After discussing with Manager Qian for quite some time, the two finally settled on a cooperation model.
Ying Ke Lai would provide all the materials, while Su Zhen would come every morning to prepare two pots of digestive tea. Once finished, she could leave and continue setting up her stall to sell nutritional porridge.
As for her wages, she would receive one tael of silver per month.
This monthly pay surprised Su Zhen greatly. After all, even Master Cai only earned two taels of silver per month. She was merely making digestive tea every day, yet she could earn one tael.
However, both Manager Qian and Master Cai were very satisfied with this arrangement. After all, her digestive tea was extremely effective, boosting Ying Ke Lai’s sales by at least ten percent. The one tael of silver she earned each month could be recouped by Ying Ke Lai in a single day.
To keep this little money-making god on their side, Manager Qian even advanced her wages.
With another tael of silver tucked away as she headed home, Su Zhen grinned so widely it felt like her mouth might reach the back of her head.
Su Anyu also felt as if he were dreaming. When he looked at his sister, his eyes were filled with admiration and respect. How could anyone have such a capable and skilled sister?
This time, Su Zhen didn’t spend the money recklessly. She kept the tael of silver tightly secured, as they still had debts to repay!
Before they even reached their doorstep, they saw a crowd gathered around their house, pointing and whispering.
Chen Qiaoyun, who had been watching the commotion, kept an eye on the village entrance. Spotting Su Zhen and her brother returning, she immediately exclaimed loudly, “Ah Zhen! You two are finally back! Come and see—your mother is about to be hounded to death by the Gao family!”
Su Zhen’s heart sank. She glanced back at her brother, giving him a meaningful look, then shot a glare at Chen Qiaoyun before pushing through the crowd and squeezing into the courtyard.
Su Anyu immediately understood his sister’s signal. As he followed her inside, he swung the basket off his back, brandishing it like a giant flower: “Move aside! Move aside! If you get hit by this basket, don’t blame me!”
“Ouch!”
This time, Chen Qiaoyun cried out in genuine pain, clutching her waist and grimacing. “A Yu! Your basket hit me!”
“Serves you right! Who told you to come to our house to watch the commotion? You can’t even manage your own household properly, yet you spend all day prying into other people’s business!”
Su Anyu’s fiery temper was well-known in the village, and it was common for him to start a fight at the slightest provocation. Seeing him curse, the onlookers lost interest in the spectacle and quickly dispersed, heading back to their homes.
Chen Qiaoyun had no choice but to swallow her grievance. Muttering softly as she walked away, she said, “Song Zhaodi and her husband are so honest—how did they end up with such a troublemaker! Can’t even take a little loss!”
In the courtyard, Mrs. Song stood at the entrance to the main hall, desperately blocking the Gao family from entering.
A-Qiao stood beside her mother, holding a small broom, her face flushed red as she coughed from time to time.
The courtyard was in complete disarray. Even the three small stoves Su Zhen had set up earlier had been kicked over, and the three pots were tossed into a corner, covered in dirt.
Su Zhen’s eyes instantly turned red with rage. Picking up a stick from the ground, she rushed over like a gust of wind and began striking the two men who were pulling at Mrs. Song.
Though she wasn’t particularly strong, she struck with ferocity. Moreover, her knowledge of medicine allowed her to target spots that were excruciatingly painful but not fatal. Blow after blow rained down, forcing the two men to cover their heads and flee in all directions. Their curses soon turned into pleas for mercy.
As cries of agony echoed through the courtyard, Nanny Liu, standing at the doorway, shouted with a pained expression, “Stop hitting them! Stop! You’ll kill them if this goes on! Oh dear, someone help! Save them!”
Su Anyu was seeing his sister hit someone for the first time, and she was even fiercer than he was!
Afraid things might escalate, he stepped forward and grabbed the stick from her hands. “Sis! Take a break, I’ll do the hitting!”
