"Why, why?" Jingming exclaimed in surprise. She had never experienced such a good life in her entire life, eating and drinking so well here. Before, let alone breastfeeding a child, if a girl was born, she had to get up to cook that very day and go out to work the next day, enduring beatings and scoldings from her mother-in-law and husband. She had to eat leftovers, swill, and chop firewood on the mountain. She didn't want to leave!
She never wanted to go back to the past. She knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly, "Madam, what did I do wrong? Tell me, I will change, I will definitely change. Please don't send me away."
Without saying a word, Lu Yunfeng stood in front of Qin Xiaozhou.
Faced with this imposing manner, Jingming took a step back, softened his attitude, and tears streamed down his face. "Shopkeeper, why are you making me leave? Your little sister is only a month old and still needs breast milk. I can breastfeed her well, I can breastfeed her well."
Wang Lan didn't understand why they had to send the person away, but she pretended not to hear and turned to go to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Lu Yu didn't dare to go forward and speak. She had always been a little afraid of Qin Xiaozhou, so she took the embroidery hoop and went inside to check on the children.
Qin Xiaozhou ate the cantaloupe slowly and deliberately, "I like people who keep their mouths shut."
Jingming paused for a moment, then immediately understood and realized the intention behind Qin Xiaozhou throwing stones at him by the river—it was a warning. "I promise I won't talk nonsense again. I really won't, and I won't wash clothes by the river anymore. I'll just wash them behind the house."
Qin Xiaozhou didn't want to keep this person. Lu Yu's marriage was already difficult, and her marriage to Li Yang should have been a done deal, just waiting for the Li family to send a matchmaker to propose. But so long had passed, and the matchmaker still hadn't come.
There are always changes before a marriage is finalized. Before the engagement, no one would spread these things around, but this person actually dared to announce in the village that Lu Yu and Li Yang were looking for each other.
Wang Lan had only been eavesdropping while washing dishes in the kitchen, but when she heard Jing Ming talking nonsense by the river, which angered Qin Xiaozhou, she realized that something was amiss and rushed out to ask, "What did you say by the river?"
Jingming stammered and dared not make a sound. Li Fengxian stood at the courtyard gate and said loudly, "Little sister-in-law, what a joyous occasion! When is Yu'er getting married? I want to come and have a wedding feast."
Wang Lan was furious. "What happy news? Where did you hear this from?"
The matchmaker hasn't come, the betrothal gifts haven't been exchanged, and if this shameless affair gets out, what will become of Lu Yu's reputation? This is practically forcing Lu Yu to his death.
Lu Yu's head was buzzing, and her hands and feet were cold.
Li Fengxian said smugly, "It's what your nanny said. Quite a few people heard it by the river." She was taken aback. "Why is she kneeling down? Your nephew's wife, your nanny is old enough to be your sister-in-law. How can you be so arrogant as to make her kneel down to you? Aren't you afraid of shortening your lifespan?"
Wang Lan looked at Jing Ming in disbelief and roared, "What nonsense are you spouting! Haven't we treated you well? Why are you trying to harm us and my daughter like this!"
His fingers trembled. "You, you wicked devil."
Lu Yu quietly wiped away her tears in the room. The marriage was about to be settled, and everything was about to be finalized. How did such a gossip have to come up and spread such rumors? If the Li family didn't mind, they would be fine, but if they did, even if she married into the family, she probably wouldn't have a good life.
Lu Yunfeng asked Li Fengxian to leave, saying, "Grandma, you should go back first."
Li Fengxian didn't want to leave, so she boldly said, "Oh dear, we've already met, marriage is just a matter of time..."
Qin Xiaozhou picked up a bowl from the bamboo table and smashed it over the ground, yelling, "Get out!"
Li Fengxian screamed, "Ah—Qin Xiaozhou, you—"
Qin Xiaozhou jumped up, grabbed Li Fengxian's arm, threw her out the door, and slammed the door shut. The embroiderers in the embroidery shed were all startled. "What happened? What's going on?"
Village Chief Wang's granddaughter asked, "Sister-in-law Zhen, should we go and ask?"
Li Fengxian was crying and wailing at the Lu family's door, but Li Zhen just glanced at her and shook her head, saying, "It has nothing to do with us. We just need to do our own thing."
One of the embroiderers disagreed, saying, "Sister Zhen, we're all from the same village. What if someone dies? We should go and check on them. If anything happens, we can call the village chief. It's not good for people from the same village to bully each other."
Li Zhen looked at the person who spoke and found it all laughable. She used to be a widow who suffered all kinds of bullying from the villagers, so why didn't this person stand up for her? Now, he just wanted to stir up trouble. "We're on working hours now, working for others and getting paid. How can we just go and watch the show? How will our wages be calculated? Half a day or a whole day?"
The group was taken aback for a moment, then resumed their embroidery, but couldn't help rolling their eyes.
In the Lu family courtyard, Qin Xiaozhou sat back down in the rocking chair. "Take the indenture and leave today. My family can't tolerate a big shot like you."
Jingming's face turned pale. She used to love gossiping about family matters in the village. "I... I really didn't expect it to turn out like this. I just casually mentioned that we were looking for a partner. I didn't mean to harm anyone."
Qin Xiaozhou scoffed, "You're just a country woman, how could you not know how difficult it is for a woman in this world? You're not unaware, you just want to satisfy your gossipy desires, but you want other people's reputations to elevate you, so you can take your child and leave."
Lu Yunfeng didn't want to say more and stood in the yard waiting for people to clean up. Jingming came out of the house carrying his child, then turned around and knelt down before Wang Lan again, "I was really wrong, Auntie, please say something for me. If I leave, I'll have nowhere to go. You're trying to kill me..."
"Shut up!" Qin Xiaozhou roared. "When we bought you, you were sick and still in your postpartum period. Our family treated you so well, and what did you do? You didn't live a good life in our family and instead gossiped outside. You're the one who's driving yourself to your death. We're returning your indenture. From now on, you're free. This is our final act of mercy. Take care of yourself."
Lu Yunfeng led his men to the county town, leaving only the sound of a baby crying in the courtyard. Qin Xiaozhou entered the house, picked up the little girl, and said, "Good girl, from now on you can only drink goat milk."
The little girl was not very talkative. She whimpered for a while and then quieted down and fell asleep. Qin Xiaozhou put her on the bed and gently fanned her with a palm leaf fan. As she fanned her, she also became sleepy, but she did not want to sleep on this bed. She got up and went to sleep under the rocking chair under the eaves.
It wasn't until the sun was almost setting, and Lu Yunfeng rushed back from the county town, that Qin Xiaozhou woke up. "Her slave status has been revoked?"
Lu Yunfeng nodded, "I've informed my mother about today's matter, and I've also let the people in the shop know."
Qin Xiaozhou nodded; this was the effect she wanted. "Grandma, if the people in the embroidery shed ask, just tell them the truth. Sometimes you need to give them a little nudge, so they don't get carried away."
Soon, the news spread throughout the village that the Lu family's wet nurse had been returned to human traffickers for talking nonsense. Li Fengxian was terrified. "The Lu family really has no mercy. She nursed Qin Xiaozhou for more than half a month."
The two grandsons advised, "Grandma, please go to the Lu family less often in the future. We still need to rely on them for work, otherwise, how can our family survive on just those few acres of land? We see others working for the Lu family, getting paid, and living a good life, while our family gets nothing in return."
Li Fengxian nodded with a sneer. How could she dare to go? That Qin Xiaozhou was simply a great demon. The situation today looked like he wanted to skin her alive.
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