"I said, look at our mother, isn't she just like our little sister said, a softie!"
What if it really happens to our family?
Our dad's a soft-hearted and stubborn man; maybe we'll actually end up paying for it.
An Ning's eyes darted around. "I made a lot of money today. Don't tell our parents. When your little sister comes over later, just secretly give it to her."
I'm really worried about leaving this money with our parents.
An Yi grinned, "Little sister isn't that stupid."
All the money earned from this shop is in my younger sister's hands; none of it goes to our parents.
Didn't my younger sister take it away yesterday? Our parents didn't seem to say anything, did they?
Besides, this shop was all arranged by my younger sister through her own abilities.
Our parents didn't contribute much; they just ran errands. They couldn't possibly bring themselves to ask our little sister for money!
Don't worry, if it really comes down to our family paying, my little sister will be the first to object.
At that time, An Daliang's family stood in Wu Liangdong's grain shop, showing no intention of leaving, and making a huge fuss.
An Manyi also sat in the grain shop and kept crying.
An Manxin, who had arranged the marriage for An Manyi, had already run away to find some peace and quiet, leaving Wu Liangdong with a mountain of problems, staring blankly at the An family as he tried to deal with them.
"Dad, Mom, can we talk about this behind closed doors?"
This is my shop opening for business.
"With you causing trouble here, my shop can't do business."
He Sanfeng, her eyes red with anger, shouted, "Do you have any conscience? Huh? You're the ones who pushed my daughter into the fire pit?"
"The owner of that cloth shop on East Street owes someone money, didn't you know?"
Wu Liangdong's eyes flickered, and he feigned an innocent and helpless expression before sighing.
"Father, Mother, Manxin and I really didn't know about this."
You know, it's impossible to push your own sister into a fire pit, right?
Isn't it because they saw that the family was well-off and that the owner was a shopkeeper? They wanted to find such a wealthy family for Manyi?
Who would have thought that their family was in such a state?
If I had known it was like this, let alone you, even Manxin and I wouldn't have agreed.
But given the current situation, she's already married, so life has to go on, right?
We can't just let Manyi pack up and sleep on the streets, can we?
I heard that people from that side are coming to take over houses and shops.
"Time is of the essence, so why don't you two prioritize resolving the satisfaction issue first?"
An Manyi wiped away her tears and glanced at Wu Liangdong.
“What my brother-in-law said makes sense.”
Dad, Mom, please help if you can.
"Father, Mother, can you really bear to see Peng San'er and me kicked out of the house?"
An Daliang was puffing on his pipe, his old face drooping and lifeless. Compared to his cheerful face when he held a wedding a few days ago, he suddenly looked much older.
"Oh, my dear daughter, do you think we, your husband and I, don't want to help you? But what can we do?"
How can we, an old couple, possibly come up with so much money?
"We, the old couple, don't have that much money to cover for you."
An Manyi's face lit up with joy, "Dad, don't we have a lot of land?"
My second brother cleared out quite a bit of wasteland back then.
With so much land, selling just a few acres would be enough to pay off the debts.
He Sanfeng's face darkened. "Nonsense! The fields in this family are our lifeline!"
We farmers rely on the harvest from these fields to make a living; how can we just sell them off to others?
An Manyi's eyes were brimming with tears, which were about to fall. She held up a small handkerchief to wipe away her tears and choked out.
"Then, Father and Mother, are you really going to watch me not be able to make a living and end up like Peng San'er's ex-wife, committing suicide by jumping into a well?"
Which is more important, the land or the daughter?
Parents, you two can decide for yourselves.
"If you, Mom and Dad, don't care about me, I'll really jump into that well in front of that house; I'd rather die than live anymore."
Hong Lanzhi, who stepped in through the back door, glanced at An Manyi's plump and round body upon hearing this, and secretly scoffed—
With that big, muscular physique, how could a well possibly hold him?
Whether she can jump in or not is another matter!
But we can't say it like that; we have to play along with this big, clumsy guy.
Her son and daughter-in-law had already made an agreement with the cloth seller on East Street: as long as they received the money, they would give her half of it.
Just for the sake of getting half the money, she was determined to get the old couple to hand over their money.
Otherwise, all those eggs that were stolen a few days ago would have been wasted.
If it weren't for this place, she wouldn't have let the old couple take the eggs so easily.
"Oh, Satisfied? What kind of nonsense are you spouting, kid?"
How could you possibly commit suicide?
Aren't there plenty of people living even harder lives than we do here?
Those poor people still live by begging and pleading!
It's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. As long as you're alive, there will always be a day when things go your way.
"My dear in-law, please don't let this child do anything foolish! You must keep a close eye on him. Money isn't important; his life must be saved!"
He Sanfeng glanced at Hong Lanzhi.
"Hmph, does this sound like something a money-grubbing person like you would say?"
You're never this generous on ordinary days!
I could argue with her for ages over just two eggs, and now I'm telling her money isn't important?
If the money isn't heavy, why didn't her family use it to cover their own expenses?
It's easy for someone standing there to talk the talk, without understanding the situation.
"Oh dear, times have changed."
How can the usual petty squabbles compare to the situation now?
Compared to human life, human life is definitely more important!
He Sanfeng glared at Hong Lanzhi with an ugly expression, "Isn't this all the result of your son's misdeeds? If he had known about their family background beforehand, would this have happened?"
It's easier said than done. Fifty taels of silver isn't something you can just take so easily.
Even if we sold everything we owned, even if we sold both of us, we still wouldn't be able to come up with the money.
"This is going to kill us! This is going to be the death of my wife and me!"
Hong Lanzhi smiled and lightly patted He Sanfeng on the back.
"Don't say such hurtful things in front of the children."
What do you mean, dead or alive? How could they possibly sell you two old folks?
At most, they'll just sell a few plots of land.
Besides, all those fertile fields of yours were created because your eldest son was so capable.
"If we sell this field, we can just spend some money to buy a few more plots of wasteland, and then cultivate a few more plots, right?"
As Hong Lanzhi spoke, she started rambling incoherently.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
