Chapter 484 — A Mighty Mother-in-Law

If only Wei Zhao hadn't broken up with his sister and were instead his brother-in-law! Then he'd have basked in the man's glory too, and lived the high life for real! But why had he gone and broken up with her?

What was wrong with his sister? Beautiful, sweet-natured -- one in ten thousand, easily. Was Wei Zhao blind? Still, Xiaowei knew that a man as formidable as Wei Zhao certainly had no shortage of women at his side; whatever edge his sister had no longer counted for much...

Mother Tang, meanwhile, was beside herself with excitement, and regret gnawed at her too. If only Wei Zhao hadn't broken up with Tang Zhi! With a son-in-law that formidable, who would dare cross their family? Boss Zou, a man of such wealth, had slapped his own face the moment he heard Wei Zhao's name. It was thrilling!

"Hmph! My son-in-law says if you ever trouble my nephew again, he'll teach you a lesson!" Mother Tang planted her hands on her hips, and somehow the words just tumbled out.

Tang Zhi shot her mother a reproachful look. Son-in-law? That was ancient history now. But she couldn't correct her at this point -- she couldn't let Zou Tiandi find out, could she?

So there was nothing for it but to let her mother prattle on.

"Wouldn't dare, wouldn't dare!" Zou Tiandi said hastily. "So it's Auntie! Forgive my rudeness. I'll keep myself strictly in line and never stir up trouble again!"

"What about that hundred and fifty thousand I gave you earlier?" Mother Tang demanded with a sniff. That a man of Zou Tiandi's age should call her Auntie gave her an immense sense of achievement! He was probably older than she was, wasn't he? Yet he'd lowered himself a generation -- when had she ever been treated like this? She was delighted beyond measure.

The moment Tang Zhi heard her mother's disastrous words, she knew it spelled trouble. Wasn't this exactly what would make Zou Tiandi suspicious? If she'd known he was Zou Tiandi, she never would have given him that hundred and fifty thousand -- and yet she had given it to him beforehand...

At that thought, Tang Zhi hurried to say: "Mom, Wei Zhao said the hundred and fifty thousand was owed by Xiaowei in the first place, so just let him have it."

To keep up the act, Tang Zhi had no choice but to tell a lie; otherwise there'd be no patching this up.

Mother Tang was rather reluctant, though. She could plainly have used Wei Zhao's name to demand that hundred and fifty thousand back -- why wouldn't her daughter take it?

"Yes, yes, that hundred and fifty thousand -- I'll return it at once! At once!" How could Zou Tiandi be thinking of anything else at this moment? It was Tang Zhi who was overthinking; and the more she said, the less suspicious Zou Tiandi became! After all, that was just Wei Zhao's nature -- over trifles like this he couldn't be bothered to go looking for trouble, and so long as no bottom line was crossed, things were generally fine.

But though Tang Zhi had said Wei Zhao didn't want the hundred and fifty thousand, Mother Tang had spoken up, and Zou Tiandi truly didn't dare not return it! If Wei Zhao's mother-in-law got upset and, once home, let slip a few bad words about him, wouldn't Wei Zhao tear him limb from limb? Zou Tiandi thought to himself that it would be a crying injustice to lose his life over a trifle like this!

So whether Tang Zhi wanted it or not, he would simply give the money to Mother Tang, to stop her mouth -- and better yet, get her to put in a good word for him, so that Wei Zhao would give up looking for trouble with him for good! With that in mind, Zou Tiandi scrambled back up the stairs.

Tang Zhi glared at her mother in exasperation, but Mother Tang didn't care in the least. If money could be had, so what if they borrowed Wei Zhao's name for a bit?

Xiaowei and Xiaodan were utterly shaken as well! Just how formidable was Wei Zhao, to frighten Zou Tiandi into this sorry state? In their understanding, Zou Tiandi was the pinnacle of power -- rich and influential, at home in both the lawful and the lawless worlds, and his eldest son Zou Ruoguang was the gang boss of the North District. With a status like that, he was a lord of Songshan City!

And yet Wei Zhao hadn't even shown up -- only his sister had come -- and the man was scared witless. If Wei Zhao did come, would Zou Tiandi be on his knees knocking his head on the floor?

Still, for all their questions, Xiaowei and Xiaodan didn't dare speak. They were afraid of ruining things, so they'd have to save their questions for when they got home that night.

Before long, Zou Tiandi came back down from upstairs. Perhaps because he was in such a hurry, his foot slipped on the stairs and he came tumbling down, sliding all the way to the bottom like a child on a playground slide. But Zou Tiandi paid no heed to the pain in his backside; he thrust a bag into Mother Tang's hands: "Auntie, this is for you..."

"Didn't you say you didn't want it?" Seeing Zou Tiandi bring the money down, Tang Zhi found it awkward to insist, so she merely said her piece without really stopping him. She knew stopping him was useless -- once the money was in her mother's hands, there was no hoping it would ever go back.

Mother Tang took the bag, beaming from ear to ear, and opened it right there on the sofa to count the money. Tang Zhi was speechless. Zou Tiandi was already in this state -- of course he wouldn't dare shortchange them. And yet you're counting it right in front of him, like someone who's never seen money before. Isn't that a disgrace?

Tang Zhi stamped her foot in anger but couldn't say anything. Her expression, however, did not escape Zou Tiandi's notice. Mother Tang counting the money didn't bother him; he knew the Tang family's background well enough -- an ordinary poor household in the shantytown, so it was only natural that Mother Tang's eyes lit up at the sight of money.

And Tang Zhi stamping her foot seemed nothing much to Zou Tiandi either. She was with Wei Zhao now -- wouldn't money be plentiful? So she probably didn't care about this sum at all.

"Eh? How come there's fifty thousand extra?" Mother Tang counted the money in the bag and found it not only didn't fall short but had fifty thousand more than expected. She was astonished.

"Auntie, this hundred and fifty thousand has been sitting with me for so long, of course I have to pay interest! Consider this fifty thousand as the interest!" Zou Tiandi said hurriedly. He was counting on Wei Zhao's mother-in-law to put in a good word for him, and he had seen Tang's mother's weakness clearly enough: she was greedy for money!

This extra fifty thousand was meant to curry favor with Tang's mother, and Zou Tiandi was confident she would no longer hold a grudge against him -- she might even praise him for it!

Sure enough, after hearing Zou Tiandi's words, the smile on Tang's mother's face grew even broader. "Not bad. You're quite a smooth operator, young man!"

Beaming with delight, Tang's mother stuffed the money back into the bag, then said to Tang Zhi, "Yun'er, shall we go? We shouldn't disturb Boss Zou's rest any longer!"

"Wait, Mr. Zou, write me a note stating that you won't trouble my brother and Xiaodan anymore!" Tang Zhi, however, had not forgotten this important matter. A written note was essential -- otherwise, what if Zou Tiandi went back on his word later?

"No problem!" Zou Tiandi thought to himself, Would I still dare trouble your brother? I have no death wish these days -- I'm not looking to kill myself! But aloud, he agreed without a moment's hesitation.