Chapter 29 What else do you want from me?

"Sister, I can't help you with this."

Upon hearing this, Chunyan felt a buzzing in her ears and a wave of dizziness wash over her. She forgot all about crying and simply realized what was happening. She hadn't expected Shanlai to reject her so decisively.

“Sister, my father is gone, and I have nowhere else to go but here. You have been kind to me, and I should repay you, but you should at least think of me. You have made such a grave mistake, how can I plead for you? Even if I had some influence and succeeded, what would happen if others committed similar offenses? That won't do. So the old lady will definitely not agree. If I go and plead for you, I will only humiliate myself and lose face. What good will that do for either of us?” As he spoke, Shanlai took out two silver notes from the bundle in his bosom and handed them to Chunyan. “This is two hundred taels, sister. Go to the government office to get your household registration removed first, and then use this money to find a job. You'll be able to survive no matter what.”

Chunyan stared at the money, stunned.

Two hundred taels of silver—I've never seen so much money in my life. This money is for her.

How could I dare to accept that?

Startled, she hurriedly waved her hands, "I don't want it! Take it back! This is your money..."

Shanlai forcefully stuffed the silver note into Chunyan's hand, "Sister, please accept it. This is what I should do for you. You helped me when I was in trouble, and now that you are in trouble, I have the means to repay you."

The matter has been discussed to this point, but...

The silver note felt like a hot potato; the moment it touched her, Chunyan shuddered, flung it away, and froze, motionless.

Shanlai picked up the silver note and this time he held Chunyan's hand firmly.

"Sister, take it. What are you going to do? Really die? Is it worth it? Even when my family was in such a state, I never thought of this."

Shan is right, Chunyan thinks so too, but two hundred taels is really too much.

"I...I just need...give me fifty, no! Thirty taels, thirty taels is enough!"

It's still two hundred taels.

"Take it all. You have a long road ahead of you, and it won't hurt to have more money on hand."

This was true. Although Chunyan was tempted, she refused, because two hundred taels was indeed too much.

"Sister, please keep this. I'm exhausted. If you accept it, I can go to sleep. Please just think it's because you care about me."

He still shoved it into her hand and yawned as he did so.

Having said that, Chunyan had no choice but to awkwardly accept it.

Shanlai continued, “Sister, you should leave soon. I won’t see you off. I won’t say anything more, just this: take this money and go wherever you want, but don’t go home… What’s the point of going home? They’ve never treated you well. What’s there to miss in a place like that? Just think of yourself as someone without a home or any attachments. It’s all the same everywhere. You can go anywhere. You have to learn to live for yourself. Think carefully about what you did before. Were you really that foolish? What did you gain from it? If you can’t stand on your own two feet and don’t want to live for yourself, who can save you? But if you insist on going back, I won’t stop you. Just one thing: if anything goes wrong in the future, don’t come looking for me. I can only help you this once. Sister, go back and think it over carefully. I really need to sleep.”

Shanlai wasn't lying. She had only managed to sleep for a short while in the carriage just now, and she was only able to talk to Chunyan for so long because she was forcing herself to stay awake. She definitely needed to sleep.

The door behind me closed.

Chunyan lifted her foot and walked forward in a daze. After taking four or five steps, she finally woke up from her daze, and her heart began to ache, even sting.

No one had ever told Shan Lai what she had just said before, and she herself had never thought of it, so she didn't know that she could have other ways of living.

Yes, why? What's there to miss in a place like that? They sold her! They sold her for thirty taels of silver. Among her brothers and sisters, they sold her alone. They had already taken advantage of her once when they sold her, and now they still want to drink her blood. They coax her so that she can take the money back. If she doesn't get it, they won't give her a good look. Why should they?

Shanlai is right, how foolish! What good are her biological parents? They are not as good to her as Shanlai, a neighbor. They sold her and got thirty taels, but Shanlai gave her two hundred taels.

Two hundred taels!

With these two hundred taels, what can't we do to survive?

Thinking this way, the world suddenly seemed much wider.

She let out a long breath, a smile spreading across her face—a big laugh.

She's figured it out now: her home isn't good, and neither is this place.

What future is there in being a maid? Your life is in the hands of others.

I was terrified. At first, I thought I was going to be beaten to death.

In the future, she will have her own house. Even if she burns it all down, no one will kill her because it's her own house. She's not a maid, and no one can kill her easily.

That's great!

I'll find a way to buy some land so we can live in peace and prosperity. Maybe I can even repay her kindness someday. As long as she prospers, Shanlai will always have a chance to use her someday.

That's great!

Two hundred taels of silver—her livelihood, she absolutely couldn't lose it. She had to hide it, hide it securely…in her shoes? No, what if the shoes got stepped on…in her sleeves? That wouldn't be good either…

After much thought, she decided to sew an inner pocket inside her clothes to hold the banknotes, right in front of her heart. That way, unless she died, no one could take it away.

That's wonderful...

She'd leave today, right now! She only had a few things, so she'd grab them and go! First, she'd go to an inn, then to the government office, and then to exchange some silver—she'd exchange a little first, and the rest when she needed it…

As night fell and darkness descended, Chunyan, carrying her bundle, walked out of the Liu residence step by step, each step firm and powerful.

Chunyan left the Liu family mansion, but the matter of the kitchen fire did not end with her departure.

