Chapter 67 Hiring a Cart Pusher]

Jiang Shuo interrupted her coldly: "Miss Jiang, please respect yourself! I have no intention of getting married now!"

Jiang Xueruo showed an expression of surprise and humiliation on her face!

She always thought that Jiang Shuo kept his distance from her because he loved her and was afraid that she would be gossiped about.

As long as she agrees to marry him, he will definitely agree!

But now...

How could he be so heartless when she, an unmarried girl, mustered up the courage to say she was willing to marry him? If the news got out, how would she live in the future?

Jiang Xueruo was both embarrassed and angry, tears welled up in her eyes. She suddenly turned around and ran back to the shed to continue crying.

Seeing this, Old Man Jiang and Jiang Guizhou both sighed helplessly.

Don’t they also want Jiang Shuo to marry Jiang Xueruo and stay in the Jiang family?

But now seeing Jiang Shuo's resolute attitude, he knew that it was probably irreversible.

Father Jiang said, "That's all. All good things must come to an end. Jiang Shuo, you...you're traveling alone, so be careful on your journey. Tomorrow morning, I'll have the whole village come together to see you off."

Jiang Shuo didn't say anything either.

However, in the middle of the night, he secretly took off all the silver and a mink vest on his body, put them on the ground outside the shed, and left without saying goodbye.

Early the next morning, the exiled prisoners were woken up by the officials and set off.

The three little guys happily circled around their own cart several times, their eyes shining brightly.

"Sister! Is this our car?"

"Sister, can we take the car from now on?"

"Sister-in-law, Hao'er also wants to take a ride!"

Chen Fenghe couldn't help but smile when she saw how excited they were. This was just a hand-pushed cart. If they got a donkey or a horse pulling the cart later, wouldn't they be very happy?

"Yes! From now on, you three won't have to walk anymore, just take the car!"

Shen Yichuan pondered for a moment, then said like a little adult: "Sister, I am the man of the family, the pillar of the family! I won't ride in the car! I'll help push the car!"

Chen Fenghe couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then her heart felt warm.

Unexpectedly, although this younger brother is young, he is very meticulous and knows that the car needs someone to push it.

Xiao Yunhao immediately understood and rushed to say, "Sister-in-law, Hao'er is also a man, help push the cart too!"

Chen Fenghe patted the two little guys' heads and said with a smile, "You have this heart, and it's worth my love for you. Don't worry, I've found someone to push the cart. Just sit back and work on your cart."

As she spoke, she looked towards the Zhang Zhou family.

Yesterday, Zhang Zhou's son Zhang Yuan helped her push the cart all the way back, and she chatted with Zhang Zhou.

Although Zhang Zhoushi originally worked as a nanny in the palace, she was later released from the palace. Because she was old, she was later married to a farmer in a village ten miles outside the capital with the help of a matchmaker.

She also saved some money in the palace, and with the money she received from the palace when she left, she bought three acres of land and lived with the man surnamed Zhang. Later, she gave birth to Zhang Yuan.

Unexpectedly, not long after Zhang Yuan turned 18 and got married, his family's three acres of thin land was spotted by a high-ranking official in Beijing, who wanted to buy the house outside Jiancheng. However, the official relied on his power and offered a pitifully low price, which was almost tantamount to robbery.

Zhang Zhou's husband refused to obey, so he was severely beaten by the official and died a few days later. Her son Zhang Yuan was also imprisoned by the official and eventually sentenced to exile.

After hearing about her family's story, Chen Fenghe was also very sad. In addition, during the days of exile, she knew that Zhang Yuan was indeed an honest farmer with a strong body. He was also very good to his mother and wife along the way. He was indeed a good person.

She had already made up her mind and planned to spend some money to hire Zhang Yuan to help push the cart.

Anyway, she has no shortage of money, and Zhang Zhou and her son and daughter-in-law don't have much money for the journey, so this way, each of them gets what they need.

Chen Fenghe made up his mind, so he went to greet Chen Wu and Yuan Xun first. After making sure that they would not object, he went to find Zhang Zhoushi.

After hearing what Shen Fenghe said, Zhang Zhou was still a little bit unconvinced.

"Mrs. Shen...Ms. Shen, are you serious? Are you really going to give my son twenty cents a day and ask him to push the cart for you?"

