EHCR 19

 Chapter 19: Zhaodi is Getting a Bit Hard to Control

Seeing the silver coins flying through the air, Lin Yong scrambled in a flurry to pick them up, and Jiang Meifeng hurried to bend down and help grab them too, terrified that one of the onlookers might snatch them away.

"Aiya, who would've thought the old Song family could actually pull that off. They've certainly got some backbone."

"That Lin Yong is pure evil. How on earth did Jiang Meifeng ever fall for a guy like that?"

"Neither of them is any good, nothing to feel sorry about."

The surrounding villagers pointed and gossiped as Lin Yong and Jiang Meifeng took the silver and hurried away, scurrying off like street rats.

"Alright, alright, break it up and disperse!" Song Yaozu waved his hand, then said to Song Zhaodi, "There are plenty of good men out there, don't you dare embarrass me here."

"I know, Little Uncle."

Song Zhaodi, who had just moments ago worn a face full of sorrow, instantly collected her composure—once again leaving Xie Sui marveling at just how fast she could switch her expressions.

The moment Song Zhaodi pulled her parents inside and closed the door, she cast a lingering look back toward Shen Che.

After settling her parents properly, Song Zhaodi hurried back outside, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw Shen Che leaning casually against the corner of the wall.

"You seem a bit surprised?" he asked.

Song Zhaodi nodded honestly. She had intended to say a word or two to Shen Che, but everything happened too quickly earlier, leaving her zero time, which was why she had thrown that parting glance over her shoulder.

She had assumed he already left.

Shen Che walked over, lowering his dark, hooded gaze to look down at her, his pitch-black shadow completely engulfing Song Zhaodi’s petite figure.

"I thought you were trying to ask me to stay," he added.

He hadn't even said anything particularly out of line, yet Song Zhaodi felt her face growing hot.

Weren't ancients supposed to be very reserved? How come Shen Che was so...

"Why aren't you saying anything?" he asked again.

His patience didn't seem particularly long.

"I wasn't asking you to stay," Song Zhaodi tilted her head back, not wanting him to harbor any misunderstandings. "I just had something to say to you."

Shen Che crossed his arms, waiting leisurely for her to speak, but right as she opened her mouth, he cut in, "Don't say any BS about not liking me, I don't care to hear it."

He suddenly frowned and added, "If you don't have anything else to say, I'm leaving."

He had witnessed the entire scheme she pulled earlier to utterly ruin those two people's reputations.

Connecting it to her previous declaration of "dislike," he realized this lass was as cunning as she was ruthless.

But since he had made up his mind, it didn't matter what she was like—he wasn't going to let go, and advised her not to waste her energy struggling.

"If you agree to marry me, I'll definitely treat you right, and things like being bullied by Lin Yong today will never happen again."

That much was true; a man with a notorious reputation was feared by everyone.

Who would ever dare provoke him?

Song Zhaodi had originally intended to tell him not to waste his time on her, but before the words could leave her mouth, he had already dropped a whole mouthful of declarations.

Instead, her mind drifted to an entirely different thought.

Shen Che's physique seemed built for serious fighting.

"Are you good at fighting?" she asked.

Shen Che had expected her to spit out some heartless rejection; hearing this instead, he paused for a fraction of a second before nodding.

"Against someone like Lin Yong, I could take ten of them."

"So strong!"

"No boasting here," Shen Che flexed his fist as if trying to prove his point, "One punch each."

Song Zhaodi's eyes lit up as she muttered, "If I had your skills, that would be amazing."

She was genuinely furious; if she had a massive build like Shen Che's, she would've chased them down for a beating and snatched that ten taels of silver right back.

Shen Che paused once more, then smiled and said, "What's mine is yours, just wait for it," before turning to leave.

Song Dachuan had gotten dead drunk, vomiting all over the room, while Sun Xiuhe had stolen a single cup and knocked herself out cold as well.

When the two of them finally woke up and learned the whole truth of what happened, they were so enraged they nearly passed out again.

Discovering that the ten taels of silver had been hurled away by her own precious son, Sun Xiuhe frantically tore through cabinets hunting for cash, and upon finding an empty money pouch, cried out, "We're finished!"

