Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

The Yu family mainly wanted money; they wouldn't get any benefit from handing it over to the authorities.

"Village Chief Huang, how much can they give? If the money they give isn't enough for my daughter's medical treatment and health maintenance, then there's no point in negotiating; just hand them over to the authorities."

The medicine for just five days cost nearly 20 taels of silver. If you don't believe me, you can go to Liujia Village and ask around. We are absolutely not exaggerating."

"Please have a seat, we'll go outside and discuss this."

The Yu family sat in the main room drinking water and chatting, while the village chief helped the Huang family move to another room to discuss how much compensation they should receive.

"The Yu family is asking for 100 taels of silver in compensation. What do you think is a suitable amount?"

"Village chief, let alone 100 taels, we can't even come up with 10 taels of silver."

"So you don't want to pay compensation, but you want to go to jail, is that it?"

"I want to pay the compensation, but we don't have any money!"

"If all else fails, your family can sell a few acres of land."

"Village chief, if we sell our fields, what will we eat and drink? Won't our whole family starve to death?"

"Otherwise, let the Yu family ask my sister for it. My eldest niece is back; she's very wealthy. She could easily come up with 1000 taels, let alone 100."

"Are you stupid? The Yu family came from Liujia Village. It's obvious that your sister doesn't want to get involved in this!"

If she wanted to get involved, she would have resolved it in Liujia Village long ago. Why would she need to come all the way to Huangjia Village?

"Mom, why don't you go to Liujia Village and find my sister? She can't just abandon her own brother to his fate!"

"Village chief, why don't we take the Yu family with us to Liujia Village? It'll save us the trouble of traveling back and forth."

"If you have the ability, you can ask for the money or invite the people over, but I will not go to Liujia Village with you."

"How much silver do you want? That way I can give you an answer, and you can raise the money."

"They said the medicine cost 20 taels, so we'll compensate them with 20 taels."

"Twenty taels is definitely not enough; it should be at least thirty taels."

"Alright, 30 taels it is."

"This price of 30 taels is what we negotiated, but we don't know if they will agree to it."

Come with me to the main room to discuss this together.

"Brothers Yu, we've discussed it and decided that we can't let you suffer a loss, so we'll give you 30 taels of silver as compensation."

"Thirty taels is nothing to a beggar. What can thirty taels do? It's not even enough for my daughter's medical treatment and medicine."

"So how much do you want?"

"No less than 80 taels."

"Brothers Yu, how about this? We'll settle on 30 taels, 80 taels, or 50 taels. If you're willing, we'll do it this way. If not, you can resolve it yourselves. I have limited abilities and can't help you."

Brother Huang didn't want to be beaten again or go to jail, so he agreed to give 50 taels.

The Yu family knew they wouldn't get 100 taels, but they were still quite happy to get 50 taels. For someone with a family, getting 30 taels was like a windfall.

Yu's father pretended to be hesitant and sighed, "For the sake of Village Chief Huang, 50 taels it is. Take the money now and we'll leave."

"Brother Yu, 50 taels is no small sum. How could you possibly come up with it all at once? Here's what we'll do: give us three days. Come and collect the silver at this time three days from now."

"Okay, we trust Village Chief Huang. We'll come back in three days."

"If we don't receive the money in three days, Village Chief Huang, then don't say we didn't give you face or show you any mercy."

"Of course. If the Huang family still produces silver after three days, you can do whatever you want with this person. I will not interfere, nor will I allow anyone else to interfere."

With the Yu family gone, the Huang family finally breathed a sigh of relief, finally getting rid of those plagues. Seeing their relieved expressions, Village Chief Huang immediately poured cold water on their worries, "Don't think that everything is fine just because they're gone. Quickly think about where you're going to get 50 taels of silver. If you can't come up with the silver in three days, you'd better pray for yourselves. Don't come looking for me again; I won't come anyway."

"Huang family, you're already in your forties, can't you manage your family properly? Stop thinking about taking advantage of the shopkeeper's daughter. Your daughter has to live her own life. How can she hold her head up in her husband's family if you keep doing this?"

Your family has many able-bodied men, 10 mu of paddy fields, and 6 mu of dry land. As long as the whole family works hard, there will be no problem in having enough to eat and wear. That's a comfortable life in the village.

"Leaving aside others, take your neighbor who tethers his cow. Look how well he lives. Why is that? You should think about it."

After finishing his sentence, Village Chief Huang left with his hands behind his back. He was afraid that the Huang family members might not know what was good for them and that if things escalated to the authorities, their village's reputation would be ruined. He had heard that the county magistrate was a troublemaker and might cause some trouble.

Huang's mother gathered her son and daughter-in-law together to discuss raising the money, asking, "Tell me, where will this 50 taels of silver come from?"

"Mother, could you please have a doctor take a look at me first? My whole body is in pain. I'm worried that the beating might have caused me any problems."

Huang's mother asked her eldest grandson to fetch a doctor. She wasn't very satisfied with her grandsons either; they had no manly spirit whatsoever. None of them came out to help when their father was being beaten.

The Huang brothers kept groaning and moaning. "Stop yelling, it's annoying."

Tell me, where did this silver come from?

"Mother, our family is poor and dilapidated, where would we get the money? We can't sell the land, that's our family's foundation. If you ask me, we should ask my eldest sister. If she had just given me the money back then, this wouldn't have happened. She should be the one to pay for it."

"Mother, eldest brother is right. This money should come from eldest sister. When our eldest niece came back, who knows how much money she gave her? You didn't go to her wedding in August, and good heavens, our eldest niece gave 20 taels of silver for her dowry, and another 20 taels for medicine for Qingshan's wife. Who would believe we didn't have money?"

"My eldest and second eldest brothers are right. This money must be paid by my eldest sister. She can't be the only one living a life of luxury while ignoring the well-being of her family."

Looking at her nephews, who are all of marriageable age, she not only wants to pay 50 taels of silver as compensation, but also hopes to get more money back so that she can build a few large brick and tile houses for her family and make her mother more comfortable.

Look at our dilapidated house, it leaks nonstop whenever it rains. What family would want to marry their daughter into this family and suffer with us?

"Mother, my eldest sister is your own daughter, and Yi Yue is your own niece. Shouldn't they be filial to you? And she'll be getting married in August too. That ungrateful wretch from April gave you a lot of money for her dowry; they should all be filial to you."

Huang's mother felt that her sons made a lot of sense. How could their own daughters and granddaughters live good lives while their own mother suffered?

"Just do as you said. Tomorrow, you take the oxcart and invite your eldest sister and Yiyue over. If they don't come, tell them that I was beaten so badly by the Yu family that I can't get out of bed, and that if they don't come, I won't be able to see them again."

"Yes, Mother. We will definitely invite them over. Once they arrive at our home, everything will be fine."

After discussing it, the Huang family's doctor arrived and examined the group. "They are all superficial injuries, with no broken bones. However, the injuries are still quite serious. I will prescribe some medicine to reduce swelling and relieve pain. Take two doses and apply some ointment. The swelling should subside in three or four days. Do not get the wounds wet."

The consultation fee and medication cost a total of 85 coins.

Huang's mother went back to her room, took 85 copper coins, and handed them to the doctor. She looked pained; she didn't have much money to begin with, and now she was having to fill holes everywhere. Why was life so hard?