each. You can’t possibly not have any money on you. You’ve worked hard your entire lives.”
He looked like he was being considerate of Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen. In fact, he felt that as long as Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen had money, they would definitely leave it to him, their only grandson.
However, it made Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen extremely happy knowing that he was thinking of them. They kept calling him a good grandson.
After a few calls, Grandpa Chen patted his hand and sighed. “Actually, my dear Grandson, this isn’t a safe number. Chen Laoqi said he needed at least sixty silver, not sixty silver only.”
Chen Laoqi continued, “It must be at least sixty silver. I heard that the rich family gave them a few hundred silver to shut them up and not report it to the authorities. I don’t think sixty-six silver is enough to make him shut up. We need to see Xue Dagui’s attitude. If we have less, we can only do as he says and borrow from relatives.
“But we won’t be rich,” said Xue Zhuzi.