1,500 catties of grain were moved from Ling Laosan's yard to a horse-drawn cart at the village entrance, under the watchful eyes of many villagers.
Soon the news spread that the Ling family was going to lose all their money and be stood up, and that their daughter would not be able to marry into the Qiao family.
The last two bags of grain were loaded onto the cart. Two villagers passed by and started discussing it.
"What nonsense!" Da Yong was furious and couldn't help but want to teach the two of them a lesson.
The two men, seeing his fierce expression, ran away as fast as they could.
They hadn't forgotten that this boy from the Qiao family had cruelly broken Shi Zhenxiang's limbs in front of so many villagers.
Then last night, Shi Zhenxiang died under mysterious circumstances.
Although Datian Village is quite far from here, some people can't help but connect the two things.
"Brother, let it go. It's normal for them to think that way. After all, we're here to borrow money and collect grain before the marriage is even finalized," Qiao Lian'er said.
Silver and grain are the foundation of a farmer's livelihood; without these two things, it's almost like losing one's life.
"They'll come back when the time comes, and that'll settle this whole mess."
Dayong thought about it and realized that, compared to the villagers' attitudes, Ling Laosan's family had believed it so readily, which moved him deeply.
With a flick of the reins, the carriage departed.
They arrived at the crossroads where the people had gone down to the village, and saw the servants pushing carts carrying loads of grain out of the village, some of them carrying money bags.
"It's really not as good as the county town. Such a big village with a hundred households only managed to get five hundred taels."
"The entire village is not as good as a single storefront in the county town."
"I knew it! There's not much to gain in the village. Those who were assigned to the town are lucky."
"Pah, if they go too far, I'll just report them to the higher-ups."
These people were cursing and swearing, clearly harboring resentment.
Qiu stared wide-eyed at the vast amount of grain—the villagers' hard-earned harvest of the year, their only hope for survival.
The village didn't have much money, but it had plenty of grain. I wonder how sad the villagers were when their grain was requisitioned.
Qiao Lian'er drove the carriage past as if no one else was around.
"This Akhal-Teke horse is quite good."
Someone watched the Akhal-Teke horse drive away and stroked their chin.
“There are so many horses in the north, forget it, horse meat doesn’t taste good anyway,” another person said.
Big Red seemed to hear it, spurred its hooves, and disappeared around the corner.
Qiao Lian'er rolled her eyes, still thinking about her bright red dress.
Although she had to pay rent to the horse dealership every month, she already considered Da Hong as part of the family.
After a while, when she had enough money again, she went and bought Da Hong.
Da Yong helped the Ling family sell kimchi, while Qiao Lian'er and Qiao Zhizhi went to find the uncle to pay the final installment.
Seeing that there was enough silver, the uncle also took out the house deed, land deed, and key.
"By the way, have those people who levied grain and silver reached your area yet?" the uncle asked.
"We should be there soon."
"It's best not to keep any money on hand right now," the uncle advised.
"This shop is in a good location and can be rented out for twenty-five taels a month, but I advise you not to rush to rent it out, otherwise most of that money will be stolen."
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