Zhao's mother grabbed her and said, "The consultation fee is the consultation fee, but you didn't say you wouldn't pay for the food! That girl Qiao'er takes a bowl of goat milk every day, and she's taken five food boxes so far. I've kept track of every single one of them!"
Wang struggled violently, shouting, "She should pay for the debt she owes! I don't have any!"
"You're the head of the household, aren't you? If the money isn't in your hands, whose is it?!" Zhao Mama sneered. "You just wait, I'll go get the accounts right now and see how much money is owed in total!"
She knew all too well that the only way to deal with this shameless scoundrel was with money; today she was determined to make her feel as if a piece of her flesh had been ripped out!
Even if it's fabricated, she'll still create a fake account!
Just then, a crisp voice rang out, "A total of fifty-six taels of silver are owed!"
It was Xiao Youran, with a piece of paper between her fingers.
She had been listening at the door for a while and knew that Zhao Mama was deliberately making things difficult for Wang Shi. She also knew that Zhao Mama definitely couldn't keep accounts. In a moment of inspiration, she had her little notebook produce an account for her and even pretended to put a few small handprints on it.
She waved the yellowed paper in her hand, "I brought the accounts with me, and there's even Qiao'er's fingerprint on them!"
Qiao'er and Xiu'er were stunned and terrified.
Qiao'er looked at Xiao Youran and Zhao Mama in horror. How come she didn't know when she pressed her handprint?
Xiao Youran slowly walked in and winked at Qiao'er.
Qiao'er suddenly seemed to understand something.
Yang, Xiu'er's mother, heard everything clearly from inside the house and weakly called Qiao'er into the room.
Xiuer thought for a moment and then went inside.
Outside, Madam Wang stared in horror at the "bill" in Xiao Youran's hand. "You...you can't try to extort money from my family! How can a few boxes of food be worth over fifty taels of silver?!"
Xiao Youran laughed, "You don't know, a new pastry shop called Liuxiangzhai has opened in Wufeng County. A box of six pastries costs ten taels! All the pastries in this shop are made by Zhao Mama. The food boxes that your Qiao'er brought are three-tiered, and can hold twenty pastries in total! These five large food boxes, plus more than a dozen bowls of goat milk, cost a total of fifty-six taels of silver, which is already very cheap!"
"You...you're making baseless accusations!" Madam Wang exclaimed angrily. "You dare to extort money from people just by showing them a piece of paper?! Do you believe I'll report you to the authorities?!"
Xiao Youran carefully folded the paper in her hand and put it away. "Go ahead and sue! We just came back from the yamen a few days ago. We know that yamen very well. With these written accounts, let the upright official investigate properly. Isn't it only right and proper to pay back debts?!"
Madam Wang was immediately stunned. Indeed, Yun Liu Mei was the wife of the county magistrate before, and even though she poisoned the victim to the point of insanity, she still couldn't bring down the Tian Kuang family and the Jiang family. What was she anyway?
She started yelling at another room, "You little brat! Get out here! Your Dazhu and Erzhu ate the most of these snacks! If anyone should pay for them, it should be you!"
A woman, her face flushed, came out of the door. She had obviously heard everything from beginning to end. She said timidly, "Grandma, as you know, all the money Dazhu's father earns goes to Mother. We don't even have fifty-six coins... Where can we come up with fifty-six taels? That much silver isn't even worth selling our whole family of four!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Youran's heart suddenly stirred.
Granny Wang sat on the ground and burst into tears, "Oh, these damned bastards! You're all big swindlers! You said you'd come to my house for free medical treatment, but I never imagined it was such a huge scam..."
Da Zhu's mother also pleaded with Xiao Youran, "Cousin Tian Kuang, we know you are all wealthy and don't care about a few taels of silver! Could you please be merciful and let us go? We will never dare to steal their snack boxes again!"
Xiao Youran had an idea and snorted, "Who would dare to give them snacks on credit again? You should pay back your debts first!"
She thought for a moment and said, "How about this, whoever ate it pays for it. You robbed me twice, so you'll only pay a small portion, twenty-six taels! The remaining thirty taels can be paid by Qiao'er and the others!"
Dazhu's mother and Granny Wang refused, saying, "We don't even have six taels! We only ate a few pastries, and you're trying to extort money from us like this? It's outrageous!"
Xiao Youran sneered, "The pastries made by Aunt Zhao are clearly priced and honestly sold in the county! If you dare to say anything about extortion or cheating again, we'll take you to court!"
The two shrewish women immediately stopped howling.
Xiuer and Qiaoer then helped Yang Shi, who was weak, to walk out.
Madam Yang knelt down before Xiao Youran, tears welling in her eyes, and said, "Miss Jiang... In principle, you saved my and my youngest daughter's lives, and our family should repay you by serving you like cattle and horses! But given the current situation... if you don't mind, our family of five is willing to sell ourselves to you to pay off our debt! We'll be your servants for life!"
After hearing what she said, Xiao Youran raised her eyebrows.
This Yang woman speaks with extraordinary manners; she doesn't seem like an ordinary peasant woman!
Granny Wang jumped up, "You, Yang! What right do you have to sell my son?!"
Upon hearing this, Yang felt even more bitter. Her mother-in-law's words implied that, apart from her son, she and her three daughters were all insignificant and could be sold.
Xiao Youran chuckled, "Oh, I've seen your son; he's barely clinging to life! And he costs me a ginseng root every month. Fine, Yang, then you and your four daughters can sell yourselves to me to pay off the debt! As for your husband, even if he offered himself to me, I wouldn't want him!"
After saying that, she winked mischievously at Madam Yang from a corner where no one else could see.
Yang's suspicions grew stronger. Since they had no other way to survive, even selling themselves was better than their family of five waiting to die. Tears welled in her eyes as she kowtowed to Granny Wang, "Granny, your daughter-in-law is unfilial. Not only did I fail to give birth to a son, but I also caused Xiu'er's father to suffer half-dead. He's a member of the Yun family, and I can't make decisions for him. The four of us are just wasting your food. Why don't we sell ourselves to pay off our debts? It would save you from having to make two meals of wild vegetable porridge a day!"
Upon hearing this, the last vestige of reluctance in Wang Po's heart vanished, and she quickly waved her hand, "No, no, no! How can you five family members be separated? If you're going to sell, sell them all together! Hurry up and go!"
As long as I don't get stuck with this debt of tens of taels of silver, I can at least save a few bowls of porridge!
And that little one, fed bowl after bowl of goat milk every day, if it weren't for Qiao'er's credit, even if we had mountains of gold and silver, it wouldn't be enough for this family to live on.
She kept the news of Yang's birth of her daughter a complete secret. If the little one starved to death, she could pretend she didn't know. After all, Yang gave birth so quietly and she didn't have any milk.
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