Chapter 95: A Real Mess

Chen Xiao Mi and the Chen family officially signed the Renouncement Letter under the witness of the Clan Leader and the other elders.

The Renouncement Letter stipulated that Chen Xiao Mi had renounced the Chen Family at the cost of 30 taels of silver and a house. The Chen family shall stay away from Chen Xiao Mi and his two brothers.

Grandma Chen was thrilled that she got 30 tales of silver and a house, but she knew her family had become a laughingstock in the village.

It had been a long time since such a thing happened in this family. Many onlookers enjoyed the scene.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi left Big Stone Village after they got the letter.

Lu Lin looked at the letter and said, "With this thing, it doesn't matter if Grandma Chen really hung herself at our store."

Chen Xiao Mi said sullenly, "At the cost of 50 taels of silver."

Chen Xiao Mi felt that this letter was too pricy.

Chen Xiao Mi entrusted his house to the Clan Leader.

Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiao Mi and said, "Sometimes, some investments are necessary, come on now, we should celebrate this."

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "A few days ago, the hooligans who practiced usury in town said Chen Jing owed them 100 taels. However, it has been a few days and I'm afraid it's more than 100 taels now."

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yeah! This interest of usury develops like a snowball, many families have ruined due to that."

However, it had nothing to do with them now that they had got the Renouncement Letter.

......

In Lu family.

Grandma Lu said sullenly, "Chen Xiao Mi sold his house and gave Grandma Chen thirty taels of silver. This Grandma Chen is really shameless."

Grandma Lu interspersed her talk with curses, she wasn't feeling sorry for Chen Xiao Mi though, she just wished it was her who got the money.

Thirty taels of silver! Recently, the Lu family wasn't doing great, even one tael of silver was hard to get. Previously, Grandma Lu had even asked her son Lu An to do corvee, which had caused Lu An to feel extremely resentful.

In order to repay Chen Jing's debt, Chen Xiao Mi gave them 30 taels at once. This really made Grandma Lu feel as if a knife were being twisted in her heart!

In Grandma Lu's opinion, Chen Xiao Mi's silver was Lu Lin's silver. Lu Lin's silver was supposed to be hers. How could they give it to the Chen family just like that?

Grandma Lu felt so indignant that she walked out of her house and spread the word that the Chens were shameless, they asked a Bio who had renounced them to repay Chen Jing's debt, and the reason why Chen Jing was in debt was because he bought fake exam papers.

Chen Jing owed 100 taels of silver. It was an astronomical figure in the eyes of the villagers.

The villagers were also curious about why Chen Jing owed so much money. The Chens had never come up with a reasonable explanation, the villagers had become more curious.

Grandma Lu's 'inside story' had provoked an uproar among the villagers.

In fact, Tang had exposed the "inside information" in a sneaky way before, but she did it in a subtle way, there were still many people who hadn't heard it.

Grandma Lu did it differently, she gave enormous publicity to it, soon the news had spread across the entire village.

Cheating in the imperial examination was a crime, not only would the offender be banned from taking the exam for life, but also the offender would be sentenced.

Grandma Chen tried so hard to hide it, and she was furious when she found out all the villagers had known the truth.

However, the Chen family was busy getting Chen Jing out of debt, so they had no time to settle scores with the Lu family.

In the end, Chen Xiao Mi's house was sold for seventeen taels. Because they were selling it in a hurry, no one offered a high price.

Grandma Chen got 47 taels from Chen Xiao Mi in total.

Grandma Chen took out her entire saving, 20 taels of silver from the bottom of her case, and they were still 30 taels short. They sold 3 mus of farmland for that.

"Why is Chen Xiao Mi's house only sold for seventeen taels?" Grandma Chen said unhappily.

"It's sold in a hurry, that's why." Grandpa Chen said.

"This house was sold to the Clan Leader's nephew! I think he took a kickback," Grandma Chen said sullenly.

Grandpa Chen sighed and said, "Alright, let's keep it to ourselves, don't complain this to anyone!"

Grandma Chen said angrily, "Yes, yes, everyone in the village is looking at me as a joke. The Lu family sold their farmland for nine taels of silver per mu. When it came to me, those people are only willing to pay six taels per mu. Isn't that bullying?"

Grandpa Chen took a deep breath. He knew he could have sold the farmland for a better price, but the interest of the usury was scary, he wanted to repay the debt as soon as possible!

Grandpa Chen felt reluctant to part with the farmland he purchased when he was young, but he had no choice.

Grandma Chen estimated that she could ask her daughter to give her 10 taels of silver thus she could scrape 100 taels.

Chen Chun'er was tricked back to the Chen family last time. She went back home after she gave them 200 cents.

In Chen Chun'er's opinion, the Chen family was a bottomless pit that could never be filled. She couldn't believe her parents still wished to leech on her.

