Chapter 82: Returning Home
The next day, Su Yaoguang sent Zhang Pandi and her daughter back to the Jia family.
Su Yaoguang parked the ox cart at the village entrance and had Jiang Jing guard it there, while she went back empty-handed to send them home.
Old Lady Xu Shi from the Jia family was gossiping with someone at the doorway. Seeing Su Yaoguang and the others appear, she spat out melon seed shells and said sarcastically, “Oh my, you two finally know to come back! Wasn’t it twenty days? It’s already been twenty-two days.”
After speaking, she held out her hand, looking like she wouldn’t let them in without money.
Su Yaoguang handed over a bag and said impatiently, “We’ll give exactly as much as agreed. I originally wanted to give it to them, but they insisted you’re the head of the household and it should be handed directly to you. You’d better count it clearly. If you say there’s any problem after I leave here, I won’t acknowledge it at all.”
Xu Shi opened the bag and saw the strings of copper coins, her eyes gleaming with greed.
She first counted string by string, every one hundred copper coins strung into a larger string, with the remaining eighty-eight copper coins as loose change. She first roughly tallied them once, then cut open the strung copper coins and continued counting. Originally eight hundred eighty-eight copper coins, she sat outside the courtyard counting for a quarter of an hour, confirming three times that not a single copper coin was missing, before packing them up.
“Alright, nothing’s missing.”
“Good that nothing’s missing. The people are back, so I’m leaving too.” After Su Yaoguang spoke, she turned and left.
“Hey, do you still need people there? Let them keep working!” Xu Shi shouted toward Su Yaoguang’s direction.
Su Yaoguang waved her hand: “Where would there be so much work for you all? We haven’t even made money ourselves yet.”
After Su Yaoguang left, Xu Shi yelled fiercely at Zhang Pandi: “Did a few days of work outside make you stupid? Get in there and fetch water to cook!”
She eyed Zhang Pandi’s tattered clothes, with wounds all over her hands and face, and said with a face full of disgust: “My son must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to marry an ugly woman like you who can’t even bear children. So useless. If you don’t do more work for the family, I’ll have my son divorce you.”
Zhang Pandi entered the door with red eyes, sobbing.
“And you, you little brat.” Xu Shi pinched Jia Chunni’s arm.
“Grandma, it hurts…” Jia Chunni cried and begged for mercy. “Don’t pinch me, I’ll go chop wood.”
“Hurry up and go! Money-losing goods, seeing you makes me upset.” Xu Shi grumbled, “Just like your mother, moping all day, bad luck just looking at you.”
After Zhang Pandi and Jia Chunni went in to work, the woman who had been chatting with Xu Shi earlier, Wang Shi, said: “Sister-in-law, this mother and daughter brought back so much money. Don’t beat them too hard. If her maternal family is still willing to help her out, wouldn’t that mean they can earn even more money?”
“Didn’t you hear what that money-losing goods from the Su family said? They barely have enough work for themselves, no other work for them anymore. A good opportunity like this time, they’re lucky to have it once. You expect them to bring wealth to our family?”
Jiang Jing saw Su Yaoguang return and asked: “Is it really safe for us to send Second Aunt and cousin back? What if that family is even more despicable than we imagined?”
“Second Aunt and Chunni must get through this hurdle. If they can’t, that family will keep clinging to them and sucking their blood. Endure it for these few days, and after this period, it’ll be a smooth road ahead.”
Jiang Jing and Su Yaoguang drove the ox cart back.
There was still a pile of things to do at home, not only rushing to fill orders but also preparing for the shop.
She handed the order fulfillment to Jiang Jing to arrange. Jiang Jing had already mastered the recipe in her hands, and the improved recipe also owed to Jiang Jing’s medical skill, so entrusting the family matters to her was no problem. Every morning, she went into the city early to check the renovation progress at the shop and discuss improvements with the artisans.
A few days later, as soon as she returned, she saw Xu Shi and Hua Shi making a scene at their home doorway.
“What are you doing at my house?” Su Yaoguang got off the ox cart, tied the ox rope to the nearby tree stump, and walked over to look at the two.
Zhang Zhaodi was confronting them. Seeing Su Yaoguang return, she immediately felt emboldened.
“Daughter, these two shrews want to extort us.”
“Chunni and Chunni’s mother were fine at home, but after working twenty days for you, they fell ill as soon as they got back. Chunni is vomiting blood, Chunni’s mother has gone mad, waving a knife and chopping around the house, nearly injuring Chunni’s father. Today you must compensate us and give us money to hire a doctor.” Hua Shi said.
“I personally escorted them home, and villagers can testify that everyone was perfectly healthy when I sent them back, without any issues. It’s been five days since they returned, and now you’re telling me both are sick. I’ve long heard your family treats them worse than animals. I’m afraid they fell ill from exhaustion at home and want to extort us. Come on, report to the officials. Today let the government office investigate exactly what’s going on with this matter.”
Su Yaoguang grabbed Hua Shi’s wrist and dragged her toward the ox cart.
She was strong, and Hua Shi struggled a few times but couldn’t break free.
“Who’s going to see the officials with you? We came to discuss how to resolve this matter.” Hua Shi said. “They’re sick like that, and you won’t take responsibility?”
“A married daughter is like spilled water. Why should we care?” Zhang Zhaodi pursed her lips. “Even if you want the maternal family to care, you should go to my parents. As the eldest sister, can I still support my own younger sister?”
“They’re about to die, and you’re just watching them die?” Xu Shi glared with fierce eyes.
“One is your daughter-in-law, one is your granddaughter. No one in the Jia family cares, so why should I? Enough, get out of the way, scram.”
“You… you are truly heartless.” Xu Shi was pushed by Zhang Zhaodi and sat on the ground wailing loudly. “Heavens, my poor daughter-in-law, my poor granddaughter, how did you end up with such relatives? They clearly wore themselves out working at their house, and now they don’t care if you live or die!”
Villagers gathered around.
“What’s going on?”
Zhong Lanhua gloated from the side: “Zhang Pandi and Jia Chunni fell ill after returning from their house. Is there a problem with the feng shui here?”
Whoosh! A cleaver flew over, striking straight into the tree trunk next to Zhong Lanhua.
Zhong Lanhua saw the cleaver only a hand’s width from her, feeling a chill on her neck, her face turning very ugly.
“Truly madwomen.”
“Mom, they look so pitiful crying like that. Send them back. This is the help we can give as relatives. We’re not suckers for anything else.” Su Yaoguang walked over and retrieved the cleaver.
Xu Shi and Hua Shi were also frightened by Su Yaoguang’s actions.
But they had come specifically this trip not to just cry and make a fuss for nothing. Having gained no benefit at all, they were truly unwilling.
