After Liu Zheng finished breakfast with the children, she loaded the provisions for the journey onto the donkey cart.
Seeing that Qin Liang had not returned yet, he decided to go and check on him himself!
Before he could even take a step, he heard Old Lady Ma cursing.
She told the children to cover their ears and not to run around! Then she rushed over!
Liu Zheng went up and slapped Old Lady Ma across the face, cursing angrily.
"You old hag, what did you just say?"
Snap!
Ah! No.
"Who are you calling a gigolo?"
Snap!
"Ah! No, it's not."
"Who are you saying is Qin Liang's son?"
Snap!
"Ah! I was just talking nonsense."
"Who are you saying is Qin Liang's lover?"
Snap!
"Ah! No, nobody."
"You mean Qin Liang is one of them?"
Snap!
"Ah! I...I was wrong..."
Five hard slaps stunned Old Lady Ma, who bowed to Liu Zheng in apology.
The people around were dumbfounded, and no one went up to pull her away. Everyone in the village knew that Old Lady Ma had a sharp tongue!
Qin Ling and Ji Hong knew about Old Lady Ma's wicked nature, so they didn't bother with her.
Everyone was thinking of getting Liu Zheng to subdue her all at once, so she wouldn't cause trouble all the time!
Liu Zheng glanced at Qin Liang: "Husband, you take Da Mao and go back first!"
Qin Liang nodded, grabbed Da Mao, and left, thinking to himself as he went: "As expected of my wife, she's truly mighty!"
After Qin Liang and Da Mao left, Liu Zheng grabbed Old Lady Ma's hair with one hand and frantically slapped her mouth with the other...
They only let go of Old Lady Ma when her mouth was full of blood, and the onlookers didn't even dare to breathe!
Liu Zheng used to always smile at people and speak gently and pleasantly. How come she now slaps people so smoothly?
Could it be that he caught it from Tao Zhi? It's true what they say, you become like those you associate with!
Tao Zhi, who was watching from the sidelines, suddenly felt that everyone was looking at her strangely.
Looking again at Liu Zheng, who was fanning the old woman, she finally understood what these people were thinking…
She looked around.
"Don't look at me! I only taught her once, and that was to use a hairpin to quickly pierce Old Lady Ma's palm. I didn't teach her to slap anyone!"
Everyone: That would be better than slapping her! Now, looking at Liu Zheng, who is slapping someone, she seems to radiate kindness.
Liu Zheng got tired of hitting her, so she looked coldly at Old Lady Ma.
"Why do you think you're still alive? It's because of Da Mao. He takes care of you day and night, attending to your every need, helping Doctor You with chores, and bringing you ointments to heal rotten tissue. Otherwise, in this heat, your leg wound would have festered long ago!"
She tossed aside Old Lady Ma's hair.
She continued, "Da Mao is only thirteen years old, and he knows how to do so much for you. And you! Not only do you insult him every day, but you also only give him half a palm-sized pancake. Da Mao is a child at the age where he's growing, and his stomach rumbles after just a few steps. Do you think everyone here is deaf, that you can't hear us?"
He looked at her with disdain as he spoke.
"You call Da Mao an ingrate? I think you're the one who's ungrateful! You don't deserve to be called a grandmother. You eat your fill every day and even pay people to bring you clothes and shoes, but you haven't bought Da Mao a single piece of cloth. And you even spoke so ill of his mother in front of him! You're utterly unworthy of being human!"
Old Mrs. Ma was displeased by this, her teeth all loosened, her face swollen like a pig's head, yet she still stubbornly argued.
"This is my family's business, it's none of your concern. Since you're so kind, why don't you buy him? Ten taels of silver and you can take him away. He's at the prime of his working age, and he can work for your family for decades to come. You won't lose out!"
After saying that, he smugly spat out the blood from his mouth to the side.
People around her started mocking Old Lady Ma, and Old Lady Zhou gave her a forced, sarcastic laugh.
"Oh dear, old woman Ma, you can't go out because your leg's broken, so you don't know the market prices outside, do you? It's a famine year now. Even a strong laborer at the slave trader only sells for five taels of silver, and a teenager for at most three taels. In a few days, it'll be even cheaper!"
The aunt next to her chimed in.
"Yes! Maybe a few handfuls of grain could be exchanged for a laborer, yet you're making such an outrageous demand. I saw you inquiring about this the other day. Although your grain was stolen, you still have all the money! Why are you in such a hurry? Is something the Mao Zedong is doing you a favor?"
There had been rumors before that Old Mrs. Ma and Old Mr. Zhang were having an affair, but the two of them had always vehemently denied it.
In addition, since Old Zhang Mazi didn't intervene when Old Ma's wife was beaten several times, everyone has forgotten about it.
Reminded by this aunt, everyone's gossipy nature was immediately reignited!
Old Mrs. Ma, having her thoughts guessed, immediately began to curse.
"You old hag, what's it to you? Whether I sell my grandson or not is none of your business. If you don't have money, get out of my way and stop wasting my time!"
Then he said to Liu Zheng, "So, what do you think? You really won't lose out!"
"You are utterly depraved!" Liu Zheng said, turning and leaving.
Old Mrs. Ma was still shouting from behind.
"Come find me when you've made up your mind! The price is negotiable!"
When Liu Zheng returned to Qin Liang's side, everyone had already put their things away. Qin Xian had also used a wooden bucket to put the water that the two families had been allocated onto the donkey cart and tied it with a rope.
The three Qin brothers—Qin Luo, Qin Yundu, and Mu Xiuyu—each stood in a row, carrying their own cloth bags.
Da Mao and Qin Liang stood to one side, looking at Qin Yunyang and the others with eyes full of envy!
Liu Zheng pulled Qin Liang aside and said angrily
"Ask Da Mao! Ask him if he'd like to live with us. We already have many children; we won't miss him!"
Qin Liang's doubts
"Why are you suddenly saying this? Have you believed that old woman's nonsense? My wife, heaven and earth can attest to my heart's devotion to you. You must believe me and not be swayed by treacherous people!"
Liu Zheng's cheeks flushed, and she lightly tapped his shoulder.
"What nonsense are you spouting so early in the morning? It's Da Mao's grandma. She says she's going to sell Da Mao, and someone said she's been asking around for days. She even said that maybe Old Ma's wife wants to live with Old Zhang Mazi because she thinks Da Mao is in the way!"
"That old woman Ma is so cruel! Taking all the money from the house wasn't enough; she even wants to sell Da Mao. How much money does she want?"
"She said she wanted ten taels, and when I left she was still shouting that the price was negotiable. Da Mao is really unlucky; his mother died early, his father is a scoundrel, and now he's stuck with such a selfish and greedy grandmother!"
Both Liu Zheng and Qin Liang felt sorry for Da Mao.
Qin Liang glanced at the sky; it was already 7:30 AM. If he wanted to handle Da Mao's matter properly, he needed to hurry.
Because Qinling said they had to set off at Chenshi (7-9 AM)...
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