TATLC Chapter 93 — The Chen Family's Clan Meeting

In the courtyard

Chen Xiaomi stared at Lu Lin, his cheeks puffed out in anger. “You want me to give Chen Jing money? I don’t want to pay for him,” he said indignantly.

Chen Jing caused this mess himself, so why should he help? It was already good enough that he wasn’t kicking him while he was down.

“I heard that Grandma Chen said if you don’t, she’ll hang herself at our shop entrance.” The Chen family’s troubles had caused quite a stir, and word had already spread throughout the village. Recently, when villagers came to deliver goods, they would mention it to Lu Lin.

Chen Xiaomi snorted, unconcerned. “If she wants to die, then let her go ahead and die. That old hag, it would be good if she died! It would save us the trouble.”

Lu Lin sighed helplessly, “If she dies, it will cause us a lot of trouble.”

The social customs here were very strict. If that old woman really hanged herself at their shop entrance, others wouldn’t care about their past grievances and would only blame Chen Xiaomi for being unfilial.

“She’s just making empty threats. I know her too well,” Chen Xiaomi retorted. “In the past, when my dad wouldn’t listen to her, she’d threaten to kill herself every day for a whole month, several times each month.” The problem was his father always fell for the old hag’s tricks. Whenever she made a fuss, his father would give in.

Lu Lin rubbed his forehead. “You and the Chen family only broke ties verbally without any real proof. This is our chance. You can use this situation to pressure them into writing a formal severance document.” With a written agreement that specified both sides wouldn’t interfere with each other, Chen Xiaomi’s grandparents’ affairs wouldn’t affect them anymore.

Since he was here, he had to play by the local rules. Although Lu Lin thought the blind filial piety here was stupid, this was the reality of their environment. Unless they had the power to challenge these norms, they had no choice but to endure it for now.

This Huaxia Trading Company was under Chen Xiaomi’s name, and Lu Lin was always worried this matter would be exposed. Once exposed, it would definitely cause a huge uproar.

Chen Xiaomi thought it over. “One hundred taels is way too much.”

Lu Lin curled his lips. “Of course we wouldn’t actually pay a hundred taels.” If they gave the money too easily, people would inevitably take them for suckers. “Let’s use this opportunity to get rid of the house in the village too.”

Chen Xiaomi frowned. “We’re selling the house?”

Lu Lin nodded. “Yes, we don’t live in that village house anyway. There’s no point keeping it locked up.”

Lu Lin had been to the village several times and found problems with the house. Someone had probably snuck into their house while they weren’t home.

“But we spent a lot of silver building that house back then. Selling it off just like that feels like such a waste,” Chen Xiaomi muttered.

Chen Xiaomi blinked. Lu Lin had put in a great deal of effort to renovate that house originally.

Lu Lin let out a sigh. “If we move away to develop our business elsewhere in the future, that village house will definitely be taken over by others.”

The Chen family’s third son had two boys, Chen He and Chen Qu. The elder son, Chen He, was almost old enough to marry.

The Chen family house was getting a bit crowded, and the third son seemed to have his eye on their place. For now, he probably didn’t dare make a move, but if they stayed in town for too long, it was possible he would just move his family in. When that happened, if Grandma Chen planted herself inside, could they really drag her out by force?

Even if he managed to drag her out once, he couldn’t stay in the old village to keep watch every day. If the old woman, at her age, got hurt or bumped into something, that would be big trouble.

There were just too many annoying things in the village. Both the Lu and Chen family elders weren’t easy to deal with, and Lu Lin wasn’t particularly fond of the village anyway.

Lu Lin thought it over and decided it would be better to sell the house now rather than deal with more trouble later.

Chen Xiaomi scratched his head. That village house was his backup plan, and the idea of selling it so suddenly made him a little reluctant.

“Let me think about it some more.” Chen Xiaomi replied. That house took a lot of effort to build back then. If I’d known it would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have put in so much effort.

When Granny Shen learned that Lu Lin wanted to sell the house, she was somewhat surprised.

“Ah Lin, are you that short on money?” Granny Shen asked.

Lu Lin shook his head and said, “Not really, it’s just that we don’t live in the village house, and it feels like a waste to leave it sitting empty.”

Granny Shen nodded in agreement. “That’s true. Keeping the house empty is useless. If you want to find a place to stay when you go to the village, you can stay at our place.”

Lu Lin nodded. “That works too.”

Granny Shen hesitated for a moment and said, “Ah Lin, the one who owes money is Chen Jing, and it has nothing to do with you two.”

The matter of Chen Jing’s debt had already reached Granny Shen’s ears.

This was currently the most popular topic of discussion among the villagers. Recently, many villagers who came to deliver goods would test Granny Shen’s attitude, hoping to find out whether Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi would step in to pay Chen Jing’s debt, how much money the two had actually made, and how much they could afford to pay.

Many people expressed sympathy for the Chen family’s situation.

Lu Lin nodded and said, “Granny, I know.” He had no intention of letting the Chen family take advantage of him. At most, he would cover half of the debt.

Lu Lin narrowed his eyes, feeling somewhat exasperated. These Chen family elders are really biased! Chen Jing caused such a huge mess, but they are still willing to clean up after him. Before all this, the family wasn’t living badly, but they still forced their son to go hunting in the mountains.

Chen Xiaomi was thinking that Chen Jing’s matter would probably come looking for him sooner or later. But as long as the Chen family didn’t come to him directly, he planned to act as if he knew nothing about it.

Before Chen Xiaomi could figure out how to handle the Chen family’s affairs, word came from the Chen family that the clan leader wanted to see him.

