Chapter 48: Any Turtle You Grab Is An Ancestor
In front of the ruins of the thatched hut, the originally fairly flat ground had been dug into pits and hollows.
Lin Jianshan’s expression could be described as furious, no, no, no, there was nothing!
Where is the silver? Where did the silver go?
Lin Jianshui, leaning on his hoe nearby, yawned, “Big Brother, stop digging, we’ve dug everywhere, there’s no silver.”
“Shut up!” Lin Jianshan glared angrily at his younger brother, Lin Jianshui pursed his lips, shouldered his hoe, and went aside to rest.
The villagers had originally been excitedly watching the spectacle, but seeing Lin Jianshan dig for most of the afternoon, with nothing but mud and stones turning up, they gradually got bored, and many went back to work, leaving only a small portion still watching for the result.
Shang Wan knew what Lin Jianshan was looking for, but unfortunately, he would never dig it up.
She reached out to fiddle with Lu Chengjing’s long eyelashes, and seeing his eyelids tremble as if he was about to wake, she immediately stopped and switched to playing with his hair.
Little Friend Yuan Yuan had slept her fill and woken up, seeing her mother touching her daddy, she also stretched out her chubby little fingers to curiously poke her daddy’s face, then poke her own plump cheek, blinking her big eyes, and stretched her little face toward Shang Wan—her face was even nicer to touch.
Shang Wan amusingly pinched her, and taking advantage of no one noticing, fed her a drop of Spiritual Spring Water.
“Found it!” Lin Jianshan’s excited shout came, and the bored crowd immediately crowded around to look.
Only to see a piece of red cloth lying in the pit, loosely pressed down by soil around it.
Zhang Er frowned, “This isn’t silver either.”
“It’s under the red cloth.” Lin Jianshan said confidently, reaching out to grab the red cloth and yank it upward forcefully.
“Pat pat pat—” soil fell like rain, revealing seven or eight grayish-white stones.
The crowd: “…”
“How could it be stones?” Lin Jianshan stared in disbelief, holding the red cloth up to his face for a close look—it was definitely the one his family used to wrap silver, so why were there stones?
Shang Wan glanced at the bottom of the pit, a trace of amusement flashing in her eyes, “Don’t get agitated, I’m a generous person, just a few stones, if you want them, take them, we don’t lack that much at home.”
“Who wants stones?” Lin Jianshan turned his head and roared angrily at Shang Wan, “I want silver! My silver!”
“Slap!” Shang Wan slapped him across the face, grabbed him by the collar and threw him outside, where he crashed “bang” next to Village Chief Lin.
“Big Brother!” Lin Jianshui rushed over to help him up.
Lin Jianshan was so angry his face twisted, glaring at Shang Wan as if he wanted to eat her alive.
Shang Wan gave him a cold sidelong glance, “We’ve let you search the place, you’ve dug plenty of pits, if you can’t find it, apologize with a compensation gift and get lost. Venting your temper at me, you think you’re someone special?”
The instantly erupting murderous aura stunned everyone present, and many looked at Shang Wan with fear in their eyes.
Shi Tou swallowed, it appeared, it appeared, that day on the cart, his sister had been just as fierce with him, it was downright terrifying.
Shang Wan walked step by step toward Lin Jianshan, her momentum intimidating.
Lin Jianshan, supporting his sore arm from the fall, braced himself not to retreat, blustering bravely, “What do you want to do?”
“Naturally, to reason it out.” Shang Wan clenched her fist, and the stone instantly turned to powder flowing from between her fingers.
The crowd all swallowed, holy cow, what kind of ghostly strength was this?
“Catch a thief and catch the stolen goods, you’ve practically turned this land over and still haven’t found the silver, clearly the thief isn’t from our family. We’ve been wronged without cause, our reputation damaged, our spirit severely harmed, isn’t it reasonable to ask for some compensation?”
Without waiting for the Lin Family to speak, the others spoke up for them, “Not excessive.”
