Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 33 Slap
Although Cai Qiaozhu had just had an argument with Wu Chengjian, she was really unwilling to confront him again. However, Cai's mother's words, "If you delay Guang'er's future, be careful that he will blame you when he grows up," still disturbed her. All parents would easily lose their balance when encountering matters related to their son, not to mention that Guang'er was an only son and she was a widow. Therefore, as long as Guang'er's personal interests were touched, it would be difficult for Cai Qiaozhu to remain calm.
Wu Liu was called to discuss the matter. Wu Liu glanced at Cai's mother and said, "It would be best if Hao Guan agreed to this matter. It's not a good idea to bypass Hao Guan and go directly to the clan members."
Cai Qiaozhu also thought that this was the right thing to do, so she said, "Okay, then..." She wanted to ask Hao Guan to come over, but thinking about the conflict between uncle and sister-in-law that had just happened, she suddenly didn't want to meet Wu Chengjian, so she said, "You go and ask him for me."
Wu Liu originally thought that it would be best for Cai Qiaozhu to talk to Hao Guan in person, but he also thought about Wu Chengjian's angry departure, so he decided to act as a buffer to avoid another quarrel and the lack of reconciliation between the uncle and the sister-in-law, so he agreed.
When he arrived at Ritianju, Wu Chengjian was not there. Ye Youyu said, "Haoguan is in Shanggong Garden..." Glancing at Wu Liu's expression, he asked, "Do you have anything to say?"
Wu Liu said, "Yes." But he refused to say why.
Ye Youyu was afraid that something might happen to Wu Chengjian and cause him harm, so she said, "I'll go with you."
The two of them arrived at Shanggong Garden. After Wu Liu paid his respects, he brought up the matter. Wu Chengjian was already worried about the Macau matter. When he heard Cai Qiaozhu mention giving Guang'er a promotion and opening an ancestral hall to comfort his ancestors, he was immediately irritated. He jumped up and said angrily, "It's been a while since you've been quiet. Who gave this bad idea again? I know. Someone is coming from Daxing Street again!"
Wu Qi had just returned and had heard many complaints from the boatmen at the dock, so he said, "Old Lady Cai from Daxing Street just came..."
Wu Chengjian was furious and said, "I knew it. It must be this old hag again. She has a good life and loves to come to our Wu family to stir up trouble! Is she going to mess up our Wu family? Is she going to break up our Wu family? I don't understand. What good will it do her if she messes up our Wu family and breaks it up?"
He was furious. Ye Youyu, who was standing beside him, secretly groaned when she heard him. She thought, "No matter how angry you are, you shouldn't scold your sister-in-law's mother in front of everyone. If your sister-in-law heard about it, how would she deal with it?" However, when she heard Wu Chengjian curse "old pious woman", it was too late for her to stop him. Moreover, when Wu Chengjian got angry, no one except Zhou Yijin could stop him.
Wu Chengjian was already furious, and he drove Wu Liu away without caring about anything: "Get out, get out! Wu Liu, I'm telling you, keep a close eye on the gate of Lirongyuan, and don't let any unscrupulous people in. I have my own ideas for Guang'er's affairs, so don't make trouble for me anymore!"
Wu Liu had never been so angry with Wu Chengjian before. For a moment, he was afraid, aggrieved, and a little annoyed. However, he was not a mean person after all. On the way back to Lirongyuan, he had already calmed down and thought to himself: "The relationship between the eldest young lady and Haoguan is already very tense. No matter what, I can't add fuel to the fire."
Before they arrived, they saw a group of people walking in front of them, with three or four maids in the front, four or five servants behind, and in the middle was Aunt Xu - as Ye Youyu's position in the Wu family was consolidated and Yihehang's power was growing, Aunt Xu's life in the Ye family was getting better and better. Two years had passed, and she looked younger. At this time, she was surrounded by people in front and behind, and slowly walked towards Ritianju, what a wealthy and prosperous scene of peaceful times.
Wu Liu saw it all, and then thought about how Old Lady Cai came alone and was gossiped about by the boatman, and he was angry again - he didn't feel sorry for Old Lady Cai, but the servants were looking at Old Lady Cai with disdain, and that was directed at Cai Qiaozhu. If the servants were ignorant, it would be fine, but what else did Wu Chengjian say today?
Tell him to "guard the gate of Lirongyuan carefully and not let any unauthorized persons in without permission"!
When he returned to Lirongyuan, he only said to Cai Qiaozhu: "Haoguan refused."
Cai Qiaozhu frowned and said, "Don't want to?"
Cai's mother said, "See, I told you! If someone wants to consider their son's long-term future, they will stop Guang'er no matter what."
