Ji Xinhe touched Xiao Bei’s head: "You should try to distance yourself from such families as far as possible. If we hadn’t made the quick decision to hide, not only the houses on the upper floor, even our small thatched house, would have been ruined in the fight over the tiny assets of the Ji family with Lady Ding."
Although Ji Xinhe was unwilling to admit it, she had no choice but to face the fact that she was now just a humble village girl. She couldn’t even provoke the local bully like Pork Three and his family, let alone people of greater significance. She hated the feeling of being oppressed and the only way to change this situation was to become stronger, much stronger!
Ji Xinhe narrowed her eyes slightly, subconsciously clenching her fist concealed in her sleeve.
Pork Three casually picked up a hammer and smashed the box open, revealing all the treasures Lady Ding had hidden. There were many gold hairpins and jade bracelets. Regardless of their quality, at a rough estimate, they were definitely worth thirty pieces of silver.
Ji Xinhe couldn’t help but sneer: "Lady Ding has so much money hidden, yet she let my brother risk his life. It’s so true that a woman’s heart can be really poisonous."
Xiao Bei also responded with a sharp spit.
"You told me you don’t have any money? What are these things then?!" Pork Three pointed at the pile of items and let out a heavy cold snort.
Lady Ding was shaking with rage: "These are all mine, you won’t lay your hands on them! Is there no law anymore? You beasts, you will be punished by heaven!"
Pork three spat out a thick wad of phlegm aggressively: "Divine retribution? If there’s divine retribution it’s for you for owing me twenty taels of silver and refusing to pay, your daughter doesn’t want to marry me, you don’t want to give me the silver, do you really think I’m a big fool?"
On hearing this, Lady Ding shrank her neck involuntarily. The commotion at the Ji family had naturally attracted many villagers who were watching, but they didn’t intervene or even offer any comments, because this whole issue, boiled down, was due to the Ji family not being fair.
Logically, thing should have been done once Ji Xiulan married Pork Three. But Lady Ding wouldn’t agree to that, and even if she weren’t agreeable, she ought to give back the silver, right? But she keeps pushing it off, claiming she doesn’t have any silver. If she truly doesn’t have any silver, then what were all these treasures in her box?
Pork Three directly took most of the items from the box and left Lady Ding with two small golden hairpins: "This is to cover your debt, and from now on, we’re even."
Only then did Pork Three wave his hand at his men and said, "Let’s go! I will treat you all to a drink!"
Lady Ding felt like she was about to explode. Those were her valued possessions, her life savings!
"You bandit, come back here, give them back to me!" Lady Ding cried out like a ghost, howling like a wolf. The villagers outside the courtyard found it so annoying that they all dispersed.
Ji Xinhe gave a light sniff and also turned to go back to her house.
Ji Dashan’s pride had taken a hit. He quickly helped Lady Ding up from the ground: "Don’t make a fuss anymore. It’s only a matter of course to pay back the debt. Why bother? It’s something owed and should be paid back sooner or later."
Lady Ding angrily brushed off Ji Dashan’s hand: "Who asked for your opinion?! You, as a man, didn’t stand up for me when my things were being stolen. But now you dare teach me a lesson, what a worthless man. All you can do is bully us at home, outside you’re nothing!"
"I ...."
"You what! I must have been so unlucky in my previous lives to have married you!" As Lady Ding was about to go into the same old tirade again, a voice of excitement came from the thatched house.
"Brother, are you awake?!"
Ji Dashan was stunned, and quickly looked in that direction, blurting out: "Is Dongzi awake?"
Lady Ding, who was already furious, clenched her fists, her heart aching as she looked at her stolen belongings and the chaotic state of herself. However, on hearing this, she responded sarcastically: "So what if he’s awake? There’s no difference between him being awake and dead considering he’s paralyzed!"
Before she could finish her sentence, another overjoyed voice came from the hut: "Wow! Brother, you can get out of bed?!"
Lady Ding stood there, stunned. She found herself rushing to the door of the hut, pushing open the door and being struck dumb at the sight that greeted her.
Ji Dong was standing steadily in the room, stretching his muscles and laughing brilliantly: "See, I’m perfectly fine."
Ji Xinhe circled around Ji Dong in disbelief, exclaiming with joy: "Brother, you’re really completely healed!"
Looking at the fully recovered Ji Dong, Lady Ding felt a darkness fall over her eyes and she almost fainted. Pointing at Ji Dong’s nose, her hand was almost trembling: "You, you, you should be paralyzed!"
Ji Xinhe pretended to be clueless: "I don’t know, maybe my brother was fortunate enough to recover naturally, it does happen. Doctor Zhong also mentioned that one could be paralyzed after waking up, but it wasn’t absolute, so this means Doctor Zhong’s medical skills are indeed excellent. As soon as my brother woke up, he’s fully recovered!"
If Lady Ding were to believe her nonsense at this point, she would truly be a fool. She recalled what Ding Hui had said earlier, that he didn’t believe Ji Dong was hurt so badly. At the time, Lady Ding thought Ding Hui was lying to her. However, now it seemed that she had unwittingly fallen into one trap after another. Looking at a healthy Ji Dong, she realized too late that she’d been played...
Lady Ding’s face gradually turned dark. Her teeth grinding and her body shaking, she angrily spat out: "You few rogues, how dare you fool me!"
Ji Xinhe feigned innocence by blinking her eyes: "Mother, what are you talking about? How dare we?"
Ji Dong also had an innocent look on his face: "Mother, what does this mean? I don’t understand. I’ve just woke up and I don’t know anything."
"Well done, very well! Now even you dare to fool me? You are all becoming more skilful!" Lady Ding was so angry she felt like she was about to vomit blood. The ten taels of silver that she and the Ding family had been tricked out of, the fact that the children had used the incident to separate their household and her current situation, all these made her feel like spitting blood.
Lady Ding pointed indignantly at Ji Dong: "If you’re well, go and work in the field! Do you expect us to keep providing for you?"
Ji Xinhe squinted and smiled: "Mother, you’re confused. We don’t have a single acre of land in our name after the split. What is my brother going to do in the field? Mother, you’d better keep it and plant it yourself."
It was only then that Lady Ding realized she no longer had control over them.
Lady Ding gritted her teeth, her eyes almost poisonous: "Fine, you all know how to draw the line as soon as you got your share. Fine, I’m going to see if you, a few brats whose hair is not fully grown yet, can survive the winter! Don’t come crying to us later!"
After all, in the division of property, they got this dilapidated thatched house, and not even a grain of rice. Now it’s late autumn. Winter without food, isn’t that waiting for death?
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