"Sure! My Begonia! It really is that one!"

Xie Yushu silently gave Xiao Haitang a thumbs up.

Knowing Xiao Haitang's intentions, Xie Yushu naturally cooperated and thus spoke up directly.

"Alright then, Haitang, take care, I'll be going now!"

Then he gave Xie Baotian and the others a meaningful look and pretended to leave.

Grandma Xiao's face turned green, and she pointed at Xiao Haitang for a long time without being able to say a word.

The thought that someone was constantly plotting to poison her food, put venomous snakes in her bed, and wanted to kill her made Grandma Xiao and the others truly terrified. They had also witnessed how difficult it was to subdue Xiao Haitang these past few days, and how it always took several people to grab her and subdue her.

If she truly hates them, she might actually kill them!

Seeing that Xie Yushu and the others were really about to leave, Xie Yujiao and Xiao Yan immediately spoke up.

"We don't necessarily want Xiao Haitang to stay. We'll do as you say: leave your things, and Haitang will go with you!"

But now the initiative was on Xie Yushu's side, so the conditions she had just obtained could not be disregarded. Therefore, Xie Yushu spoke up again to renegotiate.

"Haitang doesn't want to come with us, and I don't want to force her. How about we let her stay at home?"

The crabapple also said

"Yes, I'd rather stay home! You can take your things and leave!"

Xie Yujiao hurriedly said

"That won't do. Haitang has gotten used to you lately, and besides, we don't have time to take care of her. How can a little girl be alright without someone to teach her!"

"Sigh, in the end, I have nothing to do with the Xiao family anymore. What would it look like to bring along a little girl from the Xiao family? Besides, it would only delay my search for a new family!"

Old Mrs. Xiao mentally cursed a string of shameless little bitches, thinking they were already looking for another man before even leaving the Xiao family's gate...

However, under normal circumstances, what Xie Yushu said was true, so the old lady Xiao and the others were at a loss for what to do.

Xie Yushu struck while the iron was hot

"How about we compromise? I'll leave you the farm tools, rice, and flour on the truck. These are necessities for you. You can take these things, write a guarantee that you won't interfere with Haitang's future life, and I'll take Haitang with me. You can eat and sleep in peace then, how about that?"

"No, I want them to write letters severing ties with their families!"

Xiao Haitang jumped out and said.

"Then sever the marriage contract."

Xie Yushu added.

Xie Yujiao stared greedily at the things in the car.

"Those pots and pans, as well as the chickens, ducks, and geese, must be left behind, along with those bags underneath!"

Xie Yushu glanced at it and said

"You can leave the chickens, ducks, geese, pots and pans, but the bag contains the herbs I collected. You won't need them, and keeping the herbs is considered unlucky, so I'll take them with me."

"These are the terms. If you agree, write a letter severing ties, and I'll give you what's rightfully yours. If you don't agree, I'm leaving."

"Agreed, let's write it!"

Xiao Yan nudged Old Mrs. Xiao and said.

Old Mrs. Xiao glared at Xie Yushu resentfully and sent Xiao Dayong, who had carried Xiao Damei's family back, to find the clan elders to write a letter severing ties.

When the clan elder heard that Old Madam Xiao was going to write a letter severing ties with Xiao Haitang, he frowned deeply. He wanted to say something, but considering Old Madam Xiao's character, he didn't say anything and just wrote the letter. Soon after, Xiao Dayong brought it back.

Xie Yushu took it over to check, and there was nothing wrong. The grain, pots and pans, chickens, ducks and geese were all unloaded, and she left with Xiao Haitang.

Xiao Dayong called for people to carry Xiao Damei's family to Xiao Yi's house, and the old lady Xiao and the others followed.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Li slipped out, firstly to see Xie Yushu off, and secondly because they had collected a lot of herbs while Xie Yushu was away, and had dried them, and wanted to ask Xie Yushu if she would still accept them.

