The Farm Girl’s Charismatic Fortune
Chapter 203 - 199: A Kind Mother’s Debt, A Filial Son Repays

Chapter 203: Chapter 199: A Kind Mother’s Debt, A Filial Son Repays

Because the lion dance was truly spectacular, it attracted more and more onlookers.

Today, Mrs. Zhou went to Haotian Martial Arts Academy to pick up Zhang Ting and just happened to pass by. Zhang Ting loved to follow the crowd and was captivated by the lion dance being performed in mid-air. He said, "Mom, let’s watch too."

Her son was Mrs. Zhou’s pillar in her old age, and she complied with his every request. Thus, she got off the carriage and walked over.

The mother and son pushed their way through the crowd and squeezed to the front amid a chorus of curses.

Mrs. Zhou’s gaze immediately fell on Ruo Hai, the man holding up the lion’s head and dancing. She paused for a moment.

She had heard that Ruo Hai was no longer mad and thought it was a lie, but it turned out to be true. He was even out dancing with the lion to earn silver?

However, her heart filled with even greater relief, thankful that she had remarried back then. Otherwise, she would now be the wife of a lion dance master!

That would have been disgraceful, not to mention the lack of money.

She heard that lion dance troupes had to run from east to west, performing for wealthy families, often without a proper place to eat or sleep.

If she had stuck by him, she would have been like a widow.

Ruo Hai, holding the lion’s head, also caught a glimpse of Mrs. Zhou inadvertently. His eyes went cold, and he curled his lips into a disdainful smile. Then, with an indifferent shift of his gaze, he looked over to his son, worried that the boy might see Mrs. Zhou.

Ruo Zhou was being surrounded by his classmates, each pulling at him to talk, and he paid no attention to his surroundings.

Ruo Hai felt relieved.

Mrs. Zhou was stung by Ruo Hai’s mocking glance. Following his gaze, she also spotted Ruo Zhou and flew into a rage.

"Unfilial son!"

She didn’t dare vent her anger on Ruo Hai, but disciplining a son was a mother’s righteous duty!

Upon her words, Zhang Ting also looked over and saw Ruo Zhou dressed in Dengfeng Martial Arts Academy’s uniform, exceptional in temperament and stunningly handsome, surrounded by several classmates also from Dengfeng Academy, like stars surrounding the moon.

The mother and son’s similarly angry faces darkened in an instant!

Ruo Zhou was basking in glory at the expense of Zhang Ting’s reputation.

If it hadn’t been for Ruo Zhou’s sabotage, Zhang Ting would be the esteemed student of Dengfeng Martial Arts Academy, the one receiving such admiration, instead of being forced to settle for the neighboring Haotian Martial Arts Academy.

Although Haotian Martial Arts Academy was second only to Dengfeng Martial Arts Academy, and many of its martial arts masters were not a bit inferior to the masters from Dengfeng Martial Arts Academy.

But the tuition at Haotian Martial Arts Academy was expensive!

Very expensive, almost three to four times that of Dengfeng Academy!

Attending Haotian Martial Arts Academy for a year could cover three years at Dengfeng Martial Arts Academy, including everyday expenses.

Haotian Martial Arts Academy wasn’t run by the Imperial Court; all the masters were hired at high salaries, and when it opened, it had even poached many renowned masters from Dengfeng Martial Arts Academy with hefty sums.

The cost would, of course, be transferred to the students, resulting in frighteningly high tuition fees, affordable only to truly wealthy families.

Nowadays, Mrs. Zhou had to cut corners wherever she could.

After all, even though Zhang Feng was a Deputy General in the military, his monthly salary was just over a hundred taels.

The academy was not only expensive in terms of tuition; meals were also costly. Zhang Ting had to pay for his meals, give gifts to his masters, treat his classmates, and sometimes needed to buy medicinal wine for injuries sustained during training. With clothing getting torn during practice, he also had to make purchases, adding up to a minimum of fifty taels a month, and often much more.

Zhang Feng now only gave her ten taels of silver a month for household expenses, making life much harder.

In the city, everything required money, even basic necessities like firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. Ten taels of silver wasn’t enough to even dream of eating exotic delicacies.

If Zhang Ting had been at Dengfeng Martial Arts Academy, he could afford a feast of delicacies once a month, and even pricey supplements like bird’s nests or fish maw every now and then.

Now, she dared not even think of getting new clothes!

