Chapter 174 Settling Accounts

Lu Xiaohui's heart skipped a beat, but she forced a smile: "You're overthinking it, aren't you? The Liu family would give me such an important formula? If I had it, our family would be rich by now, why would we need to beg them?"

Lu Huaiyuan sneered, "Yeah, I don't understand either. You clearly had the formula, so why didn't you share it? You traitor who betrayed your own side!"

Lu Jianping rushed forward and slapped Lu Xiaohui hard, knocking her to the ground.

"You bitch! If you hadn't tipped them off, that jar of pickled vegetables from the Liu family would have poisoned someone long ago, and they would be the ones in jail! You must have betrayed them, letting them put on a show and shift the blame onto the Yang family!"

Lu Xiaohui covered her face and cried bitterly, "I didn't! Dad, don't listen to those people trying to stir things up!"

Lu Jianping ignored him completely, reaching out and shouting angrily, "Give it to me!"

"What?"

"Your wages for working at the Liu family's house!"

"Didn't I give it all to you?"

Lu Jianping was furious and kicked her in the stomach.

Lu Xiaohui curled up in pain, coughing violently: "Dad! Cough cough... Why did you hit me?"

"I'll beat you to death, you ungrateful wretch! The money you gave to your family was from the brigade! What about the Liu family? They haven't seen a single penny! What kind of deal did you make with them? Helping them spy on us? Did they give you even more benefits?"

Lu Huaiyuan chuckled sinisterly, "Sister, stop pretending. Dad already knows you went to the brigade to get a letter of introduction. If you want to leave, then give back all the wages you owe the Liu family!"

Gu Mansheng snatched Lu Xiaohui's luggage and frantically searched through it, throwing the junk inside all over the floor, but couldn't find a single coin.

"Father, it seems that slut has deposited her money with the Liu family, planning to withdraw it before she leaves! She's got quite the cunning!"

Lu Xiaohui stared at Gu Mansheng in disbelief. Gu Mansheng had been beaten quite a bit these past few days, and now, in order to please the Lu family father and son, they were actually going to kill her?

Gu Mansheng saw through her thoughts, raised her foot and kicked her hard, her smile sinister.

"You're right. If you want to get beaten less, you have to help this family earn money. Sister, if you know what's good for you, hand over the money quickly, lest you anger Dad and he really sells you!"

Seeing Gu Mansheng's gloating face, Lu Xiaohui felt a chill run down her spine.

She knew that the family was already considering selling her.

If we continue to hold onto this money, not only will we lose our lives, but sooner or later they will also try to rob the Liu family of the money.

"Okay, I'll give it to you."

Lu Xiaohui's voice was calm and without any emotion, as if she had resigned herself to her fate.

Lu Jianping and his two companions wore triumphant grins.

Lu Huaiyuan grabbed her and pulled her up: "Let's go! Let's go to the Liu family and demand money!"

Lu Xiaohui haphazardly stuffed her luggage into her bag and was taken to the Liu family.

Zhang Xiuying and Liu Zhixia were waiting for Lu Xiaohui to pay the bill when they saw her being carried over by Lu Huaiyuan like a chick, looking disheveled. They immediately realized that she had been exposed.

Seeing Gu Mansheng's smug expression, Liu Zhixia's eyes darkened.

What do you want?

Lu Huaiyuan roughly threw Lu Xiaohui to the ground and roared, "Liu Zhixia! My sister has worked for you for so long, where is her pay? Did you embezzle it?!"

Upon hearing this, the villagers who were working gathered around.

"What nonsense are you talking about?! The Liu family never owes wages! They're always very prompt in settling accounts!"

"That's right! Stop making baseless accusations, you murderers!"

Lu Jianping sneered: "The Yang family died from eating the Liu family's pickled vegetables. They are the real murderers!"

Zhang Xiuying immediately retorted: "Pickled vegetables can kill people? Who doesn't know that the poison was given by your Lu family? Do you really think you're clean just because someone took the blame?"

Liu Zhixia looked at Lu Jianping with disdain: "Captain Lu is really getting worse as he gets older. He actually relies on exploiting his daughter to support the whole family. Two grown men with hands and feet do nothing but rely on their married daughter to earn money. Aren't they ashamed!"

Lu Jianping, enraged and humiliated, retorted: "Who do you think you are? How dare you lecture me? Hand over the wages you owe my daughter right now!"

Zhang Xiuying glanced at Lu Xiaohui, whose face was filled with despair, and understood.

If this money is handed over, the Lu family father and son will definitely rob it clean, and Lu Xiaohui won't get a single penny.

Her eyes darted around, and she called out to Liu Zhixia, "Girl, bring a stool! Let's settle this score with the Lu family!"

The quick-witted villagers nearby had already handed over a stool and an abacus.

Zhang Xiuying clicked the abacus away: "Lu Xiaohui has indeed worked for us for a long time, but her wages have never been paid."

Lu Jianping shouted triumphantly to those around him, "Did you hear that? She admitted it herself! Hurry up and give her the money!"

Zhang Xiuying said unhurriedly, "That was her own request. She was afraid that some idle people would squander the money, so she specially deposited it with me."

The people around them looked at Lu Jianping and his son with even more disdain.

Especially Lu Huaiyuan, a perfectly healthy man, who is lazy and gluttonous all day long and relies entirely on women to support him, is truly shameful!

Zhang Xiuying continued calculating: "Lu Xiaohui came here as an apprentice, so her tuition fee has to be deducted. She broke five plates during this time, and two while washing jars..."

Liu Zhixia instantly understood her mother's intention and immediately added insult to injury: "Last time you spilled a whole pot of prepared seasonings, that's a secret recipe, it's very expensive!"

Zhang Xiuying feigned surprise: "Really? Then you have to write that down!"

The villagers watching the commotion understood immediately and chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes! Last time we asked her to move a jar, and she smashed a whole jar of pickled vegetables! I saw it!"

Zhang Xiuying exclaimed in anguish: "A whole jar? That's outrageous!"

She suddenly looked up, pointed at Lu Jianping, and yelled, "Your daughter begged to come and work, but all she does is smash plates and destroy jars! Did you deliberately instigate her to come and cause trouble?!"

Lu Jianping was stunned by the scolding and was about to retort when Zhang Xiuying pushed the abacus towards him: "I've figured it out! After deducting the compensation for the damaged items, there's still one yuan and fifty cents left in wages. I'll be generous and give you two yuan! Take it and get out of here!"

Lu Huaiyuan laughed in anger: "Aunt Zhang, even capitalists aren't as ruthless as you! Do you think we're fools? We've worked so hard, and you only give us two yuan to get rid of us?"

Zhang Xiuying retorted, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten. Doesn't your family have a capitalist in the family? Compared to your family in terms of exploitation, we would gladly admit defeat. If something is broken, shouldn't we pay for it? Should I even have to pay extra wages? Who is the real capitalist who eats people alive?"

Lu Huaiyuan was speechless, his face turning red and his neck bulging. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to charge forward: "Enough nonsense! If you don't pay me today, I'll smash up this lousy workshop!"

"You dare!"

Liu Xiangyang and several burly young men stood in front, holding shovels and glaring menacingly.

Seeing this, Lu Jianping knew that a direct confrontation wouldn't work, so he turned and pinched Lu Xiaohui hard: "You brat! Are you mute? Don't you know how much work you've done? You just stand by and watch these people bully your father?"

Lu Xiaohui watched the farce blankly, then suddenly sneered, "Dad, Aunt Zhang is right. I was indeed clumsy and broke quite a few things. Giving me two yuan is already more than enough."