I Am A Husband Curser, And You Are A Wife Curser. - Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Finding a Way Out

The Yang brothers were currently keeping the fact that Mother Yang’s sister and Shanshan were in jail a secret from her. That night, Yang Tongchuan explained the situation to Xiangxi.

“Are they really going to stay in the Great Jail?” In Xiangxi’s mind, only the most heinous criminals were sent to such a place.

“It’s hard to say. I inquired today; the tea merchant wants compensation for the burned house. If Uncle doesn’t pay up, Aunt and Shanshan will truly have to serve time.”

“Do you think Uncle will actually bring out the money?”

“What do you think?” Yang Tongchuan countered.

“I don’t think he will. If he were willing to pay to redeem them, Aunt might not even have been taken away in the first place.” Xiangxi saw through things more clearly than Mother Yang did.

“I agree. That’s why I discussed it with Big Brother. Tomorrow, he’ll find an excuse to take our parents away for a few days to avoid Uncle coming over to borrow money.” Yang Tongchuan hadn’t wanted to go to such lengths, but the Dong family’s level of shamelessness was worse than he had imagined.

“It’s late autumn, and Start of Winter is almost here. Where are you sending two elderly people to hide?” The temperature had dropped significantly lately, and Xiangxi was already wearing his thick vest.

“Start of Winter is perfect. There’s a custom of sending winter clothes to the graves in the tenth lunar month. I’ll have Big Brother and Sister-in-law take them back to Father’s hometown to visit the ancestral graves. It’s not local, so the round trip plus a few days’ stay will give me time to wrap things up here.”

“Is there no other way?” Being an orphan, Xiangxi didn’t share the burden of eccentric relatives.

“You don’t know Mother. She has a sharp tongue but a soft, easily swayed heart. If she finds out her sister is locked up and needs money for bail, she really might try to help. The other side is demanding 150 taels. Even if we sold our house, we wouldn’t raise that much.” Yang Tongchuan thought to himself that if the aunt’s family were reliable, he would find a way to help. The problem was they were “white-eyed wolves” who would consume people whole. Wasting money on them was simply foolish.

“150 taels?” Xiangxi had never seen that much silver in his life. “Is that house really worth that much?” He hadn’t seen Shanshan’s residence and couldn’t imagine a house worth 150 taels.

“What burned down certainly isn’t worth that much, but they are dead set on that price to crush Aunt and Shanshan. Besides, Head Constable Wang warned me today not to get involved. I suspect the other side has already made an ‘offering’ to the yamen.”

Speaking of Head Constable Wang, Yang Tongchuan remained cautious. Xiang Qiang had mentioned that Wang’s wife wanted to sell their house, and Yang had kept that in mind. He had checked around the broker circles, and indeed, the house was listed at a low price for a quick sale. Curiously, while they were in a rush to sell, they weren’t looking for a new place. This raised Yang’s suspicions, making him extra careful when speaking with Wang.

Elder brother Yang Tongshan moved quickly. Within two days, the trip to the ancestral graves was arranged, giving Mother Yang no chance to refuse. Yang Tongchuan also deliberately staged a “grand performance” at the jail, engaging in a shouting match with his aunt until everyone believed he had washed his hands of them. He then proactively asked Wang for a long leave of absence to “avoid conflict of interest” until the case was settled. Wang made a symbolic attempt to keep him but ultimately granted the leave.

Suddenly, the house was left with only Yang Tongchuan, Xiangxi, and Yanzi. This time, Mother Yang insisted on leaving Yanzi behind to serve Xiangxi, whose feet had begun to swell lately. She worried her son wouldn’t know how to look after someone properly.

As expected, on the third day after the parents left, the Dong father and son arrived. That morning, just after Yang Tongchuan had coaxed Xiangxi into finishing a large bowl of red date porridge, Yanzi reported guests.

“Hmph, they actually dared to come. Stay in the room; I’ll go drive them away.” Yang Tongchuan comforted Xiangxi.

“Be careful. Don’t maim them,” Xiangxi said, seeing such visible rage on Yang’s face for the first time.

“I won’t hit them, don’t worry.”

Yang Tongchuan marched out aggressively, not even intending to let them through the door.

“My dear nephew! Only you can save your aunt and sister now! That old wretch is truly trying to drive us to our deaths!” Uncle Dong had clearly learned the aunt’s histrionics; his wailing was a mirror image of hers.

“How can I save them? Because of this mess, I can’t even do my job as a constable. I’m stuck at home doing nothing!”

“What does that have to do with your aunt? Is your mother home? Elder Sister! Elder Sister, your sister is in trouble, please save her!” Uncle Dong was counting on his wife’s sister now. Ignoring all pride, he began shouting at the gate.

“Uncle, stop shouting. My parents aren’t home; they’ve gone on a long journey.”

“A long journey? At a time like this? You Yangs… what is the meaning of this? Are you going to watch them die? You heartless people! That’s your family! How can you do this?”

“Brother Tongchuan, is Big Aunt really not here? I’m going in to see for myself,” Dong Shenghu said, preparing to charge in. Yang Tongchuan blocked him instantly.

“My spouse is at home protecting his pregnancy. What are you charging in for? if you startle the baby, don’t blame me if I break your legs.”

“I… I just want to see Big Aunt. She wouldn’t abandon my mother.”

“And what do you want her to do? Pay your 150 taels? Even if we sold this house, it wouldn’t be worth 150 taels.”

“Then what? I can’t just watch my mother and Shanshan go to prison!”

“That is your business. I’ve been implicated so much I have no work; I don’t know what to do either.” Yang Tongchuan spoke loudly on purpose so the gossiping neighbors could hear everything.

“You have to give us an idea! We are just ordinary folk; we’ve never dealt with the yamen. What do we do now?”

“Pay the money. Your wife burned someone’s house down; it’s only right to pay.”

“That was Shanshan’s house! That old wretch used a trick to harm us!”

“Uncle, it’s written in black and white—the owner of that house is the tea merchant. That is a fact. If you really want to save them, hurry up and scrape the money together.”

“We really have no money! Shanshan’s savings are long gone. Tongchuan, go call your brother and parents out. Let the whole family sit down and think of a plan.”

“Uncle, they truly aren’t home. They went back to my father’s ancestral home for the winter grave rites. The neighbors all saw it. It’s the truth.”