Chapter 484 — A Mighty Mother-in-Law
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
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.