WBSGVS Chapter 53 V1

The total amount, when added up, could completely drain a family that was once fairly well-off in the town.

As everyone looked at the bill, feelings of envy and resentment surged within them, and their gazes toward Cheng Zhaoyang grew increasingly strange.

Even a life-saving grace should be enough by now, right?

Not to mention they were married; it was as if he regarded his in-laws as a mere bank.

Cheng Zhaoyang hadn’t anticipated that Luo Mu would use such a tactic. Covering his bruised face, he felt turmoil within, and beads of sweat visibly formed at the tip of his nose. People nearby were exclaiming about how much money was involved, and he felt flustered, rushing forward to say, “Mother-in-law, please calm down.”

Luo Mu wouldn’t listen. She sternly demanded, “Do you acknowledge what I’ve just said or not?!”

Cheng Zhaoyang instinctively nodded, anxiously saying, “I acknowledge it. Can we discuss this at home?”

He was truly at a loss for words.

Initially, he hadn’t thought it was wrong to accept so many gifts from the Luo family. He had even considered it a given when he played the victim to obtain money from Luo Qingli. But now that the matter was laid bare, he felt particularly embarrassed.

Especially with so many eyes pointing at him.

Luo Mu picked up two of the scattered papers and insisted, “If that’s the case, then you need to put your handprint here, so you can’t later claim that the Luo family gave you nothing!”

Cheng Zhaoyang was in a panic. Luo Mu wasn’t wrong; she just recorded everything in too much detail. He wanted to leave quickly to avoid the crowd’s scrutiny. While the Bear family didn’t care what others thought, he couldn’t fully adopt that mindset, especially if this escalated—he feared he would lose his job.

So, he nodded directly. “Fine.”

The tavern owner, who had been watching the scene for a while, shook his head in sympathy for the Luo family. It seemed that human hearts were fickle; it hadn’t been long since a woman who was willing to risk her life now couldn’t bear to part with five taels of silver. He proactively handed over red clay to Cheng Zhaoyang, saying, “Use this.”

Seeing the red clay brought over by the tavern owner, Cheng Zhaoyang didn’t dare to be dismissive and resignedly pressed his handprint.

Luo Mu, with a cold expression, carefully stored the printed paper before saying, “Cheng Zhaoyang, my Luo family has given you all our wealth. Aside from the house, we now have nothing left. A Li has fallen ill because of your sister, and I don’t believe you’ve used up all that money. Are you truly unwilling to help her get treated?”

“Of course not!” Cheng Zhaoyang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, quickly denying it.

Qingli took the opportunity to show a comforting smile, tugging at Luo Mu to indicate she shouldn’t press any further. “Mother…”

The onlookers murmured, surprised that the Luo family’s daughter was reluctant to be too harsh on her husband—she had a soft heart.

Luo Mu tempered her expression and directly extended her hand. “Then, how much are you planning to give?”

Cheng Zhaoyang gritted his teeth and placed five taels of silver on the table, forced a bitter smile, and said, “To be honest, Mother-in-law, I don’t usually carry silver with me, so please take this for now. I’ll go back and discuss it with my mother.”

Now that Luo Mu had taken on the role of the villain, she wouldn’t let him off so easily. She spoke in a low voice, “Previously, you didn’t even come to see A Li. I’ve felt nothing of the sincerity you professed when you asked to marry my daughter over two years ago. Since you’re saying you’ll discuss it with your mother, I’ll wait right here. Let’s see how much silver you can come up with as evidence of your sincerity!”

Cheng Zhaoyang’s face turned pale, his teeth grinding as he looked at his usually amiable mother-in-law, feeling a trace of resentment.

This matter could have been resolved quietly at home, but now it had to escalate like this. If someone with ulterior motives caught wind of it, his head could be on the line!

Now he was caught in a bind, unable to move.

Seeing this, Qingli covered her mouth and coughed lightly before weakly saying, “Husband, you were willing to risk your life for me back then. Given my current situation, you surely won’t give me too little, right?”

“Of course not.” Cheng Zhaoyang replied, his smile not reaching his eyes.

At this moment, someone from the crowd shouted, “Wow, that’s nearly three hundred taels! My goodness, including the dowry, that’s easily over three hundred taels. Surely you haven’t spent it all, right? Which doctors did you consult that were so expensive?”

