"Then, Mother, why did he ask me? I'm not one to talk much; I wasn't familiar with them at all before."
Why else? Those shrewd people won't get any answers from you, so they'll stop asking. But you, son, be honest, just answer whatever they ask.
"Son, they've been subtly inquiring about Jin Yi and Jiu Tian. These people must be enemies of Jiu Tian and Jin Yi!"
Aunt Zhang said confidently, "If they were family, there would be no need to waste money asking around. Just find the village head or go door-to-door to ask, wouldn't that be enough? Manager Sheng couldn't stand it and gave you some pointers. You silly son!"
"Don't worry, Mother, I won't answer any more questions they ask me in the future."
“If someone is willing to give a reward, it must be something important, maybe even something that could cost someone their life.”
Zhang Xiangliang gave the silver to Aunt Zhang. Aunt Zhang initially didn't want it and declined for a while, but seeing that he insisted on giving it to her, she said, "I'll keep it for you first. By the way, did Ye Ting give the silver you took back to her brother again?"
Zhang Xiangliang shook his head: "No, she hasn't returned to Yejia Village these past few days."
"How do you know she didn't go back? Didn't you work at the inn all day?"
Zhang Xiangliang was speechless.
Aunt Zhang felt bad and said, "Liang'er, you're easily swayed. Even if you hand over all the family's wealth to her, she has to treat this place as her home to live a good life. Otherwise, if a big rat keeps scavenging things out of the house, your life will become increasingly miserable."
Zhang Xiangliang sat there for a while, then hurriedly went back home. When he got home, he saw that the yard was very clean, and his heart was warmed.
Upon entering the house, I discovered that Ye Xuyang and his wife, along with Ye Wei, had all arrived.
"Xiang Liang is back?" Ye Xuyang greeted him indifferently.
Sister-in-law Wu was also unhappy, saying, "You two have only just gotten married and you're already dividing the family property? Are you taking advantage of the Ye family because they have no one to rely on?"
Unable to reveal the real reason, and seeing Ye Ting clutching the hem of her clothes, looking pitiful, Zhang Xiangliang's heart softened, and he took all the blame upon himself.
"We'll have to divide the family property sooner or later. I'm strong, and I'm working at the inn now, so any money we earn in the future will be for both of us."
Tears also streamed down Ye Ting's face as she said, "Brother and sister-in-law, it's all my fault. I'm not liked by my parents-in-law, and even my husband's younger brother and sister-in-law don't like me..."
Wu was furious and said angrily, "You are the eldest sister-in-law. Whether you like it or not is none of your business to step on. I want to go and see these two big shots. If necessary, I'll tear off the mask and give them a good talking to in Longmen Town."
Zhang Xiangliang immediately panicked. Wu was publicly shaming his younger brother and sister in Longmen Town, which meant that their marriage prospects would be ruined.
“Brother, sister-in-law, the decision to separate the family property was made by my father and me. We had been thinking about separating the family property long before we got married. If we don’t separate the family property, we will only have one room to live in, which is too crowded.”
He said the old house had a large plot of land, and now that he had money, he could build a house on the same spot. Ye Ting would be in charge of everything at home, which was much more comfortable than living in the cramped yard before.
Ye Xuyang asked, "Do you have the money to build houses?"
“When the family divided the property, my mother gave us 550 catties of grain and 10 taels of silver. These past few days I have received 11 taels of silver as a reward. Next year I will be able to build three new rooms, with brick walls up to waist height and eight bricks to the top.”
He kept quiet about the reward he received today.
Upon hearing this, Wu blinked and said enviously, "The inn is giving so much silver?"
"My wages were only three hundred coins, but since there was a distinguished guest present, I received a reward."
"That's wonderful! Eleven taels of silver in just three days! How much more than a hundred taels a month? That's over a thousand taels a year!" Madam Wu patted Ye Ting's hand and said, "Sister, you're a rich girl now!"
Ye Ting smiled along with her.
Ye Wei said, "Auntie is rich. I want to eat candied hawthorns. Buy me some freshly made candied hawthorns so I can take them back and make Xiao Pang and the others drool."
Wu slapped him and scolded, "What do you want, candy balls! Your aunt would rather buy you some paper to practice your calligraphy."
Zhang Xiangliang didn't say anything. Everything else was fine, but the paper, pens, and books were extremely expensive.
As it was getting dark, Ye Xuyang's family was about to go home, but Ye Wei refused to leave, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Auntie, I want to eat candied hawthorns."
Ye Ting said awkwardly, "Next time, I'll buy it for you next time."
Zhang Xiangliang felt it would be too much of a hassle to refuse when relatives came to visit and the children asked for candied hawthorns, so he said, "Tingting, why don't you buy him a few skewers to take back with him?"
Ye Ting hesitated for a moment and said, "No, it's already dark..."
Seeing her expression, Zhang Xiangliang's heart skipped a beat. He said sternly, "Go, get the money, and buy it for him."
Seeing that things were not going well, Wu hurriedly pulled Ye Wei outside, scolding him as they walked: "What are you eating? It's getting dark, let's go home quickly."
Ye Wei grumbled and cursed the whole way, saying he would never come to his aunt's house again, calling her a stingy person who wouldn't even buy a string of candied hawthorns.
They walked away, and Zhang Xiangliang and Ye Ting went inside the house.
Zhang Xiangliang locked the outer door, stared coldly at Ye Ting, and said without allowing any explanation, "Give me the money from the family division, and the reward money I gave you!"
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