The more outstanding Xia Chunmei was, the more jealous Xia Xiumei became.

"Don't wear your emotions on your sleeve," Xia Chenshi said to her daughter. "With Xia Chunmei earning so much money, things might change for the Fan family."

Fan Baowen's studies were very expensive. Tuition, food, lodging, and the cost of writing materials all added up to at least thirteen or fourteen taels of silver a year.

This is no small sum, and he will have to take the prefectural and provincial examinations in the future. If he passes the exams once, that's fine, but if he has to take them several times, the cost will double.

The Fan family could barely afford to send him to school, so if Xia Chunmei could earn money, the Fan family would break their contract again.

Even if Fan Baowen wanted to break the contract, would the rest of the Fan family agree?

Although Xia Chunmei is the eldest sister, she has younger sisters below her. When her younger sisters get married in a few years, they can receive a dowry. Since they have no parents, they don't have to worry about supporting their maternal family with the money they earn in the future.

As long as the man's family isn't mentally unstable, they wouldn't hesitate to marry a girl like that, especially since Xia Chunmei is quite good-looking.

"Mother, what should we do?" Xia Xiumei asked anxiously.

“Fan Baowen will definitely be back before the festival, so you should…” Xia Chenshi whispered to Xia Xiumei.

Xia Xiumei blushed deeply upon hearing this.

“Let me tell you, if you don’t do this, what if he changes his mind? Do this first, and I’ll handle Xia Chunmei after it’s done…”

The next day, another guest came to Xia Chunmei's house.

"Miss Xia, I heard you can make longevity peach buns. They not only taste good, but they also look very realistic. My family is from Zhangjia Village, and my mother's 66th birthday is the day after tomorrow. There will probably be about 50 tables, and we need to prepare 600 longevity peach buns. Do you have time?"

"I don't need to host a banquet."

"I've heard about Miss Xia's skills, but I've already promised someone else and can't go back on my word, so this time I can only ask Miss Xia to make longevity peach buns."

"Sure, but Aunt Luo, making longevity peach buns is my specialty, and this job requires getting up very early and kneading the dough is very tiring. The price for one table is five coins, but you need to pay a deposit of fifty coins first. This deposit will be deducted from the bill when we settle the bill after I finish the job. However, if you regret it and don't want to do it, I won't refund it."

“I understand. If you take my order, you can’t take other people’s orders, so it’s normal to collect a deposit.” Aunt Luo readily counted out fifty coins and gave them to Xia Chunmei.

“My mother’s name is Li Cui. She lives at the house at the entrance of the village. It’s easy to find.”

"Okay, if I can't find it, I'll ask someone."

As soon as Aunt Luo left, Xia Chunmei quickly told Xia Ping'an to follow her.

"She has a problem."

"This person's parents' palace is black, and her eyebrows are pointed, but her forehead is full and smooth. Her parents must have died when she was around twenty years old. With her parents gone, why hold a birthday banquet and say it's her mother's birthday? It's obvious she's lying."

Moreover, her appearance suggests she has more than one life on her hands. Anyway, you should follow her quickly; I want to see what her purpose is.”

Upon hearing this, Xia Ping'an immediately became nervous and said, "Don't worry, I'll follow them right now."

After saying that, Xia Ping'an floated away.

At this moment, Aunt Lihua, Xia Mingshi, and Xia Ping ran over happily: "Chunmei, how is it?"

Xia Chunmei knew what they had come to ask, and replied, "She only wants six hundred longevity peach buns, but Zhangjiazhai is too far away. We have to set off before dawn. You three can come with me then."

Xia Chunmei suspected something was amiss, but she didn't know what Aunt Luo's purpose was or who had sent her, so she didn't tell them the truth for the time being.

Aunt Lihua and Xia Mingshi originally thought that Xia Chunmei wouldn't invite them, but they didn't expect that Xia Chunmei would invite them, so they readily agreed.

Xia Pingan returned just before dark.

"Girl, that Aunt Luo is definitely not a good person. This time she plans to capture you, Qiu Mei, and Xia Ping and sell them for money!"

Xia Ping'an was frantic: "She knows Zhou Er. It was Zhou Er who told her about your situation, which is why she wanted to make a move against you. She's not even from Zhangjia Village. It's just that Zhangjia Village is far away and the road is remote. You got up early to prepare the feast, which gave them a good opportunity to make a move. So you absolutely cannot go to Zhangjia Village!"

"We have to go! If we hide this time, they'll come back again. We might as well take advantage of the fact that I know about this in advance and wipe them out in one fell swoop."

"But how could you possibly deal with such a villain? She's a human trafficker, and you yourself said she has blood on her hands. A person like that is capable of anything. I'm not afraid to tell you, I'm going to..."

What's wrong today?

“I followed her to Zhao Jiatiao. There she had locked up three or four children and three girls around your age. One of the girls tried to escape but was caught and raped to death by her accomplices.”

At this point, Xia Ping'an's eyes were filled with complex emotions, a mixture of guilt and fear.

He felt guilty because he couldn't save the girl; he was powerless to help when he heard her screams. He was afraid because he worried that Xia Chunmei and his other daughters would suffer the same fate.

"Those beasts!" Xia Chunmei gritted her teeth in anger. "How many of them are there? Did you see them?"