Li was a little embarrassed to say it, but Xie Yushu didn't think it was a big deal. Anyway, she would need it, so she just took her along when she arrived at the Xiao family's old house.

There were four large sacks in total, containing four types of medicinal herbs, all of which were dried. Xie Yushu doubled the price and gave her two taels of silver.

Li thanked Song and Bai for helping Xie Tianqi and the others load the car, and then took Xie Yushu and the others to the village entrance. Along the way, people pointed and whispered about them, but Xie Yushu ignored them, said goodbye to Li, and went home.

Xie Yushu also breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that she could finally distance herself from the Xiao family's scoundrels. Little did she know that the tree may wish to remain still, but the wind will not cease. They were all suffering losses at Xie Yushu's hands (that's their nature; if they didn't gain an advantage, they considered it a loss). As long as Xie Yushu wasn't trampled underfoot by them, they would not be satisfied.

But that's a story for another time.

Xiejia Village.

The Lu family women had already prepared the meal and were cooking it in the pot. Seeing that it was getting dark and they still hadn't seen anyone return, they became a little anxious. The two of them, Lu and Wang, had gone out to check several times. Lu couldn't help but go out to look again and finally heard the sound of a donkey cart clattering.

"Honey, everyone's back. Are you alright?"

Xie Tianqi couldn't help but want to complain, but Xie Baotian stopped her.

"Let's go inside first. The children must be hungry. Let's eat first, then we'll talk!"

"Hey! Come in quickly, it's been ready for a while now, just waiting for you to come back!"

As they talked, they drove the donkey cart into the yard. Xie Baotian unloaded the medicinal herbs and several farm tools into the storeroom, while Xie Yushu carried a bundle containing furs into the house.

Lu was also worried, but having experienced a lot, she was able to handle things calmly and didn't ask any questions. She invited everyone to warm up on the kang (heated brick bed) and asked Lu and her sister-in-law to set the table for dinner.

It's already the time of Frost's Descent. As the old saying goes, White Dew isn't cold, but Frost's Descent changes the weather. It's really chilly in the mornings and evenings. Xie Yushu and the others were covered in cold air, and Madam Lü pulled one after another, pressing them all to the warmest spot on the kang (heated brick bed).

When Xie Yumin saw that her older brother and sister had returned, she excitedly came over and started talking to Xiao Haitang.

Knowing that all the children had returned, Madam Lu and Madam Wang specially made steamed dumplings, a mixture of wheat flour and corn flour, with cabbage and egg filling. The wheat flour and eggs were given to them by Xie Yushu two months ago, and they hadn't been willing to eat them, saving them to cook a good meal for the children after they returned.

The food tasted especially good when there were many people around. More than a hundred large steamed dumplings were all eaten up.

One of the best things about Madam Lü was that, although she was an old woman from ancient times and her family was poor, she never distinguished between men and women when it came to food and drink. She always gave the best food to the men. The Xie family always did this: if there was good food, everyone would eat the good food; if there wasn't, they would eat bear meat together. As a result, both of her daughters-in-law were very filial and treated her like their own mother.

The old lady, afraid that Xiao Haitang would be embarrassed, kept putting food on Xiao Haitang's plate until Xiao Haitang clutched her stomach and cried out.

"Great-Grandma, if I eat any more, I'll be too full to sleep."

Only then did the Lü family relent!

The meal was quite enjoyable.

After finishing their meal and cleaning up, everyone sat together, and only then did Madam Lü ask if Xiao Yi had been found.

Having started this, Xie Baotian stopped hiding anything and told everything from going to find Xiao Yi, meeting the blacksmith's wife, to returning and having Xiao Damei's family occupy the house, to Old Madam Xiao writing a letter of divorce, and then to Xiao Haitang severing ties with his family.

Lady Lü frowned as she listened, Lady Lu wiped away tears of heartache, and Lady Wang spun around in anger, cursing the Xiao family as inhuman.