"No, no, no, Chief Zhao, you can't say that! I have a contract of servitude! How can you do this?"

Butler Zhou quickly waved his hand, but Zhao Youtian didn't care: "Since it's a sale, then I'll redeem Zhao Xiu. Name your price. Surely Mr. Zhou is a wealthy and powerful man, and he wouldn't cheat us poor folks, right?"

Having said all that, Steward Zhou had no choice but to send someone back to ask Boss Zhou. Boss Zhou was already overwhelmed with problems and wanted to take his anger out on this nobody, but if the people of Zhao Family Village insisted, he didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so he asked them to redeem Zhao Xiu at a reasonable price.

Zhao Youtian paid the ransom, and Zhao Xiu regained her freedom.

Moved, Zhao Xiu thanked Zhao Youtian, saying, "Thank you, clan chief. I will never forget your life-saving grace today."

"You don't need to be so polite with me. This money wasn't originally mine. Rou Niang asked me to help her. If you want to thank someone, thank her. She's sitting at my house right now. You might be able to see her if you go over there now."

Zhao Xiu was stunned, and tears instantly streamed down her face. She never expected that Li Rouniang would still help her now.

Seeing Zhao Xiu like this, Dahe and Erhe felt a little sorry for her. After all, they had been through life and death together, and they really regarded Zhao Xiu as an older sister.

Dahe stepped forward and said, "Sister Xiu, why don't you go see my sister? You can talk things out."

Zhao Xiu nodded. Dahe and Erhe had no idea what Zhao Xiu had done. They only thought that Zhao Xiu had entrusted himself to the wrong person and was with Zhao Ergou, which was why his sister was heartbroken. They did not know that he had betrayed Li Rouniang.

When Zhao Xiu arrived at Zhao Youtian's house, Li Rouniang had already headed towards the village entrance. Zhao Xiu hurriedly chased after her and saw Li Rouniang in the distance.

She shouted, "Rou Niang!"

Li Rouniang stood there waiting for Zhao Xiu to run up. Zhao Xiu, with tears streaming down his face, stepped forward and grabbed Rouniang's hand: "Rouniang, I'm sorry, please forgive me. From now on, I will serve you like a slave and never do such a foolish thing again."

"Zhao Xiu, I forgive you." Li Rouniang said to Zhao Xiu. Zhao Xiu had just breathed a sigh of relief, but then Li Rouniang pulled her hand away and continued coldly, "But we can't go back to the past. We've known each other for a while now, and for Xiao Cao's sake, this is the last time I'll help you. From now on, let's pretend we're strangers!"

After saying that, Li Rouniang turned and got into the carriage. Zhao Xiu stood there blankly, watching the carriage get further and further away, just like the relationship between the two of them, which could never go back to what it used to be.

The woman who pulled them ashore, the woman who rescued them from the gambling den, the woman who sheltered them from the wind and rain all the way—she lost her!

Xiu'er returned home dejectedly. Everyone had already left. Little Grass was sitting in the yard, wailing loudly. Xiu rushed over and cried, "Little Grass's dad hit me!"

Zhao Xiu angrily entered the house and saw Zhao Ergou lying there fast asleep. She wanted to go up and tear this man to pieces, but in the end she stood there, heartbroken. She knew that she would be stuck with this rotten man for the rest of her life. Zhao Xiu squatted on the ground and cried bitterly.

How did things get to this point?

Time doesn't stop for one person's joys and sorrows; another month has passed in the blink of an eye.

"Little Grass, Little Grass!" Zhao Daya called out to Little Grass as she returned to the village and heard about the incident.

Little Grass ran over: "Big Sister, is there something you need?"

Xiao Cao knew that Daya and Erni had a conflict in the past, but he didn't know what happened afterward. They had eaten, slept, and lived together when they went south, so they had developed some feelings for each other.

"Little Grass, I heard you're living with your parents now. Congratulations!" Daya said affectionately.

Little Grass nodded, then looked sad. "Big Sister Daya, I think I made a mistake. Mother isn't happy and cries all the time. Father isn't as nice to me as he used to be; he scolds me every day."

"Little Grass, don't overthink it. It's naturally good to be with your own parents. Do you think it would be better to be with Li Rou Niang? Sister Daya said she feels sorry for you. You and your mother are treated like servants by her side. What's so good about that?"

Xiaocao looked at Daya with a puzzled expression. Although she didn't feel that any of them treated her like a little maid, she did feel a lack of belonging to a family while she was with Li Rouniang. But this wasn't what she wanted either.

"Little Grass, come to town with me, okay? Big Sister Daya is thinking about our past friendship and wants to have a meal with Erni and the others. You know Big Sister Daya did something wrong before, and now Erni and the others don't play with me anymore. So I was thinking of buying something to apologize to them, but they're ignoring me. Little Grass, can you help me and ask Erni and the others to come out with me?"

Little Grass nodded quickly, "Okay, it's been a long time since I've seen them, but I need to tell my mother!"

Daya quickly stopped her, saying, "No need, we'll be back soon. Your mother will think you're playing outside, and you'll have to run back and forth, which will only waste time."

Xiaocao nodded, and Daya happily led her to town.

It was afternoon when Xiaocao knocked on the door. Da Ni opened it, surprised to see Xiaocao, and then asked, "Xiaocao, what brings you here? Is something the matter?"

Little Grass smiled and said, "Big Sister Ni, I came to ask you and Second Sister Ni to play together. My mother gave me some money, and I'd like to treat you to a meal!"

Of course, this was taught to Zhao Xiu by Daya. At this point, Zhao Xiu had no money left for food.

But Da Ni didn't understand. She thought Zhao Xiu was apologizing for what happened before, and that she had connections and was talking to her mother about it. Thinking about their long-standing relationship, she nodded and said, "Er Ni went to find Aunt Zhang to practice kung fu. She's not here. Xiao Shan went to the academy. It's just me and San Ni at home."

"Then you two can come with me, and we'll bring back some good food for Erni," Xiaocao said.

Da Ni thought it made sense, so she ordered and called San Ni to go out with her.

The three were walking out when they happened to run into Erni, who saw them from afar. Curious, she quietly followed them.

Zhao Daya led the group to a private room at the inn, where they ordered some food and drinks. When Da Ni saw Daya, she turned to leave with a cold face, but Daya quickly stopped her: "Good sister, I sincerely apologize to you. Look, I've already ordered the food. Please give me a chance to apologize, okay? Think about it, we've been traveling south all this way, and I've genuinely taken care of you."

Da Ni was unaware of what happened between Da Ya and her mother. After thinking about it, she realized that Er Ni's jade pendant had been found. As long as Er Ni forgave her, there was nothing more to say. So she said, "It doesn't matter whether I forgive you or not. The important thing is that Er Ni forgives you."

Daya quickly nodded and coaxed the three of them into the private room.

A moment later, looking at the three people lying on the table, Zhao Daya revealed a triumphant smile.