"Besides the man surnamed Luo, there was another woman, probably Luo's sister, and three other men. All three of them had knives. When the girl died, they not only didn't care, but they also said it was a pity to waste such a good girl. They said such beastly things so easily. I guess this isn't the first time they've done this kind of thing, so don't be foolish!"

"But they've already got their eyes on me. I might escape this time, but what about next time?"

I met a lot of lousy people on Tuesday. I hurt one of them last time, and he probably still remembers it. If I don't deal with him, there will always be a knife hanging over my head, and I don't know when it will fall.

Xia Chunmei wanted to ask the Wang family for help, but the Wang family might not be willing to meddle. Moreover, Xia Chunmei didn't want to expose herself because she was worried about being retaliated against.

You have to understand that those people have taken lives, and who knows if there are others behind them.

She had to be careful.

Xia Chunmei then asked Xia Pingan to continue keeping an eye on things, and she would decide what to do based on the situation.

It's a pity that those abducted children can't see Xia Ping'an or hear her speak. Otherwise, she could have gotten information about the abducted children and joined forces with their families.

Xia Chunmei had something on her mind, and she couldn't fall asleep at night, tossing and turning.

Xia Ping'an returned at Hai Shi (9-11 PM).

"Among the abducted people, there is a little boy who is the young master of the Sihai Trading Company in the city. The girl with him claims to be Xu Jiamin, the daughter of Xu Qingfeng, the manager of the Sihai Trading Company. You don't need to risk your life; you can just deliver the message to the Sihai Trading Company."

Xia Ping'an explained to Xia Chunmei: "Sihai Trading Company belongs to the Jin family. The Jin family is one of the four major wealthy families in Xiangzhou, and their business covers all the counties and prefectures in Xiangzhou."

"With the Jin family being so powerful, and this girl revealing her identity, I'm afraid these people will be even less likely to let her and that young master go."

"No way..."

"With the Jin family being so powerful, they will definitely be worried about retaliation from the Jin family. Not only will they not let them go, but if they see the face of the villain, the other party will probably kill them to silence them. Even if they don't silence them, they will quickly get rid of them."

Never harbor any illusions about dealing with such wicked people.

"What should we do then?"

"We must send a message to the Sihai Trading Company immediately."

Xia Chunmei definitely couldn't go to deliver the message; she had to find a way to save people. Besides, it was the middle of the night, and she couldn't get into the city. Only ghosts could get into the city.

Xia Chunmei's gaze fell on Xia Ping'an: "I'll write the letter. You float over and give it to the people at Sihai Trading Company, then immediately float back and take me to Zhao Jiatiao."

The ghost's speed was comparable to riding a horse. The distance from Yijia Village to the county town was about 30 li, and it would take him at most half an hour to go there and back.

Since the Jin family is one of the four great families in Xiangzhou, they must have a way to get out of the city. I must find a way to lure Zhou Er to the human traffickers so that the Jin family will treat him as a human trafficker and catch him in one fell swoop.

This also saves her the trouble of figuring out how to deal with that scumbag on Tuesday.

Xia Chunmei had no writing brush, ink, paper, or inkstone at home, so she dismantled the bed board and took out a few charcoal pencils from the stove. She wrote on them: "People are in a big house at the end of Zhao Jiatiao Village, two women and four men, with knives, suspected to be martial arts practitioners."

Xia Ping'an, holding the wooden plank, didn't dare to delay and immediately floated away.

Xia Chunmei was instantly wide awake.

Xia Pingan returned in less than half an hour.

Has the letter been delivered?

Xia Pingan was a little embarrassed: "It's been delivered."

The letter was delivered, but delivering it late at night was a bit awkward; there was a risk of seeing things that shouldn't be seen...

...

The person Xia Pingan bumped into while handling business was none other than Bai Zhengyi, the second manager of Sihai Trading Company.

After seeing them having sex, Xia Pingan was so frightened that he immediately floated out, knocked on the door a few times with a wooden board, placed the template on the ground, and floated away.

Someone suddenly knocked on the door in the middle of the night, and Bai Zhengyi was so frightened he almost collapsed.

He angrily opened the door, only to find no one outside. At first, he thought it was a prank.

But when he saw a wooden board on the ground, he picked it up, found words on it, lit a candle, and his expression changed drastically when he saw the words.

"What's wrong?" asked Ma, Bai Zhengyi's wife.

"You rest, I have to go see the old man right away."

Bai Zhengyi immediately put on his clothes and went to the Jin family.

"Who delivered it?" Jin Yuntian asked.

"I don't know either. When I opened the door, I only saw wooden planks and no one," Bai Zhengyi said respectfully.

“This writing… should refer to Zhao Jia Tiao,” Wuji said. “The handwriting is quite good, it looks like it was written by a woman, but… why is it written in a colloquial style?”

"Could it be that Miss Xu wrote this because she was arrested and couldn't find pen, ink, paper, or inkstone, so she used a wooden board and charcoal pencil instead?" Wu Han guessed.

"Sir, Manager Xu is here."

Jin Yuntian handed the wooden board to Xu Qingfeng: "Take a look, did Miss Xu write these words?"

Xu Qingfeng took it and examined it closely, saying, "Sir, this is not my daughter's handwriting, and it's in a colloquial style, but it looks like it was written by a woman."

"Keep the plank for now. Wuji, Wuhan, Wuji, Wuhui, follow me to save people."