strictlysupreme Chapter 3 Women, you just need to coax them!
Chapter 3 Women, you just need to coax them!
Chu Yuning borrowed money from everyone he knew, writing down receipts and IOUs, and managed to scrape together ten taels of silver, which he reluctantly handed to Shen Yuan.
"I was saving the money you gave me to use when I married you, but now that you're leaving, what about our marriage..."
The implication was that if Shen Yuan wanted money, their engagement would be null and void.
engagement?
Shen Yuan sneered. In her previous life, she might have immediately put down the money to prevent the engagement from being nullified when she heard Chu Yuning say that, since she genuinely liked Chu Yuning when she was young.
But in this life, her engagement with Chu Yuning is the one she most wants to annul!
"We are now only creditor and creditor. Once you have paid off your debts, we will sever all ties and never have anything to do with each other again!"
Without any hesitation, Shen Yuan snatched the money from Chu Yuning's hand, turned around, and strode away from Ziyun Academy.
Watching Shen Yuan's retreating figure, Chu Yuning felt somewhat uneasy.
Why would Shen Yuan suddenly stop caring about their engagement?
How could this be? She used to always put him first and always considered his needs.
"This girl is probably just angry. Women are easy to coax. She likes you so much, just beckon her and she'll be all over you again, right?" Chu Yuning's good friend put his arm around him and comforted him.
Chu Yuning thought this was true, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he would go home for a few days during his vacation.
Once Shen Yuan realizes her mistake, she will personally apologize to him and return all the money! At that time, he will make her kneel in front of Ziyun Academy to apologize and clear his name of today's humiliation!
Only in this way can he forgive her.
Ten taels of silver was far less than one-tenth of the money Shen Yuan had given to the Chu family over the years, but Shen Yuan knew that she could not possibly get that much money back from Chu Yuning today.
Because Chu Yuning's pockets were emptier than her face.
She has to go back to Chu Family Village to get it!
After leaving Ziyun Academy, Shen Yuan went to a money exchange. She deposited her silver first, then rented an oxcart at the city gate, traveled all night, and finally arrived back at Chu Family Village the next morning.
At the entrance of the village, there is a large farmyard enclosed by a fence. An old woman with gray hair is busy in the yard, and several chicks are around her feet, stretching their necks and chirping.
"Eat up! Eat up! Eat more so you can grow into a plump little chicken! Only when you grow into a plump little chicken can you make soup for us, Yuanyuan!"
The old woman shook the winnowing basket twice and tossed the small green worms off the leaves to the chicks.
The morning light slanted down from her arched back, like a richly colored ancient painting.
Shen Yuan's eyes welled up with tears as she watched this scene.
In her past life, she never saw Granny Liu again after Chu Yuning personally sent her to the Jingzhao Division.
But she had heard from the yamen runners that an old woman, oblivious to her own mortality, had stormed into the Jingzhao Department and caused trouble. She not only demanded that the yamen release her granddaughter, but also cursed the people in the yamen as lackeys of the powerful and wealthy. She was beaten to the ground by the yamen runners and died on the spot.
That old nanny, Liu, died on the three-story steps of the yamen, her blood flowing from the high threshold of the Jingzhao Division to the ground.
She never got to see Granny Liu again before she died, nor was she able to collect her body.
"Grandma!"
Shen Yuan pushed open the gate and rushed into Liu Mama's arms.
Granny Liu scattered vegetable leaves all over the ground, but she wasn't angry. Instead, she looked at Shen Yuan with delight, "Yuan Yuan, why are you back so soon?"
"Grandma..." Shen Yuan buried her head in the crook of Liu Mama's neck, smelling the familiar herbal scent, and the panic and helplessness she had felt after being reborn finally calmed down at this moment.
She was terrified, terrified that it was all just a dream.
She feared that her so-called rebirth was nothing more than a fantasy before her death.
