Chapter 221: Going Out to Steal a Chicken Only to Lose the Bait
The tenants regretted their words and tried to snatch back the lease agreements.
But Old Chen, the butler, gripped the documents tightly and let his sixty-to-seventy-year-old body collapse tremulously onto the ground. “They’re hitting someone!”
Terrified, the tenants instantly scrambled back.
Standing behind Xu Shaoyin, the wet nurse felt an immense sense of gratification!
Just moments ago, her heart had been aching at the thought of the young miss breaking the leases early and having to pay them a penalty.
The rent for these courtyards had been set low to begin with when they were leased out; if they had to pay out a few months’ worth of penalties on top of that, it would practically amount to letting these people stay for free!
But right now, Fan Shishi, Sister-in-law Cen, and the others were inside the house. Every one of them had a pitiful background; who could truly be heartless enough to drive them back to their original homes?
Just as she was agonizing over the penalty fee, the tenants had arrived on their own, proactively stating they wanted to break the lease.
Seeing this, the wet nurse hurriedly shouted to the passersby and street neighbors walking past the gate: “Oh my goodness, everyone, come look at this! Our young miss just sued that black-hearted manager of Feiyue Pavilion in court, punishing the wicked and clearing our Xiqiao County’s reputation, yet now her tenants have barged to her door! They claim our miss has a bad reputation and are forcing their way out of the lease!”
The wet nurse gave the tenants no opportunity to take back their words, blurting everything out in a single breath: “Our young miss compromised for the sake of peace and agreed to their request to break the lease, but they actually refuse to pay the penalty fee! They even claim that our miss is being unreasonable for asking for the breach-of-contract money!”
Hearing that there was a spectacle to watch, the passersby hurriedly squeezed over. “Really?”
“Aiyoo, this truly is that extraordinary girl who brought that massive lawsuit against Feiyue Pavilion yesterday!”
“Exactly! What, is someone badmouthing this girl?”
The passersby were filled with curiosity.
But the neighbors’ attitudes were far more complex than those of the passersby.
The woman who had splashed dirty water at Xu Shaoyin’s feet a couple of days ago naturally disliked Xu Shaoyin in her heart. However, now that they lived in the same alley, if she joined in to say that Xu Shaoyin exposing her arms to verify her injuries in public was indecent, and that her reputation was ruined—thereby letting the tenants break the lease without paying the penalty fee—wouldn’t the first household to be affected be her own next door?
Divided by only a single wall, if Xu Shaoyin’s tenants could break the lease without paying a single coin on the grounds of Xu Shaoyin’s bad reputation, it probably wouldn’t take a single day for her own tenants to follow suit.
The woman quickly chimed in, saying, “You people are truly being utterly unreasonable! Miss Xu threw away her own pure reputation yesterday to rescue so many women forced into prostitution, as well as innocent citizens who were beaten, scolded, and trapped into high-interest debts. She is a person of great righteousness!”
“Instead of taking pride in it, you choose this moment to use this matter to humiliate Miss Xu, saying you want to break the lease. You really have no conscience and no morals!”
The woman spoke with righteous fervor: “If you want to argue, go argue at the magistrate’s office! See how the magistrate treats Miss Xu!”
The other surrounding neighbors also realized what was happening.
If Xu Shaoyin were defined as someone with a ruined reputation, it wouldn’t benefit their alley either.
But if Xu Shaoyin were an extraordinary girl who sacrificed herself for others, then their alley would share in the glory.
Everyone hurriedly joined in, saying, “Exactly! Do you have any sense of reason! Miss Xu is so kind and righteous, yet you actually want to cheat her out of her rent!”
“Precisely, precisely. When we see Miss Xu, we can’t praise her enough. Why would we ever back out of her house!”
“Our alley has always had an excellent local character—honest, simple, and kind. You people are truly disgracing us!”
Everyone gave them a thorough piece of their minds, leaving several of the tenants red-faced.
A tenant took the opportunity to back down: “Everyone is right, it’s our fault. Then we won’t break it…”
“No!”
Xu Shaoyin covered her face with her long sleeve, appearing on the verge of tears. “Though I was forced by circumstance to become a dancing girl for the sake of justice, I am upright and honorable, with nothing on my conscience. For you to point at my nose and scold me today, claiming my house is filthy, is already a humiliation…”
“Though I dare not call myself a righteous warrior, some who escaped the torment of Feiyue Pavilion have come to offer their thanks. Yet you twist black and white, ignoring our plight and focusing only on our flaws to berate us to our faces. It truly chills the heart.”