His sister was the pillar of their family, and she was delicate and frail—she couldn’t afford to get into trouble! But he was different—he was tough and sturdy, and even if something happened, he wasn’t afraid of suffering in prison!
Su Zhen naturally didn’t want her younger brother to end up in jail either. With a thud, she planted the stick on the ground and glared at the two men and one woman from the Gao family. “I know you’re here to collect a debt! But even debt collection must abide by the law. You barged in, smashed our things, and dragged my mother around—what kind of reasoning is that?”
Nanny Liu was a capable stewardess by Mrs. Gao’s side. Today, she had brought her two sons along. Seeing the red and purple bruises on her sons’ bodies, her heart ached, and tears welled up in her eyes. “You wretched girl! Not only do you refuse to repay your debt, but you also resort to violence! I’ll take this to the magistrate’s office. We won’t rest until you’re arrested and given twenty lashes!”
Su Zhen narrowed her eyes and spoke word by word, “Go ahead! We’ll sue too! According to the laws of our dynasty, those who enter a household without reason during the day shall be treated as robbers! Harming the elderly or the weak is punished even more severely, with the highest penalty being beheading! I injured them, but it wasn’t life-threatening—at most, I’ll have to compensate with money. But you three should think carefully about your own situation!”
Nanny Liu was instantly dumbfounded. There really was such a law. Never mind whether they could be convicted—if the masters of the Gao family found out about today’s incident, her comfortable days would be over.
She had only dared to bring her two sons to smash things because she heard the Su family’s second branch had been driven out, leaving behind a widow and her children. Earlier, threatening to take them to court was just an attempt to extort them. Who would have thought Su Zhen wouldn’t be afraid at all and would even bring up the law!
After all, she was an old-timer who had spent years in the deep courtyards of wealthy households. Nanny Liu immediately changed her tone. “Oh, my dear Miss Su, you’ve really misunderstood us! We’re just here to collect a debt. The things in the yard were accidentally broken—it’s all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!”
Whether it was a misunderstanding or not wasn’t something she could decide with just her words.
Su Zhen sneered and pointed at the three small stoves that had been kicked apart. “Nanny Liu, the money we owe will definitely be repaid! But these stoves are my tools for making a living. Whether you broke them accidentally or on purpose, now that they’re damaged, there has to be an explanation.”
Nanny Liu frowned. “Don’t tell me you want us to pay for them?”
Su Zhen waved her hand. “These things aren’t worth much. Just fix them for me.”
Nanny Liu felt stifled, and her two sons were equally frustrated. Not only had they failed to collect the money, but they had also been beaten up. After being beaten, they couldn’t seek justice and had to repair the stoves for the other party!
The three of them must have forgotten to check the almanac before leaving the house today—what terrible luck!
Seeing the three of them standing still, Su Zhen pulled Mrs. Song over. “Mother, are you feeling unwell? Ah! Your arm is red from being dragged—does it hurt? Let’s go to the Gao family and find Squire Gao. We’ll ask him to judge who’s right and see whose debt collection methods are like this!”
“Don’t! We’ll get to work right away!”
Nanny Liu was the first to roll up her sleeves, leading her two sons to start working.
Su Zhen watched the three workers coldly, her mind already calculating. Nanny Liu’s demeanor seemed very off, clearly afraid they would go to the Gao family. Coupled with the fact that the same three people always came from the Gao family to collect debts, Su Zhen became even more certain there was something fishy going on.
She had one tael of silver in her pocket, originally intending to give it to Nanny Liu to settle the debt.
But now, she had no intention of handing it over. Even if she were to repay the debt, she would have to make a trip to the Gao family first.
Nanny Liu and her two companions quickly repaired the small stove, leaving them covered in grime. When they tried to collect the debt again, they no longer had the same boldness and were dismissed by Su Zhen with just a few words.
Peace returned to the small courtyard. Su Anyu and A-Qiao helped clean up the mess, while Su Zhen helped Mrs. Song sit on a small stool in the main room, carefully asking about the debts her father had incurred before his death.