Zhong Wanqing was scolded by Zhong Lingyu. She looked at her with a hint of resentment and sarcasm, then glared at Pei Yao before swaggering back.
Pei Yao watched Zhong Wanqing go inside with the look of someone looking at a madwoman, then secretly raised her hand and slowly gave her the middle finger as she watched her retreating figure.
Zhong Lingyu and Pei Dalang were both puzzled by Pei Yao's gesture.
However, Pei Dalang could tell from the way his niece looked at Zhong Wanqing.
The language used was very foul...
"Miss Pei, I'm sorry, I didn't expect to encounter something like this while asking you to deliver a package."
Although Zhong Lingyu always seemed cold, she was actually a kind person.
I can't stand this half-sister; she's always hitting and scolding people...
Zhong Lingyu felt intense disgust upon seeing her.
Because of her, she and her mother became the laughingstock of the entire county.
Pei Yao treated Zhong Lingyu much better; after all, who wouldn't like a beautiful and kind-hearted rich woman?
However, she also knew that they were family after all, and blood is thicker than water.
Pei Yao didn't say much, but just smiled and said, "Miss Zhong, I'm fine. The lychee wine you requested is in the carriage. I'll bring it over right away."
Pei Yao had barely finished speaking when Pei Dalang went to pull the carriage.
Zhong Lingyu called over the servants behind her to help move the things. Fortunately, there weren't many things, so it was done in a few trips.
"Miss Zhong, if you want to drink lychee wine again next time, just let me know. I have a stall at the dock in Meilin Town, and I'll send it to you later."
Just as Zhong Lingyu was about to leave after the things on the carriage had been unloaded, Pei Yao quickly said something.
Zhong Lingyu nodded, a faint smile on her face: "Mm."
The Zhong family's order was the last one for lychee wine that day, so after delivering it, the two of them went to a steamed bun shop on the street and bought a few meat buns to eat on their way back.
As soon as the two stepped out of the city gate, Zhuang Dalang couldn't help but look at Zhuang Yao with concern and ask, "Yao'er, do you know that rude and ugly girl from today?"
Pei Yao didn't want to tell Pei Dalang about what happened yesterday, but since Zhong Wanqing had come to him today, he couldn't hide anything. So he simply told Pei Dalang what happened yesterday, and at the end, he told Pei Dalang not to tell Yunniang or his family, because he was afraid they would worry unnecessarily.
Pei Dalang felt heartbroken upon hearing Pei Yao's words. Even his own niece couldn't bear to yell at him, yet that ugly girl was making things difficult for Yao'er at every turn.
That's absolutely awful!
However, Pei Dalang knew that Pei Yao liked doing business, so unlike Yunniang, he did not advise Pei Yao to stop doing business in the future. Instead, he said, "Since that ugly girl has a grudge against you, and the Zhong family still has orders coming to our house in the future, I will deliver them."
After Pei Dalang finished speaking, he raised his hand to rub his little niece's head, but then he remembered that Yao'er was already fourteen years old and a young lady, so he withdrew his hand.
“Okay.” Pei Yao didn’t want to see Zhong Wanqing either; she wanted to stay as far away from that mad dog as possible, so she agreed to Pei Dalang’s suggestion.
Since they didn't need to deliver goods to the county tomorrow, the two returned the horse-drawn carriage they had borrowed to the horse shop when they arrived in town.
After Pei Yao and Pei Dalang delivered the horses to the horse shop, the waiter asked them to wait at the door while he went to find Pei Yao's previous deposit slip.
"Shopkeeper, I beg you, please take this horse. It only has a leg injury, and it will be fine after some medicine. I'm really short of money, otherwise I wouldn't be willing to sell my horse to you."
Pei Yao was chatting casually with Pei Dalang when she heard a small old man standing by the side entrance of the horse shop, leading a plump, sturdy straw horse. He was pleading with the shopkeeper to take the horse.
When the horse shopkeeper saw that the horse was strong and sturdy, it had an injury on its leg, and the injury seemed to be quite serious, so he tried to lower the price.
Horses were relatively expensive in this era and were mostly used by wealthy families for transportation. Generally, an adult horse would cost between 20 and 30 taels of silver, while a small horse would cost between 18 and 20 taels of silver.
The shopkeeper glanced at the old man's horse, then his eyes flashed with a shrewd light. He held up ten taels of silver and said, "Your horse has a leg injury, so it's not worth any money. I can only offer you ten taels of silver at most."
The old man became anxious when he heard that there were only ten taels of silver: "Shopkeeper, although my horse's leg is injured, it will recover after some herbal medicine and rest for a while."
The shopkeeper sneered, "Heh, I can't add any more. Ten taels at most. Your horse's leg is injured like this. Who knows if I can cure it after I buy it? Besides, if I spend so much money to buy your sick little horse, I'll have to find a veterinarian and take care of it until it can work. Wouldn't I be losing out?"
When the old man heard the shopkeeper refuse to add any more money, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed to the shopkeeper, pleading, "Shopkeeper, I beg you, please, could you add just five taels of silver? Just five taels! My child fell off a cliff some time ago and can't move. We've used all our money for his treatment, but it hasn't helped. That's why we had to take him to Tongrentang in the county. Doctor Lin there said it would cost twenty taels to cure him. My wife and I have borrowed from everyone we could, and we've only managed to raise five taels. We're still fifteen taels short. We're counting on selling this horse to raise enough money for my child's treatment. If he can't move, his life will be ruined..."
The old man spoke with utmost sincerity, his thin, bony body kneeling before the horse shopkeeper, kowtowing repeatedly.
Pei Yao and Pei Dalang, who were standing nearby, were both moved by what they saw; the sight of the old man kowtowing on the ground was truly pitiful.
As for what the old man said, Pei Dalang didn't know if it was true or not, but he felt that no parent would joke about their child.
He walked over to the old man and helped him up from his kowtow.
He simply couldn't bear to watch the old man continue kowtowing in such a undignified manner.
The waiter who had just made Pei Yao wait came out, so Pei Yao had no choice but to go with him to return the carriage.
The old man's cloudy eyes were already blurred with tears, and his forehead was swollen from hitting the ground, making him look quite pitiful.
Old Zhang looked at Pei Dalang, who was helping him up, and shook his head, about to continue kowtowing to the shopkeeper.
Pei Dalang helped him up, saying, "Uncle, stop kowtowing. Kowtowing won't solve anything."
Pei Dalang tried to persuade him, but the shopkeeper glanced at Pei Dalang and, seeing that he was dressed in very shabby clothes, assumed that the two knew each other and looked at him with disdain.
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