Tao Ran grew angrier as she listened. If she had come back a little later, these people would have taken advantage of her. Just as she was about to speak, Granny Li glared at her viciously, "I say, Sister Tao'er, you don't want your family to be homeless now, do you? Listen to me, the Zhang family said that if you don't scrape together these two taels of silver in a week, they will personally take you to be a maid. It's better to come to my house as a child bride."
Granny Li became increasingly smug as she spoke, while the burly men stared at her without restraint. Tao Ran felt a sudden surge of anger and gritted her teeth, saying, "I will send you two taels of silver in three days."
Just then, a few clucking sounds came from Tao Ran's basket. Granny Li immediately opened the basket and sure enough, there was an old hen inside. "Where did you get this old hen? You didn't steal it, did you? My family just lost an old hen these past few days. Oh, Tao Erjie, you actually stole my hen!"
Granny Li greedily reached for the hen, but Tao Ran, enraged, pushed forward with all her might. Suddenly, Granny Li's hand, which was resting on her basket, slipped from her grasp, and she fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"This is a pheasant I found on the mountain myself, it's not yours at all. I'll pay you back the two taels of silver, but don't even think about touching my hen." Tao Ran hurriedly put down his basket and hugged the hen tightly to his chest. The eggs laid by this hen were used to supplement the family's nutrition, and these black-hearted people wanted to take them away.
Seeing Tao Ran like this, Granny Li cried out in pain on the ground. The burly men were also somewhat surprised to see the hen, but that wasn't their concern; they were only there to collect their money. The villagers watching nearby whispered among themselves.
"Didn't we already eat that old woman Li's hen? She was bragging about it everywhere. How come it's her hen again now?"
"It seems the Tao family can't even keep their thatched hut. It's pitiful. The eldest son in the family is useless. I heard that Tao'er almost starved to death a few days ago. How tragic."
"The harvest has been poor these past few days, and I don't know how to pay today's taxes."
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