A middle-aged woman knelt in the flower hall of Fuzetang, facing Old Madam Qin, and kept sobbing.

"Grandma, please have mercy! For the sake of my mother who died young, please spare her. You can beat or scold her as you please, just don't kick her out. If you kick her out, not only will she be disgraced, but we will also lose face. What will we do then? Grandma, please have mercy!" As she spoke, she kowtowed repeatedly.

She was Yunping's mother.

"What are you doing? Stop it! What's the point? You've just hurt yourself for nothing!"

Yunping's mother continued to kowtow and plead.

Her refusal to listen to reason angered Old Madam Qin. Her face darkened abruptly, and she snapped, "If you're willing to kowtow, I won't stop you. Just one thing: go somewhere else. Don't get in my way here!"

Yunping's mother stopped kowtowing, but cried even more bitterly.

Having watched them grow up since childhood, their bond was extraordinary. Old Madam Qin softened her heart and tone: "Alright, stop crying. Put your hand on your heart, can you say one thing that I haven't treated you well? You should be content! You said you'd be ashamed in the future, have I not thought about that? That's why I approached you first. She's grown up, it's time for her to be matched with someone. Zhou Xing's son is good, and Zhou Xing is an honest man, he won't mistreat her."

Zhou Xing was also a servant of the Liu family, specializing in collecting rent in the countryside. The Liu family owned four or five thousand acres of land, scattered in various places and managed by seven or eight people. Zhou Xing was in charge of the largest plot of land and was the most respectable among them.

It's clear that Madam Qin really put her heart into it.

But no matter how respectable it is, it's still the countryside. How can it compare to a grand mansion? Besides, he had previously hoped to beg the old lady to let Yunping open her face to serve the young master and give birth to a son or daughter... Now all of that has vanished.

I'm not reconciled, how can I be reconciled?

"Grandma, please have mercy! I only have this one daughter, and my mother only has this one granddaughter!" she cried, sobbing, tears streaming down her face.

Old Madam Qin was getting impatient. "If you cry again, I'll really kick you out. That would be utterly disgraceful! Haven't I been good enough to you? She did such a thing! I only spared her from being killed because of your mother. What more do you want from me? To treat her like an empress?"

Old Madam Qin was a woman of experience, and Yunping's methods were obviously no match for her. Once she figured it out, she was almost breathless with shock.

That's incredibly audacious! She's still alive! A mere servant girl doing something like this deserves to be beaten to death.

But after all, Madam Qin was a kind-hearted person who cherished old friendships.

So she simply sent Yunping away and even found her a way out, ensuring she would have no worries about food and drink for the rest of her life. What more could she want?

"Don't cry, that's all. Take her home. She'll get married in a few days, and I'll give her a dowry."

Seeing that there was no way to turn things around, Yunping's mother had no choice but to give up, thanked her mother with tears in her eyes, and then went to find Yunping.

Yunping was completely unaware of what was about to happen. She remained calm and composed, asking the maid to make her tea and snacks.

Her life returned to normal. Everyone feared her power and tried every means to please her, because they had all seen clearly that the newcomer was all show and no substance, completely unreliable. What good could they gain by going there? It still had to be her; only her word mattered!

"This tea is bad, who brewed it?"

No one answered.

OK!

With a wave of his hand, the teacup crashed to the ground and shattered into pieces.

Yunping's mother saw this scene clearly; she witnessed firsthand how her daughter acted arrogantly and domineeringly.

The young girl saw her and quickly bowed and greeted her, "Aunt Leng has arrived."

Upon hearing this, Yunping quickly looked over, stood up, and asked with a smile, "Mother, what brings you here?"

The maids, being sensible, all withdrew upon seeing this, leaving the mother and daughter alone to talk.

"Is Mother thirsty?" she asked, turning to pour tea, her shoes stepping over the broken porcelain.

The floor was covered in porcelain shards, white and dazzling.

The young master uses only the best things, and she just smashed them like that.

It's her fault as a mother for not raising her daughter well, spoiling her into being so arrogant. It's better for her to leave, so she won't make any big mistakes in the future.

At this moment, Yunping's mother truly accepted her fate and calmly told Yunping everything she had heard from Old Madam Qin.

The cloud screen froze, as if struck by lightning.

Her eyes were filled with fear, her heart was in a state of panic and confusion, and she was trembling. She grabbed her mother's shoulders and shook her incessantly. "Didn't Mother plead for me? Why didn't Mother plead for me! How could I marry into the countryside! I... I can't go! If I really go, my life will be over! What good will that do for Mother? Mother, please go and plead with the old lady!"

Yunping's mother said weakly, "Of course I want to plead for you, but the old lady has made up her mind. You're not worthy of anyone else's help. Going to the countryside is fine..."

"I won't go!" Yunping screamed, clutching her head, tears streaming down her face. She knew that now she only had her mother to rely on, only her mother. "I don't want to go! They'll laugh at me! I won't go! I'd rather die than let them laugh at me!" Suddenly, her eyes lit up, her face flushed with excitement, and she grabbed her mother's arm, her voice trembling as she said, "It's Miss Biao! She forced me! Where did I get the courage? It's all Miss Biao's fault! It's her! Mother, let's go find her..."

A snap.

Yunping covered her face and fell silent.