Cai Qiaozhu took two deep breaths and said, "Forget it, I'll go talk to him in person."
"Don't go, Madam." Wu Liu stopped her and said, "Official Hao is in a rage, and you won't get any good results if you go now."
Cai Qiaozhu said, "Angry? What else is he angry about? Did you say something you shouldn't have said?"
Wu Liu said: "How could I say something I shouldn't have said? I just told Hao Guan that the eldest young lady said that Young Master Guang still had to open the ancestral hall to comfort the ancestors. Before I finished speaking, Hao Guan was very angry."
Cai Qiaozhu said: "Please tell me what he said."
Speaking of moving things around, Wu Liu began to hesitate.
Cai Qiaozhu was not very experienced in foreign affairs, but she had been managing the household for many years and was well versed in domestic affairs. Which servant in the house could hide the secrets from her? Seeing Wu Liu hesitating, she asked, "What did Haoguan say?"
Wu Liu hesitated and didn't speak.
Cai Qiaozhu pointed out a servant who had followed Wu Liu and said, "Tell me what Hao Guan said. Tell me everything."
The servant glanced at Wu Liu, and Cai Qiaozhu shouted, "Why are you looking at Wu Liu? Look into my eyes and tell me what's going on!"
Although she was gentle and docile in nature, she was the mistress who had been in charge of the family for many years and had accumulated considerable prestige. The servant had followed her from the old house and did not dare to disobey her, so he repeated Wu Chengjian's words in a disjointed manner.
When Cai's mother heard Wu Chengjian calling her an old hag, she felt ashamed and annoyed and covered her face.
Cai Qiaozhu was so angry that she was shaking all over. She said angrily, "Great, great, so my mother can't come to see me. People of bad character are not allowed to come to my house! Are you going to put me under house arrest? Lianqiao, Bitao, come with me to Ritianju. I want to ask him what this means!"
Bi Tao was very angry, but Lian Qiao held Cai Qiaozhu, and Wu Liu blocked them and said, "Madam, don't go! We are all angry now, and we can't say anything nice. If we continue, it will definitely hurt the relationship."
"Be peaceful, be peaceful!" Cai Qiaozhu was furious. "What kind of peace can we have now! If I don't go and explain things to him clearly today, how can I live in this house in the future? Does this mean that my family members won't have to come to visit us in the future? Does this mean that Guang'er and I won't be allowed to see anyone without Wu Chengjian's permission in the future?"
She started to walk away. Wu Liu tried to stop her, Lian Qiao came again. Cai Qiaozhu said angrily, "You are all on his side, aren't you? Are you all going to help him put me under house arrest?"
Wu Liu and Lianqiao were so shocked that they didn't dare to stop them.
Cai Qiaozhu was in high spirits and rushed straight towards Ritianju. Behind her, Wu Liu, Lianqiao, and Bitao were all jogging, followed by a group of servants from Lirongyuan.
At Ritianju, after Wu Chengjian lost his temper, he regretted it when he calmed down. He knew that no matter how angry he was with Cai's mother, he shouldn't have scolded her in public, so he thought about how to apologize to Cai Qiaozhu. But it happened that Aunt Xu came, so he had to serve here first.
Ye Youyu prepared a bowl of bird's nest with rock sugar to help him cool down, and Aunt Xu also gave him some good advice. Wu Chengjian held the bowl absentmindedly in his hands, and heard the commotion outside. From a distance, he heard someone shouting, "Young Lady, Young Lady..."
Chunrui said, "I'll go take a look."
When she reached the garden gate, she bumped into Cai Qiaozhu. Chunrui said, "Young lady..." Cai Qiaozhu yelled at her, "Get out of here!"
Chunrui could never have imagined that the usually gentle Cai Qiaozhu would say such words to her. She was so scared that she stepped aside. Cai Qiaozhu had already rushed in, followed by a large group of people, some from Lirongyuan, and some who could not stop Cai Qiaozhu and followed her in.
Xia Qing went up to her and said, "Madam, this is..."
Cai Qiaozhu pointed at him and said, "Get out of here!"
Ye Youyu had heard the noise from inside, and said to Aunt Xu who was standing awkwardly on the side, "Mom, please step aside for a moment."
Aunt Xu nodded and left. Cai Qiaozhu had already rushed to the rose garden. Seeing Wu Chengjian, she pointed at him and shouted, "Wu Chengjian, come out!"
Wu Chengjian was stunned, put down the bowl, and walked over .
Cai Qiaozhu pointed at his nose and said, "Tell me, were you the one who called her an old hag? And were you the one who asked Wu Liu to guard the gate of Lirongyuan and not let any bad people in?"