How could Mrs. Zhou not hate Ruo Zhou?

Seeing Ruo Zhou’s smug expression at this moment and being provoked by Ruo Hai’s scornful eyes as if she were some harlot, Mrs. Zhou got so angry she went up and slapped him across the face, "Unfilial child, you’ve harmed your brother, and now you’re pleased with yourself? Let me tell you, even if you’ve entered Dengfeng Martial Arts Academy, so what? Your father is just a lion dancer; don’t you ever dream of surpassing Brother Zhang Ting! In the future, Brother Zhang Ting will join the military; he will become a martial general while you, even with your status as a Dengfeng student, do you think you will see the day you rise to prominence? Stop dreaming; with a father who is a lion dancer, you are only fit to carry Brother Zhang Ting’s shoes!"

Ruo Zhou was chatting with his classmates, and since there were people all around, his guard was somewhat lowered, and he didn’t expect to be hit.

Stunned, he heard all of Mrs. Zhou’s words and his face darkened, "Auntie, who do you think you are? If you hit people at random, don’t blame me for being impolite!"

He didn’t hit women, so his fist swung towards Zhang Ting, who was following behind her.

This was a debt paid by the kind mother’s filial son!

Zhang Ting was knocked down with a single punch from Ruo Zhou, completely unable to resist.

The other spectators were so frightened they instantly stepped back more than a meter.

Mrs. Zhou saw Zhang Ting lying on the ground and was scared to death, squatting down and shaking him vigorously, "Brother Zhang Ting, Brother Zhang Ting, are you alright?"

Zhang Ting felt dizzy and couldn’t utter a word.

She glared at Ruo Zhou angrily and lunged at him, "Unfilial child, how dare you hurt Brother Zhang Ting, I will beat you to death!"

Ruo Zhou caught her hand in a grip that left her unable to move.

Mrs. Zhou felt like the bones in her wrist were shattered and she struggled vigorously, but couldn’t break free, "Unfilial child, you dare to hit your own mother, are you not afraid of being struck by lightning? Let go, or I will report you for filial piety!"

In Xuanyuan Country, the state governs with filial piety, and those who are unfilial are not allowed to participate in the civil and martial examinations and cannot hold office in the Imperial Court.

By threatening to report him, she was clearly trying to ruin Ruo Zhou’s future.

At this moment, the lion dance was nearly over, and Ruo Hai and his brothers cooperatively performed a spectacular move to conclude the dance.

Ruo Hai put down the lion’s head and hurried over.

Ruo Shui and his brothers also quickly put down the lion’s head and followed.

In their own territory, their big nephew was being bullied; how could they tolerate that?

Ruo Xuan was just getting into the excitement of watching and hadn’t paid attention to her surroundings; at the first sign of commotion, she also ran over immediately.

Xuanyuan Que followed closely, afraid that this flower would suffer a loss, although it seemed unlikely.

Ruo Xuan, using a Little Immortal Technique, huffed, "A son repays his mother’s debt. You hit my big brother, so what’s the problem with my big brother hitting your son? My brother doesn’t hit you only because he is a gentleman. Don’t think my family is easy to bully! You want to report to the officials? Go ahead, who’s afraid?"

Granny Lei rushed out, pulled Ruo Zhou’s hand away, and slapped Mrs. Zhou across the face, "It’s you I’m hitting! Who are you to hit my grandson? Get lost, make trouble again, and I’ll beat you to death!"

Ruo Hai also came to Mrs. Zhou, looking at her coldly, "Reporting to the officials is a great idea! I also want to report to the officials to see if abandoning a husband and child and then stealing from the ex-husband’s household, taking credit for others’ work, requires prison time."

Mrs. Zhou’s face changed color, her eyes dodging, "Bah, using numbers to bully the few, how does that make you a hero?"

After speaking, she grabbed the just-standing Zhang Ting, "Brother Zhang Ting, let’s go! Don’t bother with these vile characters."

With everyone’s strange looks upon her, Mrs. Zhou hurriedly pulled her son away.

Swearing under her breath, she climbed onto the carriage but didn’t expect to slip and fall, knocking her forehead and swelling it into a lump, her face swelling into a pig’s head.

Ruo Xuan snorted, continuing to curse, the Heavens were listening!

Ruo Shui glanced at the newly appointed shopkeeper of the bookstore.

The newly recruited shopkeeper of the store quickly came forward to speak.