Gao Zhiru’s face changed and he couldn’t help but release Ji Xiulan’s hand: "You..."
Ji Xiulan turned pale and quickly said, "Zhiru, don’t listen to her nonsense, it’s just the Zhang Family’s wishful thinking. I will never agree to marry him!"
Xiao Bei blinked innocently, "Really? Didn’t you exchange tokens of love already? Sister Xiulan, you still won’t marry him?"
Gao Zhiru’s face turned even more unsightly, and he looked at Ji Xiulan awkwardly, "Xiulan, did you and Porky San..."
Ji Xiulan glared fiercely at Ji Xinhe, her hatred almost grinding her teeth. If Gao Zhiru weren’t by her side, she would have pounced on Ji Xinhe and torn her apart!
However, Ji Xinhe just snorted and raised her lip, pulling Xiao Bei into the room, "Xiao Bei, let’s go back to our room."
"Alright!" Xiao Bei hurriedly followed.
This left Ji Xiulan standing there, her face a myriad of expressions. As she turned to look at Gao Zhiru, her eyes filled with tears again and her sobs became more heartbroken, "Zhiru, don’t you believe me? I was framed! It’s all because of Ji Xinhe! You can’t abandon me. I have suffered so much humiliation in the Ji family, and now I’m framed like this. The only person I can trust and rely on is you, Zhiru. You’re a scholar, you need to keep your promise, or... otherwise, if this gets out, it probably... wouldn’t be good."
Ji Xiulan sobbed pitifully, making people feel both sorry and alarmed, as if she was warning Gao Zhiru not to abandon her.
Gao Zhiru could only reluctantly agree, "Well, naturally."
----
Ji Xinhe and Xiao Bei sat on the bed, placing the seven taels of silver on the bed. They grinned and said, "Now this is our silver. We should purchase some clothes, shoes, and pork to eat. This should be enough for us to survive the winter!"
Xiao Bei nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes, yes! It’s definitely enough!" he said, obviously overjoyed.
However, at this moment, they suddenly thought of something and frowned, "But, we can’t spend it recklessly. This silver should be given to the officials. If we buy too many things and our parents find out, it will definitely be confiscated."
Ji Xinhe patted his head, "That’s why we must consider separating before that."
"Separate?"
Just as they were talking, Ji Dong entered, his feet covered in mud, apparently just returning from the fields.
"You two are in the room? I just saw Xiulan and Gao Zhiru in the courtyard," said Ji Dong, his face flushed. Gao Zhiru always claimed to be a scholar who valued his reputation and looked down on the villagers who farmed. But now he was brazenly embracing Ji Xiulan in broad daylight. Was this honorable?
Ji Dong didn’t understand and didn’t want to understand, he just felt awkward talking about it.
"What do we care about what they’re doing? Brother, look, I just got the silver back. Seven taels! It should be enough for us to survive the winter!" Ji Xinhe said excitedly.
Ji Dong looked at the silver and froze, "I’ve never seen so much silver in my life."
Ji Xinhe grinned, "In the future, we’ll not only see more, but also earn more!"
However, Ji Dong’s face darkened, "In the future, you must not take risks like that again. Last time, you caught a wild boar. It must have been because of the boar’s mild temperament and your good luck. Otherwise, being attacked by a wild boar is no joke. If you want to earn this silver, let me do it."
Ji Dong had a simpler mind and wouldn’t think too complicatedly. He knew what sort of body his sister had, so he couldn’t imagine that she was now different from before. He just guessed that Ji Xinhe had gotten lucky with that wild boar that was about to die.
Ji Xinhe obediently nodded, "Big brother is right, I won’t go out in the future. But we still have to live a better life. As long as we separate, our lives will definitely improve!"
With both the elder brother and younger brother hardworking people, the family could still make a fortune by relying on physical labor. Besides, she was a modern person; how could she not earn ancient people’s money?
Ji Xinhe clenched her fists, full of confidence.
Upon hearing the word ’separate,’ Ji Dong said abruptly, "Just now, when I came back from the fields, I heard something."
Ji Xinhe blinked, "What is it?"
"It seems that Lady Ding is not happy with Porky San and Ji Xiulan’s marriage, so she went to talk to the Zhang Family. But the Zhang Family demanded a silver refund. Lady Ding was initially willing to bear the teeth, but the Zhang Family shamelessly demanded thirty taels of silver."
Ji Xinhe exclaimed, "That’s so heartless! They clearly only took twenty taels from their family, how could they demand thirty taels back?"
"It’s because the Zhang Family knows that Lady Ding can’t make a fuss, so they have the lion’s big mouth. Lady Ding can’t take the moral high ground after all, and the Zhang Family isn’t easy to deal with either. I think, to make Porky San and Ji Xiulan break up the engagement, Lady Ding might really agree to pay the thirty taels of silver. This isn’t a small amount, and considering the twenty taels they received previously, almost everything has been spent. Now, where can they come up with so much money?"
As Ji Dong spoke, he couldn’t help but worry.
Ji Xinhe snorted, "What does their business have to do with us? Lady Ding deserves to worry!"
Lady Ding has no shame, and the Zhang Family is even worse. This time, she has met her match and will have to suffer a huge loss.
Ji Dong anxiously said, "After all, it’s our family’s money that’s being used. Are we supposed to sell our house and land for those thirty taels of silver? How will we survive the winter?"
Ji Xinhe said coldly, "That’s why we need to make sure we don’t get dragged down. We have to separate! Otherwise, we can’t live like this!"
Ji Dong frowned, "I’d like to separate, but I’m afraid our parents won’t agree."
"We can’t rely on their permission for this; we have to be in charge of our own lives," Ji Xinhe said with determination.
She now knew very well what their situation entailed. To continue a stable life in these times, she first had to distance herself from her deadbeat father and stepmother. Otherwise, tied down like this was constricting. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Ji Xinhe made up her mind and began planning.
----
At this moment, Lady Ding was also extremely worried. She went back home and started to slap her bed, crying, "Why am I so unlucky? Why did I encounter such a heartless family? They want three taels of silver, how could they be so shameless? Why not just take my life?! How did I end up in this situation?"
Ji Dashan wanted to comfort her, but didn’t know where to start. He hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and said, "Please stop crying."
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