By the time she regained her senses, night had already fallen, and Song Zhaodi and the others had just finished their dinner.

Seeing his parents awake, Song Yaozu tried to comfort them, "Dad, Mom, stop getting so mad. That scumbag Lin Yong is frivolous and loose; I'd be ashamed to be related to him anyway. Good riddance getting the engagement broken off."

Earlier that day when his scholarly friends were leaving, they had even praised Song Yaozu for refusing to bow to five bushels of rice, calling him principled and possessed of true gentlemanly character.

Thus, Song Yaozu felt the engagement was broken off for the better—especially since he was the one who personally orchestrated it.

"What do you know?!" Song Dachuan bellowed in fury. "The Lin family has money! Once we became relatives, they would've had no choice but to help us out, and now it's all down the drain."

Sun Xiuhe was equally devastated and furious. "Yaozu, you're young and ignorant, but how could you just give the money back?!"

"That was the silver I saved up for you to take a wife!"

Song Yaozu said dismissively, "Our family marrying into the Lin family wasn't about chasing their money. Besides, our family isn't short of that little bit anyway."

Hearing this, Sun Xiuhe rolled her eyes back and looked ready to faint once more.

Seeing her condition, Song Dachuan hurriedly pinched her philtrum, digging his nail in until the skin was nearly broken before she finally dragged herself back to reality.

Wailing miserably the moment she revived, she didn't have the heart to curse Song Yaozu, so she dumped all her pent-up rage onto Song Zhaodi instead.

"It's all this good-for-nothing money pit's fault, I'm going to fight her to the death!"

Song Zhaodi hadn't gone to sleep; she had been sitting on the threshold waiting for a long time, and finally, Sun Xiuhe showed up.

"You wretched girl, what use are you after raising you all these years? You even threw away all the family's money."

As Sun Xiuhe lunged forward to claw at her, Song Zhaodi raised a hand to block her, her expression chillingly calm.

"I was in the fields digging grass to feed chickens by age three, helping with farmwork by four, washing the family's clothes and cleaning the courtyard by five, and doing odd chores at the private school by eight."

"And you're saying what use am I after raising me this long?"

Her gaze was icy and piercing as she stared fixedly at Sun Xiuhe, as though preparing to reclaim every single grievance the original body had suffered over the past decade.

"I didn't spend a fraction of the family's money. Those ten taels were bride-price silver sent by the Lin family—they were never your money!"

"Lin Yong had an illicit affair with Jiang Meifeng, and when they demanded the bride-price back, Little Uncle was the one who threw the money at them. What does that have to do with me?"

Every single word struck home, leaving Sun Xiuhe completely speechless.

Still, that was ten whole taels—an amount they couldn't save up in a lifetime.

Now that it was gone, she naturally needed someone to vent her fury on.

"It's still your fault for lacking the ability to hold onto a man, which is why someone dumped you."

Song Zhaodi let out a cold scoff and whispered, "If you've got the ability, why don't you go hold onto one?"

"You!" Sun Xiuhe trembled with rage. "I can see you're deliberately trying to ruin this family's chances at a good life."

"The one trying to ruin this family's good life is you," Song Zhaodi glared back at her. "What kind of person is Lin Yong? Little Uncle felt bad that I was being bullied, but what about you? All you care about is money."

Standing off to the side, Song Yaozu heard this, cast a silent glance at Song Zhaodi, and paused his steps as he was about to step forward.

His mother was in the wrong here, acting precisely like an unreasoning shrew.

Unwilling to watch any further or bother managing such petty household squabbles, Song Yaozu grabbed his belongings and left.

Seeing her son walk out, Sun Xiuhe had no choice but to turn her whining onto Song Dachuan.

Feeling the ache of those ten lost taels in his own heart, Song Dachuan glared at Song Zhaodi and muttered discontentedly, "Zhaodi, it's not like I want to lecture you, but..."

"Then don't say anything, I don't want to hear it," Song Zhaodi waved her hand. "I have nothing to say either."

Believe what you want, she was done playing along.

A muscle twitched in Song Dachuan's brow as he realized that the Zhaodi standing before him was growing increasingly difficult to control.

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