USWHC -Chapter 284 Old Madam Ji Gets Tricked (Part 4)

“I don’t want it! Young people like you have many places to spend money. Keep it and use it yourselves!”

Holding the heavy stack of silver notes, Old Master Ji felt as if they were burning his hands and tried hard to push them back into Zhu Jie’s hands.

But Zhu Jie refused to take them again. Smiling, she said, “Dad, keep it. If you feel uneasy about it, just treat it as if you traded the sweet potatoes for it! We really have plenty of them. Besides, Ji Yi has passed the xiucai exam, and we’ve also found a business to do. Soon we’ll be living even better days, so don’t worry. Maybe someday we’ll even bring you over to enjoy the good life with us!”

“I’m old. I don’t need any good life. Seeing you two doing well is enough to make me happy!”

Old Master Ji suddenly became emotional and began to cry. “How could those few sweet potatoes of mine be worth so much money? I know this is your filial piety. It’s enough that I understand your hearts!”

Ji Yi also persuaded him, “Dad, just take it.” As he spoke, he forcibly stuffed the silver notes into Old Master Ji’s arms.

Old Master Ji couldn’t resist him, so he had no choice but to accept them. Still, he kept saying, “I’ll hold onto it for you. Don’t worry, Dad won’t spend it. If you ever need it, come to me and take it back!”

“Dad, I won’t need that money. You should spend it!” Ji Yi kept urging.

But clearly, Old Master Ji would never spend it. He carefully wrapped the banknotes, then very seriously tucked them into the innermost pocket, holding them as if they were some precious treasure, looking extremely nervous.

Watching him like that, Zhu Jie suddenly thought of her parents in the modern world. If only she had been able to be more filial to them. When she used to earn money, the money she sent home was always kept by them as well. She didn’t even know whether they had spent any of it by now.

After seeing off the warm-hearted Old Master Ji, Ji Yi turned around and noticed Zhu Jie quietly wiping tears by herself. Instead of comforting her, he actually laughed.

“Look at you—why are you crying?”

Zhu Jie didn’t answer. She only awkwardly quickened her pace toward home, as if afraid someone might see this emotional, vulnerable side of her.

Suddenly, Ji Yi let out a low cry. “Oh no!”

He quickly caught up to Zhu Jie and said anxiously, “You didn’t smear that hand-rotting poison on the silver notes, did you?!”

Zhu Jie had still been choking back tears, but hearing that, she immediately rolled her eyes and said angrily, “What kind of person do you think I am? I already removed the poison from them!”

Only then did Ji Yi relax and smile. “My wife is the best!”

“Who’s your wife? Taking advantage of me!” Zhu Jie scolded lightly.

But unexpectedly, Ji Yi suddenly picked her up in his arms, his happy laughter nearly piercing the clouds.

Such days were truly happy. Zhu Jie suddenly felt a warm feeling in her heart.

Wife—what a beautiful word.

“You old fool, where have you been?”

When Old Madam Ji saw Old Master Ji hurriedly run into the room, she immediately followed him in angrily. “Speak! Did you secretly give things to that fool again? The eldest daughter-in-law said quite a lot of sweet potatoes are missing!”

Hearing this, Old Master Ji trembled in fright. No way—she found out so quickly? He really had no talent for being a thief!

But Old Madam Ji continued nagging relentlessly, “I know you’re biased, but our family can’t keep helping that fool forever! He’s poor, but whose fault is that? His bad fate! We’ve already treated him well enough. Look—didn’t he just pass the xiucai exam now?”

“Yes, he’ll live a good life in the future!” Old Master Ji said happily from the bottom of his heart.

“Who knows if his life will really be good? I think he’s just born with a poor fate. As long as he can add a little reputation for our Mei’er, that’s enough. Don’t keep helping him anymore! Let him fend for himself!” Old Madam Ji actually said this—did she really still not think highly of Ji Yi?

Old Master Ji immediately became unhappy and shouted, “Who says our Yi has a poor fate? He’s clearly a naturally noble person! Don’t you remember what clothes he was wearing when we first met him back then? I think it’s us who have wronged him! We didn’t let him live a good life and instead made him suffer all these years with us!”

But as he said this, Old Master Ji slowly let out a sigh and added, “Well, it’s good now. The moment he left our family, he immediately began to prosper. Turns out we were the ones dragging him down.”