Nanny Liu ran faster and faster, but her short legs and weak strength were no match for the young Su Zhen.
She felt the wind whistle past her ears, and in the blink of an eye, that slender figure had already overtaken her and was heading straight for the carriage.
“Oh no!” Nanny Liu thought to herself, waving at the coachman while shouting at the top of her lungs, “Hurry! Hurry!”
Inside the carriage, Madam Gao faintly heard Nanny Liu’s cries. She lifted the curtain to look outside and saw Nanny Liu panting heavily, stumbling every few steps, tripping over her own feet, and finally falling flat on her face with her arms outstretched.
“This Nanny Liu, the older she gets, the less she knows how to be steady.”
Madam Gao frowned. Just as she was about to ask the coachman to help Nanny Liu up, she saw a smiling young girl standing by the carriage window, her bright eyes fixed on her.
“Madam Gao?” The girl chirped happily, as cheerful as a little bunny, utterly adorable. “I thought it looked like the Gao family’s carriage, and it really is you! Madam Gao, I came specifically to thank you.”
Thank her?
Madam Gao frowned slightly. She didn’t remember ever meeting this girl before!
Of course, she had never met Su Zhen, and Su Zhen had never met her either, but clearly, Su Zhen had guessed correctly.
Peering through the carriage window, Su Zhen saw a young woman dressed as a maiden sitting inside, wearing a half-length white veil. Her watery almond-shaped eyes were red, clearly having just cried.
Nanny Liu had already hobbled over, panting heavily as she cried out, “Ma—Madam, let’s hurry and go! The young miss still needs to see the doctor!”
As she spoke, she twisted her plump body to the side, trying to push Su Zhen away.
Su Zhen’s smile didn’t fade. With one hand behind her back, she quietly but firmly pinched Nanny Liu’s waist.
Hiss!
Nanny Liu winced in pain but dared not show it, only urging Madam Gao to leave quickly.
However, Su Zhen clearly saw that the young miss in the carriage was growing angrier by the moment, as if she wished she could tear Nanny Liu apart with her eyes.
Madam Gao also understood her daughter’s feelings and sighed helplessly. “No rush. Do you know me, young lady? Why do you say you want to thank me?”
She examined Su Zhen’s appearance and clothing carefully, feeling a vague sense of familiarity but unable to recall exactly who she was.
Su Zhen was still pinching Nanny Liu’s flesh, and she was squeezing harder and harder. If Nanny Liu hadn’t bitten her lip tightly, she would have cried out in agony.
But stopping Su Zhen from speaking up was impossible now.
Su Zhen took a step forward and smiled. “Madam Gao, my father is Su Erlang from Su Family Village. He once worked as a long-term laborer at the Gao residence for two years. Unfortunately, he fell ill and borrowed money from the Gao family for medical treatment. Our entire family is deeply grateful to Master Gao and Madam Gao.”
So she was Su Erlang’s daughter!
Madam Gao remembered Su Erlang. Seeing his daughter now brought both joy and sorrow. “Your father was an honest man, but fate was unkind to him. Ah, how is your family doing now?”
How were they doing? Of course, they weren’t doing well—they were being chased for debts every day by Nanny Liu and her son!
Su Zhen glanced at Nanny Liu with a half-smile, seeing the pleading look in her eyes, and curled her lips coldly.
“My father passed away. My uncles were afraid they couldn’t repay the Gao family’s debt, so they drove our entire family out.”
Su Zhen’s face showed sorrow, but it quickly turned to joy: “But now we’re selling nutritious porridge at a stall, and business is quite good. Madam Gao, we can repay the debt in at most a month. Please be merciful and give us a little more time, will you?”
These words left Madam Gao utterly confused: “What? Repay the debt? I’m not…”
“Madam!” Nanny Liu leaned over and said urgently, “The doctor is still waiting. We should hurry and go!”
After all, she was an old servant who had been by her side for many years. How could Madam Gao not understand her meaning?