Chen Fenghe nodded and said, "Aunt Zhang, I mean what I say. My mother-in-law and I, two women, don't have the strength to push the cart even if we have it. Brother Zhang helped me push the cart back yesterday. It was just a sudden thought. I also asked the officials, and they said that as long as we agree privately, they won't interfere. Aunt Zhang, Brother Zhang, what do you think? Of course, if Brother Zhang doesn't agree, then forget it..."

Zhang Zhou was delighted to hear this. Her family was originally an ordinary peasant family, and after being framed and imprisoned, they were practically penniless during their exile. It was only then that Chen Feng He Lu promised her two taels of silver.

But the exile journey was long, and in a place of suffering, she would have to start a new life, which would cost money. Even two taels of silver was too much to bear, and she was reluctant to spend it, so she saved it first.

If Shen Fenghe hired her son to push the cart now, she could earn twenty cents a day, which was more than what she had earned from farming at home before. Apart from anything else, her family would have food to eat, and when they got to the village or town, they would even have money to sleep in a dormitory!

Why wouldn't she want to?

However, Zhang Zhoushi did not agree immediately, but looked at her son and asked for his opinion: "Yuan'er, do you think you are willing? Miss Shen's proposal is not bad."

Zhang Yuan nodded and said, "Mom, I have nothing but strength. What else can I not do? It's all up to you, Mom!"

After hearing this, Zhang Zhou said to Shen Fenghe, "Miss Shen, there's no reason for us not to agree! Let alone twenty cents, even if it's ten cents, we're willing!"

After hearing this, Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Brother Zhang from now on."

After this matter was settled, Chen Fenghe returned first.

She told Qin Mengyue about the matter, but Qin Mengyue couldn't help but worry: "Fenghe, although twenty cents a day is not much, it has to be paid every day. It's okay for ten days or half a month, but if it lasts longer, where will we get the money? How about you and I take turns pushing the money..."

Chen Fenghe had already thought of an excuse and lowered her voice, saying, "Mom, don't worry about it. Actually... Uncle Chen and the others secretly gave me ten taels of silver last night, which is enough for us to use for a long time."

After hearing this, Qin Mengyue felt a little relieved: "Is that really the case? If so... then I can be worry-free for the time being. But..."

Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "Mom, don't think so far ahead. Things will work out in the end. At worst, when the money is almost gone, we can push the cart ourselves and not bother Brother Zhang anymore."

As he was speaking, Chen Wu informed everyone that it was time to set off.

Zhang Yuan came over and asked, "Madam Shen, shall we set off now?"

Chen Fenghe nodded and said, "Thank you, Brother Zhang."

As she spoke, she and Qin Mengyue carried Shen Yichuan and the others into the car, and put their own luggage in the car as well.

Zhang Yuan was stunned for a moment and asked, "Aren't you going to get in the car?"

Chen Fenghe shook her head and said, "Children don't have enough strength to sit in a car. We can just follow the car. Otherwise, the car is too heavy. If we get tired of walking, we can just get on the car and sit for a while."

Even Shen Fenghe would never do such a thing as spending twenty cents to treat someone like a cow and working him to death.

Zhang Yuan scratched his head dully and said, "It's okay! You guys can sit on it too. I'm strong enough to push you."

Chen Fenghe refused two or three more times before Zhang Yuan gave up and set off with the exile team, pushing the cart.

The Qin family members were jealous and resentful to the extreme when they saw that Chen Fenghe and Qin Mengyue were living such a comfortable life on the road of exile. They used to eat fish and meat whenever they wanted, but now they even bought a cart to push their luggage.

"Zhang Yuan, the son of Zhang Zhou, was hired by that bitch Chen Fenghe to push a cart for twenty coins a day! That money was probably exchanged for Qin Mengyue's gold hairpin! And the money used to buy cloth, cotton, and a cart yesterday was all squandered by that bitch! If it had been kept by us, I'm afraid it would still be in our hands intact now!"

Qian Qiuyun said indignantly.

Liu Cui also said, "That's right. Twenty cents a day. After all, we are of the same clan as them. If we hire someone to push the cart, who among Jian'er and Chang'er can't do it? Aren't they stronger than that Zhang Yuan? As the saying goes, good things should be kept within the family. Chen Fenghe, that bitch, is just eating from the inside!"

"And that cart. The ancestor is so old, and so is the father-in-law. She should let the ancestor and the father-in-law ride in the cart now that she has one. But now she doesn't say a word. It's obvious that she doesn't care about the ancestor and the father-in-law!" Qian Qiuyun continued to exaggerate.

