Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 521: The debt continues

Bi Tao glanced at Madam Qiao smugly and raised her eyebrow: “Why? Miss said that she can’t trust anyone from the Qiao family.
Sir Lian Hai is a scholar and may be a high ranking official in the future.
Our Miss said that she was not afraid to loan him money, he wouldn’t renegade on his debts.
If he does, she will just take the IOU to the yamen!”

Wasn’t this a threat? Madam Qiao almost vomited blood again.

Only now did she realize how ridiculous she had been to pit herself against Lian Fang Zhou in the past.
Even ten of her would not be Fang Zhou’s opponent!

“But… he’s gone out and will not be back for several days.
We need the money before tomorrow.” Madam Qiao said with a bitter face.
“How about I press my fingerprint first and wait for him to come back…”

Bi Tao smiled and shook her head.
“Miss said that there is no need to discuss this matter.
You must find a way to delay it yourself! What’s the use of your fingerprints?” She looked Madam Qiao up and down: “Isn’t your surname also Qiao?”

Madam Qiao’s face was so red, she almost couldn’t breathe.

The Qiao family finally saw hope.
The old madam and her daughter-in-laws stayed behind to wait for Lian Hai to return while the others went back to beg the gang members for a few days of grace.

They anxiously waited for dawn as if it as the end of the world.

Unexpectedly, the gangsters easily agreed.
But with one condition: for every day they delayed, it would add an additional hundred taels to their debt.

The Qiao family had no room to bargain so they could only bite the bullet and agree, expressing their gratitude with smiling faces.

The gangster in charge was very calm.
“No need to thank me.
I only care about money.
No one would think that they have enough money, right?” It made no difference to him.

Three days later, Lian Hai returned home.

When he heard about everything that had happened, he became so angry he almost fainted!

Why did he leave without saying goodbye! He should have taken the time to draw a line in the sand.
Now he had fallen into a pity, even deeper than the others.

He had more foresight than Madam Qiao and he knew this was not about money.

Holding his IOU in her hands would be an important handle for Lian Fang Zhou.
As long as she took it out, his reputation as an official (he had already long ago thought about this) would definitely be affected.
His competition would be delighted to grab hold of this weakness.

Didn’t it look good, borrowing money for relatives to pay off their gambling debts?

However, he couldn’t escape at all!

To prevent him from disappearing again, his two uncles followed his every step.
Not to mention, if he left again, he would be labeled as cold-blooded and ruthless.
It would also impact his reputation!

Lian Hai felt a chill in his heart.
His cousin was too scary…

The only way out was to convince her to let the Qiao family sign the IOU and to let him off.
But no matter how nicely he spoke, no matter how long he talked, even until his mouth was dry, Lian Fang Zhou only said: “You have a noble character and are a scholar, I only trust you!”

In despair and crushed under the weight of the Qiao family’s eyes, he had to write the IOU whether he wanted to or not.
There was no room for negotiation at all!

Left with no choice, Lian Hai wrote the IOU and pressed his fingerprint.

Looking at the blood-red fingerprint, his heart trembled and blood dripped secretly.

One thousand taels.
He didn’t want it but he was the one who borrowed it.

Lian Fang Zhou looked the IOU over carefully, making sure that Lian Hai wasn’t playing any tricks.
Finally, she smiled with satisfaction.

Everyone thought she would just take out the money and hand it over but then she put forward another condition: That day, the Qiao family beat her door with wood planks and stones.
Out of the thousand taels, she would first take out twenty taels of silver to compensate.

Old Madam Qiao opened her eyes wide and blurted out: “Twenty taels!? You might as well rob us!”

Lian Fang Zhou didn’t respond but Bi Tao glanced at her and said: “So what if we rob you?” They didn’t have to pay, she wouldn’t force them!

Old Madam Qiao felt helpless and defeated.

She had never expected that Lian Fang Zhou would turn out to be this kind of person.

“Take the twenty taels.” Old Man Qiao said.
“Treat it as if we borrowed it from you!” He turned to look at Madam Qiao.

Madam Qiao’s heart ached so badly that it felt like it was bleeding.
Lian Fang Zhou was too cruel!

Borrow? The current situation of her maternal family was desperate, when would they be able to pay it back? It was just ‘borrowing’ in name! Not to mention the twenty taels, she knew that the entire thousand taels would be in vain!

She had never regretted anything so much in her entire life.
She regretted provoking Lian Fang Zhou, regretted plotting against her so much.
She finally understood that even if there were a hundred of herself, she would definitely not be able to beat that girl!

She couldn’t help but think of Aunt Zhang’s new house and her heart felt even heavier.

“Why are you standing in a daze?” Her father frowned, seeing her standing there without moving.
“Go and get the money! Don’t worry, since we said it’s a loan, it’s a loan, we won’t cheat you.”

“Yes, sister-in-law! You have to hurry! Otherwise, it will be another day and we will have to pay another hundred taels!” Second Madam Qiao urged.

Feeling like she would vomit blood again, Madam Qiao turned around and went to get the money without saying a word.

Only when there is contrast can you see the gap.
It was now that Madam Qiao understood what kind of people Lian Fang Zhou and her family were and how kind they were to their family.
If she hadn’t calculated against her all those times, they would still regard her and Lian Li as their elders.
Lian Fang Zhou’s courtesy was impeccable and never lacking.

She must change it in the future, she would definitely change it!

As time went by, Lian Fang Zhou and the others would see her sincerity!

Madam Qiao couldn’t help but yearn for the beautiful fays when Lian Fang Zhou would treat her just like she treated her Third Aunt, and couldn’t help but feel warm.

She never stopped to think if Lian Fang Zhou would give her the chance.

Not everyone was waiting for you to turn around and repent.
For somethings, it was too late.
Just because you mend your ways, others have to forgive you? How stupid are you?

Moving quickly, Madam Qiao brought back the twenty taels of silver.
Lian Fang Zhou accepted it and took out a thousand tael bank note from her clothes, handing it over.

The Qiao family hurried home, not forgetting to extort another five taels of silver from Madam Qiao for living expenses.

When Old Man Qiao handed over the silver note to the gang leader, the boss accepted it with a smile.
But before they could sigh with relief, he suddenly pulled out another IOU and said cheerfully: “This is what your good grandson lost yesterday, a total of two thousand taels!” The man sighed dramatically.
“He was really out of luck! Originally he wanted to make money but lost it all.
Let’s go by the same rules as before, you have three days!”

Old Madam Qiao fainted while her two daughter-in-laws burst into tears.

The gang members laughed riotously from the sides, admiring them leisurely from the sidelines.

No one was a fool.
If they couldn’t see the truth by now, then they really would be stupid.

“Why! Why!” Old Man Qiao trembled, “How did we offend you? When did we offend you? Why do you want to kill us?”