Zhu Xiaoling's house was very small, so the skirt was quickly found and handed over to the village chief.
Village Chief Wu unfolded it and said, "Come and take a look. Is this the one you made?"
The women gathered around.
The embroidery on the skirt was unique, and they recognized it immediately. They said in unison, "Yes, we made this skirt!"
"Great, I finally found the skirt!"
Among the crowd, only Zhu Xiaoling felt embarrassed. She stopped trying to be stubborn and kept her head down without saying a word.
No one noticed this detail.
Village Chief Wu nodded and handed the skirt to Xu Xingchen who was walking over. "Since this is the one you made, take it and check if there is any damage."
A skirt is worth thirty taels of silver, so we can't be negligent.
Xu Xingchen didn't take it: "Village Chief, please give it to someone else."
She doesn't want to cause any more trouble!
Xu Xingchen's words made the faces of the women who were immersed in joy change slightly, especially Wang Li, whose face looked the ugliest.
She gritted her teeth and took the initiative to stand up: "What happened that day was all my fault. I was too impulsive. Now I apologize to you."
With this beginning, other embroiderers also came forward to apologize.
They said that they were indeed wrong that day, but the person who was most responsible was Zhu Xiaoling. If she hadn't stolen the skirt, wouldn't there have been so many troubles afterwards?
No matter how wrong it is, it’s all Zhu Xiaoling’s fault!
The anger then spread to Zhu Xiaoling.
People accused her of being useless, saying that a good girl would do such sneaky things.
When the silent Zhu Xiaoling looked up again, her face was already covered with tears: "I know I was wrong, but I had no choice! My family is not well off, and my mother has always wanted to marry me to an old man from Hebi Village. It's better to say she's selling me than marrying me, because if I marry him, I'll only end up dead! I don't want to die, so I can't help it..."
Zhu Xiaoling began to cry loudly, her voice was so miserable and moving.
Soon, some people began to feel sorry for her and pleaded with Xu Xingchen on her behalf.
"Sister Xu, why don't we just let this matter go? She looks quite pitiful."
"Yes, she has admitted her mistake."
Xu Xingchen remained unmoved and said coldly, "Admitting a mistake doesn't mean you can be forgiven. I won't forgive her anyway. She must accept the punishment."
"So how are you going to punish her?"
"Of course, send her to the government."
When these words were spoken, everyone was stunned, especially Zhu Xiaoling, who looked even more stunned.
Is such a small matter worth bothering the government? Xu Xingchen is really making a big deal out of nothing!
"Xu Xingchen, why are you so mean!"
Zhang Xiaochun couldn't help but stand up for Zhu Xiaoling and said, "She just made a small mistake. Why can't you forgive her?"
"It would be too embarrassing if we had to bring this matter to the authorities!"
Xu Xingchen sneered, "A small mistake? When you first knew my skirt was stolen and scolded me, you didn't think it was a small mistake."
At that time, they all wanted to tear her apart alive!
Zhang Xiaochun hesitated for a moment and defended himself, saying, "At the time, I was so shocked and angry. Besides, everyone has apologized to you. Can't you be a little more generous?"
Xu Xingchen said firmly: "No, by the way, since you say I'm bad, then I'll be even worse. I won't open the embroidery class anymore."
As soon as these words were spoken, the women all showed expressions of regret.
They have not learned embroidery for a long time and need to learn more. If the embroidery class is closed, who will they learn from?
Zhang Xiaochun also thought of this and stopped arguing. He just muttered in a low voice that Xu Xingchen was stingy.
Jun Haoyue has excellent hearing.
Zhang Xiaochun's words happened to be heard by him, and he kindly suggested: "Since you are so generous and kind, why don't you give Zhu Xiaoling ten taels of silver?"
Zhang Xiaochun subconsciously covered his wallet and shut his mouth silently.
"Okay, I don't want to argue anymore. I just checked the skirt and there is no problem. Let's go to the embroidery shop and hand in the task now." She didn't want to cause any more trouble!
When the women heard about the money, they immediately put Zhang Xiaochun's matter behind them and said, "Okay, okay, let's go."
"Wait, what about me? I also helped embroider the skirt. You can't just swallow my money!"
Zhu Xiaoling screamed.
Xu Xingchen turned around and said, "Don't think that everyone is as mean as you. I'll pay you every penny. By the way, Village Chief, I might need your help to keep an eye on her for the time being. Once I get the money, I'll send her to see the authorities."
This was not a difficult task, and the village chief agreed immediately and generously.
Xu Xingchen took the women to the embroidery shop.
Jun Haoyue followed them because he was worried.
They arrived at a coincidental time, as the owner of the embroidery workshop happened to be in the shop. When she heard that they were there to hand in a task, she immediately inspected it.
"Not bad, not bad. This skirt is very delicate and the embroidery is good. The flowers on it look so real that even I am moved."
The lady boss was full of praise.
According to the usual rules, the finished skirt had to be inspected by the customer and approved before the commission and deposit could be paid out. However, the boss lady loved this skirt so much that she even made an exception for it and paid the customer without waiting for the customer's approval, and even returned the deposit in full.
Xu Xingchen and his group left the embroidery shop with the silver and divided it equally on the street.
This time, Erya was no longer as shy as before, just a little melancholy.
She asked sadly, "Master, will we have the chance to make skirts together again in the future?" She always felt that without Xu Xingchen around, she couldn't concentrate on embroidery.
Xu Xingchen touched her head and said, "There will definitely be a chance. Let's wait and see."
After distributing the money, people dispersed and Xu Xingchen and Jun Haoyue went to the street corner.
There is a wonton stall there.
In order to find out who stole the skirt, the two haven't had a good meal for a long time. Now that the matter has been resolved, of course they have to reward themselves well.
Xu Xingchen generously said that he would treat them all, and then ordered a bowl of wonton.
Jun Haoyue was amused by her behavior: "Today, you can eat as much as you want."
Xu Xingchen thought that this was indeed the case.
Anyway, she had money in her pocket, so she could still afford a few bowls of wonton! So she ordered another bowl and specifically asked the boss to put more toppings.
The stall owner nodded, looking puzzled. "Are girls more gluttonous than boys these days?" The boy only ordered one bowl.
The wontons were served quickly.
Xu Xingchen was about to eat, but she found that the wontons were too soft and could not be eaten at all. She had to wait a little longer. When she was feeling depressed, Jun Haoyue suddenly said, "Xingchen, open your mouth."
Xu Xingchen did as he was told subconsciously, and then a wonton of just the right temperature was fed into his mouth.
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