The lost ginseng was found, and the collective gloomy faces of the Huang family members returned to normal.
Old Mrs. Huang went from being frightened to being ecstatic. She endured the severe pain from the fall and signaled Mr. Huang and Mrs. Huang to help her up.
She had to teach Huang Laosi a lesson for daring to do such a thing.
She slapped Huang Laosi hard in the face. This was the first time she hit Huang Laosi, mainly because Huang Laotai was really scared this time.
"You bastard, why did you steal the ginseng? Are you trying to scare your mother to death?"
Huang Lao Si was hit by the violent blow of Huang Lao Tai in anger. His face swelled up quickly. He regained consciousness and wailed with a sad face:
"Mom, I went to several clinics in the county, and they all said it wasn't ginseng. It was something very similar to ginseng, called Phytolacca."
"This stuff is poisonous and can't be sold. Even if we offer them money, they won't take it."
When Old Lady Huang understood what Old Fourth Huang meant, her body softened like noodles and she collapsed.
Although Boss Huang and Mrs. Huang supported her and slowed down her fall, she still fell to the ground again in the end.
This time he was so angry that his mouth corners twisted, his pants got wet, and the air was filled with a bad smell.
But at this time, Huang Lao Da was no longer able to take care of Huang Lao Shi, and immediately stepped forward to grab Huang Lao Si's collar:
"Old Four, are you telling the truth?"
Huang Laosi had a sad face and nodded his head like a hammer:
"It's absolutely true. Because of Yingying's incident last night, our family suddenly lost twenty taels of silver. That's years of savings."
"I guessed that my mother must not have much money left, and I was worried, so I thought of taking the ginseng to the county town to see if I could sell it for the two or three hundred taels that Old Man Li mentioned."
"I went to every clinic in the county, and every one of them said it wasn't ginseng."
"If it weren't for ginseng, our family wouldn't have those two or three hundred taels of silver."
The others looked unhappy. Huang Laosi only knew that he had paid the twenty taels yesterday, but he didn't know that all the chickens in the house had been killed for the wedding banquet today, and he also spent a lot of money on buying fish.
When the second girl got married, he even gave her four taels of dowry.
The family is now short of nearly thirty taels of silver, and they don’t even have two granddaughters to sell for betrothal gifts.
Huang Tianbao was already eighteen years old and waiting to get married. The two sons of the third wife were also not young anymore.
Not only did Huang Laosi spend money to take the exam to become a scholar, but he also didn't get married.
Everyone asked Old Mrs. Huang how much money was left in the family. Every family had contributed money to the family over the years, so they could only estimate it roughly and didn't know the exact number.
Old Mrs. Huang said with a crooked mouth and drooling voice, "All the money has been spent and there is no money left at home."
In fact, there are still three or two left, but she has to leave herself a way out.
Now that she has fallen and injured herself, seeing a doctor and buying medicine are all expensive.
After hearing this, the Huang family became even more desperate. They had saved money for twenty years and suddenly they were back to square one, having to live a hard life.
No one paid any attention to the fact that Mrs. Huang suddenly changed from a normal old lady to one with a slurred speech and a crooked mouth. Everyone was immersed in the great pain of being penniless.
Huang Laosi kept saying that he shouldn't have spent so much money on that little girl Huang Yingying, and that it was all the fault of the first wife. He wanted the first wife to get the money back from Huang Yingying so that she could fill the hole of twenty taels.
Mrs. Huang was filled with indignation when she heard this. Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind, and the more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed.
He slapped his thigh suddenly and looked at Huang Laosi and shouted angrily:
"Old Four, did you sell the ginseng and secretly hide the money, wanting to keep it all for yourself? So you lied to us and said it was fake, and then you secretly supported Widow Zhou and lived a carefree life by yourself?"
Huang Laosi's pupils widened. He didn't expect that Mrs. Huang would think of him this way.
He immediately cried out that he was innocent, saying that we were all family, how could he enjoy it all by himself?
Aunt Huang immediately followed up and criticized Huang Lao Si:
"Over the years, it's your three brothers who have endured the hardships. Besides working in the fields, they've also had to work hard to earn money, repairing ditches and moving goods. You just need to use the money to go to the academy and study. You'll also wear nice clothes and eat good food to nourish your brain."
"What about your three brothers? They do hard work and eat coarse food. They haven't bought new clothes for years."
"You have always been the only one enjoying the wealth in our family. Now that you have these two or three hundred taels of silver, you naturally don't need your three brothers to work like slaves for you. So you must have kept it all for yourself. Otherwise, why didn't you wait for everyone to go to the county together to sell it? Why did you go to the county alone to ask about it?"
After hearing this, Boss Huang felt that this was indeed the truth.
He forced Huang Laosi to tell him where the silver was. Seeing that Huang Laosi didn't care about their brotherhood at all, he started fighting after a few pushes.
Huang Lao Da works all year round and has a strong physique, so Huang Lao Si is completely passive and takes the beating.
Old Mrs. Huang was anxious and asked Huang Laoer and Huang Laosan to separate them, but Aunt Huang San stopped them. Huang Laoer had to work hard to pull the two apart, and Huang Laosi was already covered in bruises.
Even after being beaten like this, Huang Laosi insisted that he did not steal the silver and did not lie to anyone.
Boss Huang said he didn't believe it, but he actually believed it in his heart.
"It's all our fault that the second girl found this ginseng-like thing. We thought our family was rich, so we spent twenty taels to save Yingying. Now our family has no money left."
Boss Huang glared at He angrily. He had to find someone to take responsibility, otherwise he would never be able to get over it.
He glared back without any hesitation.
"The second girl didn't say it was ginseng. She has always worked at home since she was a child. How could she tell the difference between ginseng and pokeweed?"
"Last night, I saw you, Big Brother, pulling Old Man Li aside to ask him about it, and then you happily told everyone that there were two or three hundred taels. It was all fake news. Why didn't you ask Doctor Li to take a closer look and confirm whether it was ginseng?"
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