Chapter 44: Suffering the consequences
When Su Changxi saw the people, he began to complain, "Officers! You have to help us! Sang Yong relies on the fact that he is the head of Fufeng Township and the brother-in-law of Mr. Ma in the town, and he doesn't take us ordinary people seriously at all.
It is said that a dowry is a woman's lifelong possession. My daughter hasn't even married yet, and the Sang family is calculating her dowry! That's fine, since we haven't married yet, the worst that can happen is that we won't get married. But do you know how excessive the Sang family is?
My daughter's dowry included a large cabinet and a large dressing table, and they were all gone, gone! The Sang family even turned around and accused us of emptying their house.
What a joke! How many people were watching such big and heavy objects? We had to run away to get out of Sangjia Village yesterday. If we really carried those things, how could we not be discovered?
Go ask who saw us stealing from the Sang family? If they can point it out, we will accept whatever punishment they give us! If they can't, they must compensate our family for the loss!
I can’t let my daughter’s reputation be ruined and her dowry be lost! Woo woo woo.”
The two yamen runners looked at each other and hurriedly comforted him, "Village Chief Su, don't get excited. We are here today mainly to understand the details of yesterday. You said you didn't touch the Sang family's things at all?"
"I swear! We definitely didn't touch the Sang family's things!" Su Changxi looked sincere and wanted to guarantee it with his life.
Su Chunlin stepped forward, saluted the two officers, and said in a gentle voice: "My two lords, let's not talk about other things, just take that dresser, can't two grown men lift it? Even if two grown men can lift it, they can't go far! We have to use a bullock cart to pull it! We walked all the way there and back yesterday.
There is only one road out of Sangjia Village. If we ask the people in their own village whether we have taken anything from the Sang family, we will know. I think Sang Yong must have failed to get his daughter-in-law's dowry, so he holds a grudge and plotted to harm us in order to embezzle his daughter-in-law's dowry!"
"Yes! That's it!" Other villagers expressed their agreement.
The yamen runner also agreed with this statement in his heart, otherwise this matter would not make sense at all.
Seeing that the two men's attitudes were biased towards them, Su Chunlin immediately brought wine and food and let the two yamen runners eat before leaving.
As soon as the yamen runners left, the villagers and the Han family attacked the Sang family for a while before helping to clean up.
Chen Yi looked at the sky and said goodbye to Su Tai's family. "I have been here for two days and it is time for me to go back. I will definitely send the grain seeds here before the spring."
"Okay, okay, thank you for your help!" Old man Han held Shen Yi's hand, his eyes full of joy and expectation.
Han went back to the house and fetched a wicker basket, filled it with ten white flour buns and some coarse flour cakes, and said, "Take some back to your second aunt's house and share them with her. Just say it's a token of our appreciation."
Chen Yi didn't hesitate, he took his things and left quickly in the wind and snow.
As soon as Shen Yi left, Old Man Han and his family also said goodbye, and Han packed some white flour buns and cakes for them as usual.
After all the guests left, the Su Tai family could finally slow down and take a breath.
Although there was a strong snowstorm in the yard, the couple only closed the yard gate and left the door to the main room open. They sat in the main room, staring at the falling snow in the yard for a long time, and smiling from time to time.
Su Zhan got goosebumps all over his body when he heard this, "Dad and Mom, are you okay?"
"What could possibly happen?" Han cursed with a smile, and sighed, "Mother feels that everything is too unreal! At the beginning of the year, our family was still worried about the grain, so how could we have the time to think about anything else? But by the end of the year, not only did we build a big house, but we also saved enough food to make a big impression in front of our relatives. Today, our family is really proud!"
"Your mother is right! Dad is happy, let's have another drink together!" Su Chunlin poured wine for Su Zhan.
Han muttered a few words on the side but didn't stop them, and even gave them some snacks.
Two days later, Su Changfu suddenly came to the house and told him about the Sang family.
"The county magistrate handled official matters impartially and ordered the yamen runners to question our Dongmen Village and their Sangjia Village. Our village is honest and tells everything we have to say, but Sangjia Village is different. Sang Yong asked the villagers to tell lies and give false testimony. Unfortunately, Sangjia Village is not as united as he thought, and the yamen runners are not so easy to fool.
After several interrogations, some villagers could no longer hold back and revealed the truth. The county magistrate was furious and ordered his men to bring Sang Yong's family to the county government for interrogation. He also beat Sang Yong with ten sticks and removed him from his position as village chief.
If it weren't for Mr. Ma's money, Sang Yong and his family would have to stay in jail for a while."
Su Chunlin felt relieved after hearing this. "It serves them right! This is their retribution! But we can't just let our losses slide like this! We have to get back the cabinet and dressing table that Su Yan brought as a dowry."
Su Changfu agreed, "I will definitely not let them get away with it, but the things are still missing and we have been beaten. Sang Yong insisted that he didn't know where the things went. The yamen runners searched but found nothing. But they are sure that the things are still in Sangjia Village, so we asked the Sang family to pay us the money.
Changxi meant that the cabinet and dressing table were originally part of the dowry, and now that Yan'er couldn't get married, it would be unlucky to bring them back, so it would be better to exchange them for silver, so he agreed.
"That's good." Su Chunlin looked happy.
Su Tai, who was staying in the back room, listened to their conversation and secretly ran back to her room.
The things she brought in from the Sang family are still at the transfer station. She didn't dare to dispose of them immediately before for fear of complications, but now she can sell them.
These large items such as cabinets and dressing tables are all made of solid wood, using mortise and tenon structures. They have exquisite craftsmanship, are sturdy and durable, and are definitely valuable.
She first took out the things inside and used the media tool to put them on the automatic transaction cabinet for scanning.
After a while, item information and price quotes appeared on the screen.
The cabinet and dressing table that Su Yan brought as a dowry were both brand new, except that the wood was average, and the asking price was 6,000 coins.
However, the price of the Sang family's older furniture was as high as 18,000 coins, which really surprised Su Tai.
In addition to these large items, there were also fifty taels of silver hidden in the cabinets and bed boards of the Sang family. She did not touch these for the time being. She sold the remaining clothes, quilts and jewelry worn by Sang and got 2,580 coins.
Finally, it was the Sang family's food, totaling 1,800 kilograms. She rented an automatic flour mill, which produced 1,440 kilograms of flour and 360 kilograms of wheat bran. She would save these and use them as feed for the chickens when she raised chickens at home next year.
With so much white flour, Su Tai no longer wanted to put herself in a difficult position.
Anyway, the house is so big now, Han built another warehouse to store grain. She no longer has to guard these things day and night, and she has plenty of opportunities to fish in troubled waters.
So she found an opportunity to sneak into the warehouse, mixed a large amount of white flour into the rough flour, and then took the initiative to take on the job of cooking.
Even if Han found it strange, he would not get to the bottom of it.
(End of this chapter)
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