Zhao Yunzheng immediately tried to force open his heavy eyelids.
Unfortunately, things did not go as he hoped.
No matter how hard he struggled, his eyelids remained unbearably heavy and refused to open.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yu paid no attention to him.
She went to the bedside, pulled out the bag containing the nutritional supplements and medicine, and took out the bankbook hidden inside.
Plans really never kept up with reality.
She had only been thinking about hiding it from the Zhao family and had completely forgotten about the Zhou family.
Zhou Dajun and Li Juying would not care about dignity or appearances. If they found another opportunity, they would definitely come demanding things from her again.
Keeping the bankbook here was becoming risky.
Zhou Yu looked around the room, searching for a safer hiding place.
After scanning the room several times, her gaze finally landed on the unconscious man lying on the bed.
The Zhao family looked down on him and would never think to search him.
The Zhou family only looked down on Zhou Yu for marrying a man who was effectively a living widower, so they would never think to search him either.
“Brother Zhao, forgive me for this!”
The moment Zhao Yunzheng heard those words, his heart jumped.
Don’t tell me Zhou Yu is actually going to take advantage of me this time?!
What am I supposed to do…
I can’t move or speak…
Suddenly, Zhao Yunzheng felt himself being propped up.
The person beside him quickly stripped off his shirt.
Zhou Yu hesitated.
She had considered hiding the bankbook lower down, but the thought made her uncomfortable.
In the end, she thought:
“I’ll hide it higher up instead. I’ll sew a pocket inside Brother Zhao’s undershirt and put the bankbook in there. That way it won’t fall out. When I need the bankbook, I’ll just remove the undershirt and take it out.”
Zhao Yunzheng: “…”
“I really am smart.”
After laying him back down, Zhou Yu found a needle and thread and got to work.
For some reason, Zhao Yunzheng felt both disappointed and strangely choked up.
It felt as though a lump had formed in his chest, making it hard to breathe.
Before he could remain conscious for long, his awareness sank away once more.
While Zhou Yu calmly hid her bankbook, Li Juying and Zhou Rulan practically walked home under the strange looks of the entire village.
Before they even reached their front door, Zhou Rulan burst into tears.
Coincidentally, Zhou Dajun had returned home because he was still thinking about all the good things Zhou Yu supposedly had.
Instead, he found Zhou Rulan crying.
“What happened? Who bullied Rulan?”
“Who else could it be? Zhou Yu! Dad, you have no idea how outrageous Zhou Yu was!”
Zhou Rulan tearfully complained.
Li Juying added angrily,
“That ungrateful little bitch even hit me, her own mother! If I’d known she would turn out like this, after finding Rulan we should never have let her stay in our house or given her food. We should have thrown her out!”
After hearing everything, Zhou Dajun became furious.
He immediately wanted to march over to the Zhao family and settle the score.
“Dad, what are you going for?” Zhou Rulan stamped her foot. “Mom and I have already embarrassed ourselves enough. If you go too, what will the villagers think of us?”
Zhou Dajun’s heart ached.
If they just let it go, wouldn’t all those good things end up in Zhou Yu’s stomach?
Those things should have belonged to the Zhou family!
Wait.
Suddenly, Zhou Dajun remembered the most important issue.
“Is what Zhou Yu said true? The remittance slip the Zhao family lost was really meant to pay your bride price? And now that it’s gone, Zhao Ziming is delaying things because he can’t afford the bride price and wants us to lower our demands?”
Both Zhou Rulan and Li Juying felt their hearts skip a beat.
They immediately forgot about being angry at Zhou Yu.
“That’s impossible! Ziming promised me everything!”
Li Juying, however, looked worried.
“Rulan, maybe you should ask Zhao Ziming again. Zhou Yu lives in the Zhao household. Maybe she overheard something.”
“That’s right,” Zhou Dajun said seriously. “If the Zhao family can’t produce the bride price, then the fat sheep that’s practically in our mouths will fly away. You need to pressure Zhao Ziming.”
