Song Xiaohua also sensed something was wrong and turned to run away, but was immediately held down.

"Hmph, your family dared to sell these defective products in front of my restaurant. This is a little lesson for you. You gave birth to me but didn't teach me. You should sit down and do some work too."

Old Mrs. Song was not about to comply; she had never encountered anything like this before, and she started cursing and swearing.

But she had no choice here. Soon, the old woman and the child were also forced to sit on the ground. They refused to work, so they were whipped on the back of their hands with willow branches until they were willing to work.

The Song family was devastated. They had run into a rip-off; they hadn't made any money, had paid so much rent, and were now forced to work there.

The Qiao family bought some things in the county town and are just about to leave the town.

As the carriage circled around the street, it saw the Song family members sitting on the ground, enduring humiliation as they worked for the restaurant, each of them badly beaten.

If they were negligent, they would be lashed hard on the back of their hand with a willow branch.

They immediately realized that the Song family's sale of this ingredient had angered the restaurant.

Judging from this, all these ingredients will be wasted.

Da Meng couldn't help but burst out laughing: "That's called getting what you deserve."

Da Yong said, "There's so much work, over two thousand jin (1,000 kg), we'll have to work non-stop until tomorrow."

Qiao Yunni calculated: "Their stall costs ten taels of silver to rent, and they've already ruined their reputation today. It'll be difficult for them to recoup the costs."

Qiao Lian'er glanced at it briefly before looking away.

It wasn't that she didn't want to laugh; she was driving the carriage and was afraid that if she laughed, she would lose focus and the carriage would veer off course.

"Hello, are you heading back? Towards Ning County?"

As the carriage passed a small street corner, Qiao Lian'er heard a voice. She thought it was calling her, and the voice sounded somewhat familiar, so she glanced in the direction of the voice.

It's not Lingyin.

Lingyin was carrying a basket, with her younger brother beside her carrying a bamboo basket, and a woman with a round face who looked very approachable, carrying a basket on her back.

Qiao Lian'er stopped the carriage: "Sister Lingyin, are you going home?"

Lingyin then recognized Qiao Lian'er and was overjoyed: "It's you, little girl! Yes, we want to go home, but we can't flag down a carriage."

"Then come on up quickly, there's room in the carriage," Qiao Lian'er said with a smile.

The two elders were at home, and only Da Yong from the eldest son's family came. Da Meng Ge, Xiao Meng Ge, and she sat in the front, while there were still a few seats inside.

"I'm so sorry to have bothered you. I'll pay you for the carriage when we arrive," Lingyin said.

"We've known each other for a while now, why bother with the carriage fare? Come on up." Da Yong lifted the carriage curtain, his movements slightly clumsy.

He had been craning his neck in front of the stall for the past two days, but hadn't seen Ling Yin, and thought she would never appear again.

Lingyin glanced at Dayong. When Dayong smiled, he had two dimples on his cheeks.

She could also see a hint of shyness on Dayong's face; the young man was handsome and brave, yet he could be shy.

She quickly looked away, as if nothing had happened.

"Thank you so much, thank you so much," Lingyin's mother said gratefully.

The three boarded the carriage, and the Qiao family quickly made room for them.

To make room for himself, Da Cheng simply plopped down on the stool placed inside the carriage.

The three women sat down in the empty seats.

After getting to know each other, everyone learned that Lingyin's younger brother was named Ling Xiao, and her mother's surname was Qiu.

"Which village do you live in? We'll take you to the village entrance," Dayong said.