Yan Shu saw Qi Zhiqing looking at her, so she smiled and walked over, saying, "You must be Qing'er! Put down the bamboo basket, and let's go to the kitchen to help Second Aunt fetch the bowls and basins."
Qi Zhiqing's pretty, bright eyes blinked, looking at Yan Shu with joy, and nodded vigorously.
When they reached the doorway, Yan Shu took the carrying pole into the kitchen as if it were natural. She saw Mrs. Chen separating the broken bowls from the good ones, clearly intending the broken ones for them.
She smiled and stepped forward, swinging the carrying pole, and said with a grin, "Second Aunt, these good bowls are for us, right?"
Mrs. Chen had been about to hand over the chipped bowls, but seeing the iron hooks on the carrying pole hovering right above the good bowls, she trembled inwardly and asked, "Mrs. Liu, what are you doing?"
Yan Shu smiled and said, "Nothing much? I was just thinking—if these good bowls were given to us, I'd be delighted and couldn't bear to smash them all. But if they weren't mine, I'd be upset, and when I'm upset, my hands shake and I can't hold the carrying pole properly. Then not a single plate or bowl in this kitchen would survive!"
Mrs. Chen looked at the cold gleam in Yan Shu's eyes and was certain that if she didn't hand over the good bowls, the kitchen would be doomed. So she said, "Fine, fine, these bowls are all yours!"
"Then thank you kindly, Second Aunt. You go ahead and fetch the farm tools for us—no need to trouble yourself with the kitchenware." She said this with a smile, then swung the carrying pole again.
Mrs. Chen glanced at the pole and could only nod.
This Yan Shu used to be as thin-skinned as a sheet of paper, always keeping her head down and blushing at the mere mention of a conversation. She'd thought she was easy to push around, but it turned out it was all an act—she was this formidable.
No wonder Mrs. Wang hadn't wanted her as a daughter-in-law and had married her off instead.
Mrs. Chen recalled how lifeless and despairing Yan Shu had looked when she married in yesterday, and figured that Yan Shu must have decided that since she was already married into the Qi family and Liu Zheshu would never take her back, she'd given up all pretense and turned this brazen and shameless.
After all, they were just some utensils, not worth much silver. Let her have them—there was no point arguing with a madwoman. With that thought, Mrs. Chen shot Yan Shu a glare and turned to leave the kitchen.
Yan Shu had wanted to scrounge up something decent, but the kitchen had nothing but salt—not even oil, vinegar, or soy sauce. She couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Still, she gathered all the necessary kitchen utensils before leading Qi Zhiqing out of the kitchen.
Qi Zhiqing walked to the kitchen door, set the bowls and chopsticks in his hands into a bucket, and carried one in each hand. He called out to Qi Wuniu in the yard, "Second Sister, hurry and dump out the grass from the bamboo basket, then bring it over to help Sister-in-Law pack things."
Yan Shu glanced at this young brother-in-law. Not bad—he had good sense and knew how to be helpful!
Qi Wuniu obeyed at once, quickly dumped the grass and ran over with the basket, helping Yan Shu load the utensils into it before hoisting the basket onto her own shoulders.
Good, the little sister-in-law also knew to protect their things—she wasn't foolish!
Looking up, Yan Shu saw Mrs. Chen bring over a sickle, a hoe, and a rake. She gave her a glance but said nothing.
Mrs. Han saw Yan Shu approaching and grabbed her hand, her face crumpled with worry. "Shu'er, the old house is completely dilapidated—it's not fit for anyone to live in. What are we going to do?"
The village head nearby said, "Don't you worry about that. The walls of the old house are still in good shape. In a bit, I'll round up some men from the village, gather some thatch, and put a new roof on it. That'll make it livable."
Mrs. Han said gratefully, "Thank you so much, Uncle Village Head!"
"It's nothing. But that said, it'll take at least two days before anyone can move in." He then looked toward Old Madame Qi, who was approaching.
Yan Shu gave a slight bow and said, "Grandmother, could we stay a few more days?"
Old Madame Qi thrust the land deed and house deed at Yan Shu and said coldly, "Why should my house be given to you to stay in? Don't even think about it. Get out of here as fast as you can."
Yan Shu took the house deed and land deed, checked that they looked right, but still said to the village head, "Grandpa Village Head, would you take a look and see if these are correct?"
The village head examined them. The house deed was fine, but when he saw the land deed, he frowned and said, "Fourth Sister-in-law, aren't you going a bit far? These two mu of land are at the foot of the mountain—the worst plots you own. With this many people, the harvest won't even cover the taxes!"
"Who says so? I've planted those two mu year after year, and they've yielded bountiful harvests every time. If you don't want them, then I'd just as soon not give them!" With that, she reached to snatch the land deed back.
Seeing this, Mrs. Han quickly said, "Mother, we'll take them, we'll take them!" Having any field at all was better than nothing—she was content. If her mother-in-law changed her mind, even these two mu would be lost.
Just then, Yan Shu saw Qi Zhishan carrying over two sacks of wheat. The sacks were patched with cloth and only about sixty or seventy percent full, each holding roughly thirty to forty jin. Combined with Qi Zhishan's displeased expression, she was certain the wheat wouldn't be good quality.
But she didn't care. All she needed was to get through these two days.
Yan Shu took the house deed and land deed from the village head, then said, "Grandmother, what about the silver?"
Old Madame Qi tossed over a string of coins and said, "That's all there is in the house—take it all!"
Yan Shu weighed the copper coins in her hand and sneered, "Since there's only this much left, Grandma shouldn't object to me searching your room, should she?"
"You rebellious little bastard! How dare you set foot in an elder's room?"
Yan Shu narrowed her eyes, then said coldly, "Village chief, everyone just said that when my husband returned from the military camp, he brought back at least thirty taels of pension money. So shouldn't Grandma hand over all of that pension to us?"
Hearing this, Old Madame Qi cried out in panic, "Don't even think about it! All that pension money went to treating Qi Zhixiao's illness, and it also helped marry off that troublemaker you! What a misfortune for this family!"
"Is that so? Since Grandma insists on troubling the county magistrate, then let's go pay him a visit. I'm sure once we get there, how much pension my husband actually received, whether Grandma paid for his treatment, and how this family should be divided—none of that will require me or Grandma to worry about."
Old Madame Qi's guilt instantly surfaced, and she stammered, "Isn't it just five taels of silver? Fine! I'll go get it for you!"
"Heh, too late, Grandma. Now I want ten taels." Seeing Old Madame Qi about to speak again, she smiled and added, "If Grandma finds this difficult, we can just head straight to the county seat!"
Old Madame Qi had the urge to strangle Yan Shu right then and there, but she also knew that Yan Shu had the look of someone who couldn't care less—she wouldn't let this go without getting the silver.
If they really went before the county magistrate, the fifty taels of pension Qi Zhixiao had brought back, and the fact that she hadn't bought medicine for him and had only spent six taels to marry Yan Shu, would all come to light. Then, more than forty taels of silver would end up in that wretch Yan Shu's hands.
Old Madame Qi bit her lip and shot Yan Shu a vicious glare before cursing under her breath and turning to head into the main room.
Qi Zhishan carried out the remaining three sacks of wheat and moved everything else into the house. Only then did Old Madame Qi emerge, tossing a wooden box at Yan Shu.
"Take it, you greedy wretch! You don't have the fortune to match, yet you still want all this silver. Careful—you might get it, but not live to spend it."