This comment seemed to trigger something in Luo Mu, and she glared at Cheng Zhaoyang. “That’s right! You’ve only seen a few doctors; if you’re not giving much, I’ll ask where all that silver went!”

Cheng Zhaoyang trembled, unable to contain himself, and glared at the speaker with a dark look.

The situation had drawn too many onlookers, and he didn’t know who had spoken, but just that glance made people recoil in fear. “Wow, this young man is scary!”

“Seriously, he’s greedy and shameless. The Luo family has suffered. They shouldn’t have married their daughter off in the first place.”

“Exactly! Didn’t they already pay him with silver for saving his life? And now they’re even helping to send Cheng Zhaoyang’s brother to the county school, where all the scholars go. Ugh, now that they no longer need his help, they don’t care.”

Cheng Zhaoyang could no longer stay. He dared to act against Luo Qingli because she was a woman, but now the ones speaking were strong men, making his face turn from blue to white and back again. He awkwardly clasped his hands and hurriedly left.

Seeing this, Luo Mu’s tense body relaxed, and she bitterly smiled. “I’ve embarrassed the tavern owner.”

“It’s nothing, really, just unfortunate souls,” the tavern owner waved his hand and said. “Since you two are waiting here, and Madam Cheng can’t be in the wind, why not sit in a private room? I’ll bring you a pot of hot tea and some pastries to enjoy while you wait.”

“Thank you,” Luo Mu nodded.

Qingli also nodded, wanting to say something, but before she could speak, she coughed again, her frail body trembling. In the end, she leaned against Luo Mu, utterly exhausted.

The tavern owner didn’t dare to say much and quickly escorted them upstairs.

Once the private room door closed and they were away from prying eyes, Luo Mu finally relaxed completely, slumping into the chair, breathing rapidly, and feeling wronged. She hoarsely said, “I never thought he would be such a despicable person!”

Qingli wiped her tears and gently said, “You can’t know someone’s heart; you’re not a god. Besides, I was the one who insisted on marrying him. Don’t blame you and father; just blame him for being so wicked.”

One thought can lead to divinity or demonic descent; sometimes, evil acts aren’t premeditated but occur simply because a thought suddenly arises and is acted upon.

Perhaps before doing this, Cheng Zhaoyang never imagined he would collude with bandits.

So now, whenever he thinks about it, he reacts like a cat that has had its tail stepped on, exploding in anger.

That’s why he feels so scared.

But none of this changes the fact that he committed evil deeds.

His momentary lapse in judgment ruined the original owner’s life and later harmed the entire Luo family. If Luo Mu hadn’t read the accounts from the paper, he might not even have realized how much he had accepted from the Luo family.

Such a selfish person being capable of illegal acts is entirely reasonable.

He simply lacked the guts.

Luo Mu still held onto a glimmer of hope. Before coming here, she had received her daughter’s instructions and knew what to say and do, but she didn’t want to believe that Cheng Zhaoyang was truly that kind of person. She hoped he was merely selfish.

However, the words she had just spoken made Cheng Zhaoyang’s face turn pale in fear. In that moment, she understood that the situation she and her husband had hoped for didn’t exist—they had all been deceived by him!

After all, who would have thought that Cheng Zhaoyang would collude with bandits and then seek revenge for his kindness?

Luo Mu looked up at her daughter, crying even more heartbreakingly. “My poor A Li!”

How could such a well-behaved, understanding, and intelligent daughter encounter such a situation?

If it weren’t for Cheng Zhaoyang, she would have had a good husband, and perhaps she would even have children by now, avoiding such a distressing predicament.

Qingli managed to raise a smile, seemingly unbothered. “Mother, it’s not so scary. Though I’ve fallen on hard times, we must look forward. Look, I’ve discovered this in advance and found a way to deal with them. As long as Father finds someone to inquire about where the bandits are, even if that scribe favors the Cheng family, we won’t be afraid.”

If the original owner’s parents had pressured her to marry for the sake of their face, Qingli would be crying her heart out. But her parents didn’t do that; the original owner couldn’t bear to see the Luo family being scorned and took the initiative to marry.

Her parents had already worried themselves sick for her in her past life; in this life, she only wanted them to live peacefully.