The child was young, but very tight-lipped. After so long, Wu Caiwei only knew his name was Song Ziyao; she hadn't learned anything else.
In any case, Wu Caiwei wasn't short of food for him. She had the household servants keep an eye out for any families in the city who had lost a child, fearing his parents would be anxious.
Having just arrived in the prefectural city without any backing, and to avoid attracting attention, she used over four hundred taels of silver to rent an ordinary small restaurant, hired a few people, studied the menu, and opened for business.
Having experienced so many lives and tasted countless delicacies, she was very confident in her small restaurant. To attract customers, she offered a fifty percent discount on all dishes for the first two days. Business was booming.
Initially, people tried it with a "let's see" attitude, as they were tired of the city's usual fare and didn't know how a new restaurant would taste. But upon tasting it, they were surprised by the unexpectedly excellent flavor. Word of mouth spread rapidly, and business gradually picked up.
Though she offered fifty percent off at first, because she bought ingredients in bulk at a lower price, it seemed she wasn't making money. In fact, these two days brought her several hundred taels in income.
When the prices returned to normal, business naturally cooled down a bit, with a stable income of about a hundred taels of silver per day. Wu Caiwei was very satisfied.
However, lately, as she went in and out, she always felt like she was being watched. To ensure her business could continue, she thought for a moment, took a thousand taels of silver, and paid a visit to a minor official who frequently dined at her small restaurant.
Indeed, the next day, the people following her disappeared. Wu Caiwei breathed a sigh of relief.
She thought life was back on track, only to receive a letter from someone she'd stationed in the town. Reading its contents, she couldn't help but frown.
It turned out that after the young lady from the Zhou family, whose father had passed the imperial examinations, returned to her maiden home frequently. Seeing her family's flourishing days while she had to return home to labor and become a village wife, she felt extremely unbalanced, though powerless.
She had resigned herself to fate, preparing to have her husband curry favor with her father for a minor official post. She believed she had married poorly because it was to help fund her father's journey to the examinations; in any case, her maiden family owed her. But unexpectedly, her younger sisters all married into better families, some even becoming wives of scholars.
Even if that were the case, when they saw her, their faces were full of mockery and ridicule. This caused the grievances buried in her heart to erupt completely. She went to her father, insisting on a divorce.
Her father was initially unwilling, but she pestered him daily, even resorting to tears, tantrums, and threats of self-harm. The Zhou family, upon hearing this, was furious. They had spent thirty taels of silver to marry her into their family, and now that they were prosperous, she wanted to kick them out? Impossible.
So, Mother Zhou began to spread rumors outside, denouncing their ingratitude and their ugly attempts to extort thirty taels of silver back then.
People initially thought it would be an exciting spectacle, as the affair became the talk of the town. However, it suddenly died down. The Zhou family began telling people that their eldest son and daughter-in-law had divorced, and they were looking for suitable girls to introduce to him.
Many people speculated, but dared not ask them directly. Even if they disregarded the Zhou family's reputation, they had to consider the scholar-official. It was rumored that he would soon take up a post in the county. With him in power, the villagers would no longer be easily bullied, and they respected him more.
The developments so far had little to do with Wu Caiwei. What was unexpected was that Mother Zhou, along with her two sons, went to the town to cause trouble for Liu Changhe.
The reason was readily available: Liu Changhe had earned so much money, yet only gave their daughter five taels of silver during the divorce.
One day, as soon as Liu Changhe opened his door, he saw the Zhou couple. He was speechless, feeling like they were staking out his doorstep daily, with nothing better to do than to intercept him.
As expected, as soon as he appeared, the couple rushed forward, shouting loudly, "Good for you, Liu Changhe! We thought you were an honest man, but who knew you bought houses and shops in town? My poor daughter is adrift, with only five taels and living by doing odd jobs in the county town. It's not worth it for my daughter! After more than ten years married into your family, bearing you children, and caring for your parents, now that you've prospered, you've grown tired of her and cast her aside."
The onlookers, upon hearing this, started whispering. They hadn't expected Liu Changhe to be such a person. He seemed reliable in his daily dealings, but indeed, one cannot judge a person by their appearance, nor a sea by its depth.
"Liu Dongjia, this is wrong of you. Regardless, she is your wife of hardship. Now that you live well, you cannot forget your first wife."
"Yes, yes. We heard that when the Zhou girl married into your family, your household was also extremely poor. Now that you've prospered, we must not be ungrateful."
"How difficult it is for a woman to survive alone, especially with two children. We see that your children have been raised very well. You should take her back and live together happily."
...
Liu Changhe listened to the crowd's words and lamented inwardly. He wanted to take Wu Caiwei back, but the problem was that she didn't want him! Faced with the crowd's accusations, he didn't know how to respond. If he told the truth, people probably wouldn't believe him.
Brother Bao was also extremely annoyed. In the past few days, his teacher and classmates had been looking at him strangely. After all, his maternal grandmother and grandfather had been arguing for a long time. Seeing their triumphant expressions, he felt uncomfortable. If it weren't for them, how could his parents have reached this point?
He stepped forward, about to speak, when Liu Changhe grabbed his hand, shaking his head at him. His teacher had said that their son had a great talent for study and a bright future. He didn't want such matters to tarnish his son's reputation.
Wu Caiwei arrived just in time to see the scene. She saw her son's clenched fists and felt a pang of heartache.
"Father, Mother, why are you here? Are you here to return the sixty taels of silver?" Wu Caiwei asked them with a puzzled expression.
"What silver? What are you talking about?" Mother Zhou, upon hearing this, quickly pretended ignorance. She was aiming to deny this debt.
"Didn't you say you lent sixty taels of silver to my brother for his wedding? Although he and I are divorced, you received a large sum of money from the scholar-official.
When I left the Liu family, Changhe not only gave me five taels of silver but also this sixty tael debt. I can't go on living like this. You should return some of it to me first. That money is just a drop in the bucket for you."
"Don't talk nonsense. When did we receive money from the scholar-official? And we never borrowed money from you." Mother Zhou was startled. Both families had agreed that once the money was given, the matter of divorce would not be mentioned again. She hadn't expected the other party to bring it up first, despite her keeping her promise.