Divorce with three kids? I'll build a house and eat meat, driving my in-laws crazy.

Chapter 17 I have no money, but you can take my life.

Li Ruru gently lifted her leg, tripping her so badly she fell flat on her face.

Granny Zhao was so angry she wanted to kill someone, but Li Ruru said casually, "Granny Zhao, I saved your life today, otherwise you would have been burned to death."

Li Ruru's insistence on burning the clothes further confirmed everyone's suspicions: Old Lady Zhao was definitely not clean.

Zhao's face turned pale and red with anger. Was Li Ruru burning her clothes?
That was clearly about saving face for her.

Li Ruru completely humiliated her.

Feeling the disdain and disgust in everyone's eyes, Zhao hurriedly explained, "I'm not sick, I'm perfectly clean, I don't have any diseases."

She was afraid that others would think she had some kind of shameful illness and would stop associating with her.

Chenjia Village is a society based on personal connections; if you are isolated, life will not be easy.

The more excited Zhao stepped forward to explain, the more the crowd tacitly retreated.

Having run out of options, Zhao pushed her husband forward, saying, "Father, tell me, tell me, am I sick or not?"

Seeing that everyone was helping Li Ruru, Chen Bingxiao had been hiding and hadn't said a word.

As a seasoned sly fox, he planned to play the good guy after his wife finished arguing with Li Ruru.

For so many years, Zhao has always been the one to stand in front of others, fighting on the front lines as the bad cop, while he has always played the good cop afterwards.

Seeing that his plans had been ruined, Chen Bingxiao was a little angry. "Why did you push me? Are you sick?"

The crowd ignored the first half of his words and only heard the word "sick".

Huh~~
The onlookers reacted in the same way as Li Ruru had just done, their tone shifting dramatically before they all took a big step back.

Zhao: "..."

What does this mean? She's not a plague!
Seeing that his grandmother had been wronged and that no one else could help, Chen Jinbang said in a deep voice, "Third Aunt, aren't you going too far?"

Li Ruru retorted, "What do you mean by 'what do you mean'? I'm burning my own clothes, what business is it of anyone else's?"

She paused, then suddenly raised her voice, "If we're talking about going too far, you're the one who's gone too far."

Chen Jinbang, feeling aloof, was unwilling to say much to Li Ruru, and only asked coldly, "Explain yourself clearly."

Her vague accusation made others think he had actually done something outrageous.

Even a few words could damage the good image he has maintained for so many years.

Scholars value their reputation most.

Li Ruru threw down the stick in her hand, put her hands on her hips, and said, "Who pays for your tuition every year?"

Chen Jinbang dismissed it, saying, "It was raised by our whole family."

He is the pride of the Chen family and their hope for the future. It is only right that the whole family contributes to his tuition.

Seeing his shameless and self-righteous attitude, Li Ruru retorted, "What do you mean your whole family chipped in? I clearly paid the majority of the bill myself."

I sold all my valuable dowry to send you to school, and you still have the nerve to say I'm being unreasonable.

I want to ask you, how dare you take my money so casually?

How dare you steal my daughter's school money and then comfortably live like a spoiled rich kid in the county town?

Da Ya originally had the opportunity to study, and Chen Jinbang had raised enough tuition fees at the time, but he said he lacked a good set of clothes.

They said his coarse linen clothes made him lose face at the academy.

The original owner was a brainless person who actually gave the money meant for Daya's education to Chen Jinbang to spend.

Of course, what she couldn't stand more was the Chen family's constant obstruction and harassment.

At that time, Zhao went on a hunger strike, declaring that if Daya went to school, she would starve herself to death.

Chen Sanbao even threatened to divorce Li Ruru and sever his father-daughter relationship with Daya.

Li Ruru's questions revealed Chen Jinbang's hypocrisy to everyone.

Seeing her mother's chest heaving violently, Daya quickly patted her back gently.

“What do you want? You were willing to give it back then.” Wang Shuixia naturally wanted to side with her son.

Chen Dagang also frowned, "We're all family, so it's your duty to raise money for Jinbang's education."

