The wicked sister-in-law is in charge; meals include fish and shrimp.

Chapter 100 Lin Huai's Misfortune

After applying the entire porcelain jar of ointment, Lin Huaizhi breathed a long sigh of relief.

Lying in bed, he thought to himself that he had been having a really bad time lately. First, the silver ingot was lost for no reason, and then during class, the top of his head collapsed and hit his shoulder. The place where he was hit still hurts a lot!

Then there are things like choking on water, choking on food, and even falling while walking normally...

Thinking about it, it seems like he's been having bad luck ever since he met Guo Wencai, and now he's experiencing health problems.

He touched the few silver notes in his pocket and narrowed his eyes. It was just a small problem. If he could take good care of him, he would have more money than he could spend. Why not?

Moreover, when Guo Wencai appeared at the academy, his classmates thought the two of them were sworn brothers, and everyone tried to curry favor with him, which pleased him greatly.

What good is it for Wen Zijin to have Yan Che as a friend? Among the four classes of people—scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—merchants are the lowest! He's only fit to be friends with someone like that.

Lin Huaizhi became increasingly smug, and fell into a blissful sleep, clutching the remaining silver notes in his arms.

Zhang Chunhua, beaming with joy, kissed the money bag containing thirty taels of silver in her room.

She said her son was the most promising, and that he was very knowledgeable!

Sure enough, she received a reward of several dozen taels of silver just for casually writing a poem for that master, and she was overjoyed!

But the thought of her son asking her to return the money made her reluctant to be happy, because once she returned it, there wouldn't be much left...

She was torn between not returning the money and the fear that it would affect her son's chances of passing the imperial examination.

Clutching the money bag tightly to her chest, Zhang Chunhua reluctantly went to sleep.

She slept until late morning the next day, and when she boiled two eggs and went to find Lin Huaizhi, the room was already empty.

She then remembered that Lin Huaizhi had taken leave to go home. Thinking that he had gone through all that trouble just to send money to his mother, Zhang Chunhua felt very comforted.

She peeled the egg, ate it in a few bites, and then reluctantly left with the silver.

Walking down the street, everyone was talking about Wen Luozhi's family:

"I have to say, Wen Lao Er is lucky! When he was young, he had Xie He as his wife who stayed by his side through thick and thin."

"He's getting old, but his daughter is still so capable! Not only is he running a shop in town, but now she's even building him a big house!"

Zhang Chunhua clenched her fists. That brat Wen Luozhi was doing this on purpose! Why wasn't she this assertive when she shamelessly clung to her son before?!

"Hey, don't just talk about that little girl! Aren't her sons all excellent too?!"

"The eldest son is now in charge of the orchard on Chicken Head Mountain. The two of them have bad legs but can still make money by carving with their hands? I really admire them!" An old woman gave a thumbs up.

How many fruit trees could we plant on such a big mountain like Jitou Mountain? Fruit is a rare commodity, and selling it to wealthy families would bring in a lot of money!

I heard that recently, even scholars have been coming to buy the wood carvings made by Wen Zizhong! Apparently, each one costs about one tael of silver, that's amazing!

"His third son was unreliable at first, but who would have thought he'd be a bookkeeper at a food shop now! Tsk tsk, that's quite something."

……

The group praised Wen Luozhi's family to the skies, but Zhang Chunhua simply ignored them, clutching the money pouch in her sleeve as she walked home.

Hmph! Since they're so rich, they certainly don't need her twenty-odd taels of silver. Whether she pays it back or not!

When Wen Luozhi returned from the village chief's house, she could see Zhang Chunhua's face, which was both red and green, from a distance.

Noticing her movements, Wen Luozhi smiled slightly and walked down the path she had taken.

"Damn Wen Lao Er! Damn Xie He! Damn..."

As Zhang Chunhua cursed, Wen Luozhi approached her, bowed slightly, put his hands behind his back, and asked with a smile, "Aunt Zhang, who are you cursing who deserves to die?"

Zhang Chunhua was startled when she saw her and quickly shut her mouth. "Ah...haha, just now a few mosquitoes kept chasing and biting me, I was cursing them."

"Criticizing them, huh..."

Her smile was extremely unnatural, and she silently stuffed the money pouch deeper into her sleeve.

Wen Luozhi straightened up and held out a hand to her, saying, "Aunt Zhang, if you have the money, please return it."

"So as not to interfere with your aspirations as the wife of a scholar."

Zhang Chunhua's face flushed red, but she still tried to remain calm. "Oh! You silly girl! What are you saying? What kind of relationship do our two families have that you would really argue with your aunt about a few dozen taels of silver?"

Wen Luozhi chuckled lightly, "What relationship? Of course, my family is the creditor! Pay up, or Lin Huaizhi will end up in jail." Her cheerful appearance sent chills down Zhang Chunhua's spine.

How could she forget! Her son was about to take the imperial examination and almost did something foolish! She would hate herself if she ruined her son's future!

She could only reluctantly take out her money pouch, count out the silver, and hand it over, laughing awkwardly, "Look at you, child! It was just a joke, why did you take it so seriously!"

She came out with a bulging money bag, but now it was empty. As Zhang Chunhua spoke, it felt like her heart was bleeding.

Wen Luozhi took the silver, counted it, and after confirming that it was correct, she put it in her pocket. Zhang Chunhua felt another pang of pain in her heart.

That brat! The family needs to build a house and she still wants those twenty-odd taels of silver!

Wen Luozhi patted her shoulder twice, so hard that her plump body trembled.

“Aunt Zhang, speaking ill of others will bring divine retribution,” she said, pointing to the sky. Zhang Chunhua trembled again.

"Hey...you silly girl, I was just scolding a mosquito, it's not that big of a deal."

Remembering her son's words about her recent bad luck, Zhang Chunhua felt a chill. She dared not look at Wen Luozhi any longer. With her head down, she hurried past her and headed home. Wen Luozhi clapped her hands as she watched her retreating figure.

She thought the bad luck charm would be used on the group in the old house first, but unexpectedly, it was used on this mother and son first.

Hmph, dare to insult her family? She'll be in deep trouble!

Before Lin Huaizhi even reached the academy gate, he was blocked in his way by the three Zhang brothers. Looking at the scarred man who had given him two nightmares, he said with a dark face, "Get out of the way! I have to go to class!"

Now that Guo Wencai is around, and he likes me so much, why would I need to care about these small fry? No! With just one word from him, Guo Wencai will definitely make them wish they were dead!

At worst, it's just a matter of him selling his body a little more!

Zhang Yidao chuckled and said, "Young Master Lin, don't throw such a tantrum! If it weren't for us brothers, how could you be living such a luxurious life so quickly?"

As he spoke, his lewd gaze swept over Lin Huaizhi, and he didn't forget to ask his two henchmen beside him, "Right, am I right, brothers?"

"What Big Brother said is true! Young Master Lin should thank us brothers!" a henchman with yellow teeth said casually while picking his teeth.