Qian's eyes darted around. "Today I overheard the villagers gossiping. They said that Qiu Yan, that wretched girl, wants to buy land and build a house. Building a house will cost at least thirty or forty taels of silver, plus the cost of buying the land..."
The more Qian talked, the more aggrieved she felt. She also wanted to live in a new house, away from Yang and Qiu Laosi, those two bottomless pits.
Why can't the four of them live their own quiet life behind closed doors? Why do they have to squeeze the whole family into a dilapidated courtyard?
“Without us, Qiu Yan eats meat and fish every day and even sent Qiu Xu to the village school, but what about us? We can’t even get a bowl of meat soup.”
Upon hearing Qian's words, Yang suddenly sat up and stopped pretending to be sick.
“The money left by the eldest son must be in that wretched girl’s hands! I am her grandmother. As the saying goes, one cannot hit a smiling face. As her grandmother, I humbly begged her to make peace. She is a junior, and she should agree for the sake of her grandfather.”
Madam Qian completely forgot about her previous conflict with Madam Yang and hurriedly echoed:
“Mother, you’re right. This time, if we lower our stance, that brat probably won’t make things difficult for us. She’ll have to get married eventually, and we haven’t seen that man for quite some time. I suppose he didn’t like her.”
Zhao Zheng's mother said she would absolutely not allow Qiu Yan to bring her younger siblings into their house. So much time has passed; that brat should have realized by now that bringing her siblings is just a burden, and nobody wants them.
Qiu Hui, who was busy embroidering inside the house, heard her family's words, pouted, and walked out of the house, saying, "Mom, Brother Zhao Zheng will never marry Qiu Yan."
"Whether he marries Qiu Yan or not is none of my business. Anyway, I just won't allow you to marry him!" Madam Qian was very proud; her daughter, at the very least, had to marry a scholar. Zhao Zheng, who was he?
Qian retorted with one sentence, leaving Qiu Hui speechless: "Mother, if Qiu Yan doesn't agree, we can kidnap her younger sister as leverage. She loves her younger sister the most."
"What kind of terrible idea is this? Have you forgotten how Xiaobao got hurt?" Madam Qian pushed Qiu Hui into the house and told her to continue embroidering to save up for Qiu Xiaobao's tuition.
"..."
The Qiu family members quickly reached a consensus by speaking one after another.
Yang and her husband from the third branch of the family went to find Qiu Yan in a friendly manner.
Qiu Yan is currently busy in the mountains with Qiu Ling'er and Gu Xiaoran, and is not at home.
On the way there, Gu Xiaoran was carried in a basket on Qiu Yan's back. She found it strange and giggled happily.
In the mountains and forests, Gu Xiaoran was full of energy. When Qiu Ling'er dug for medicinal herbs, he followed suit. When Qiu Ling'er picked dandelions, he stretched out his little hands to pick the small yellow flowers.
Gu Xiaoran is very well-behaved, and Xiao Ling'er likes to be with him.
In the early morning, Qiu Yan, carrying Gu Xiaoran on her back and holding Qiu Ling'er's hand, had just reached the village entrance when she saw the three Yangs standing in front of her house.
Although the three seemed friendly, they still startled Qiu Ling'er. "Sister, they're here again!"
Qiu Yan curled her lips into a smile. She had never looked forward to seeing Yang Shi as much as she did now.
She whispered something in Qiu Ling'er's ear, and then Qiu Ling'er ran away in a flash.
Gu Xiaoran blinked her eyes and obediently held onto Qiu Yan without moving.
When the three members of the Yang family saw Gu Xiaoran, they all assumed she was a relative of the Li family.
When Yang saw Qiu Yan, she spoke first, "Qiu Yan, you're finally back. This is the third time Grandma has come this morning."
With her smiling face, calm demeanor, and gentle tone, it's hard to imagine the viciousness Yang once possessed.
She looked like a kind old woman.
Qiu Dayong and Qian Shi maintained their smiles throughout. "Qiu Yan, your grandmother, your third aunt, and I have come here specifically to apologize to you three siblings. We were wrong before, but we are all family. Even if we break blood, we are still connected. Please be magnanimous and don't hold it against us."
Qiu Yan sneered inwardly. They weren't related by blood at all, so what was this talk about bones still being connected by tendons? It was truly laughable.
After Qiu Dayong finished speaking, both Yang and Qian nodded in agreement.
Qian's face was beaming with joy. "Qiu Yan, your aunt has never mistreated you over the years. It was just that we had a disagreement last time, and that was my fault. As for Xiao Bao, he deserved to be scolded last time. I apologize on his behalf. Please forgive me. We'll still be family from now on."
Gu Xiaoran saw Qian Shi beckoning to him and stretched out his arms to go forward, but Qiu Yan pulled him back.
Qiu Yan opened the courtyard gate and pulled Gu Xiaoran back into the courtyard.
Seeing that Qiu Yan only had a cold face and didn't say much, the three Yangs became a little anxious.
"Qiu Yan..."
"Yang!" Qiu Yan turned around and interrupted Yang, "Don't think I don't know, you're all after the money my father left behind!"
Qiu Yan spoke with conviction, and all three members of the Qiu family believed her.
The money was indeed in Qiu Dafu's hands! As soon as Qian heard the word "money," her eyes lit up.
"Isn't your father's money my money too..." Yang was only halfway through her sentence when she was stopped by Yang's gaze.
"If you rescue your second uncle, you can have half the money!" Qiu Yan threw out the bait and started fishing.
When the topic of rescuing Qiu Dafu came up, everyone fell silent, especially Yang.
She was afraid that Qiu Dafu would come out and cripple her.
She sent that person in; how can she save him now?
Hearing Qiu Yan's conciliatory tone, Madam Qian narrowed her eyes. "Could it be that you're going to ask your grandmother to recant her testimony?"
Upon hearing this, Yang shook her head violently, "Impossible!" She would never recant her testimony.
She deserves to go to jail for the crime of deceiving the county magistrate and falsely accusing Qiu Dafu.
She's an old woman who wants to live a couple more years; her second son's worthless life is nothing compared to hers.
Qiu Dayong thought it was feasible. "Qiu Yan, is this really true?" Since Qiu Yan didn't care about feelings and only talked about money, wasn't that exactly what he wanted?
“Really!” Qiu Yan nodded seriously.
"You have to pay us thirty taels first, and then pay the remaining twenty taels after Second Brother is rescued."
"You unfilial son!" Madam Yang's chest bulged with anger.
Qiu Dayong had his reasons for saying that. "Mother, two years in jail for fifty taels of silver isn't a bad deal for us. For Fourth Brother and Xiaobao..."
Before Yang could finish speaking, she launched into a tirade, “You want me to die? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. If I die, it will just fulfill your wishes! And you, third son’s wife, you must have instigated Dayong to say those words, you heartless, wicked woman…”
After beating Qiu Dayong, Yang attacked Qian, and Qian was completely implicated this time.
However, she completely agreed with what Qiu Dayong said; Yang's old life was not worth fifty taels of silver.
Qiu Yan had long known that Yang would resolutely refuse her request to recant her testimony.
She had already come up with a solution to this.
During the fight between the three Yangs, Qiu Ling'er arrived with Zhao Shan.
"Stop!"
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