"I don't think Chun'er will ever come back," Grandma Chen said sullenly.

Chen Chun'er thought Grandpa Chen was critically ill and visited them last time, Grandma Chen didn't think she would fall for the same trick again. "I think this girl will stay away from us. It's impossible to expect her to give us money. Let's go to her house."

Grandpa Chen looked hesitant, " Chun'er married butcher."

Grandma Chen toughened up and said, "So what she married a butcher? Chun'er is my daughter. Chun'er has been married for so many years, she rarely visited us or sent us any presents."

Grandpa Chen thought about how difficult it was at home and said, "Then I'll find a few people to go with us together."

When the Chen family and their group arrived at Chen Chun'er's house, her husband was butchering a pig.

The butcher disemboweled the pig with a machete, he was covered all over with blood.

Butcher Zhang was ferocious looking in the first place, and now he was covered in blood. His look had frightened the villagers who accompanied Grandma Chen and Grandpa Chen.

Butcher Zhang then started chopping the pig with a three feet long knife. Grandma Chen and Grandpa Chen who were here seeking gratuitous financial help took their heels on seeing that.

......

The news that Grandma Chen and Grandpa Chen went to their daughter's for money only to be scared away by their son-in-law had spread throughout the village, and the villagers disdained them even more.

"This Grandpa Chen bullies the weak and fears the strong. I heard that he almost peed himself on seeing his son-in-law's long knife."

"I heard that Chun'er's husband told them he had no silver, but he could consider giving them a piece of meat, ahaha. But Grandma Chen and Grandpa Chen dared not take any meat from him!"

"They shouldn't have bothered Chun'er in the first place, they forced Chun'er to marry that butcher and now they wanted Chun'er to give them 10 taels of silver! It's unreasonable to bother a married daughter for their grandson!"

"Honestly, it was Chen Jing who caused this but he was nowhere to see. This person is a coward."

"That's right! He usually looks like a real man, but now he is showing his true colors."

" I don't know why Grandma Chen and Grandpa Chen dote on Chen Jing so much."

"..."

The Chen family sold another mu of farmland. However, the debt had risen to 105 taels due to the delay. Grandma Chen directed a torrent of abuse when she heard that, but those hooligans were not to be trifled with.

The moment a few hired roughnecks appeared at their house, Grandma Chen muted herself. She had to try her luck from house to house and borrowed several taels of silver in the end.

The Chen family took out all of their savings, they had sold 5 mus of farmland, they needed a long time to recover.

Chen Shou Xin and Chen Shou Ren had completely fallen out.

Although Grandpa Chen had saved Chen Jing's life, he was completely disappointed with Chen Jing and didn't want to send Chen Jing to school again.

"The Chen family really did it! They managed to scrape over 50 tales within such a short period of time!"

"Yeah! However, they will have a hard life after selling five mus of farmland."

"They have so much money in hand. But they wanted to sell Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai for money, how could they! When Chen Xiao Mi and his brothers left the Chen family, they slept in the cave!"

"The Chen family originally wanted to ask their married daughter Chun'er to chip in as well, but Chun'er's husband had scared them away."

"Chun'er's husband is a butcher, very ferocious. I heard that the day when Grandma Chen and Grandpa Chen visited them, the butcher was chopping a pig. The two elders took to their heels without saying a word."

"Chen Xiao Mi sold his house. Is he planning not to go back to the village?"

......

The villagers originally sympathized with the Chen family because of the unexpected trouble, but when they saw that they had managed to repay the debt, they felt jealous.

......

In Chen family.

"Father, Chen Xiao Mi sold the house, right?" Chen He asked.

Chen Shou Ren nodded, "Yeah! To the Clan Leader's nephew."

Chen He said excitedly, "Father, Grandmother promised me to get me that house."

Chen Shou Ren was also a little upset. "It's Chen Jing's cousin's fault, there's nothing we can do."

Chen He said angrily, "It's too unfair. Grandfather and grandmother are too biased. Why didn't Jing solve the problem by himself?"

Chen He and a girl from a neighboring village had fallen in love, they had been talking about getting married. However, the girl's parents had postponed it after they heard of Chen Jing's affair. In fact, even if the girl's parents agreed to proceed with the discussion, Chen He couldn't offer any betrothal present.

Originally, Grandpa Chen had promised Chen He to give him 8 taels of silver for betrothal present, but now the 8 taels all went to repay Chen Jing's debt.

Chen Shou Ren looked at his son and felt a little apologetic, but it was what it was.

Chen Shou Ren was also anxious about his son's marriage. Many girls were willing to betrothed with his son before this scandal, but they all had changed their mind after the Chen Family sold 5 mus of farmland.

Chen Shou Ren was worried about his son's marriage and hated Chen Jing more, his son would pass the marriageable age soon.