Chapter 14: Using a Girl
Suspicion flashed in Xie Ming's eyes, and he looked at the Su family cautiously, "I made it very clear yesterday. The land must be returned, and the silver and grain must also be returned. How can you three come here empty-handed?"
Tian was a little afraid of him. She laughed dryly and looked towards the Xie family's courtyard with her small green eyes. "The land was borrowed by Su Cheng's brother. If they want to return it, naturally they have to discuss it together."
Su Cheng pushed open the door and called out to Xie Ming, "Uncle, let them in."
Xie Ming pursed his lips, his eyes slowly sweeping over the faces of the three members of the Su family before he moved aside to make way.
Tian squeezed into the yard and scanned the yard with her small eyes.
The Xie family's yard was very clean, with a stone table and four stone benches. Four pieces of clothes, large and small, were drying on the clothesline. There was only one old hen in the new chicken coop.
Seeing that there was nothing left in the Xie family, Tian curled her lips with a look of disdain.
Su Guocai stood with his hands behind his back as he walked past Xie Ming with his chin raised high. He looked just like Tian Shi, his small green eyes blinking and his brows full of calculation.
Su Baoren, who was walking at the end, looked coldly at the woman in the yard and shouted, "Evil girl! Why don't you kneel down when you see your father?"
Xie Cuicui heard the noise, rushed out of the house with her short legs, and hugged Su Cheng's waist tightly.
There's a bad guy in the house again.
Su Cheng hugged her little body, opened his eyes, and stared at his cheap father who was looking furious across from him. "What did I do wrong? Why should I kneel down to you? What? Are you the emperor?"
Su Baoren was choked by the words that were about to come out of his mouth. He seemed to have not expected that his daughter, who had always been afraid of him, would actually talk back to him. His face immediately turned red with anger and he raised his hand to slap her.
Before Su Baoren's hand fell, it was grabbed by someone.
Xie Ming lowered his eyes, his gaze shifting downwards. The words he spoke seemed like they were wrapped in a knife. "You're showing off in my house, old man. Are you looking for death?"
"You..." Su Baoren pulled his hand away, but it didn't move Xie Ming at all. He was even more embarrassed. "You bastard! You have no respect for your elders. Is this what your parents taught you?"
"You?" Xie Ming curled his lips coldly, sneered, and increased the strength in his hands. "How can you be called a venerable elder, you vile thing?"
"you!"
"Ah Ming, stop talking nonsense." The east door was opened from the inside. Xie Jinyu was only wearing an outer shirt, his washed-out inner garment clearly visible, his long hair casually draped. He leaned against the door frame as if boneless, his feminine, sickly face full of playfulness. He spoke lazily, "Uncle Su is only able-bodied and still relies on his married daughter for support. How can he be considered a scoundrel?"
Su Baoren was furious and pointed at them tremblingly, "You... your Xie family is simply lawless!"
"Forcibly occupying the land and refusing to pay rent and food, does that mean the Su family has no law?" Xie Suzhou walked out of the kitchen, holding a spatula in his hand and wearing a small apron specially made by Su Cheng. With his handsome face, he looked like a banished immortal who had fallen into the mortal world, with a bit more worldly air. "If there is any more trouble, we will meet in court."
Su Baoren laughed out loud in anger, "Everyone is here, right? Then..."
"Old man, stop talking!" Tian stopped his arm, glanced at Xie Cuicui who was hiding behind Su Cheng, and muttered softly, "Business is more important."
Su Baoren seemed to have thought of something, his face sullen and he said nothing more.
Sensing something strange, Su Cheng looked around at the two of them and felt a little suspicious.
"My dear, your father and brother are here today, and I have conveyed your words to them yesterday. We all agree that the land should be returned." Tian rubbed her hands and said with a smile, "But before we return the land, we have to explain the reasoning clearly."
Su Cheng raised an eyebrow, exchanged glances with Xie Suzhou, who was standing in front of the kitchen door, and said softly, "What's the point?"
"In the past, our family's four plots of land had a good harvest every year. But ever since your brother borrowed three plots from you, not only have the Xie family's plots yielded nothing, but even our own plots have dried up. Not only have we harvested nothing, but we've also owed a lot of money for buying seedlings. I don't know if we've been cursed by someone, but our lives are getting worse day by day."
Tian sighed repeatedly, not forgetting to observe the expressions of the Xie family members, "Yesterday your father asked a fairy to look at it, and he said that these three borrowed plots of land are unlucky. Whoever cultivates them will suffer."
Seeing the Xie family members' expressions change, Tian's lips curled up slightly, "We absolutely dare not cultivate this land anymore. Of course we have to return it to you, but who will compensate us for our losses?"
"The land at home is very good, and it produces a lot of grain. Every year, we can sell it for thirty taels. Now, we haven't made a cent, and we still owe twenty taels for buying seedlings. Who will make up for this money?"
For a moment, Su Cheng suspected that he had heard it wrong.
How can a normal person say this?
"Five taels of silver is enough for an average family's food rations for a year. Your land is growing gold, so you can sell it for thirty taels every year?" Xie Jinyu snorted, her mouth as if filled with poison. "And you're still paying for the seedlings for twenty taels. Even if I cut your family of four into pieces and sold them, you still wouldn't get twenty taels. You're really desperate for money."
"You can't say that." Tian raised her chin, not caring what others thought of her. "The immortals said that the reason our Su family is in the situation we are in today is because of our marriage with your Xie family. Your Xie family has produced a star of bad luck, and it is always unlucky. I am sure that among you three brothers, it will kill your parents first, then your eldest brother, and you can't say who will die next."
Xie Ming, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly lowered his head and chuckled. He walked straight back into the house and came out again, holding the red tasseled spear tightly in his hand. "Old hag, I think you've lived enough. If that's the case, I'll personally send you off."
"What...what are you going to do?" Tian's face turned pale with fear, and she hid behind her son. "If you hit someone, I will...I will go to the government office and sue you!"
"Uncle." Su Cheng reached out to stop Xie Ming who was about to step forward, and winked at him, signaling him to calm down. "Don't forget your own ambitions. It's not worth it to waste your whole life on such scum."
Xie Ming looked at her beautiful and bright little face, and somehow, the anger in his heart dissipated most of it. He slowly lowered the hand holding the spear and stopped moving.
"Excuse me, which deity told you that the Xie family has a jinx?" Su Cheng turned slowly, a smile on his face, staring at the Su family with interest. "What's your name? Where do you live? Which mountain do you practice on? Do you really have the talent?"
A few words left the Su family speechless.
"Can you bring him here so I can take a look?" Su Cheng pursed her lips and chuckled, her eyes gradually becoming fierce. "If he can't answer my questions, I will sue him too."
"This... Immortals are all free to do as they please. They only care about fate. They won't stay in one place for long, and there's no place to look for him." Tian spread her hands, her small green eyes fixed on Xie Cuicui, "If you can't give me money, you can use his daughter to make up for it."
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