After thinking about it, Zhou Rulan nodded.
“Fine. I’ll go find Ziming again!”
No matter what, she was determined to marry into the Zhao family in grand style and make Zhou Yu—who had married into a hopeless situation and even brought things into the marriage herself—green with envy.
She immediately asked Zhou Dajun for money to ride an ox cart into the county town.
Unexpectedly, her luck was good.
At the village entrance, she happened to run into Zhao Ziming returning home.
“Ziming!”
She immediately rushed over.
Zhao Ziming had his head lowered, his expression dark and irritated, and did not notice her at first.
He had gone to the county town hoping to ask the postal office whether the mail carrier could return sooner, only to be told it was impossible.
He had also looked for a job that could earn money quickly in a short time but found nothing suitable.
There were opportunities, but none through legitimate channels, and all carried considerable risk.
As he was pondering what to do, someone suddenly blocked his path.
Annoyed, he looked up.
To his surprise, it was the woman he loved, her eyes red from crying.
“Rulan! What happened? Who bullied you?”
Zhao Ziming immediately became concerned.
Not wanting the villagers to witness the conversation and laugh at her, Zhou Rulan pulled him aside.
The first thing she asked about was the remittance slip.
“Ziming, tell me honestly. Were you lying to me? Was the remittance slip your bride-price money all along? Is that why you still haven’t brought the bride price to my family?”
Zhao Ziming’s expression changed.
“Why would you think that?”
Zhou Rulan did not dare admit she had gone to Zhou Yu’s house trying to take her things.
She was afraid it would damage her image in Zhao Ziming’s eyes.
Instead, she wiped her tears and said pitifully,
“Because the villagers are laughing at me. They’re saying I won’t be able to marry into your family and that you don’t have the money to marry me anymore.”
Zhao Ziming’s face immediately darkened.
Why were the villagers such gossips?
“Ziming, is it true?” Zhou Rulan pressed.
Of course Zhao Ziming would never admit it.
Vaguely, he replied,
“Of course not. I’ve almost finished preparing the bride price. I’ll come to your house in a couple of days.”
“But our wedding banquet is at the end of the month. Can’t you bring the bride price tomorrow? If you wait any longer, my parents won’t have enough time to prepare for the banquet.”
A troubled expression appeared on Zhao Ziming’s face.
Seeing this, Zhou Rulan’s eyes darted around before she stamped her foot angrily.
“You don’t know how awful the villagers have been talking about me! If you can’t come tomorrow, I’ll be too embarrassed to leave the house. I might as well not marry you at all!”
“How can that be!”
Zhao Ziming panicked.
He could only say,
“Rulan, I’ll bring the bride price to your family the day after tomorrow. I’ll also have my parents come discuss the banquet arrangements. As for tomorrow, it’s simply too rushed. My parents need time to prepare too, don’t they?”
Zhou Rulan only wanted a definite answer.
The day after tomorrow was acceptable.
She nodded, smiled through her tears, and held Zhao Ziming’s hand while acting spoiled.
“I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me. You must make everything grand and impressive so all those villagers will shut up.”
Especially Zhou Yu.
She wanted Zhou Yu to have no choice but to envy her.
Naturally, Zhao Ziming nodded.
The two of them chatted sweetly for a while before finally heading home separately.
Once the sweet moments ended, Zhao Ziming was left with nothing but a headache.
But since he had made the promise, he could not go back on it.
If he wanted to gather a large sum of money for the bride price and wedding banquet in such a short time, there was only one option left.
He would have to take a risk.
Gritting his teeth, Zhao Ziming made up his mind.
He would go all in.
After returning home, he went straight into Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei’s room and searched for their bankbook.
When he found it and checked the balance, there was only a little over one hundred yuan left.
So be it.
That would still be enough.
He tucked the bankbook into his pocket and walked out.
Zhou Yu, who had heard the commotion from elsewhere in the house, happened to see him hurrying out.
“What were you doing in Dad and Mom’s room?”
she asked sharply, her instincts immediately putting her on alert.