Chapter Sixteen: We Must Move to the City
I had expected him to be a burly man seven feet tall, or at the very least, a strong young man in his prime.
To everyone's surprise, it turned out to be an old woman about the same age as Aunt Xue.
Li Yan had dealt with this person before and recognized her at a glance.
Li Yan wasn't surprised, because she had already guessed it might be her even before she caught the person.
Xu Ge'er once said that her daughter, Da Hua, had a crush on Xue Erlang, but Xue Da Niang didn't agree. Presumably, the woman harbored resentment at that time.
Later, taking advantage of the chaos at the Xue family's house, he sneaked in and stole the silver.
Seeing that it was this old hag, Aunt Xue was so angry that she jumped up and down: "Just because I didn't like your Da Hua back then, you've been holding a grudge? We live in the same village, we're all neighbors. Erlang used to call you 'Auntie' all the time. How could you do this? My Erlang's body is still warm, and you've already stolen the money he risked his life for."
The woman's husband's surname was Feng. At this moment, she was unaware that Aunt Xue was setting a trap for her, and she went along with what Aunt Xue said: "What's so great about your Erlang? He's just a little taller, a little better looking, and a little more educated. Why does he look down on my Dahua?" She was also full of grievances and indignation, "It's because you and your son didn't agree to my Dahua marrying into your Xue family back then that Dahua married any man she could find, and now she's living a miserable life."
“I’m going to hold your family accountable for this.”
"Your son is dead, so why should you get so much money? Why should you get money to spend even though he's dead?"
Aunt Xue: "You heartless old hag, you stole my son's funeral money, I'll beat you to death!" As she spoke, Aunt Xue lunged at the man and tried to strangle him.
Fortunately, there were many people who managed to pull her away.
"Give me back the silver you stole from my house! Otherwise, I'll report you to the authorities immediately and have you thrown in jail!"
The old woman only realized then that she had fallen into the trap set by this old hag Xue. In a moment of quick thinking, she immediately changed her story: "When did I steal your son's funeral money? I only entered your house tonight, but I didn't take anything. If you don't believe me, you can search me."
I already let it slip, and now I can't change my mind or try to deny it.
Aunt Xue is kind-hearted, but she is also shrewd; otherwise, how could a widow raise two sons and now raise two grandchildren?
"Pah!" Unable to break free from the fight, Aunt Xue attacked with her mouth, spitting directly in the woman's face. "You just admitted to stealing my son's funeral expenses, how come you changed your mind after just a few words? Give the money back!"
Li Yan remained calm and stepped forward, saying, "You can't spend the money if you don't return it. It's official silver, and it's marked with symbols. If we report it to the authorities, and they find any official silver circulating in the market, you'll be arrested sooner or later. It's better to return the money now, and out of consideration for our neighborly relationship, we won't report you to the authorities and send you to jail."
Aunt Xue roared, "No! We must report it to the authorities! If we don't, she'll get off easy."
If the Xue family really reports it to the authorities, and word gets out that there was a thief in the village, it will damage Xinghua Village's reputation.
So, the village headman said sternly, "Sister-in-law Feng, you should return the money to the person immediately."
The woman was already intimidated by Li Yan's words, and when she heard the village head also coldly rebuking her, her legs went weak and she couldn't straighten up.
If you can't spend it, what's the point of keeping it?
Let's know when to stop and pay back the money first. We'll make a note of this debt and settle it later.
"I...I...I'll pay back." She stammered, her previous arrogance gone. "I'll pay back, I'll go home and get the money right now."
To appease Granny Xue, the village head said he would personally go to collect the silver and then hand it to her. He hoped Granny Xue would consider their past relationship and not hold it against him.
There was no deep-seated hatred between the two families. Since she was willing to return the money and the village head had spoken on her behalf, Aunt Xue said, "For the sake of the village head, as long as she returns the eight taels, four mace, and three copper coins to me in full, this matter will be over, and I will not pursue it any further."
The farce ended just like that, and the entire Xinghua Village returned to silence.
Not long after, the village head kept his promise and brought the money to the Xue family, handing it over to Aunt Xue.
When Aunt Xue saw that not a single coin was missing, she was very happy. But thinking about how wicked the thief was, she was still furious.
"She got off too easily! She's been breaking into my house time and time again with ill intentions to steal money, and I just let her go like that. I'm so angry!" Luckily, her daughter-in-law was quick-witted and came up with this plan, tricking her into falling into the trap. If it weren't for her daughter-in-law's idea, the money would probably never have been found.
It is clear that Li was truly a lucky star for the Xue family.
Li Yan comforted her mother-in-law: "Although she hasn't been punished by law, this matter will definitely spread throughout our village after today. Do you think she'll have a good life from now on? A thief is like a rat in the street, hated by everyone. Life won't be easy for her."
"Besides, even if we don't hold it against her, the village head will be grateful to us. Even if we really take her to the yamen and file a complaint, she shouldn't have to spend more than a few days in jail after she returns the money."
Li Yan wasn't very familiar with the laws of this era, so her words were just a rough guess. But regardless of the era, it was always necessary to understand the laws of the current dynasty. She thought that once she entered the city and had the opportunity, she would borrow two relevant books to read.
