Dispute
Seeing Du Fu’s mean look, Du Xiao Li pretended to look scared and hid behind Du Xiu Heng’s back. This made everyone all feel this Du Fu went a bit overboard. A perfectly fine little miss and you scared her like that!
Du Fu was currently still thinking about going in to apply medicine for Cui-shi. After hearing her howl for a whole day today, he felt worried and jittery inside, and thus roared at Shi Er, “What did you all call me out for?”
Du Xiu Heng looked to Du Fu, sucked in a breathe and said, “Eldest uncle, we want to go to our previous house and take some things to bring up the mountain.”
“Things? What things? You’ve already used that house as collateral. Where are there still things that belong to you two?” The fat on Du Fu’s face swayed as he spoke.
“Du Fu, how can you say it like that. You’re are still their eldest uncle after all. Them wanting to go back and take some things, should be nothing right?” Shi Er looked to Du Fu and said in dissatisfaction.
“What do you mean by nothing? Those are my family’s things, even if it’s my blood related nephew, can’t just take as he pleases!” Du Fu waved his hand and said, “I still need to go in and apply medicine for my wife. If you all don’t have anything else, don’t loiter around my place.”
Finish saying this, Du Fu turned and headed back inside, not even giving the crowd another glance.
“Eldest uncle, those things clearly belong to us!” Du Xiao Li saw Du Fu about to leave, and loudly shouted, “When daddy was still alive, he even said eldest uncle’s family are all good people, who would’ve thought that eldest uncle would instead in turn cheated us out of our things! Wuu Wuu, daddy, if you saw this kind of situation from below, would you be able to rest in peace, wuu wuu……”
Du Fu’s steps towards the house froze at once, and he violently turned around. But before he could say anything, Cui-shi came out supported by a crutch. She stood at the door and looked to the crowd, yelling: “In broad daylight, all have nothing to do? What are you all loitering outside our family’s courtyard for? Want to steal our family’s things huh?!
“Du family’s wife, what are you saying? What do you mean steal your family’s things?” In the village were all honest and docile farmers. They hated those that were p.r.o.ne to stealing the most. Hearing Cui-shi’s words, their expressions all turned ugly.
Cui-shi coldly snorted, “Didn’t you all say you came to help these two dead brats get things? Those things all belong to our family. If this is not stealing, then what is?”
“Those clearly belong to us, eldest aunt you can’t say nonsense and wrongly accuse all these uncles!” Du Xiao Li stretched out her little head from behind Du Xiu Heng. She looked to Cui-shi’s swollen leg and retorted.
“Yours? In the beginning, we agreed to use the house as collateral. This borrower’s slip was already given to you two, and the house deed and land deed also given to us. Now you want to come take it back? We won’t yield!” Cui-shi said in a sharp voice. That appearance seemingly looked as if she intends to bring out the land deed whatnot to block Du Xiao Li’s mouth in the next second.
Du Xiao Li jabbed Du Xiu Heng’s back. Du Xiu Heng’s body stiffened, and afterwards finally said, “Eldest aunt, in the beginning, when we gave you the house deed, we indeed said from now on the house will belong to you all, but we didn’t say the things inside the house also is yours! We only temporarily placed it there for few days, how did it become yours?”
From Du Xiu Heng’s perspective, going back on things previously agreed on now, this was a kind of shameless behavior. But, today, the thing Du Xiao Li wanted him to do was exactly acting shameless, practically having the previous matters nulled.
“What do you mean placed there for few days? At the time, we agreed that the things inside will also be used as collateral, now you want to go back on your word?” Cui-shi furiously said, while she attempted to walk over from the front door.
“Aiyoo, my ancestor, I’ll take care of things here, you can just wait inside, what did you come out for?!” Du Fu saw Cui-shi still wanting to come out to the courtyard, and hastily ran over to help her, muttering in the mouth.
“Pah! You take care of it? Let you take care of it, and you can squander away this entire home!” Cui-shi fiercely shot a glare at Du Fu yelling.
Du Fu got yelled at, but didn’t retort either, only silently helping her walk towards the courtyard. For a long time, the small and big matters of the home have always been decided on by Cui-shi alone, including business matters as well. If not for her, they wouldn’t be living this comfortably either. In addition, her personality was shrewish. For every word you say, she can yell back ten. That’s why it’s better to stay silent.
Seeing Du Fu not saying anything, Cui-shi thus placed her sight onto Du Xiao Li and her brother saying, “In the beginning, when we exchanged the house deed, you didn’t have any objections, how come you’re regretting it now? Let me tell you, want to take back the house deed, no way!”
“Eldest aunt, we didn’t say we want to take back the house deed. We only want to move some things up the mountain.” Du Xiu Heng said.
“Things? Those things all belong to our family. You think you can move just because you want to move?! Do you take everyone in our family to be dead?” Cui-shi said.
“Eldest aunt, in the beginning, when mother was just buried, you and eldest uncle immediately came asking for us to pay back the debt. Big brother still hadn’t walked out from the grieving at the time, so naturally wasn’t in the mood to calculate the debt with you. As father’s blood related older brother, not only did you come act shameless when mother’s corpse wasn’t even cold yet, you even cheated out of us that much money. Aren’t you afraid that my parents might come find you?!” Du Xiao Li also angrily retorted, as she came out from behind Du Xiu Heng.
The villagers present had all came wanting to help the siblings. Hearing Du Xiao Li say it like that, they all criticized Cui-shi and her husband for being too black-hearted one after the other.
“What nonsense are you saying! When did we cheat you out of your money?” Cui-shi was so angered by Du Xiao Li she trembled, pointing to her as she asked.
“How did you not? Don’t tell me you still want us to count it up for you to hear?” Du Xiao Li wiped the tear stains from her face, and turned to Du Xiu Heng, asking: “Big brother, in order to treat mother’s illness, how much money in total did we borrow from eldest uncle’s family?”
“Twenty taels of silver.” Du Xiu Heng said.
Du Xiao Li calculated according to the current market price. One tael of silver was probably about the same as the modern one thousand yuan* more or less. She then turned to look at Cui-shi again, asking: “Eldest aunt, did we borrow twenty taels of silver from your family?”
(*T/N: This is about 150 dollars in USD)
“Hmph.” Cui-shi coldly snorted, pretty much acknowledging it. Du Fu had Du Xiao Tian bring out a stool, and he helped Cui-shi sit down.
“Then asking eldest aunt, is our house only worth twenty taels of silver?” Du Xiao Li asked. Not waiting for Cui-shi to reply, she turned to face the crowd and asked: “Everyone, I want to ask you all to make a judgement, our family’s previous house, is it only worth twenty taels of silver? That’s not right, should be not even twenty taels, because eldest aunt even took those furnitures of ours as collateral!”
This house that was newly built after Du Hai had returned from the outside, in the beginning when it was being built, not just twenty taels were spent. In addition to the land cost, even if it was a bit old, it still wouldn’t not even be worth twenty taels.
“Hmph, just that shabby house of yours, to be able to be worth ten taels is already not bad!” Cui-shi said, but these words clearly didn’t have any subsistence.
“Eldest aunt, how much you say it’s worth, doesn’t count. How much big brother and I say it’s worth, doesn’t count either. That’s why, I invited the village chief to come give an appraisal for us, see just how much money that house of ours is worth. Look, the village chief has already come!” Du Xiao Li saw Cui-shi’s guilty appearance, and coldly laughed inside. Today, she will have the things that belongs to them taken back!
