Xu Chunjun came back from outside. As soon as he entered the door, Aunt Feng greeted him.
She is the wife of the great housekeeper Zheng Long.
"Grandma, you are back." Aunt Feng saw that Xu Chunjun was back, and the expression on her face relaxed a lot.
"But what happened at home?" Xu Chunjun asked her as she walked inside.
"Grandma, don't be anxious, let me tell you slowly." Aunt Feng looked at Xu Chunjun's face and said.
"I'm not in a hurry, just tell me." Xu Chunjun smiled on her cheeks. Ever since she walked in, the Zheng family had never seen her angry or anxious.
"As soon as Grandma left this morning, a lot of people came outside our house. They were all asking for debts. There were twenty or thirty people in total." Aunt Feng said.
"You want a debt? What kind of debt do you want?" Xu Chunjun kept walking and asked as he walked in.
"Yes... I owed it to you outside." Aunt Feng always felt that Xu Chunjun would be angry if she knew the truth, so she hesitated a little.
"Where are these people?" Xu Chunjun asked.
"The housekeeper wanted to persuade them to disperse, but these people refused to leave. It would not look good if they were left standing outside the door. So they were invited in, and now they are all staying in the guest room." Aunt Feng
explain.
"In that case, I'll go and meet you." Xu Chunjun said, "You lead the way."
Aunt Feng agreed and walked in front, and Xu Chunjun followed her to the guest room.
When I arrived, I saw that it was full of people, both men and women.
"This is our eldest grandma, and now the eldest grandma is in charge of this house." Aunt Feng said.
The chief steward Zheng Long was already in this room. When he saw Xu Chunjun arriving, he hurriedly came over to say hello.
Those who came to ask for the account also stood up and greeted Xu Chunjun respectfully or casually.
"Everyone, please take a seat!" Xu Chunjun said very politely, "I have kept everyone waiting for a long time. You came here in the morning, so you must not have eaten yet?"
A few of them were polite to Xu Chunjun and said, "Thank you, grandma, for asking me. We are so rough. We don't even feel hungry even if we don't eat for half a meal."
There was only one middle-aged man with a flat face and toad eyes, who said rudely: "Don't distract me, if you have time to pay back the money you owe us, we will go out to eat and drink well."
Before Xu Chunjun could speak, Zheng Long responded and said, "Zhu Laowu, please speak more politely!"
Aunt Feng also said: "Grandma, don't be like him. He is a rough person and his words are unpleasant!"
"Okay, no need to be polite, let's start with you." Xu Chunjun said to the toad-eyed man.
"I'm from the Bacai Gambling House. Your uncle owes us a total of 783 taels of silver from March to now. You can wipe out the change, spare another 30 taels, and give us 750 taels.
." said Toad Eyes.
"I'm from Chunjiao Courtyard," said a middle-aged lady dressed in a gorgeous dress. "The uncle owes us 416 taels for wine money. Let's just call it 400 taels."
These people reported their accounts one by one, and Xu Chunjun listened silently.
How ridiculous Zheng Wuji is can be seen from the books.
The debts he owed include gambling bills from gambling houses, wine money from hook-ups, clothes and shoes from clothing stores, even bird money from flower and bird shops, and incense money from temples...
There are all kinds of things, which add up to nearly three thousand taels.
Finally, the person who came to collect the bill from the silk and satin shop was older and spoke politely: "Grandma, we are all doing business. If we don't make money, won't we have to close down? According to the rules, it should be before August 15th every year.
The account has been settled. But we have also discussed that you will not come in until August. If we came at that time, we would be sincerely causing trouble for you. Therefore, we waited for more than a month and have only come to your door now.
Let’s discuss it and settle our accounts.”
After he finished speaking, everyone agreed: "That's right. We have done our best to be benevolent. Grandma, please don't embarrass those of us who have to pay. How many people in the family are waiting to eat!"
A grandma from an Earl's Mansion was surrounded by a group of people demanding payment. Most people could not withstand the situation.
Usually when Fang was the head of the household, if someone came to ask for a debt, she would not dare to come forward and would only send the housekeeper and the housekeeper to pay the debt.
"Everyone must be thirsty after talking for a long time. Come here, let's take a look at the tea." Xu Chunjun ordered his servants to serve tea.
"There's no need for tea. Grandma, please give me a pleasant word." said the person from Chunjiao Pavilion.
"Yes, yes, we are not here just to drink tea." Everyone followed.
They didn't drink tea, but Xu Chunjun did. He sat there and drank a bowl of tea slowly, and then he said: "Thank you all for allowing us so many days, but now that the uncle is not at home, I have a short time to come in.
It’s impossible to tell whether these IOUs are true or false.”
"What do you mean? Don't you admit it?!" Toad became anxious and stood up to question.
"Master Zhu Wu, right?" Xu Chunjun said in a gentle tone, "They say peace brings wealth, why are you so angry? I didn't say I wouldn't pay it back, but it's just hard to confirm now."
"Then grandma means..." Someone took the conversation one step further.
"Our family will definitely repay this debt, please rest assured." Xu Chunjun reassured everyone present, "What I mean is to wait for the uncle to come back and verify it before paying it back. Uncle
It’s been a while since I left home, and I’ll be back in a few days. To be honest, it’s not too late for everyone, right?”
The debtors whispered to each other. They had made an appointment to come to the house together, and of course they had to advance and retreat together.
In the end, the person from the silk shop said: "I think grandma should be reasonable. If she doesn't see us today, we can't rush in to find her. Besides, if someone wants to check with her husband, this should be the case. Just imagine what's going on in our family
If someone owes a debt, do you just pay him back without asking?"
"That's what I say, but what if she doesn't want it again?" Some people were still hesitant, "In the past, their wife was the head of the family, and as long as we came to the door, we would give it directly. Even if we didn't have any money, we would still take it.
It’s much more enjoyable for her to have things arrive.”
"How can people be the same at this time and that time?" Some people also expressed their understanding.
After deliberation for a long time, the people from the silk and satin shop said to Xu Chunjun: "The eldest grandma is a spoiled customer. Since she told us, of course she has to give her this face. Then we have made a decision. We will come to your door when the uncle comes back."
.Until then, please don’t shirk the situation any more, grandma. Our small business cannot afford to be in arrears like this."
"Don't worry, I will never lie to you." Xu Chunjun said, "We will wait until the uncle comes back and verify the accounts, and we will definitely pay them back."