Anger surged within her, but due to the public setting and the presence of outsiders, she did not immediately reprimand Nanny Liu. Instead, she comforted Su Zhen: “Good child, your family is not well-off. You don’t need to repay those few taels of silver. Your father served diligently in the manor back then. Consider it a reward for him!”
As someone who had traveled from modern times, Su Zhen found the word “reward” particularly grating. But there was no other way—they were neither as wealthy nor as influential as the Gao family in Ping’an Town. In this era of strict social hierarchy, they could only be the ones “rewarded.”
If it were anyone else, they would have knelt piously at this moment, weeping with gratitude.
But Su Zhen did not.
She shook her head and said earnestly, “Madam Gao, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not here to ask you to forgive the debt. Lending us money when my father was seriously ill was already a great kindness. We cannot pretend to be ignorant. Rest assured, we will definitely repay these three taels of silver. I just don’t know how the interest should be calculated?”
A young village girl, about the same age as her own youngest daughter, was carrying the burden and debt of her entire family on her thin shoulders without arrogance or servility. Madam Gao admired her but also felt deeply sympathetic.
“Silly child, what interest? When we lent the money, we never mentioned interest to your father.”
Su Zhen’s eyes widened in surprise, and her mouth fell open as she pointed at Nanny Liu and stammered, “Huh? No interest? But Nanny Liu said…”
Nanny Liu was so frightened that her legs were trembling uncontrollably.
Su Zhen chuckled inwardly but kept her expression neutral, quickly changing the subject: “Madam Gao, you truly are a beautiful and kind-hearted person! I have nothing to repay you with, but I still have some nutritious porridge. Wait for me—I’ll bring you a bowl to taste!”
With that, she skipped away cheerfully.
Madam Gao had originally taken a detour to try the delicious nutritious porridge she had heard about, and she couldn’t bear to disappoint the young girl’s goodwill, so she told the coachman to wait.
However, when she turned to look at Nanny Liu, her smiling eyes instantly turned icy: “As I recall, after the steward paid his condolences to Su Erlang, I sent you to inform him to forgive the Su family’s debt. What, have you grown so old and muddled that you forgot?”
“Ma-Madam, I was wrong.”
Nanny Liu’s legs trembled as she was about to kneel, but Madam Gao stopped her with a low, sharp rebuke: “Kneel? Are you afraid no one knows what you’ve done? Is it something to be proud of?”
Beside her, her youngest daughter, Gao Qinglian, added crisply, “It seems Nanny Liu not only forgot to inform the steward but probably also pocketed the interest herself?”
Nanny Liu’s neck grew even colder as she bowed her head and pleaded for mercy repeatedly.
Gao Qinglian snorted, the corners of her mouth beneath her veil curling upward uncontrollably: You old hag, forcing me to see the doctor every day. Let’s see how I deal with you!
Su Zhen cheerfully carried over two bowls of nutritious porridge: “Madam Gao, this nutritious porridge is both nourishing and delicious. If you enjoy it, feel free to come again another day.”
Glancing at Gao Qinglian, Su Zhen added: “Sometimes when you’re ill, you don’t necessarily have to see a doctor. Trying Medicinal Cuisine isn’t a bad idea—after all, all medicine has some degree of toxicity!”
Madam Gao nodded, giving her a meaningful look, then had the coachman drive the carriage away.
Nanny Liu, trembling as she followed behind, was suddenly grabbed by the arm by Su Zhen: “Nanny Liu, I will definitely deliver those three taels of silver to the Gao residence next month. There’s no need to trouble you and your esteemed son to make a trip to Su Village!”
“You!” Nanny Liu was so angry her nose almost twisted. She stomped her foot furiously and ran after the carriage.
Su Zhen watched with a smile as her plump and rather unattractive figure receded, her mind drifting to the image of the young lady of the Gao family.
In this era, unmarried women weren’t subjected to such strict standards—so why did she cover half her face with a veil? Could it be she had some hidden ailment?