Xu Shaoyin curtsied to thank the passersby and neighbors who had spoken up for her. “Only because our neighbors have spoken up for me do you now claim you won’t back out. But on another day, if you twist black and white again, barging into my home to point fingers and claim that when you came to break the lease that day, I aggressively coerced you and wouldn’t permit you to leave—just as you defame me as a courtesan today, you would defame me as a black-hearted, harsh landlord tomorrow. How would I clear my name then?”
Xu Shaoyin wept, looking as delicate as a pear blossom bathed in rain. “If I cannot afford to provoke you, can I not at least hide from you? Since you are all older than me, I shall address you as uncles…”
“I dare not oppose your wishes, uncles. Since you insist on breaking the lease, then let us break it!”
“If you adamantly refuse to give three months’ rent as a penalty, then two months is also acceptable… I beg of you, give this young woman a way to survive!”
Xu Shaoyin wept so tragically and fragrantly that the passersby couldn’t help but feel a wave of pity.
One after another, they began to berate the tenants.
And when the neighbors heard this—what? The other side was being so aggressive that three months’ worth of penalties had suddenly dropped to two months? Wouldn’t that be harming everyone’s property values by extension?
As a result, they began to criticize the tenants even more loudly.
The tenants froze on the spot, turning the events over and over in their minds. No matter how much they thought about it, they couldn’t understand: they had originally barged to her door to threaten Xu Shaoyin into lowering the rent, so how had it turned into a situation where they absolutely must break the lease?
And hadn’t they already backed down later? They had said they didn’t want to break the lease anymore, so how had it shifted back to them coercing Xu Shaoyin, claiming they wanted to leave but didn’t want to pay the penalty?
One of the tenants hurriedly said, “We didn’t say we didn’t want to pay the penalty! We didn’t say we wanted to lower the penalty fee!”
The wet nurse cried out loudly, “Oh, my child! Thank goodness you still have a modicum of conscience, actually willing to say there is no need to lower the penalty fee and that you will pay according to the full three months! Thank you so much, come pay the money now, and from then on we shall be quits.”
Tenants: ???
“Eh? No, when did I say I would give three months’ penalty!”
The wet nurse’s face flipped instantly. “You said you would give it in your last sentence, and now you won’t give it in this sentence? You truly change your face as fast as flipping pages in a book—what a brazenly shameless, despicable scoundrel!”
The neighbors all owned properties in the marketplace; how could they tolerate such a fickle, untrustworthy person?
Besides, putting aside what came before, everyone had plainly and clearly heard the tenants say they didn’t want to lower the penalty fee.
“You just said you would pay the penalty fee in full! And now you’re going back on your word again!”
“Sure enough, Miss Xu was right. If we don’t make you scoundrels break the lease and pay the penalty today, you’ll probably change your tune tomorrow—no! By this afternoon, you’ll claim that we were the ones who refused to let you break it!”
The neighbors hurriedly ran off to fetch the neighborhood warden.
The tenants were completely unable to defend themselves: “We didn’t say we wanted to break the lease!”
“Look, look! They’re changing their tune again! If you didn’t want to break the lease, why did you barge to her door so aggressively?”
Tenants: “…”
It seemed there were only two options left: despicable, or even more despicable.
Ultimately, the neighborhood warden arrived and settled the matter: “Since you were the ones who proposed breaking the lease and the landlord has agreed, things must be handled according to the regulations. You will pay three months’ rent and move out immediately.”
The tenants were speechless. Not daring to argue with the warden, they could only sign the termination papers with tears in their eyes, affixing their fingerprints and paying the money.
Seeing this, the passersby and neighbors spat once more: “Truly despicable scoundrels! Now that it’s really been broken for them, they’re crying as if we forced them!”
Tenants: “…”
This time, they had truly gone out to steal a chicken only to lose the bait.
Their cheap housing was gone, and they had even lost three months’ worth of rent. Because they had initiated it and barged in to cause trouble, the warden ordered them to move out immediately.
Consequently, they would have to spend another massive sum of silver to rent a temporary place or stay at an inn…
