Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 454 Handwriting_1

Chapter 454: Chapter 454 Handwriting_1

"Sister-in-law, don’t say we’re bullying you. It was written clear as day, in black and white. This is an I.O.U. penned by my own brother, and it even bears his thumbprint; everyone can take a look!"

As the man spoke, he shakily took out an I.O.U. from his pocket, gritting his teeth in pain even as he talked.

"Old Madam, please take a look, don’t wrong us..."

Seeing her husband produce the evidence, the woman hurriedly passed over the I.O.U. with a fawning smile.

Mother Lin’s brows furrowed as she glanced at Qiuju on the ground before accepting the I.O.U. from her.

Shen Zhiyu was a smart child. She had Xiaomi take the little girl behind the guard before rushing to her grandmother’s side.

"Granny, let me have a look."

"Alright."

Mother Lin couldn’t recognize many characters, but she knew what an I.O.U. should look like.

When she and Father Lin had just married, times were also tough, and they hadn’t borrowed money infrequently; it was only later that they managed to slowly pay it all back.

Furthermore, I.O.U.s were usually written on special paper, precisely to prevent deliberate destruction.

Holding the paper, it certainly didn’t seem amiss, but who knew whether there was any foul play with the handwriting?

After all, if the I.O.U. they held was legitimate, why would they need to go through such lengths to seize property?

Qiuju watched as Shen Zhiyu carefully examined the I.O.U., and couldn’t help but feel a chill in her heart.

Could this I.O.U. really have been written by her husband?

Last year, at the beginning of the year, their daughter had fallen ill, and pouring their silver coins into treatment hadn’t made a dent. Just as the medicine was about to run out, her husband left for an entire day and night before returning with more.

"Qiuju, don’t say we’re taking advantage of you. When your Wenwen was sick last year, it was us tightening our belts to scrape together a tael of silver to lend to you.

If it weren’t for us, your Wenwen would have been long gone!

Later, seeing that you were having a hard time, my poor brother-in-law even...

If it weren’t for the fact that we can barely make ends meet now, we wouldn’t have come looking for you."

The woman’s voice held a tinge of sorrow as she pretended to dab at nonexistent tears, and some of the onlooking crowd nodded in agreement.

Although their behavior was somewhat excessive, since they held an I.O.U., no matter how you looked at it, they seemed to have the upper hand in reason.

"Qiuju, why not just let it be?" a neighbor suggested, and the woman nodded eagerly in agreement.

Mother Lin’s eyelid twitched, but she said nothing.

Seeing that she hadn’t spoken, the woman grew anxious. With the I.O.U. already being shown, why did the old madam still frown there?

"Old Madam..."

She tried to move closer, growing impatient, but was barred by the guard in front of Mother Lin. Seeing the sword on their person, although she had ideas, she could only stand there with a forced smile.

"As for, what exactly?" Mother Lin saw her grandson withdraw his gaze, knowing he understood, and it was then she inquired.

"The I.O.U. states clearly that on the sixth day of the second month last year, Tian Fu borrowed one tael of silver from Tian Heng. There’s a signature and a thumbprint below."

After Shen Zhiyu finished speaking, he glanced at Qiuju, whose face had turned pale, before taking the I.O.U. from her.

"Take a look and see if this handwriting belongs to your husband."

The small boy, with a face as cold as white jade, held the quivering I.O.U., the bright red thumbprint on it almost dazzling to the eye.

After a moment of silence, Qiuju finally said with a choke in her voice, "Yes, it’s my husband’s handwriting."

"Then that settles it."

Shen Zhiyu nodded, not looking at her again, and returned with the I.O.U. in hand.

"Old Madam, Young Master, now that this misunderstanding has been cleared, we, husband and wife, won’t put them through more difficulties; we won’t take the silver, just the bag of grain will do,"

The woman chuckled, stretching out her hand to point at the sack of grain on the ground.

Wrapped in Lin’s mother’s cloak, Wenwen saw her own mother crying so sadly that the tears she had just stopped started falling again, pitter-patter.

"Mother!"

The little girl wanted to throw off the cloak and rush over, but fortunately, Xiaomi was quick and wrapped the little child up in an instant.

"Wu wu wu, Mother—Mother—"

"Don’t cry anymore, you’ll catch a cold and get a stomachache. Your mother is already sad; if you fall ill, she will be even more upset,"

Xiaomi wrapped the little girl tightly in the cloak, leaving only her small, palm-sized face exposed.

The little girl, timid by nature, was already scared as she was being held by a stranger. Now that he said this, she naturally hiccupped and stopped crying, only daring to sniffle quietly.

"Wenwen, be good, Mommy, Mommy is okay,"

Qiuju wiped her tears and forced a smile.

But the sourness in her heart surged up, and the tears streamed down without restraint.

Over the years since she married Tian Heng, they first repaid debts for three years. It had been hard, but life was starting to get better when her in-laws fell ill one after another. What should have been the responsibility of both branches of the family ultimately fell solely on them. By then, all the silver in the house had been spent on the elders’ funerals, leaving them only with two plots of wasteland outside the city and a pile of broken crockery. Even the small courtyard had been taken by her brother-in-law.

Back then, her husband had only said that things would get better; they struggled to raise Wenwen. And the result?

Her husband died in a fall from a cliff, leaving her and her daughter alone in this world, unsupported. They had managed to save up some silver to buy enough grain to survive, only to have it snatched away by the sudden appearance of this debt note.

"Qiuju, did you know about your husband borrowing the silver?"

Lin’s mother looked at Qiuju and asked in a grave voice.

"Elder Madam, I... I did not know," Qiuju answered truthfully.

"Then, do you think there’s a problem with this debt note?"

Lin’s mother continued to press.

Hearing her question this way, the Tian Family’s main branch would not stand for it.

Tian Fu protested loudly, "Old Madam, aren’t you showing favoritism? The debt is written clearly in black and white; can she pretend it doesn’t exist simply by claiming ignorance?

You cannot do this!"

"Yes, even if she didn’t know, her husband borrowed the silver and wrote the debt note. We can’t just let it go..."

"Exactly, exactly."

The surrounding people whispered among themselves.

"Old Madam, I recognize the handwriting; it is indeed my husband’s, but he has always treated me well, and he would discuss everything with me. Such a thing could never happen,"

As Qiuju spoke, she knelt and bowed several times, looking very reluctant, and the onlookers frowned without further comment.

Who isn’t struggling these days?

A widow and orphan, their lives are difficult enough, and then to suddenly be saddled with a debt—who could bear it?

"Old Madam, as she said, the handwriting on that debt note is indeed that of my brother-in-law. Since that’s the case, we don’t wish to trouble everyone anymore. We know they’re having a hard time, so we don’t want any extra silver, just this bag of grain will suffice,"

The woman rubbed her hands together and said.

"Granny, there’s a problem with this debt note."

Just when everyone thought the matter was settled, Shen Zhiyu suddenly spoke up.

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