“The Chen family clan leader is looking for me!”

“The clan leader, huh?” Lu Lin scratched his head. The authority of a clan leader was not to be taken lightly, and it was only right to show some respect. However, now that they were making their living in town, the clan leader’s influence over them was limited.

He had no idea how the Chen family managed it, but they had actually gotten the Chen clan leader to step in. The old clan leader was very old and hadn’t involved himself in village affairs for a long time.

“The Chen family is calling a clan meeting at the ancestral hall.” Chen Xiaomi curled his lips. His respect for the clan leader only went so far.

Lu Lin frowned and said, “A clan meeting? They’re really making a big deal out of this.”

Chen Xiaomi narrowed his eyes. “Maybe the old man gave the clan leader gifts. Yes, he must have.” Most villagers minded their own business and didn’t care about others’ affairs. Since he didn’t even live in the village anymore, the clan leader must have taken some bribes to specially send someone to deliver the message.

“Very likely.” Even clan leaders had to make a living. There were several clan leaders in the village, and many of their families were just getting by.

The news of the Chen family’s clan meeting quickly spread throughout the village.

The villagers were very curious about clan meeting.

“Why are they suddenly calling a clan meeting?”

“Probably because of Chen Jing’s situation. He borrowed so much silver. They have to resolve this somehow.”

“Why did Chen Jing end up with so much debt? Grandma Chen said he was tricked, but she never explained how it happened.”

“Let me tell you, but don’t spread this around. Chen Jing bought fake exam papers, that’s why he owes so much money.”

“Fake exam papers? So he cheated in the spring exams!”

The few people who heard the truth were shocked.

The Lu and Chen families had been at odds for a long time. Now that the Chen family was in trouble, Tang naturally seized the chance to kick them while they were down. After hearing her son’s guess, she exposed the truth.

Though it wasn’t something to be discussed openly, the news spread like wildfire in private.

The next day.

Chen Xiaomi and Lu Lin went back to the village together and headed straight to the Chen clan’s ancestral hall.

“Xiaomi, you’re here.”

“Xiaomi-ge, long time no see.”

The Chen clan was holding a clan meeting, and many other members from other branches of the clan came to watch the excitement.

Chen Xiaomi had been living in town, and there were rumors he had saved a wealthy businessman in town. Since many villagers now relied on Huaxia Trading Company for their livelihood, people immediately flocked to him to curry favor as soon as he showed up.

As soon as Chen Xiaomi entered the room, he saw many elderly clansmen.

Grandma Chen threw him a sharp, piercing glare the moment she saw him.

Chen Xiaomi wore a light blue robe with his hair tied up with a hair crown, looking very spirited.

In Grandma Chen’s memory, Chen Xiaomi was still a scruffy brat wearing tattered clothes. Seeing his transformation made her feel very uncomfortable.

The ancestral hall had limited space. Only a few clan elders could sit, while everyone else had to stand.

As a junior, Chen Xiaomi could only stand.

“Xiaomi!” Seventh Elder Chen, sitting to one side, looked at Chen Xiaomi.

He was already over seventy, one of the village’s most long-lived elders, with very high seniority. They had invited him to this clan meeting too.

Chen Xiaomi replied blandly, “Seventh Elder, you flatter me. I’m just trying to make a living, barely managing to feed myself.”

“Xiaomi, you should have heard about your cousin’s situation. You’re family after all, bound by blood. Only you can help with this matter.” Clan Leader Chen Ding looked at Chen Xiaomi.

Chen Xiaomi glanced at the clan leader and responded with indifference, “Clan Leader, I don’t understand what you’re saying. What happened to Cousin Chen Jing? He studied the classics since childhood and received the teachings of sages. He knows much more than I do. How could someone like me be of any help to him?”

The old clan leader sighed. “Oh, Xiaomi…”

Lu Lin frowned as he listened. The old man was clearly biased. Right from the start, he was putting the blame on Chen Xiaomi for not helping, which was too much.

Lu Lin spoke up hesitantly, “Elder, is Cousin Chen Jing dying? If he’s sick, we should find a doctor. If someone wants to kill Chen Jing, we should report it to the authorities!”

When Grandma Chen heard Lu Lin’s words, she exploded, “Shut up! Do you have any right to speak here?”

Chen Xiaomi shot her a look. “Grandma, you seem as spirited as ever. It looks like Cousin Chen Jing probably isn’t in any real danger after all, so I don’t need to worry.”

The clan leader glared at Granny Chen, irritated. “You should speak less.”

He frowned. They had called Chen Xiaomi here hoping he would contribute money, but the old woman kept putting on airs as if nothing had changed.

He could see that Chen Xiaomi was playing dumb. Chen Ding didn’t believe that after so many days, Chen Xiaomi still didn’t know about Chen Jing’s situation. But since Chen Xiaomi was playing dumb, the clan leader was helpless.

“Your cousin owes a hundred taels. You must help cover some of it, or those people might take his life!”

Chen Xiaomi said reluctantly, “Clan Leader, I just had a baby and can barely afford to raise my own child. Do you want me to starve my son to support Cousin Chen Jing?”

“It’s just a little Shuang’er.” muttered under her breath, a trace of disdain in her tone. To her, a Shuang’er didn’t count as a son at all. This time, she didn’t raise her voice, only grumbling quietly.

Old Man Chen shot her an annoyed look. They still wanted Chen Xiaomi to contribute money, but his wife kept acting high and mighty. If Chen Xiaomi got fed up and walked away, and they really had to pay the hundred taels themselves, how would they live in the future!