After hearing what Li Yan said, Aunt Xue's anger subsided considerably.
"She deserves it! She couldn't be a decent person, so she became a thief. She held a grudge over that little thing from back then. She doesn't deserve any sympathy."
In any case, now that they have found these eight taels of silver, the Xue family's life is undoubtedly much better.
At this moment, Li Yan simply brought up the matter of going to the city again in front of Xu Ge'er.
"Before, Mother was worried that there wasn't enough money and that we would struggle to make ends meet after moving to the city. Now, with this sum of money, plus what I had saved before, we have more than ten taels in total. Moreover, with the cooperation with Yuanbaolou, we will have a steady income every day, so we are not worried. Once we get to the city, I will actively look for work. In short, Mother doesn't need to worry about the future."
Xu Ge'er was unaware that his grandmother and aunt were planning to go to the city. Upon hearing them talk about this, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you going to the city?"
Now that the stolen eight taels of silver have been recovered, the family's burden has been greatly reduced. Aunt Xue was happy and told Xu Ge'er about Li Yan's thoughts: "Your aunt is thinking of you. She is planning to find a teacher to teach you to read after we go to the city."
Xu Ge'er's eyes widened in surprise.
He couldn't believe it; just a few days ago he was worried about having enough to eat, and now he could go to school.
Before his uncle joined the army, he taught him to read. He liked learning to read and was very interested in reading.
He knew exactly how much money it would cost to study.
Must his grandmother and aunt work hard to support his education?
"I don't want to study!" Xu Ge'er clenched his fists and refused outright.
Li Yan smiled and said, "Whether or not I go to school is something we can discuss later, but I definitely have to go to the city."
"Why?" If not for his education, why go to the city? Wouldn't it be better to stay in the village?
Before this, Li Yan's consideration was naturally to seek better development. But after today's incident, there is now another reason.
“Everyone in the village probably knows that our family is rich now. Before, to lure thieves into a trap, I had your grandmother spread the news that our family had made a lot of money. Now, we’ve made a big show of recovering those eight taels of silver, and we’ve instantly become one of the richest families in the village. But our family consists of old women, young children, or women and children. If someone tries to steal our money again, we might not be able to keep it.”
At that time, losing the silver is a small matter; the real fear is that the thieves might hurt someone.
Even if she was being cynical and judging everyone in the village too harshly, living in constant fear and anxiety was still a difficult life.
Once you're in the city, you don't know anyone, so that worry disappears.
Xu Ge'er understood what his aunt meant, so he stopped talking.
"I'll listen to Grandma and Auntie," Xu Ge'er said after a moment of silence.
Aunt Xue said, "Yan Niang, I'll listen to you."
Seeing that her grandmother and brother both listened to her aunt, Yue'er immediately raised her hand to show her opinion: "I will listen to my aunt too."
Li Yan casually scooped up Yue'er and held her in her arms: "When we get to the city, your aunt will buy you lots of delicious food."
Yuejie is a glutton; as soon as she hears there's something delicious, her mouth starts watering again.
Xu Ge'er felt embarrassed for his sister and gently scolded her, "You glutton, all you know is eating." As he spoke, he used the corner of his sleeve to wipe his sister's mouth.
Looking at this harmonious scene, Aunt Xue couldn't help but feel regretful. If Erlang were here too, how wonderful that would be.
.
The matter of moving to the city was finally settled, and all four members of the Xue family agreed.
But there are still many things to take care of before moving to the city, so there's no rush to move.
The news that Granny Feng had stolen the Xue family's silver quickly spread throughout Xinghua Village. Not long after, the Feng family moved away from Xinghua Village.
The night before the Feng family moved away, Granny Feng secretly came to the Xue family's house again. This time, however, she didn't go inside; instead, she threw excrement in front of the Xue family's door.
The next morning, Aunt Xue got up and found someone throwing excrement at her doorstep, which made her even angrier and she started cursing.
Only later did I learn about the Feng family's situation.
"That Sister-in-law Feng was really out of her mind. What deep-seated hatred could she have to break into someone's house and steal? Now look what's happened, everyone knows about it, and she's too shy to stay in the village." She added, "She's lived in the village her whole life, and she has no one to rely on outside. Where can she go? Sometimes I think about it, she's a pitiful person."
The woman who came to tell Aunt Xue the news first said that Granny Feng was bad, and then said that she was pitiful.
As she spoke, she kept glancing at Aunt Xue.
“We live in the same village, sister-in-law. What grudge do your two families have that has led to this? We’re all neighbors, closer than family. Now that your family is doing better, you should… you should at least leave them a way to survive. The weather is getting colder, and they’ve left their homes. Where are they supposed to go?”
The implication is that the Xue family went too far and shouldn't have been driven to such extremes.
Aunt Xue ignored her and just kept slapping the broom against the winnowing basket, making a loud slapping sound.
At this point, the woman simply turned hostile: "So what if you have money? Does having money give you the right to bully people?" Then she left, cursing and swearing.
Originally, Aunt Xue only agreed to move, but now the family must move, and they must move as soon as possible.
A note from the author:
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20 more red envelopes will be dropping!
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