"Master, do you think those two prisoners who were locked up might be released as well?"

Qiu Rong's face was full of sorrow. She thought of the year she went to give her statement and how the two thieves looked so fierce when they spoke.

"The Liu family, is it? We brothers have fallen today, but don't worry, we'll get out of there someday."

Those two thieves from that year were the most notorious hooligans in Nanchang County. If Ermo hadn't claimed to have rendered meritorious service in the military, he might not have even been sentenced to three years. If his sentence had been reduced by three years, wouldn't he be out by now?

Liu Huan frowned slightly but quickly relaxed. "It's alright. If they cause trouble again, there are plenty of ways to get them in. Just keep an eye on the two children. If we feel we don't have enough manpower, we can just buy two more."

Qiuju put down the feather duster in her hand and said, "Don't worry, Master. Four adults like us can't keep an eye on two children. I'll go see where they're playing now."

Qiu Ju is a woman of her word; she's already vanished without a trace.

Even if she ran away, Qiu Rong couldn't run away; she still had to go to the county with Liu Huan to take care of some things.

Carrying their bundles, they set off for the village entrance to catch an oxcart. Qiu Rong asked, puzzled, "Master, we have our own horse-drawn carriage, why do we need to take an oxcart?"

Liu Huan explained, "This carriage is too conspicuous. We should be wary of people. It would be troublesome if it attracted bad guys. Anyway, it's not far from the county, so an oxcart would be just right. When I was a child, I wanted to ride in an oxcart but there weren't any available."

"My uncle's family was the only one in the whole village that owned cattle..."

The two were talking about going to Uncle Niu's place, which they had booked in advance. She rented Uncle Niu's car for a round trip. Just as she got on the oxcart, she saw a woman running towards her from a distance.

She was Feng, the village's notorious gossip, the woman who renamed her daughter Anxin.

"Uncle Niu, wait a minute, I'm going to the county too." With that, he climbed onto the oxcart and plopped down next to Liu Huan.

Uncle Niu looked at Liu Huan apologetically. Although Liu Huan had already booked a round trip, he couldn't afford to offend one guest because of another.

"Little Liu, I'll charge you two coins less later."

Liu Huan smiled faintly and nodded in acquiescence. Madam Feng rolled her eyes and said, "Uncle Niu, why are you asking her? It's not like I'm not going to pay you."

Uncle Niu explained with a smile, "This car is booked by Liu girl today, so naturally I had to tell her."

Feng's face darkened further. "So what if you have a little money? You even charter a car."

Liu Huan ignored her and distanced herself from her. Who would like to sit with someone who talks badly about them? She just didn't want to make things difficult for Uncle Niu.

In Feng's eyes, this was a sign of disrespect and contempt for her, although Liu Huan was indeed looking down on her.

"What do you mean? You look down on people just because you have a little money?"

Even the coachman, Uncle Niu, thought she had gone too far. "Master Dafa, Liu girl didn't say a word. How can you accuse her like this?"

“I’m not wronging her. Look at her, she clearly looks down on farmers.”

Uncle Niu stopped talking, and Liu Huan remained silent. However, when they encountered an aunt from the village, she asked Uncle Niu to stop the car, saying, "Aunt Chun, are you going to the county? Come on in and we'll go together."

The aunt didn't hesitate and put her basket down. "Oh dear, if I had known you were going, I wouldn't have walked by myself. Carrying all this stuff to my parents' house is exhausting."

Feng pulled Aunt Chun to her side, saying, "Aunt Chun, please don't sit with her. She looks down on farmers."

Aunt Chun's face darkened. "Da Fa's wife, how dare you slander someone's reputation like that? How could they look down on farmers?" Saying this, she didn't sit next to her anymore, but sat down next to Liu Huan.

Feng was furious. "You all fawn over her because she's rich."

Aunt Chun shook her head in disdain, then turned and chatted enthusiastically with Liu Huan.

"What is Aunt Chun carrying?"

"It's all grain we grew ourselves. My family lives in the next town, and I happened to have some free time, so I went to check on them..."

They chatted all the way to the fork in the road at the city gate. Liu Huan didn't take Chun's money, saying that she had already given it to her and they hadn't gone far.

Upon seeing this, Madam Feng jumped off the carriage and started to leave. Liu Huan called out to her, "Sister Feng, you haven't paid yet?" Although Madam Feng looked older, she was actually two years younger than Liu Huan.

Feng said impatiently, "Didn't you already give it to me?"

“I’m giving you enough for the three of us; you’ll have to pay for yours yourself. Uncle Niu, please find a place to rest first, and we’ll come find you in a bit.”

Without waiting for Madam Feng's reaction, he took Qiu Rong into the city.

She came here because Han You from the border town had sent her a share of the down jacket. Last year, she contacted Han You and cut off the money he was about to send to the capital.

Raising children costs money; you have to save up for a dowry and prepare a bride price, and you also have to support a large family. She wouldn't let that money flow into the Su family and benefit Su Yixin's wife.

As she left the bank, she had no idea that she was being watched.

He was in a good mood after receiving a large sum of money. "Let's go, buy some things and cook something delicious for you."

To get to the market, they had to take a shortcut through a small alley. As the two were walking, four thugs surrounded them from both sides.

Liu Huan sighed: "My status isn't that high, but I didn't miss a single one of these jokes."

Like countless other people who have been robbed, her first question was, "What do you want?"

The dark-skinned, sleazy-looking man at the head of the group chuckled, "Hahaha, did you hear that? Someone even asked us what we do."

"I'm not changing my name or surname, but I'm asking for money."

The person next to him, laughing even more lewdly, said, "If Madam thinks giving money is too stingy, she can also play with us."

Liu Huan looked around, but there wasn't a soul in sight. To avoid suffering for herself and Qiu Rong, she decided to become a charity child.

He took out his purse, which contained twenty taels of silver, and asked Qiu Rong beside him, "How much do you have?"

Qiu Rong feigned composure, took out her purse and looked inside. "Master, twenty taels."

Liu Huan took it and placed it on the ground. "There are only forty taels left, that's all. Consider this money as an invitation to tea for you all. I won't report this to the authorities, let's just pretend we don't know each other. Otherwise, although this alley is remote, quite a few people pass by. If someone comes and you don't have a penny, you'll easily be taken to the authorities."

A thin man said, "Big...big...big brother, I...I..."

The person next to him said impatiently, "What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'I could fall asleep after all this talk.' Brother, why don't we just forget about it? We've already got the money."

The leader was also happy with the outcome, but the more lewd one was unwilling to accept it. "I don't believe it, brother. Since she can produce so much money, it means she has more on her. I'll search her."

The man addressed as "Big Brother" hesitated, "Really, that's all?"

There really aren't any left.

Liu Huan spoke the truth: she had saved all the silver notes. Who goes out carrying silver notes to spend? That would be inviting thieves.

Seeing how beautiful she was, the lewd man wasn't content with just taking money. He grinned and said, "If you don't have any other money, madam, why don't you play with us?"

"Brother, don't worry, we're too weak to run away, let us think..." Liu Huan stalled him, trying to listen to the sounds from both sides, until...

"Go check over there; several people have been robbed in the alley recently."

Liu Huan knew her chance had come. "Help! Robbery!"