"Today, my brother and I were selling kimchi on West Street when Shi Lao Er, Shi Lao San, and Shi Zhenxiang came to cause trouble. They tried to prevent customers from buying kimchi from us, to ruin our reputation, and to make it impossible for us to continue doing business."
Ling Laosan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "This is too much! What are they doing? Aren't we working hard to earn money to pay off their debts? And they're still obstructing us. What kind of logic is this?"
"Then some righteous people rushed out to defend them and beat them up badly. They also destroyed Shi Zhenxiang. The three members of the Shi family are now in the county clinic. Shi Zhenxiang's condition is serious and he won't recover."
“Father, Mother, Shi Zhenxiang is not only stupid, but he will never have children. I absolutely cannot marry him,” Lingyin said.
"Moreover, they deliberately prevented our family from making money because they were determined to have me marry into their family, not to seek compensation. This further proves that the porcelain was fake, and they would never be willing to use an expensive piece of porcelain to set a trap."
"Furthermore, the Shi family has been offering dowries of thirty or forty taels of silver to other families, but no one is willing to marry their daughter to their mentally challenged son. This shows that they don't want money, but rather people, and they're after our family."
"Father, when you repaired the shrine for the Shi family that time, was their shrine really broken?"
Ling Laosan thought about it for a moment, then sneered, "It's a broken tenon. They're making a new tenon for his family, but I think that tenon looks like it was deliberately smashed. The shrine was placed there properly, and the children are not allowed to touch it. How could it suddenly break?"
"Sure enough, they were waiting for me from the very beginning."
“But if we go to the authorities, we are outnumbered and outmatched. How could we possibly win against the Shi family? Besides, the Shi family might not be willing to hand over the porcelain for the authorities to appraise. If they hide it, they might insist that it is valuable,” Qiu said.
Although everyone knows that the broken porcelain is placed on the Shi family's shrine, the Shi family repeatedly brings up this matter to every visitor, as if deliberately trying to deepen people's impressions.
“Mother, our family is not alone. We also have our eldest uncle, second uncle, fourth uncle, and relatives from neighboring families.”
“Everyone can break in, take the broken porcelain, and bring it to the government office. The government will summon the Shi family to court, and they will have no choice but to go.”
“You know your eldest uncle, second uncle, and fourth uncle, right? They’re afraid we’ll borrow money from them, so our relationship has become much more distant.” Ling Laosan shook his head dejectedly.
He knew that his brothers weren't that heartless. If it were just a few taels or ten taels, they wouldn't be avoiding his family. The problem was fifty taels, which was a lot of money that many families couldn't save up in a lifetime.
Everyone's family has a tough life, with several children to support, and some of them still need to go to school.
"So, Father, let's explain the situation to them and treat them well."
"I believe that if they know we've been set up, and we treat them to good food and wine, and let them know that the Shi family might treat their daughter the same way they treated the Ling family's daughter, they'll be willing to face this with us."
“If we treat our eldest uncle, second uncle, fourth uncle, and other close relatives from the past, as well as Dad’s childhood friends, well, and if everyone does their part, this matter can be accomplished.”
The couple exchanged a glance and had to admit that this method was feasible.
They thought their family would have to pay so much in compensation, so their relatives kept their distance. Now it's very likely that the antiques are fake, and they've been tricked and schemed against. Shi Zhenxiang was even crippled. Every single thing is in their favor.
Moreover, Shi Lao Er, Shi Lao San, and Shi Zhenxiang are all in the county town. The Shi family is missing these people. If they don't take action now while things are still empty, when will they?
"Let's take a gamble," said Ling Laosan. "Let's go to town now and buy meat and wine."
Lingyin smiled and said, "Father, there's no need to go. My brother and I have already bought them."
A day later, Qiao Lian'er drove the carriage to the county town again. She even went to the county government office, but she didn't see anything.
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