“Master He, we have no money. You can deduct Da Niu’s wages.”

“Da Niu’s wages are only six hundred cash a year. My two cows are worth several dozen taels of silver. Even if he herded cattle for the He family for fifty years, he wouldn’t earn as much as he would from two cows.”

I know your family isn't wealthy, but my money didn't grow on trees either. Considering we're all from the same village, if you work for the He family for ten years, I won't let you lose the ox.

“Master He, I have already sold myself to my master, and it is impossible for me to go back to your He family.” Chen Xiaoxiao was a little anxious.

"I don't care about that. Anyway, my two oxen can no longer work in the fields. Either you work for the He family for ten years, or you compensate me with thirty taels of silver. You can choose one of the two options."

Seeing how vicious Master He was, Zhao Xian frowned. The two oxen had only fought and suffered some minor injuries. How could that affect their ability to work in the fields? It was clearly extortion.

In ancient times, cattle were important production tools and were quite expensive. I had already seen those two cattle; they were robust and strong. You couldn't buy one of them for less than twenty or thirty taels of silver.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xian looked at Master He and spoke coldly.

“Master He, you just said that these two oxen got into a fight and are now too badly injured to work in the fields, so you asked them to pay you thirty taels of silver, is that right?”

"That's right, give me thirty taels of silver, and this matter will be settled."

“Chen Xiaoxiao and her brother are already mine, so I will take responsibility for this matter. I will pay the thirty taels of silver.”

After Zhao Xian finished speaking, he took out thirty taels of silver and handed it to Master He.

Master He was taken aback. He hadn't expected this man to be so generous, taking out thirty taels of silver without batting an eye. It seemed this man was a wealthy master; he should have asked for more earlier.

"Count it and make sure it's thirty taels of silver."

“That’s right, thirty taels of silver is not a small amount. I’ve already accepted the silver, so let’s settle this matter here. Let’s go.”

Master He put the silver into his pocket and prepared to leave with his men.

"Wait a minute," Zhao Xian called out to Master He.

“You’ve already taken the money, so the two cows are ours now. I need to bring them over first.” Zhao Xian said, looking at Chen Daniu.

"Da Niu, these two cows are already yours. Go and bring them over here."

Standing to the side, Chen Xiaoxiao finally understood what was going on and quickly spoke up.

"Da Niu, what are you still standing there for? The master has already bought these two oxen that can't work in the fields. These two oxen are ours now. Hurry up and bring them over."

"Ah, the cows are ours now! I'll take both cows home." Chen Daniu was overjoyed and immediately went out to fetch the cows.

"Wait a moment."

Master He sensed something was wrong. He had just been secretly pleased to have gained thirty taels of silver for free, but he never expected this person to take his ox away.

He was just trying to extort some money from me. His two water buffaloes were top-quality buffaloes, worth at least fifty taels of silver each. But I wasn't careful when I spoke, and this man took advantage of me.

"What's wrong? Didn't you just say that these two cows got injured in a fight and can't work anymore? Make the brother and sister pay you thirty taels of silver."

"Now that the silver has been paid to you, these two cows naturally belong to them. Can't they take them?"

Master He was speechless. He had indeed said that the siblings should pay him thirty taels of silver.

Master He was a tough guy in the village, so how could he suffer in silence? He would not tolerate an outsider coming to their village to bully him.

But Chen Daniu had already gone out to fetch the ox; we had to stop him as soon as possible.

When He Yuanwai's men tried to go out to stop Chen Daniu, Zhao Cheng blocked the doorway, preventing them from leaving.

These guys are used to being arrogant in the village, but today someone actually blocked their way. Did they have a death wish?

Several men raised their fists and pounced on Zhao Cheng, wanting to teach this arrogant guy a lesson.

Zhao Cheng raised his hand and grabbed the fists of two of them, then squeezed them. Two crisp "crack" sounds were heard as the fists were crushed.

Their hands were immediately covered in blood and flesh, their fingers were in excruciating pain, and they rolled on the ground in agony.

The others were so frightened that they retreated repeatedly, not daring to take another step forward.

“I’ve already told you, the cow belongs to the brother and sister. You can only leave after the cow is brought over. This is called cash on delivery, and the transaction is settled.”

At this moment, Master He was also terrified. This man was too strong. If he really offended him, he would be crushed to death like a bug.

A short while later, Chen Daniu brought over two cows, and only then did Zhao Cheng let them leave. At this point, they didn't dare to utter a single word.

"Look closely, these are the two cows. They have injuries on their heads from the fight earlier. You didn't take the wrong ones."

Master He and his entourage didn't dare to say a word and slunk away.

With everything settled here, Chen Xiaoxiao locked the gate and got into the carriage.

Chen Daniu rode on the back of one ox and led another by the hand, leaving the village. Zhao Cheng drove the carriage, following behind the two oxen.

The two cows basically trotted the whole way, which was still too slow compared to the horse-drawn carriage. It wasn't until evening that the group finally made it back to Narcissus Village.

Zhao Xian has been in the county town for a day now, and his family is getting a little anxious. However, with a master like Zhao Cheng, they are not worried about anything.

As the sun was about to set, the carriage slowly drove into the village, followed by two cows.

The people were a little puzzled. They already had four cows at home, so why did they bring back two more?

Chen Daniu jumped off the ox's back, and the others got off the carriage.

Seeing the family staring curiously at Chen Xiaoxiao and her brother, Zhao Xian began to introduce them.

Chen Xiaoxiao was amazed. How could this family have so many people, including ten guards? What kind of family was this?

It was dinnertime, and he knew that Chen Xiaoxiao hadn't eaten all day and must be starving, so he quickly ordered dinner to be served.

The food was quickly served, and Chen Xiaoxiao and her brother were stunned by what they saw. There was not only white rice, but also braised pork, and most of the vegetables contained shredded or sliced ​​meat. They knew that they and their brother could not even afford wild vegetable porridge at home.

"Eat up, don't be shy, we're all family." After saying that, Zhao Xian used his chopsticks to pick up a large chicken leg and put it into Chen Daniu's bowl.

“Great job, Da Niu. You did a great job today, getting us two big water buffaloes for thirty taels of silver.”

Everyone immediately became interested and wanted to know what was going on. Zhao Xian smiled and said:

"Eat first, and I'll tell you the story later."

Everyone started eating, and Chen Xiaoxiao and her brother were really starving, so they started wolfing down their food.