But now, Granny Liu was standing perfectly fine in front of her. She could feel her body temperature and the fine lines on her neck. Nothing bad had happened yet. She could finally be sure that she had truly been reborn!
"Yuanyuan, why are you crying?" Granny Liu noticed that Shen Yuan's mood was not right and hurriedly asked.
Shen Yuan sniffed. "I didn't cry. I just missed Grandma."
Granny Liu laughed and said, "It's only been a day, not a year! Why do you still cling to your grandma like you did when you were little?"
Shen Yuan lowered her head to hide the emotions in her eyes. To Granny Liu, she had only gone to Jian'an City yesterday and returned this morning, but to Shen Yuan, she and Granny Liu had already faced a life-or-death situation together.
Worried that Granny Liu would notice something amiss, Shen Yuan looked up and smiled, "Now that I'm all grown up, can't I act cute with Granny anymore?"
"Alright!" Granny Liu patted Shen Yuan, then asked, "You usually take at least two days and one night to go to Jian'an City, how come you're back so quickly this time?"
"There's nothing fun in the city, so I came back early!"
Shen Yuan lowered her head silently. In the past, she couldn't bear to spend money on a carriage when she went to Jian'an City, and she relied entirely on her own two legs to walk, which would take several days to go back and forth.
It was precisely because the journey from Chu Family Village to Jian'an City was so long that Zhao never went to see Chu Yuning in person. Instead, she entrusted the clothes and pastries she made to Shen Yuan and asked Shen Yuan to deliver them.
Shen Yuan continued to deliver the gifts year after year with great enthusiasm.
Looking back now, she was so incredibly foolish!
Zhao kept saying she loved her precious son dearly, but she was reluctant to spend money to send him to school, and she was too lazy to go to the city to visit him.
And she, the fiancée who only has a marriage certificate and has not yet married into the family, actually felt sorry for Chu Yuning and served him wholeheartedly. She was really stupid and foolish!
Thinking of the marriage certificate, Shen Yuan lifted her skirt and ran into her house.
She crawled under the bed and pulled out a peach wood box. Although the box was not exquisitely made, the wood was smooth and delicate, and it was clear that it had been cherished and played with for many years.
Shen Yuan opened the box, and on top of it was a marriage certificate.
Shen Yuan didn't look at the marriage certificate, but instead pulled out a few small slips of paper from the bottom of the box.
The note read in bold: "In the third month of spring in the thirty-sixth year of Qiyuan, Chu Yuning owes Shen Yuan five hundred coins. He will repay the full amount after passing the imperial examination."
“In the winter of the thirty-seventh year of Qiyuan, in the ninth month, Chu Yuning owed Shen Yuan five taels of silver. He will repay it double when he passes the imperial examination.”
"The thirty-ninth year of Qiyuan..."
These are all IOUs that Chu Yuning wrote herself in the past.
In her previous life, these IOUs that Chu Yuning casually wrote down to her never saw the light of day. She had always carefully hidden them away, afraid that someone would find out.
But in this life, she'll make good use of these IOUs.
Chu Yuning owes her money, and she must pay it back with interest!
Shen Yuan slammed the box shut, turned and ran out of the courtyard. Behind her came Liu Mama's exclamation: "Yuan Yuan, why are you running so fast? Watch your step!"
"I'm going to the village head's house!" Shen Yuan ran quickly out of the courtyard.
The village head's house was in the best feng shui location in the village, with green mountains behind it and a fishpond in front, while Chu Yuning's house was right next door to the village head's house.
Shen Yuan bumped into Zhao Shi right in front of the village head's house.
"Yuan girl, when did you get back? What are you rushing about for?"
In the past, when Shen Yuan returned from the city, the first place she would visit was the Chu family. She would bring back many delicious pastries, braised meats, and fashionable silk flowers and fabrics to give to Zhao Shi and Chu Yuning's two younger sisters.
So when Zhao saw Shen Yuan, he subconsciously glanced at what was in her arms. Seeing that she had nothing but a broken wooden box, he was immediately displeased.