"That's right! This little girl is quite pretty; no wonder Sister Liu insisted on taking her home."
"What good is being pretty? She's just a little brat; she'll only be a money pit if you raise her." One woman said dismissively.
"That's not necessarily true," a shrewd and capable woman said. "Other people's maids are worthless if they're sold, but since this girl is pretty, she can be sold to a wealthy family as a concubine, or, if you're really heartless, sold to those places for a thousand or eight hundred taels of silver to get her back. Wouldn't that be a huge profit?"
These women were naturally gossipy and spoke loudly, so their words reached Lin Ziqiu and Lin Zihan's ears without any restraint.
The two brothers, who were originally happily catching shrimp, were now so angry that they wanted to throw stones at each other.
They may not understand what "even more heartless" means.
But you could also tell from their words that they had ill intentions!
They wouldn't treat their younger sister like a money-losing commodity, nor would they use her to exchange for silver.
My little sister is so cute!
Grandma said that my little sister is their family's lucky star. It's all thanks to her that they were able to eat so many eggs and sweet fruits.
Lin Zihan and Lin Ziqiu were furious, but they knew they couldn't win.
Two fists can't beat four hands.
There were only two of them, and they hadn't brought their second brother along. They definitely couldn't beat this group of gossipy women.
Lin Ziqiu angrily made a face and spat on the ground.
"Come on, let's go somewhere else to play. There's nothing here, just lots of gossipy women." Lin Zihan went over and covered Lin Wanyue's ears.
My sister mustn't hear these harsh comments!
"Mmm." Lin Wanyue nodded very forcefully.
After the three siblings left, the women didn't seem to mind and started chatting about other things that had happened in the village.
"Hey, do you know anything about the Wang family?"
What happened to the Wang family?
"It's Wang Hu, the Wang family's precious darling! I don't know how he grew up, so tall and strong, while his parents are both short and thin. I've never heard of Wang Hu being sick before, but this time I heard he's been possessed? He came home in the middle of the day with a fever. My kids say that no one touched him, but he insists that someone pushed him and made him fall. Isn't that weird..."
"Is that really true? It's broad daylight, and it's giving me the creeps." Several women subconsciously rubbed their arms.
"Could there be ghosts in our village?" the woman swallowed hard and asked tentatively.
"You really can't say anything nice, spouting such ominous nonsense in broad daylight?"
After being scolded, the women fell silent and stopped talking.
...
When they got home, the three of them didn't manage to catch any loaches or small crabs, but they did come back covered in mud.
Their clothes and shoes were all dirty.
Xuefu shook her head helplessly; washing clothes takes a lot of water.
"Wanwan is the best behaved; her clothes are so clean." Xuefu took out two newly made dresses. "Come on, try them on to see if they fit. Shall we wear our new clothes today?"
"Howl~" Lin Wanyue smiled, her eyes crinkling to reveal eight small teeth and a sweet dimple on one side.
Xuefu was so flattered that she felt like she had drunk honey, and her smile became even gentler.
"After the summer grain is harvested, I still have to go to the city to pay taxes. If there's anything left after paying the taxes, I'll bring some fabric back with me." Lin Weiming opened layer upon layer of cloth bundles, inside which were a pitiful few hundred coins.
Their family has many members, especially the male members, so they have to pay even more money.
A few hundred dollars isn't enough at all!
Moreover, it's unlikely that the crops in the fields will yield a good harvest, making winter a difficult time.
Lin Weiming glanced at Lin Wanyue, who had changed into a new dress.
To be precise, it can't be called a new dress, because the fabric of the dress is made from clothes that Xuefu hadn't worn much, and it still has some signs of wear.
However, these are some of the few good clothes that Xuefu owns. After altering Lin Wanyue's skirt, she will probably only have two sets of clothes left to change into.
And winter is the most difficult time...
After thinking it over, Lin Weiming finally spoke up, "In a couple of days, when the weather is nice, I'll go up West Mountain. If I can catch a big one, I can sell the meat and have a good meal. As for the hide, I'll keep it to make a winter coat for Wanwan."
“But it’s dangerous up in the mountain…” Xuefu looked at him with some worry upon hearing this.
"There's nothing we can do about it," Lin Weiming sighed softly.
After pondering for a while with a heavy expression, Liu Junlan agreed with Lin Weiming's idea.
You'd better watch yourself.
"I know."
Lin Wanyue was very excited upon hearing the news.
She had already inquired with her brothers long ago and learned that their father, Lin Weiming, usually went hunting in the Western Hills.
The western mountains are dangerous, but that also means there's plenty of prey there.
Since her father was going up the mountain, she could go with him to find the old locust tree, dig out the ginseng underneath, and then take it to the city to exchange for money!
The longevity lock that Ding Taiping had left behind was placed under his grandfather's memorial tablet by Liu Junlan, who said that the old man had a lot of evil energy and would definitely be able to suppress this evil spirit.
Otherwise, Lin Wanyue was thinking of taking that along to exchange for money, but unfortunately she is too short now, and even if she carries a small stool, she can't reach it.
Of course, Lin Wanyue didn't want to upset her grandmother.
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