Shang Wan satisfactorily hooked up the corner of her lips, “Reputation loss fee, mental distress fee, and land leveling fee added together, considering we’re fellow villagers, I’ll give you a discount, just… eighty taels.”
“Why don’t you go rob instead!” Liu Shi couldn’t understand Shang Wan’s earlier words, but she understood silver, pointing at Shang Wan ready to vent, but met Shang Wan’s cold glance, and her words were instantly choked in her throat.
“Xiucai Scholar’s Wife, Lu Xiucai Scholar’s jade pendant inexplicably appeared in the Lin Family, it’s understandable for the Lin Family to suspect Lu Xiucai Scholar is the thief, and it hasn’t caused any loss to your family, demanding eighty taels right off the bat is too bullying.”
Old Man Qiu, who had not spoken until now, stepped forward, his turbid eyes fixed on Shang Wan, “We’re all from the same village, in my view, have the Lin Family boy return the jade pendant, give the Xiucai Scholar some justice with an apology, and that’ll be it. Forgive where possible, don’t ruin the harmony.”
Shang Wan had never met Old Man Qiu, “Who are you?”
Old Man Qiu was Qiu Xiaofeng’s brother, and it was he who had arranged the marriage proposal between Lin Jianshui and Chen Guifang. He had gone to the Chen Family to attend a funeral, but because Willow Tree Village was too chaotic, today he had returned with the Lin Family, and hadn’t yet met Shang Wan.
He was even older than Old Man Luo, and in the village had never been treated so impolitely by juniors, so he immediately darkened his face, “What a rude woman! Does the Xiucai Scholar usually teach you like this, to disrespect elders and speak rudely to your seniors?”
“Do you live by the seaside? Mind your own business!”
Shang Wan found it baffling, did this old man think that just because he was old, others had to treat him like a Buddha on an altar?
“Neither kin nor relation, and on first meeting you lecture me, who’s the one without manners?”
“If being old and wrinkled makes you an elder, then pulling a turtle out of the river at random would be your ancestor, and you wouldn’t refuse to drink the stewed soup.”
“If you want respect from others, first control your own mouth, don’t spew any filth or nonsense, as if afraid others won’t know your butt is crooked to the heavens.”
Old Man Qiu was so angry his cheeks flushed red, his pointing finger at Shang Wan trembling, “What a sharp-tongued woman!”
“Thanks for the compliment.” Shang Wan glanced at his still-unlowered hand, “Let me ask, do you not want that hand anymore?”
“He does.” Lin Jianshui hurriedly pounced over to help press down Old Man Qiu’s arm, while stroking his back to calm him and advise, the more he advised, the angrier Old Man Qiu got, his face purpling with rage, yet Lin Jianshui was oblivious, even feeling like he was advising pretty well.
Shang Wan thought Lin Jianshui’s brain might be the retribution for the Lin Family’s many misdeeds.
She looked at Village Chief Lin whose face was ashen, hooking up a fake smile at the corner of her lips, “Village Chief, you’re experienced, you should know what the consequences would be if the crime of stealing silver fell on my husband. Fortunately nothing was found, but if something had been, my husband’s hard-earned xiucai scholar official rank from years of study would be ruined, and that loss can’t be brushed off with a few light words.”
“You’re the one who knows right from wrong, when villagers do wrong, no matter their relationship to your family, you punish without mercy, now that it’s your own family, you wouldn’t want to show favoritism, would you?”
The crowd looked at Village Chief Lin, especially Old Man Wu and Old Man Liu, with expressions of enjoying the show.
Village Chief Lin, who had been helped up, pursed his lips, his mind racing to think of a countermeasure.
Shang Wan continued, “It’s still early anyway, why don’t we sort out properly why my husband’s lost jade pendant appeared in the Lin Family? If we can’t figure it out, we can still go to the yamen to ask…”
“A small matter like this can be handled in the village, why bother going to the yamen and disturbing the masters’ peace?” Village Chief Lin said darkly, interrupting Shang Wan.
Shang Wan raised her brow, “If not going to the yamen, does that mean the village chief agrees to compensation?”
