northernbook Chapter 93: Is this teahouse hers?
Chapter 93: Is this teahouse hers?
Wang Yulan stammered, "We've already severed ties, how are you going to take care of us in our old age?"
Wang Xiuying raised her chin triumphantly, her eyes revealing blatant calculation and a hint of malice. "So what if we sever ties?"
She looked at Wang Yulan, her eyelashes fluttering, "Mother, although you are a stepmother, you still raised Tian Zhiyuan and helped him get married and have children."
"Everything they eat, wear, and use is given to them by their parents."
"The reason we severed ties with the Lu family before was because they demanded it."
Wang Xiuying shrugged and said, "We only agreed because we had no other choice."
"Everyone in the village has witnessed it."
"Moreover, Father and Mother, you considered that it was not easy for them, a widow and her children, to live their lives, so you did not ask them to support you in your old age."
"Now that they have money, they want to sever all ties with their parents, so they should repay the debt of gratitude they owe their parents for raising them."
"When Tian Zhiyuan died, he was already thirty-nine years old. Let's say forty years. One year... I'm not exaggerating, he must have earned at least two taels of silver, right?"
"Forty years is eighty taels."
“That Lu family member came to the Tian family when she was fifteen. Now she is thirty-four. That’s twenty years. She earns two taels of silver a year, forty taels in total.”
"And then there's Tian Xiang, Tian Tian, and Tian Jinghe. The three of them together would amount to forty years and eighty taels."
"Let them give us two hundred taels."
"If they are unwilling to give money, then you will have to support your parents in their old age, and every year... for food, clothing, daily necessities, medical care and medicine, it will cost at least... ten taels!"
Wang Yulan's eyes lit up with a smile when she thought about all that money.
But... "Do they have that much silver?"
Wang Xiuying scoffed, "If you don't have any... then give me whatever you have, and owe me the rest for now."
"From now on, their family will earn money for their parents."
After thinking about it carefully, Wang Yulan slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "Yes, that makes sense!"
“They’ve taken so much benefit from Zhicheng; the food they eat all comes from Zhicheng.”
“Now that Zhicheng is going to take the imperial examination, the expenses are already high, so they should repay their parents and Zhicheng.”
Just now she was hitting Zhicheng's wife repeatedly, but now she's thanking Zhicheng profusely.
Wang Yulan hesitated before looking at Tian Zhongqing, "Old man, what do you think?"
Tian Zhongqing was also making plans in his mind.
In fact, he knew that what Wang Xiuying said was untenable and just sophistry.
But thinking about how that brat Tian Tian had caused so much trouble for their family...
He just doesn't want their family to have any peace!
In this case...
Let them make a scene then. Their family is having a hard time, and we absolutely cannot let the Lu family make money in peace.
"Whatever you want," Tian Zhongqing said casually.
Wang Yulan's eyes lit up. Having spent so many years with Tian Zhongqing, she knew exactly what the old man meant.
"Alright, go to bed early tonight, and go see them tomorrow morning."
"Yes," Wang Xiuying replied readily.
*
Wang Yulan, Wang Xiuying, and Tian Zhigao came to the county.
"I forgot to ask the village chief, what kind of shop does the Lu family run?" Tian Zhigao looked around...
The three of them had already searched the entire county, but still couldn't find the Lu family.
“We must have missed it. Let’s search again, and this time we’ll look carefully,” Wang Yulan said.
The three of them drove around the county town again and happened to stop in front of the Baishi Teahouse.
There were many guests at the entrance, and Zhang Fusheng was completely overwhelmed by the group of carriages.
Tian Zhigao curiously looked into the teahouse, but Wang Yulan pulled him away, saying, "I don't believe it, let's keep looking."
"Zhigao, stop looking. Such a big shop couldn't possibly be owned by the Lu family alone."
"I figured the shop they run wouldn't be very big."
Tian Zhigao exclaimed, "When did this Baishi Teahouse appear in the county? Wasn't this shop a teahouse before?"
Something seems to be popping into my head, but I can't quite grasp it.
After completing the second lap, the three of them stopped in front of the Baishi Teahouse again.
“Strange, his uncle shouldn’t have made a mistake…” Wang Yulan muttered.
Tian Zhigao looked at the Baishi Teahouse, feeling that this place hadn't always been a teahouse...
This place used to be...
It used to be called Chu Xing Restaurant!
It's the Chu family that Tian Xiang married into.
"Mother..." He was about to tell Wang Yulan when he saw Tian Tian come out of Baishi Teahouse.
She said something to the guy next to her, and then came down.
The waiter nodded respectfully to her...
Tian Zhigao quickly pulled Wang Yulan and Wang Xiuying behind a carriage to hide.
He only came out after Tian Tian left.
"Zhigao, what are you doing?"
“Mom, I saw Tian Tian,” Tian Zhigao said.
Wang Yulan hurriedly asked, "Where is it?"
Tian Zhigao pointed in the direction Tian Tian left, "She just came out of Baishi Teahouse and went that way, in a carriage."
"A carriage?" Wang Yulan looked over and indeed saw a carriage swaying and leaving.
"Quick, let's follow them." She lifted her foot to follow.
Tian Zhigao stopped her, "Mother, wait a minute."
He let go of Wang Yulan's hand, took a few steps up the steps, and grabbed the waiter who had just delivered Tian Tian.
"Hey buddy, who was that girl just now?"
This guy isn't Xiao Si; he wasn't as alert as Xiao Si.
"Oh, that young lady just now was Ms. Tian Er, the head manager of our Baishi Teahouse."
"Head Manager?!" Tian Zhigao pondered these words. "Does that mean... this teahouse belongs to her?!"
The waiter nodded. "Yes."
Wang Yulan followed, asking, "Does all the money you've earned belong to her?"
The waiter chuckled, "Of course."
"If it's not our manager's, then is it yours?"
He smiled and asked, "Gentlemen, would you like something to eat?"
Tian Zhigao's eyes darted around, and he asked again, "Where has your head manager gone? When is he coming back?"
The waiter replied nonchalantly, "Our manager is busy lately and won't be back until this evening."
Recently, the head steward has been arranging parking spots outside the city for the magistrate, and he goes out every afternoon and doesn't return until evening.
Tian Zhigao raised an eyebrow at Wang Yulan, "Mother, let's go inside and get something to eat."
They went out early in the morning, and the bread they ate had long since been digested.
The waiter stopped them, saying, "All the tables are full now, why don't you all go over there and line up?"
Tian Zhigao looked in the direction the waiter pointed, where there was a long queue. Whether they looked like shopkeepers or rich men, they were all waiting obediently.
"What are you waiting in line for, buddy? Do you even know who we are?" Wang Yulan immediately became furious when she heard that she had to wait.
The waiter was taken aback. Who was this?
He looked at the three people in front of him, but didn't find anything special about them.
He's just... an ordinary person, isn't he?
But he still asked, "Who are you people?"
Wang Yulan snorted, "I am your head manager's grandmother."
"This is her eldest uncle and her eldest aunt."