Xiaoyue grabbed Ge Sanlin, who was about to leave, and said to him angrily, "So how much do you want?"
Ge Sanlin glanced at Xiaoyue sideways and casually held up one finger.
Xiaoyue immediately replied, "Ten taels of silver."
Ge Sanlin waved his hand and said with a smile, "One hundred taels."
"Why don't you just rob it?" Xiaoyue cried angrily.
She took Ge Sanlin back to Village Chief Xu's house and begged Village Chief Xu to write a repayment contract for Xiaoyue and Ge Sanlin.
Xiaoyue is willing to pay one hundred taels of silver to redeem her indenture, with a term of five years.
During these five years, Xiaoyue did not leave Niukou Village, nor did she have to work for the Ge family.
Three copies.
Xiaoyue specifically asked if the government could accept the case if Ge Sanlin changed his mind.
After receiving a positive reply, Xiaoyue took the contract and left alone.
Ge Sanlin followed behind Xiaoyue, looking at her relaxed demeanor, and felt that something about her had changed. When he first brought Xiaoyue back...
Xiaoyue saw a light in her eyes and always smiled before she spoke.
Now it seems that although Xiaoyue is smiling, the light in her eyes has disappeared.
Before Xiaoyue's household registration was completed, Ge Sanlin had her live in the Ge family. In fact, when Ge Sanlin was about to pay 100 taels for Xiaoyue's indenture, he felt that it was impossible for Xiaoyue to save up 100 taels of silver in five years.
Not to mention Xiaoyue, even Old Madam Ge never managed to save up fifty taels of silver in her entire life. In fact, Ge Sanlin was convinced that Xiaoyue would become his concubine.
As soon as Ge Sanlin arrived home, he told his father, Ge Laodi, and then rode off on horseback that very night.
That night, Xiaoyue stayed with Ge Sanlin's wife, Lu Xiaomei.
At dusk, Ge Daming called out from outside, "Hey, you cheap concubine, Grandma told you to cook!"
Lu Xiaomei started coughing again, a heart-wrenching cough.
He reassured Lu Xiaomei, "I'll find a doctor for you after I finish cooking. If the Ge family won't find one for you, I will."
She patted the little boy's head again and said with a smile, "Wait here for Sister Xiaoyue." Xiaoyue thought to herself, as long as Lu Xiaomei didn't die while I was at the Ge family, the little boy wouldn't blame me.
Thinking about it, I easily walked towards the kitchen on the east side.
Xiaoyue couldn't cook in her previous life. She wasn't really good at it, but she could still manage to make do with what she had.
Xiaoyue knows the Ge family's ways all too well. In her previous life, she served the Ge family like a slave for her entire life and never got a good ending. Xiaoyue has no intention of letting the Ge family have an easy time either.
He carried the firewood to the front of the stove, then lifted the pot lid, poured in half a pot of water, and emptied half a rice bag.
Seeing a bag of potatoes, he tossed three large potatoes into the stove pit and then filled the pit with firewood.
I lit the fire, washed three potatoes in the kitchen, then went into the garden, pulled up a cabbage by the edge, and was about to go into the kitchen with it when…
A loud "thump" echoed throughout the Ge family courtyard as flames shot out from the stove pit. The smoke and sparks filled the kitchen, igniting the firewood placed in front of the stove, and the fire quickly burst into flames.
Grandma Ge heard the noise and ran out. She peeked into the kitchen and was shocked to see that the firewood was burning through the thick smoke.
As the fire spread, Grandma Ge panicked. She was frantic, like a headless fly, too scared to go in, and could only shout anxiously, "Fire! Fire! Old man! Old man, come quick!"
Xiaoyue stood blankly at the kitchen door with a cabbage in her hand, secretly overjoyed, but she had to pretend to be anxious.
Second sister-in-law, Xiao Sun, who was sitting in the main room, also ran out. Seeing the state of the kitchen, she said, "Da Ming, go and call your eldest uncle." She then ran out of the courtyard. The eldest son, Ge Dalin, lived in the east courtyard, while the second son, Ge Erlin, lived in the west courtyard.
He ran to the west courtyard, went inside, and sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed), clutching his chest and panting heavily. At that moment, Ge Erlin was returning from the fields and washing his face. "Didn't you say you were eating at Mother's tonight? Why are you back? Why don't you help Mother out there?"
He picked up a face towel, covered his face to hide the fleeting desire, and asked with feigned seriousness, "By the way, have you seen the third brother's concubine?"
Ge Erlin finally couldn't resist asking about the concubine that his third brother had brought back. This time, Madam Sun immediately stood up, pointed a finger at Ge Erlin's nose, and asked sternly, "If you're curious, go see for yourself!"
Knowing she had acted impulsively, Madam Sun said softly with her head drooping, "Xiaoyue's face is still bandaged, she's definitely going to be disfigured." Then she raised her voice, "And she still doesn't want to be Sanlinzi's concubine. She's just an orphan, I don't know what she's thinking. The Ge family didn't think she was unlucky, but she's so arrogant."
Little Sun glanced at Ge Erlin and, seeing that he had given up his eagerness to see the woman, she encouraged him, saying, "Second brother, go to the main courtyard and see. The woman that third brother brought back has set the kitchen on fire."
"Why aren't you going?" Ge Erlin asked Xiao Sunshi, looking rather uninterested after wiping his face.
Little Sun went into her own kitchen and glanced at Ge Erlin sideways: "Don't I have to cook for the family? Otherwise, what will you eat? Do you think your sister-in-law can bring our food? The kitchen was set on fire. When you get here, just say I was scared and am lying on the kang."
"I'm not going either. I definitely have to water the plants and pack things up. I'll go after I've finished packing." With that, he ran over to Xiao Sunshi, pulled her into his arms, and pressed her down onto the kang (a heated brick bed). The two of them started rolling around.
Seeing that her elder brother and sister-in-law from the east courtyard had arrived, Xiaoyue moved aside and stood a little further away, saying, "Brother, sister-in-law, you've arrived. I lit a fire because I wanted to go into the garden to pick some cabbage, and then it caught fire?" Xiaoyue asked timidly.
When Grandma Ge saw Xiaoyue like this, she was furious. She grabbed a fire poker and started hitting Xiaoyue.
Before the fire poker could even touch her, Xiaoyue ran away and couldn't be called back. She ran to Doctor Hu's place, while Lu Xiaomei went to find the doctor.
When they arrived at Doctor Hu's place, he had just finished eating. Xiaoyue then introduced herself: "Third Sister-in-law has been coughing. Could you please go to the Ge family to see her? They live in the same village, just a short walk away."
Doctor Hu looked at Xiaoyue with a strange expression. He knew that Sanlinzi had brought back a woman, who was said to be a concubine. The Ge family didn't care about such things, so why was this girl taking charge?
After packing his medicine kit, he went out with Xiaoyue, taking advantage of the Ge family's invitation to have his pulse checked properly.
Once inside the courtyard, Xiaoyue quickly led the doctor to the west wing and said to him, "Your consultation fee plus a month's worth of medicine. Try to quote as much as possible, otherwise, who knows when we'll be able to get you back?"
Doctor Hu smiled knowingly, looked at Xiaoyue, and held out a hand. Xiaoyue was stunned. "Five qian of silver."
"Alright! I'll go to the main room right away to get you the silver," he said, leading the little boy to the main room.
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