Both of them selectively forgot about the breaking of the letter of kinship.

I have nothing to do with them now.

After hearing what their two daughters-in-law said, Mrs. Zhang and Qin Jinzhong's faces also turned gloomy.

Old Lady Zhang sneered, "Those two bitches are so arrogant, isn't it because they have the letter of severance? If she didn't have that, she would be your niece, Jinzhong! Let's see how she dares to be so arrogant!"

Qin Jinzhong's heart was moved when he heard this: "Big brother, second brother, you two should think of a way to get that broken marriage letter back. See how arrogant they can be! Whichever branch can get it back will be the firstborn son of the Qin family!"

Qin Jinzhong is incompetent. The best thing he should have done at this time is to unite the family, but his words are clearly intended to provoke and intensify the conflict between his two sons.

As soon as these words came out, Qin Liqing jumped up as if his blood had been injected into a chicken: "Dad, are you serious?"

Qin Lizheng suddenly felt a surge of crisis: "Dad! I'm the eldest son, how can I..."

Qin Jinzhong glared at him coldly and cursed, "You useless bastard! Your daughter did such a shameful thing! If you want to keep your position as the eldest son, do something respectable!"

Qin Lizheng didn't dare to speak, he looked up and glared at Qin Liqing fiercely.

Qin Huanhuan walked at the end, some distance away from the other members of the Qin family.

She looked at Chen Fenghe with a pale face, a cold and vicious light in her eyes.

This time she was beaten with twenty boards, her back and waist were covered in blood, and she couldn't even sleep lying down.

Because of what Lai Hu said in court, Li Yong did not come to give her medicine or anything like that this time.

She once tried to go to Li Yong to make amends, but when Li Yong saw her coming, he just walked away without even looking at her.

The Qin family was so upset because she brought shame to the Qin family that they even treated her with perfunctory food over the past two days.

In just two days, Qin Huanhuan had become extremely haggard.

And all of this was caused by that bitch Shen Fenghe!

Just wait! She will never let her go!

The group soon arrived at the city gate. Chen Wu handed the pass to the gate guard and left the city.

Outside the city, Jiang Shuo saw the exile team coming out from afar and suddenly sat up from a tree.

After he left Jiangjia Village last night, he arrived outside the north city gate.

The exile team will head north and will definitely exit from this north gate.

He will surely get what he wants if he waits here.

Or he could go into the city to look for her early tomorrow morning after the city gates are opened.

When it was dawn, the city gate opened and more and more people came in and out of the city. He waited for a while, but no one came out. Just when he was afraid that he had missed it, he happened to see the official he had met in the pharmacy last night, and he was delighted.

From a distance, I saw her walking with an older woman. Next to them was the man I saw yesterday pushing a cart, and this time there were three delicate little children sitting in the cart.

Jiang Shuo's expression couldn't help but dim.

It turns out that she not only has a husband, but also three children...

However, he quickly put all these thoughts behind him.

The reason he came here was simply because he met her again. He remembered the last time she went into the mountains alone as a weak woman. He was afraid that her husband would treat her badly, so he wanted to follow her on the road and see if her husband abused her, so he would secretly teach the man a lesson on her behalf.

From the beginning to the end, he had no intention of letting her or anyone else discover his existence and destroy her reputation.

Chen Fenghe inexplicably felt as if someone was staring at him from a distance, so he looked in the direction where the feeling was strongest.

Jiang Shuo quickly hid behind a tree trunk to avoid being seen by her.

After the exile team had gone far away, he dug some dirt from the ground and smeared it on his face, then followed the exile team from a distance with some scattered refugees.

After walking for a while, the exile team stopped to rest.

Chen Fenghe took out a piece of bacon from the space, and together with Qin Mengyue and three other little guys, they dug wild vegetables around and unexpectedly found a large bunch of wild garlic.

We dug a lot together, washed it at the stream, brought it back, cut it into sections, and fried it with bacon.

Shen Fenghe had picked a lot of lotus and even sent a bunch to Zhang Zhoushi and Zhang Yuan's wife. Zhang Zhoushi and Zhang Yuan's wife, Madam Wu, thanked them and accepted them.

In addition to stir-fried bacon with wild garlic, Chen Fenghe also cooked a pot of porridge made of beans and rice, and the family gathered around and ate comfortably.