Wu Chengjian looked at Wu Liu next to him, and Cai Qiaozhu raised her voice: "Who are you looking at? Just tell me if you said that!"
Wu Chengjian felt bitter but couldn't deny it.
"Okay, okay, then the message was correct!" Cai Qiaozhu's eyes turned red and tears flowed down: "Alright! My Daxing Street Cai family is not worthy of your Wu family. We are a small family, and we are not good enough. We are not the top four or six big merchants, so how can we be worthy of your Wu family and Pan Qi, the high-ranking family that dominates Yuehai!"
These words also hurt Ye Youyu, and she felt so uncomfortable standing nearby.
Wu Chengjian became anxious: "Sister-in-law, I didn't mean that!" He was very powerful outside, and even Jishan and Guangxing would retort without showing any weakness, but when Cai Qiaozhu got angry, he didn't dare to say a single harsh word.
"That's not what I meant. What does that mean?" Cai Qiaozhu said, "I entered your Wu family before I was old enough. Over the years, I have raised children and served my parents-in-law. I can't say that I have done a good job, but at least I have done my duty. When your brother was alive, he never disdained me! When my father-in-law was still alive, he never criticized me. Now that you are the head of the family, you have begun to dislike me. Now even my family members can't come, right?"
Wu Chengjian said anxiously: "I, I...I didn't mean that!"
Cai Qiaozhu said: "That's not what I meant. Then what do you mean? Tell me now!"
Wu Chengjian knew that he had said something wrong, and he felt a lump of anger stuck in his throat. At this moment, he was completely unaware of what he had said and had no way to defend himself.
Cai Qiaozhu said, "That's what I mean! You don't have to say such harsh words. If you really have any ideas, just let me know. We, mother and son, will avoid you, right? No need to curse me like an old woman. I lost my husband, but I still have my son. I'm a member of the Wu family for the rest of my life and can't go back to Daxing Street! We can't afford to live in Wujiayuan anymore, so I'll take Guang'er to the old ancestral hall of the Wu family and live under a roof."
Wu Chengjian's eyes turned red, and he felt hot on his head. He jumped up and down and said, "No, no! I... I said the wrong thing! I shouldn't have said that, okay!" He slapped himself hard and said, "I'm a bastard! I talked nonsense! I disobeyed my sister-in-law! I was unfilial and disrespectful!"
He slapped himself once, and then slapped himself four times in a row, and his face was bloodshot. All the servants were so scared that they stepped back a few steps. Ye Youyu stepped forward in panic, grabbed Wu Chengjian's hand, knelt on the ground and shouted: "Sister-in-law, sister-in-law! Don't you know Haoguan's temper? He only speaks nonsense when he is angry. How do you feel about him, sister-in-law? How can you let him live his life in the future if you say that!"
Cai Qiaozhu loved Wu Chengjian very much, and she had been pent up for a long time, so she exploded with anger. However, when she saw Wu Chengjian beat her until blood came out, she felt distressed and softened her heart. She said, "Okay, okay, if it is really a misunderstanding, then even if I said something harsh today, I will go to the tablets of my parents-in-law to repent. I only ask you now, what do you think about Guang'er opening an ancestral hall to comfort our ancestors?"
Although Wu Chengjian was frightened by Cai Qiaozhu's anger and abnormality, his attitude became hard again when he mentioned this matter. No one knows a wife better than her husband. Ye Youyu knew what Wu Chengjian meant when she saw his expression. She quickly pulled Wu Chengjian and asked him not to add fuel to the fire at this time. However, she couldn't stop him. Wu Chengjian raised his head and said, "This is not okay. There is no room for negotiation!"
Cai Qiaozhu originally planned that as long as Wu Chengjian took a step back, the two sides could reconcile, but unexpectedly, Wu Chengjian directly rejected her. The flame that was about to be extinguished was rekindled. She pointed her slender finger at Wu Chengjian and said, "So you have made up your mind to stop Guang'er, right!"
Wu Chengjian said: "I do this for Guang'er's own good."
"You...you..." When she was scolding Wu Chengjian for Cai's mother just now, she was still able to speak harshly, but when it came to her son, she was speechless. Thousands of words were stuck in her throat. She stretched out her hand unconsciously and slapped Wu Chengjian in the face with a slap.
Everyone around was stunned by this beating, and even Ye Youyu didn't know how to react.
But Cai Qiaozhu and Wu Chengjian both stood still, as if time had stopped.
Suddenly, Cai Qiaozhu covered her face with her hands stained with the blood on Wu Chengjian's face, and tears flowed out from between her fingers.
Wu Chengjian seemed unaware of the pain on his face and shouted, "Sister-in-law..."
Cai Qiaozhu shook her head repeatedly and ran away in small steps.
