Ma stared blankly as the convoy quickly approached. Qin Shen jumped out of the car and walked a few steps to Jiang Qinyu.
"Madam, the things you asked me to prepare are ready. Shall we send them to the second branch of the Lu family now?" Qin Shen asked respectfully after bowing.
Jiang Qinyu glanced at Madam Ma and asked indifferently, "Are these cartloads of things enough to repay Lu Tianbao for saving Shufan and Pan'er's lives?"
The hardest debt to repay in this world is a debt of gratitude. Since Ma has taken the initiative to come to her, she will take this opportunity to settle this debt on behalf of the two children.
When Ma was asked the question, she snapped out of her daze, her eyes widening as she looked at the several heavy-looking carriages, then at Jiang Qinyu. She almost blurted out, "Enough, enough!" But then her eyes darted around, and the words that were on the tip of her tongue changed to, "I need to see what kind of thank-you gifts you've given to Tianbao!"
Qin Shen frowned upon hearing this and looked at Jiang Qinyu.
Jiang Qinyu nodded slightly to him, "Give the gift list to Uncle Village Chief, so everyone can hear what we gave to thank Lu Tianbao for."
She happened to see Village Chief Li walking this way, and after a moment's thought, she realized that since Ma was illiterate, it would be better to have an authoritative person testify.
Village Chief Li rushed over after hearing that someone was causing trouble for Jiang Qinyu. As soon as he arrived, he heard what Jiang Qinyu was saying and quickly said, "Okay, I'll take a look."
Ma wanted to see it herself, but she couldn't read, so she could only watch helplessly as Qin Shen handed the red gift list mixed with gold leaf to the village chief.
Other onlookers began to discuss the situation.
"Oh my, no wonder she's the general's wife. Putting everything else aside, just look at this gift list. Are these ordinary things?"
"Six carriages' worth of stuff! Given Ah Zheng's wife's character, do you think she would just casually handle such things?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, this girl from Lu Yancai's family is really something, jumping out so eagerly to ask for benefits, does she think everyone is like her, so stingy?"
"Alright, alright, let's hear the village chief read the gift list first, and I'll also see what Ah Zheng's wife gave..."
All eyes were on the gift list in Village Chief Li's hand.
Village Chief Li cleared his throat and began to read, "Two hundred taels of silver..."
He had barely read one sentence when the people around him erupted again.
"How much...?"
"My God! Two hundred taels! How much stuff can you buy with that?"
"Hey, how did Lu Tianbao save that person? Maybe I should have my son stand guard outside the General's house too, he might just run into something like that..."
"Get lost! You call this a good thing? Here, take it or leave it! You're practically cursing someone to get into trouble!"
"Uh... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was just a little envious..."
Village Chief Li paused after reading the first item, somewhat shocked.
He knew the inside story about Jiang Qinyu and Pan'er being kidnapped, but he never expected that Jiang Qinyu would give Lu Tianbao two hundred taels of silver as a thank you!
Two hundred taels!
Hearing the surrounding chatter, Village Chief Li quickly snapped out of his daze and continued reading, "One hundred bolts of various kinds of cloth, ten bushels of new rice, three bushels of new wheat... one mansion in the county town... one horse-drawn carriage..."
Each time he read something, a collective gasp arose from the surrounding area.
When Village Chief Li finished reading, everyone was stunned.
Ma looked completely dazed, unsure of what to do with her hands and feet.
"Is that enough?" Jiang Qinyu looked at her and asked again.
Ma opened her mouth but couldn't say a word.
Could she say it wasn't enough? Jiang Qinyu had given Lu Tianbao almost enough to live comfortably for the rest of his life!
Sure enough, the people around started talking about it again.
"Oh my god, is Ah Zheng's wife not going to live a good life anymore? Has she emptied her family's savings for Lu Tianbao?"
"Look at all this she gave us! Everything we need—clothing, food, shelter, and transportation—is provided! She also has two hundred taels of silver to carry around, and so many books..."
"If Mrs. Ma is still not satisfied, I'd like to beat her up..."
When these whispers reached Madam Ma's ears, her expression turned from green to purple, then purple to black—she looked incredibly ugly.
“Uh… that’s enough…” Ma finally managed to utter a few words.
She really didn't expect that Jiang Qinyu would be willing to give Lu Tianbao so many things as a thank-you gift!
Upon hearing this, Jiang Qinyu stopped looking at her and instead faced the crowd, raising her voice: "Everyone must bear witness for me. Tianbao's mother said herself that she was satisfied with my reward for Tianbao saving Shufan and Pan'er. So from now on, our two families will be even and continue to live our own lives."
She did use most of what she could to make sure she didn't owe Lu Tianbao anything, and also to repay the debts of gratitude owed to the children.
However, her original plan was to take Lu Tianbao to school so that he could become a useful member of society in the future, but now she no longer needs to put in that effort.
After hearing her words, the onlookers all said that this was enough to repay Lu Tianbao for saving their lives.
While Ma was still in a daze, Lu Yancai's angry roar suddenly rang out from behind the crowd.
"What stupid thing are you doing now, you old hag?"
His shout drew everyone's attention back to him.
Lu Yancai practically ran over, grabbed Ma Shi, glared at her angrily, and asked, "I only took a nap, what have you been up to now?"
Ma was still in a daze, just staring blankly at him.
But just because she didn't say anything didn't mean the onlookers wouldn't. They quickly started talking all at once and told everyone what had happened.
After hearing this, Lu Yancai was furious. He slapped Ma Shi across the face and said, "Are you ignoring what I said? Did I say that it was only right for Tianbao to save Shufan and Pan'er? Did I say that you were not allowed to ask your sister-in-law for benefits? Huh? You damn well better talk to me!"
He grabbed Ma's neck and shook her violently.
Mrs. Ma was being shaken so badly she felt like she was falling apart, and tears were streaming down her face. "Honey, let me explain..."
"I'm not listening to any of your nonsense! You're just asking for it!" Lu Yancai couldn't hold back any longer and started punching and kicking Ma.
Of course, Ma didn't want to be beaten. While struggling and dodging, she looked at Chen Xiuer and shouted, "It was all Chen Xiuer who made me ask my sister-in-law for things!"
Her shout once again drew everyone's attention to Chen Xiuer.
Originally, Chen Xiuer was racking her brains trying to figure out how to make Jiang Qinyu's strangeness known, but Ma Shi pointed it out to her.
"I...I didn't..." Chen Xiuer waved her hands innocently, "Second cousin-in-law, please don't implicate me!"
Madam Ma was hurt by Lu Yancai's beating, and immediately retorted without regard for anything else: "It was clearly you who sent me to ask my sister-in-law for benefits! You even said my sister-in-law was too strange and told me to find a way to expose her..."
Before she could finish speaking, Village Chief Li spat in her face, yelling, "Bullshit! Who's spouting nonsense? Hasn't my niece done enough for Dingshui Village?"
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