Aunt Meng took out an IOU.
"You have nothing to say now, right? The IOUs are all right here."
Meng Qingluan slapped her forehead. Damn it.
The original owner had already spent all his savings to redeem Shen Yan, and borrowed five taels of silver from Aunt Meng to pay for the wedding.
"I will pay you back the five taels of silver, but I don't have the money right now."
"Five taels?" Aunt Meng smiled sinisterly. "Who told you it was five taels? It's fifteen taels. You must pay me back today, or you'll have to mortgage the house."
"Fifteen taels?!"
Aunt Meng picked up the IOU and saw that she had indeed tampered with it, adding a cross and turning five taels into fifteen taels.
With everything written in black and white, Meng Qingluan had no way to deny it, no matter how hard she tried.
If this gets taken to the authorities, my delicate buttocks will definitely be ripped open.
Meng Qingluan didn't care anymore, crossing her arms in front of her chest and clearly displaying a rogue-like demeanor.
"If you don't have the money to pay back, you can't have the house."
Aunt Meng was about to scold him when her eyes suddenly darted to Shen Yan's neck, and a smile appeared on her lips.
"Look, if you don't have money, go pawn something."
Meng Qingluan rolled her eyes. "What could I possibly use as collateral?"
“Look,” Aunt Meng pointed to the jade pendant around Shen Yan’s neck, “Isn’t your young master wearing a jade pendant? Maybe it was given to him by one of his lovers when he was at Nanfeng Pavilion. It must be worth a lot of money.”
Shen Yan frowned, his usually cold and aloof expression furrowing, and took a half-step back.
"This was left to me by my mother."
"I don't care who left it to you, whether you accept it or not."
Aunt Meng interrupted impatiently, putting her hands on her hips and speaking in a sarcastic tone.
“My niece is pitiful. I rescued you, but you can’t even part with a single thing.”
"Give me back what your mother left you! You're from a brothel, and you still have a mother?"
"Shut up!"
Meng Qingluan threw a water ladle that was placed on the water vat and hit Aunt Meng on the forehead. She cried out in pain, shouting that it was bad and that it was bad.
Meng Qingluan clapped her hands.
"This stinky mudfish, after getting a little water on it, really thinks it's seafood."
Meng Qingluan turned to look at the village chief, "I will return the money, you give me one month."
Having learned his lesson from the past, the village chief dared not speak recklessly, but he was still slightly surprised, after all, how could one possibly earn fifteen taels of silver in a month?
Before he could answer, Meng Qingluan picked up a ladle, scooped up water, and splashed it in front of Aunt Meng's feet.
"Get out of here! I'll pay you back next month. If you keep causing trouble, I'll get angry and chop you up with a knife."
Aunt Meng's outstretched hand trembled and she withdrew it.
The family of three ran to the door to make sure Meng Qingluan wouldn't pounce on them and slash them before daring to peek out and shout.
"Meng Qingluan! Don't think I'm afraid of you. If you don't pay back the money next month, I'll take you to the authorities."
Swoosh—
Meng Qingluan flew over with a ladle, and the world finally quieted down.
The village chief stood there, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back. He glanced at Meng Qingluan, then at Chen Yan standing beside her.
Meng Qingluan lifted her eyelids and said lazily, "Village Chief, is there anything else?"
"Qingluan... I watched you grow up..."
"It's Grandpa."
"What?" The village chief didn't react.
Meng Qingluan smiled and repeated it.
"Judging by your age, you should be my grandfather's generation."
village head:"……"
He's only forty years old!
She just looks a bit older than her age…
The village chief shook his head, stiffly forced a smile, and took a small silver ingot from his pocket, stuffing it into Meng Qingluan's hand.
She whispered, "Qingluan, don't tell anyone about my trip to Nanfeng Pavilion..."
"What?" Meng Qingluan suddenly exclaimed, "Village Chief, you have a taste for this?"
"Boo! Boo! Boo!!"
The village chief put his index finger to his lips, his face turning red with anxiety.
Realizing what she had done, she retorted, "You don't know?"
Meng Qingluan's eyes were serious. "I understand now."
The village chief felt his vision go black and almost fainted. It took him a long time to recover from the dizziness.
It's all my fault for having such a foul mouth. This brat tricked me into revealing all my secrets.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Meng Qingluan weighed the silver in her palm.
"Don't worry, I'm very tight-lipped."
The village chief breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could catch his breath, Meng Qingluan's next words sent his blood pressure soaring.
"I've been troubled by debt lately, and I'm really upset. When I'm upset, I can't help but say what's been on my mind."
Meng Qingluan then patted the village chief's shoulder, feigning distress.
"Village Chief, if I accidentally reveal this one day, you won't blame me, will you?"
"Hehehe..." The village chief raised his hand and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead.
"I have one tael of silver left, here you go."
Meng Qingluan was happy, but this was just a drop in the ocean. She wanted to extort more money from the village chief, but the other party beat her to it.
"Qingluan, I really have no money left. I can't possibly pay you fifteen taels of silver."
Meng Qingluan knew when to stop, understanding that she shouldn't push people too hard, or it would be counterproductive.
The village chief breathed a sigh of relief, repeatedly instructing Meng Qingluan to keep it a secret, before slipping away unnoticed.
Shen Yan walked into the room without saying a word.
When Meng Qingluan saw him enter the house, she assumed he was feeling inferior because of the slander from others. Fearing he would turn to the dark side again, and that she would have to collapse along with the world, she chased after him into the house.
“Chen Yan…” Meng Qingluan called out to him.
Shen Yan turned around and extended his hand to Meng Qingluan.
Meng Qingluan looked down and saw that the jade pendant that should have been worn around Shen Yan's neck was lying quietly in Shen Yan's palm.
Shen Yan calmly said, "Let's pawn it to pay off our debts. This jade pendant is worth some money."
Meng Qingluan didn't take it, pushing his hand back, "I don't want it, this is what your mother left for you."
Chen Yan placed the jade pendant on the table.
"The person is gone, keeping them will only add to the sorrow. If you don't want to pawn them, I will do it myself."
Meng Qingluan frowned and refused, "It's your business if you pawn it, I won't."
After Meng Qingluan finished speaking, she didn't say anything more to him and went out to the pigsty behind the house to check on the pigs.
Only after the person walked outside did Shen Yan raise his head. He stood still, pursed his lips, and his calm eyes darkened slightly.
Shen Yan took out a slip of paper from his sleeve, glanced at it, and threw it away expressionlessly.
As autumn drew to a close, the thin strip of paper was blown away as soon as it left its owner's palm.
"Tsk, so they've switched to playing the good guy trick now?"
Chen Yan smiled.
Meng Qingluan took the leftover millet porridge to the pigsty, her lips twitching.
The moment the two pigs saw the food in Meng Qingluan's hand, their sunken eyes lit up instantly, and they squeezed their butts together and twisted to the front of the pigpen.
Meng Qingluan poured the leftover porridge from her bowl into the pig trough, and the two pigs wagged their tails and grunted as they ate.
Meng Qingluan found it amusing, so she reached out and touched the pig's head, muttering to herself as she did so.
"Eat up, little pig, eat more and grow up quickly."
"When you grow up, you can make braised pork ribs with some potatoes. It'll be delicious."
"You stuff them into sausages and take them to town to sell as grilled sausages..."
pig:……
Meng Qingluan's eyes lit up, "Grilled sausage!"
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