Chapter 121: Private Stash
"Pah! That bunch of heartless whelps in our family only think about how they can plunder from us elders for their own benefit every day. Give us money? Don’t dream of it! If it were in the past, I, your mother, might have turned a blind eye, but now with the situation at home, your eldest brother needs silver coin every day just to keep his life, the family’s silver is spent like running water, and you can’t even hear a sound as it goes."
"This is what I found today when I took advantage of the first wife’s room being empty and the door open—I went in and took a look. That cheap wench Lady Lin didn’t hide her jar well, just buried it next to the kang’s hole. Probably too hurried, the soil wasn’t even firmly packed down, and wouldn’t you know, your mother found it?"
Old Granny Zhang still had a touch of smugness.
"Mother—" Wang Yongzhu was speechless. What kind of situation was this?
"Ever since Eldest Brother was injured, we’ve lost so much silver coin. If I hadn’t found this private money jar, there’s no way that cheap wench Lady Lin would have taken it out herself; she’d only think about fishing for the family’s silver coin to spend! Later on, when the family is drained dry, wouldn’t she be the one enjoying the good life with her hidden money? Let her dream on!" Old Granny Zhang curled her lips, as if forking over her own silver was like cutting out her own heart. Why should Lady Lin be allowed to save private money?
"But, mother, what if it’s discovered? It wouldn’t be good to get out, would it? Where is it heard that a mother-in-law takes away her daughter-in-law’s private money? Mother, aren’t you afraid of what others will say?" Wang Yongzhu was truly at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
A mother-in-law digging up her daughter-in-law’s private money and word getting out would become a joke in the village, oh!
"Afraid of what? As long as we have the silver in hand, it’s fine. People’s mouths are on their own faces—they can say what they want, it won’t cost me a piece of flesh. Besides, according to the old traditions of Qilidun, as long as parents are alive, the family does not divide. Unmarried children, apart from the bride’s dowry, are not allowed to accumulate private money! When Lady Lin married over, aside from two worn out pieces of clothing, she had nothing. She had no dowry, so the saved money is all the Wang Family’s! No matter how you argue this point, I am not afraid! Do you think that cheap wench Lady Lin, upon finding out, would dare to argue with me? If she does make a fuss, I’d slap her in the face and ask her, with your father and me still alive, what private wealth is she squirreling away? Her own man is hurt so badly and yet she clings to her private money and doesn’t take it out—is she hoping to wait till her man dies to find another husband?"
"Me confiscating her private money hasn’t been used for anything else, it’s still for your eldest brother’s sake. The meat is still rotting in our pot. With Lady Lin out of money, wouldn’t she have to serve Eldest Brother honestly? This way, there won’t be any trouble from her in the future!"