"A daughter is like a tree that cannot be kept at home once she grows up," Butcher Wang muttered, shaking his head.
Wang Jiao glanced at him and said, "Father, then I'd better not get married."
Ye Lei, who had just put the meat down, heard this and panicked, tripping over his left foot with his right and falling straight onto the meat stall.
Butcher Wang quickly reached out and helped him up.
"Young man, you scared me to death!"
Not only him, but Wang Jiao also felt her heart skip a beat.
"I can't refuse to marry her!" Ye Lei said excitedly, not even bothering to get up.
Butcher Wang had no choice but to walk around the stall himself to help him up.
Ye Lei stared intently at Wang Jiao and repeated, "You can't not marry her."
Wang Jiao was in a complete mess. "I was just making that up with my dad!"
Ye Lei breathed a sigh of relief, then realized he had been staring at Wang Jiao. He lowered his head and asked softly, "How much?"
“One hundred and ninety-eight coins,” Wang Jiao replied.
Butcher Wang let go of his hand, rolled his eyes speechlessly, and thought to himself, "Isn't this kid a little too honest?"
And yet, it's the same meat every day, and I have to ask how much it costs every day?
Seize the opportunity to speak.
Ye Lei counted out the exact number of copper coins and placed them on the meat stall. "Then I'll be going now."
"Okay." Wang Jiao put the money away.
"I'll come back to buy meat tomorrow."
"Okay," Wang Jiao replied again.
Neither of them looked at the other.
Butcher Wang covered his face, not wanting to look. He had been a widower for many years and really didn't want to hear these words every day.
What a terrible thing to do.
Ye Lei finally got back onto the oxcart and drove it to the place where he set up his stall.
Madam Sun was getting impatient. "I have to get my eldest brother back tomorrow. I'm waiting every day!"
Setting up a stall is hard work. After finishing, all she wants to do is go home and rest. Doesn't she still have a few bolts of cloth waiting for her to make clothes?
She was so worried.
Ye Lei came over and saw his mother's fierce eyes. "Mother."
Sun glared at him and then sat down on the oxcart.
Ye Guihua, being observant, lifted the oilcloth and glanced at the meat on the oxcart. "Brother, it seems Auntie said she's going to make an extra bucket of braised meat to send to the academy today?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Sun glanced at the meat and slapped Ye Lei on the back. "This man must only have eyes for Jiaojiao and has forgotten about this again. Think of your little brother who's starving and getting thin. Oh my god."
"Turn around quickly, go back and buy it! I'll go buy it! You stay on the oxcart!"
Ye Lei slapped his forehead. What a terrible memory!
When the five-person team from the town finally returned home, the team from the county had not yet returned.
"That's strange. Shouldn't my younger sister and the others have it harder than us? We've wasted so much time today." Madam Sun didn't go inside; she stood at the doorway watching the road, looking somewhat worried.
Madam Liu shook her head. "My little sister can handle anything. Let's go inside."
Sun sighed and went into the house, picked up her needle and thread, and began to work quickly.
Before she could even finish sewing one sleeve, she heard voices coming from outside the door.
Ye Panjiu followed behind Old Lady Ye into the courtyard.
"Mother, why are you back so late today?" Madam Sun put down her needlework and went to greet them.
"Guess," Grandma Ye said, her face beaming with joy.
Everyone else had smiles on their faces as well.
Old Man Ye took a puff of his pipe, looking at the smiles on the faces of the five men, which shone brightly in the sunlight. "This is incredible, there must be some great news again."
"Something's happened! Da Niu and Er Niu's families, come out quickly!" came Tian's urgent shout from the doorway.
Old Man Ye put down his pipe and quickly walked out.
Ye Panjiu, who was closer to the door, went out first. "Aunt Tian, what happened?"
Tian's face was covered in sweat as she pointed to the intersection, "That widow Dong is coming to your house with her dead son, demanding an explanation!"
Grandma Ye looked very anxious. "She was perfectly fine yesterday, how could she be dead?"
"It looks like he was starving and ate too much at once, and now he's bloated."
Grandma Ye panicked and almost sat down hard.
Ye Panjiu quickly helped her up, "Mother, I'll handle this, don't worry."
Grandma Ye grabbed her daughter's arm, completely distraught, "We're the ones who killed someone!"
Ye Panjiu shook her head without hesitation, "Mother, if giving food to people who are about to starve to death is considered harming others, then are there any good people left in the world?"
She patted Grandma Ye's back reassuringly.
Grandma Ye gradually calmed down under her calm gaze.
Ye Panjiu looked around at the Ye family and said, "We did nothing wrong."
Only Ye Taohua nodded in agreement, "Mother is right."
God knows that when she was in the Du family, she was abused by Old Lady Du and starved to death every day. At that time, she thought that anyone who could bring her some food would be a bodhisattva!
As they spoke, Widow Dong, followed by several villagers, had already arrived at the Ye family's door.
Holding her son's lifeless body in her arms, Widow Dong cried out in anguish, "Give me back my son's life!"
Ye Panjiu paused for a moment, "Sister-in-law Dong, I only gave you a bowl of braised food. Your son was the one who turned the other three bowls over, which is why I was forced to stay. I even told you to be careful of indigestion."
Some of the quiet villagers stood up as they listened to her words.
“In the vast Ye Family Village, every household sent a bowl of food – this was an act of kindness. The child died from bloating, but this was a man-made disaster!”
"Widow Dong, you, you are truly utterly foolish!"
Widow Dong looked at the child in her arms with tears in her eyes; this was her eldest son.
The eldest son always ate more and was also stronger than the second son.
Yesterday, she only managed to grab a few bites of the vegetables from the four bowls of braised food.
The rest was eaten by the two sons, with the elder son eating the most.
She simply watched them eat with a smile, even though she was also hungry.
But a mother should always give the best to her son first.
Now, listening to the words in her ear, is it that she herself caused the death of her own son?
No! So what if that's the case?!
She also has a second son, who is hungry again today. The Ye family has no choice but to accept her, whether they want to or not, and they must give her money!
She knew that the Ye family had become wealthy and powerful, and yesterday Ye Panjiu had casually taken out seven taels of silver.
Shouldn't we give her money?
Widow Dong wiped away her tears, pointing at Ye Panjiu with a face full of resentment, "It's all your fault! It's all because of you! If it weren't for that braised meat of yours, my son would definitely not have died!"
Ye Panjiu looked at her face and sighed, "Aunt Dong, I have a question for you. Did Ling'er eat the braised food from yesterday?"
A hint of doubt appeared on Widow Dong's face. "Why are you bringing up that good-for-nothing? That's meat, there's no way she could have any!!"
Ye Panjiu didn't have time to argue with her anymore. She said urgently to Sun Shi, "Quickly, scoop out a bowl of the leftover porridge, add some salt, and hurry!"
Without a second thought, Mrs. Sun hurried home.
Ye Panjiu also prepared to leave.
Widow Dong grabbed her sleeve and continued to cry out, "You're not leaving until you give me an explanation!"
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