Chapter 50 - 50: Are You Willing to?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“However, if you didn’t leave the family, you had to pay the public money. One hundred copper coins a month, one tael of silver a year. If you didn’t pay for four years, you had to pay five taels of silver. Otherwise, don’t come back in the future.”

Yuan Jiaqi snorted coldly. “Hand over silver to the public? How did you treat my wife? You don’t even invite a doctor when she was sick, so why should I pay money?

“If you don’t want me to come back, then I won’t come back. Who cares about returning to this home? The Parents are not like parents, and the sons were not like sons. There was no meaning in returning to this home.”

He turned around and left with Chuan’er in his arms. He did not even give the things in his hands to her and was about to leave. His mother, Madam Yuan Xu, rushed forward and snatched the things from his hands.

“You don’t respect your parents, but you’re also taking away what you brought.

Bring them over to me.”

Yuan Jiaqi was not annoyed at all. “Didn’t you say that they’re broken? Then why do you still want them?”

“Old Fifth, let me tell you, Matchmaker Zhao has arranged a marriage for you. Their family is famous for their wealth in Tiannan Town. Their daughter is 19 years old. If you agree to this marriage, you can come back to this family as you wish in the future.”

Yuan Jiaqi did not even want to listen. He walked to the front of the courtyard in a few steps. Chuan’er hugged his neck tightly and buried his head in his chest. He did not even look at his grandfather and grandmother. In his eyes, these two were demons who bullied his father.

“My family doesn’t seem to be so poor that they would sell their son. Don’t think that I don’t know what kind of daughter that family has. I won’t marry her.”

“You don’t know what’s good for you. We’ll decide your marriage and it’s settled. You have to marry even if you don’t want to.”

“Do you believe that I will make sure that you will never see me again? In the end, not only will you lose everything, but you will also be in trouble.”

“You, you, you’ve grown your wings, haven’t you? We can’t control you anymore, huh?”

“In the future, I don’t want to hear about this anymore. Don’t come to town to look for me. Otherwise, I’ll take Chuan’er and leave this place forever.”

“Then leave the money you have earned over the past few years. In the future, you have to pay the money to the public every year.”

“We didn’t split up, so we don’t have to pay. The child and I didn’t eat or drink at home.”

“You can’t break ties with us unless you’re removed from the clan records. Do you want that?”

Yuan Jiaqi sneered. “I really want to, but are you willing to do that?”

“You, get lost, you unfilial thing.”

“Hmph, unfilial? Don’t talk about filial piety. It’s said that only a loving mother will have a filial son. If she wasn’t kind, where would there be filial piety? I’ve never seen parents like you in this world. You take the earnings of your sons to support yourselves. Aren’t you afraid that when you’re old and can’t move, they’ll take revenge instead? Don’t look at how proud you are now, be careful not to end up miserable in the future.”

“Get lost!”

“You get lost!”

Yuan Jiaqi’s parents were roaring at him in the courtyard. Yuan Jiaqi’s brothers were all hiding in the house with tears in their eyes. They were the same as Yuan Jiaqi, suffering from the torture of the two old elders, but their situation was slightly better than Yuan Jiaqi’s.

When they heard their brother’s words, they were very annoyed at how cold they were to their brother and sister-in-law.

Yuan Jiaqi carried Chuan’er and turned around to leave the Yuan family. He walked to the front of the ox cart, put Chuan’er on it, and jumped on it himself.

“Let’s go back to Tianshui Town.”

Every year was the same. He had lost his temper.

He was good-looking, literate, and hardworking. There were many women who wanted to marry him.

Therefore, Madam Yuan Xu had long set her sights on him, picking out the rich families to propose marriage. Many families rejected them directly when they heard that there were no betrothal gifts and did not even look at them.

There were also some families who did not care about betrothal gifts. As long as the person was good, their daughter would give more dowry.

There were all kinds of people in this world, and Chuan’er’s mother was like that.

