"How many enemies have you made, exactly?"
"One, two, three, four, five..."
Cheng Shanshan stretched out her hand and pretended to count, then looked up at Huo Mingchen again, her eyes slightly narrowed: "Others aren't important, the main thing is that Brother Huo shouldn't become my enemy, otherwise, knowing how much dirt I have on me, killing me would be too easy." The most terrifying thing about the years of famine that followed wasn't the endless disasters, but the unpredictable nature of human hearts.
She was wronged so badly before that she now has an instinctive sense of wariness towards everyone.
Huo Mingchen was amused by her words and reached out to put his hand on her face: "What do I need to use as leverage against a little girl like you? A simple slap like this is enough."
Cheng Shanshan's body stiffened.
Looking at that massive hand, she really felt like it could kill her with a single slap.
So she instinctively took a few steps back, gave an awkward smile, and said, "Brother Huo, you should go ahead with your work. I have to go now." With that, she hurriedly left with small, quick steps.
She didn't notice that Huo Mingchen didn't retract his hand, and it remained frozen in mid-air for a long time...
On the other side.
A group of elderly women were gathered at the entrance of the village.
While cracking sunflower seeds, they gossiped: "The Cheng family has been having a lot of trouble lately. I felt a little sorry for Bai and her daughter when I heard they were kicked out and moved to the village entrance, but I never expected that there's always a reason why someone is pitiful. That girl is actually a despicable wretch who climbs into other people's beds in the middle of the night!"
"This can only be described as Cheng's daughter being foolish. She ignored Lin Sheng, who had just passed the imperial examination, and instead had an affair with another man. This can only be seen as retribution!"
"That's right. Lin Sheng has already stepped into the Emperor's gate. I really don't know what the Cheng family girl is thinking."
Just as these people were talking, Cheng Shanshan walked over, grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds in front of them, and then casually asked, "Yeah, I'm also curious about what they were thinking."
The person who was talking behind the scenes suddenly appeared, making the situation extremely awkward.
While the group looked at each other, unsure of what to say, Granny Wang was the first to realize something and slapped her thigh: "Oh dear, I forgot I still have soup simmering at home. I'll have to go back and check on it now."
Aunt Li seemed to remember something: "Oh right, I have guests waiting at home."
At this moment, Cheng Shanshan grabbed a broom from the side and said, "You haven't told me who said it yet, how can you just leave like that?"
Granny Wang was never afraid of fighting, so she immediately put her hands on her hips and said, "You little brat, do you want to hit us elders?"
Cheng Shanshan looked at the crowd and smiled mockingly: "So what if I hit them? I even hit my aunt and grandmother. What kind of elders are you?" As she said this, her eyes turned sinister and cold: "Lin Sheng betrayed me by passing the imperial examination and now he's ruining my reputation. If I don't do something today, wouldn't I be accepting the mudslinging that was thrown at me for no reason?"
"There seems to be something hidden in what you're saying?"
Granny Wang sensed something was amiss, and her gossipy nature made her eyes light up instantly: "Shanshan, why don't you tell me what's wrong?"
"Yes, yes, just tell us what's wrong, and we old ladies will help you."
Yes, yes.
Everyone gathered around, and the tense atmosphere from before completely disappeared.
At this moment, Cheng Shanshan's gaze towards the crowd turned incredibly mocking: "Help me? My mother and I were bullied every day in the Cheng family, how did you help me then? I secretly went to town to do hard labor to earn money to support Lin Sheng, how did you help me then? Now my mother and I are homeless, and we want Lin Sheng to repay the ten taels of silver he owes me, how can you help me then?" After saying this, she glanced at everyone present, angrily threw the object heavily to the ground, and turned to leave.
Only a group of stunned old women were left behind. After carefully digesting what had just been said, they suddenly realized: "I've always wondered how Lin Sheng, a scholar, could be supported by his sickly mother when his father died young."
"That's right. Old Mrs. Cheng had been telling me for a while that Shanshan had done all sorts of work but hadn't brought back much silver, so she might have gone to help Lin Sheng. But she never had any proof. Ten taels of silver is enough to buy a small house. I can only say that she's really willing to spend it."
"Seriously speaking, it's worth it to support a scholar with ten taels of silver so that he can become an official's wife. But according to Shanshan, not only is she being looked down upon, but she's also being criticized!"
The people who gather at the village entrance may not be good at anything else, but they are very fast at spreading public opinion.
By the time Lin Sheng found out, he had become a heartless and ungrateful man in everyone's eyes.
That evening, when Bai was having dinner, she looked at Cheng Shanshan with heartache in her eyes: "Shanshan, are you really willing to completely break up with Lin Sheng like this after all these years?" She had seen everything over the years. Cheng Shanshan used to be so devoted to Lin Sheng. She really didn't expect that she would change so much overnight.
Cheng Shanshan sighed, "Of course I'm not willing to accept it, after all, the money hasn't been returned to me yet."
"Are you just worried about the money?"
"What else could I possibly be worried about?"
Ten taels of silver wasn't much for her at the moment.
Even a mosquito is still meat, and getting it back is much better than feeding that scumbag for nothing.
Seeing Cheng Shanshan's attitude, Bai couldn't help but worry: "Lin Sheng is a scholar after all, and even the county magistrate has to give him some face. If you push him too far, he might retaliate against you, right?"
"Then I'll wait."
Cheng Shanshan lowered her gaze slightly.
Then a cold wind swept in.
Thinking of the coming cold winter, she didn't care about Lin Sheng for the time being; stockpiling goods was the best way to ensure the future!
...
Early the next morning, Cheng Shanshan rode her horse to Lin'an City again.
I changed into men's clothing this time to hurry up and catch the market that takes place on the seventh day of the lunar month.
Now, many farmers of all sizes have gathered here, and most of them sell vegetables they grow and poultry they raise themselves. After looking around, she ordered twenty yellow cattle and goats, fifty pigs and two hundred hens, spending a total of four hundred and fifty taels of silver.
While waiting for the farmers to slaughter and cut the meat, she bought two large iron pots and fifty sealed jars under the guise of purchasing for the village. Then she also bought fifty shovels, rakes, axes, sickles, and the like. These farm tools could be used for both practical purposes and as weapons for self-defense. The total cost was one hundred and fifty taels of silver.
After leaving the blacksmith's shop, she went to a shop selling the Four Treasures of the Study and ordered a batch of the cheapest brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, spending 150 taels of silver.
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