Chen Sanbao nodded like a lapdog, "That's right, we weren't divorced back then. As Chen's daughter-in-law, what's wrong with you contributing some money to support Jinbang's studies?" "What's wrong?" Li Ruru suddenly walked up to Chen Jinbang and stretched out her hand like a rogue.

"Pay back the money!"

Chen Jinbang was completely bewildered. His third uncle had already said they were family, so why was his third aunt asking him for money?
"Third Aunt, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

"Not good? What's wrong with it? Paying back debts is a matter of course."

Chen Sanbao jumped out and cursed, "Your money is my money, and I'm happy to let my nephew spend it."

Pan Dayan, as Li Ruru's strongest supporter, always manages to step up and turn the tide at the most crucial moments.

"Can't you understand human language? That money came from my younger sister selling her dowry."

Do you understand what a dowry is? A dowry belongs to a woman and is protected by law; it's not your Chen family's property.

My younger sister got divorced, so naturally she should take back what's rightfully hers.

Wang Shuixia and Chen Dagang naturally understood such straightforward words.

But understanding is one thing, getting them to return the money is absolutely impossible.

"Li Ruru, let me tell you, even if I had money, I wouldn't give you a single penny."

"You want my son to pay back the money? No way!" Wang Shuixia said.

Chen Dagang chimed in, "I have no money, but you can take my life."

Zhao was really not used to wearing coarse linen clothes next to her skin, and kept scratching herself, no longer paying attention to Li Ruru.

Chen Bingxiao, puffing on his pipe, raised an eyebrow and said, "Li, I advise you not to push things too far. Without our Chen family, it's hard to say whether you can survive. Don't come back begging us to take you in."

In recent years, there has been a drought, resulting in poor harvests for farmers, and taxes are also heavy.

In an era when everyone was starving, for a woman with three young daughters, starving to death was probably the best way to die.

With no men in the family and no clan to protect them, women were easy prey for robbers and human traffickers.

Li Ruru didn't care about the Chen family's anger at all; she could only smile as she looked at Chen Jinbang.

"Jinbang, you are a scholar, and you will become the top scholar in the imperial examination in the future."

Consider that money an investment; when you become successful, you'll have to give me half of your wealth.

Chen Jinbang refused without even thinking, "Impossible."

Li Ruru only made empty promises, and Chen Jinbang wasn't even willing to give her a tangible one.

"Then you should pay me back. I want to withdraw my investment."

"Third Aunt, you were once a member of the Chen family, why are you so heartless?"

Knowing he was in the wrong, Chen Jinbang tried to appeal to people's emotions.

"Didn't you just say I went too far? Well then I'll show you how far I can go."

Li Ruru looked at the village head, "Uncle Da, the Chen family seems unwilling to return my dowry money. What do you think we should do?"

Chen Jinbang suddenly felt a pang of regret, regretting that he shouldn't have offended Li Ruru for his grandmother's sake.

At this moment, Li Ruru was like a mad dog; whoever offended her, she would relentlessly bite them.

Chen Jinbang glanced resentfully at Zhao Shi, who was still scratching herself incessantly.

It's all Grandma's fault, and also because he's too filial; otherwise, this fire wouldn't have gotten to him today.

Lu Da had a short beard and wasn't very old.

He thought for a moment and then said, "That is indeed a problem. So many years have passed, it's hard to say exactly how much your dowry is worth. The Chen family isn't wealthy either, so I'm afraid it will be difficult for them to repay you."

Li Ruru never expected to get the money back; she just wanted to annoy Chen Jinbang.

Just as she was about to start berating the Chen family, she suddenly heard Lü Da say again, "The tuition in the county town is one tael per month. Let's not talk about the others, just consider the tuition for these three years. That adds up to 36 taels. Your Chen family has to pay back this money."

Chen Jinbang's face immediately darkened. He no longer had the dignity of a scholar and simply said helplessly, "I have no money and can't pay it back."

This translates to: I'm not paying you back, what can you do about it?

(End of this chapter)