Anle raised an eyebrow, watching the two figures of master and servant leave, a confident smile playing on her lips.
Aren't you coming?
She may have sounded tough, but she's definitely curious inside; she's certain she'll come.
"Big sister, let's go too, don't keep our parents waiting."
"Little sister, what... how did you do this to her? How did you manage to ruin her clothes like this?"
"Her outer garment was stained with blood, so I tore it off and used it as a pad for her bottom."
The remaining torn clothes were unwearable, so we had to alter them.
"How's my cooking, big sister? Isn't it great?"
She quietly licked her dry lips and nodded stiffly.
"But isn't it unfair of us to do this? We've taken so much money from them!"
"Huh?! What's wrong with it? If I don't change it for her, even if I let her go out to a clothing store to buy a new outfit, it would probably cost at least half a tael of silver, right?"
Does this alteration I made for her not even worth half a tael of silver?
I dare say you probably can't find anyone in this town with skills as good as mine. Look how perfectly I transformed her!
She really got her money's worth.
Anjing looked at Anle with a slightly strange expression, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated, which made Anle put her hands on her hips.
"What are you trying to say, sister? Just say it."
"Little sister, in our town, what clothes are so expensive that they cost half a tael of silver? If you were to buy an outer garment, it wouldn't cost that much money!"
For a hundred or two hundred coins, you can buy a top-quality fabric shirt; a whole dress would cost at most half a tael of silver.
If you want to buy something that's ridiculously expensive, you'll have to go to a tailor shop in town.
"Uh, is that so?" Anle's face stiffened, and she gave a dry laugh. It could only be said that she really had no concept of money here.
The only concept she had was that on the way to town, the old man pulling the oxcart explained to her that one tael of silver was equal to one thousand coins.
Even so, it was only because I became a laughing stock in that old man's eyes that I gained understanding.
"Is this half a tael of silver a lot of money?"
Anjing nodded solemnly, "That's a lot. This half tael of silver is enough for our family's expenses for a year."
Anle pouted, "Big sister, what you're saying is a lie. I've never seen our family use money. The only time I've seen money was spent was when we went to town for travel expenses and incense money."
The fare and incense money were given by my grandfather.
Before we left home, we used our third grandfather's oxcart, right? Back then, we didn't need to pay for the cart at all.
The family members' clothes were also patched upon patched.
My third brother, fourth sister, and I all wear your and second brother's old clothes.
My younger brother's clothes were also made by my mother from torn clothes.
Even your clothes, eldest sister and second brother's, are too short in the trousers and sleeves, clearly worn for two years, yet you haven't even bought a new set that fits you properly.
All these signs indicate that I'm certain our family won't spend much money in a year.
Although she had no concept of money, based on her understanding of her family over this period of time, she knew clearly that her family really didn't spend any money; everything they ate and drank was dug up from the ground by themselves.
The only thing worth seeing was the coarse grain flour used for the vegetable pancakes, which was made from corn cobs that were ground at home, not bought with money.
Her second brother told her that even the white flour steamed buns were made by exchanging the grain stored up at home for white flour at the grain store.
However, her eldest sister is much better than her muddle-headed fourth sister.
If things were done according to her muddle-headed fourth sister's wishes, her family would have to spend who knows how much money each year, relying entirely on her second uncle's family.
But don't they think about where the food her family eats comes from? Isn't it all grown by her father?
In her view, the money her family earned was all coming in and never going out; they were being treated like livestock.
That scoundrel old couple only gave her family food because they thought that if they were well-fed, they would work hard; they were treating them like livestock.
Anjing bit her lip and nodded in agreement, "Little sister is right. I really haven't seen our family spend much money in a year."
The best they could give me from my third grandmother's side was a few steamed buns each month.
But now that we have money in hand, our family has money to spend, and we don't need to spend Grandpa's anymore.
"No, this money isn't for our family's expenses; it's for our third brother to go to school."
I heard that writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and books cost a lot of money, so I need to earn some extra pocket money to buy him a few books and writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.
"I'll make up the difference tomorrow if he doesn't have enough money. I've prepared everything he needs for school in the next couple of days."
An Jing was dumbfounded.
What is her younger sister saying?
Are you kidding me? Are you talking like a child? Are you really planning to send your third brother to school?
Quietly and foolishly clutching the two pieces of silver in her hand, she had no idea how she had brought Anle to her parents' side.
Only when he dazedly unfolded the two silver coins in his hand and handed them to An Mancang did he seem to regain his voice.
"Father, Mother, my little sister earned one tael of silver, saying she wants it for my third brother to go to school."
An Mancang stared dumbfounded at the two pieces of silver that An Jing had spread out in her hand.
"Where did this silver come from?"
Anjing swallowed hard and said with difficulty, "Little sister, little sister earned it."
Qiao Qiuniang was completely dumbfounded. "Earned? Earned by Lewazi? Earned silver?" How could this be? He only went to the outhouse, how did he end up with two pieces of silver?
An Mancang's face immediately darkened after a moment of stunned silence.
"Le Wa Zi, tell me, where did this silver come from?"
Anle blinked, stared at Anmancang for a moment, then clutched her heart, which had just been struck by a powerful blow; a curse was raging in her chest.
Holy crap, what's wrong with her cheapskate dad's eyes? Does he think she stole it?
"Wait, Dad, don't look at me like that, it's giving me the creeps. Let me make this clear first, I didn't steal this money, I didn't rob it, and it didn't come from any illegitimate source. I earned it myself!"
The eldest sister is watching over there; you can ask her if you don't believe me!
My older sister saw everything I did when I was earning money.
"You little brat, where did you get the ability to make money? How did you earn it?" Qiao Qiuniang stared at the two pieces of silver in Anjing's hand, feeling a little flustered.
What has her little girl done this time?
Anjing nodded hurriedly, "Father, Mother, little sister didn't lie to you. I saw it too. Here's what happened: when little sister went to the outhouse, she met a young lady. That young lady—" Anjing blushed and couldn't finish her sentence.
She glanced at An Mancang, then cautiously pulled Qiao Qiuniang aside, leaving An Mancang and An Le staring at each other in a stalemate.
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