There was only one girl in a couple’s family. They were well-off. When the matchmaker went to talk about marriage, the couple wanted to find a son-in-law.

However, the Yuan Family did not agree and refused to let Yuan Jiaqi go no matter what. He himself did not care and was looking forward to leaving the Yuan Family.

However, ever since Chuan’er’s mother had seen him, she would not marry anyone but him.

The family had no choice but to let her do as she wished. The couple prepared a generous dowry for their daughter.

When she first entered the house, her parents-in-law treated her well. When her mother-in-law gradually coaxed and tricked her into getting her dowry, she became a servant of the Yuan family.

Yuan Jiaqi treated her very well. When he was around, Yuan Jiaqi’s parents

would put on an act.

When Madam Yuan Xu sent him away to work, she started to beat and scold her. Chuan’er’s mother had no way to express her pain.

She chose a good husband, but his family was not good enough. She was wronged and did not dare to go back to his mother’s house to complain. It was not easy for his parents to raise her. It would be unfilial for her to complain.

Besides, she was the one who insisted on marrying into the Yuan family back then. She was too ashamed to go back to her mother’s house to complain. She had been persisting like this. She had only married into the Yuan family for a year before she died.

She left Chuan ‘er and Yuan Jiaqi to rely on each other. It was from then on that he felt cold toward the Yuan family.

After burying her, he carried Chuan’er to Tianshui Town.

He rented a house there with someone else. Fortunately, he was good at writing and copying books from various libraries. He took care of his son as a father and mother, and his life was still passable.

Many women had taken a fancy to him, but for Chuan’er, he had gritted his teeth and persisted until now.

Someone once asked, was he not the biological son of the Yuan family?

His answer was that he was indeed of the Yuan Family’s bloodline and would not lie.

Why did the Yuan family only treat him like this? No, the Yuan family’s parents did not only treat him like this. The Yuan family’s eldest son had a daughter before. Before she reached adulthood, her grandparents sold her to a rich family to be a servant girl.

The second, third, and fourth households were the same. They were all maids in nearby rich families. Firstly, the family could save food. Secondly, they could get a monthly salary as maids. They could ask for it regularly every month.

They wanted to use marriage to get money. Compared to the Tian family and the Qiao family, they were really more powerful.

Fortunately, Chuan’er was not a girl. Otherwise, they would have had their eyes on him.

On the way back, Chuan’er silently looked at Yuan Jiaqi.

“Father, are you sad?”

Yuan Jiaqi hugged his son tightly in his arms, sighed, and explained to his son.

“Father isn’t angry. Your grandparents have always been like this, so I’m not sad. I’m just worried about how we can leave that family.”

“Grandpa and Grandma don’t like us, and they still won’t let us go.”

“Because the two of us still have value. They think they can still get money from us.”

“Do they like money that much?”

“Yes, everyone in the family is their money-making tool.”

Yuan Jiaqi looked into the distance. In the past few years, he had copied books for others not only to earn money but also to read all kinds of books.

He loved reading, current affairs and politics, and poems and songs. He wanted to be like the characters described in the book, contributing to the court and making a name for himself in his lifetime.

However, things did not go as he wished. He had a child, but he was still too young. He wanted to raise him up so that he could at least take care of himself.

He did not dare to marry again, afraid that his child would be abused by his stepmother, afraid that his wife would be tortured to death again. All his energy was spent on studying and his children. To him, women were no different from men. He really did not have any needs in this aspect.

However, if he did not marry, the Yuan family would keep having ideas about him.

He could not help but think of Lady Qiao. As soon as this thought appeared, it was immediately dispelled by him.

How long had they known each other? They had only spoken a few times. They were not even in a relationship, so why would he think of her? Yuan Jiaqi quickly shook his head. Chuan ‘er was nestled in his arms.

“Father, what are you thinking?”

“We’ll buy some things in town later. Remember, when you visit someone, you can’t go empty-handed..”