At first, Su Qingli listened quite seriously. But as she heard the latter part, the corners of her mouth twitched several times. She did not believe a word of it.
“That’s quite a well-written story.”
“I didn’t make it up!”
“Yes, yes, you didn’t make it up.” Su Qingli exaggerated her reaction. “Wow, I’m really amazing. I actually dared to threaten the Crown Prince!”
“Why don’t you believe me? Everything I said is true!”
Su Qingli rolled her eyes.
“Then let me ask you something. Didn’t Mother say that our father died on the battlefield?
“Where could he have met the Crown Prince? And how could he have spoken to him?
“Tsk. If you’re going to make up a story, at least make it believable.”
Su Changle scratched his head.
“I can’t remember the details, but Dad really did take us to see the Crown Prince!”
“Fine. Then when we meet the Crown Prince, I’ll ask him whether he wants to come to our house and shuck corn for us.”
“Su Qingli, be serious!”
“You’re the one who started being ridiculous!”
As the two siblings bickered back and forth, they arrived at Xiaoshi Village in less than an hour.
The moment the ox cart stopped steadily in front of the courtyard, Madam Jiang rushed out.
“You little brat, how could you be so reckless as to go to the county office and file a complaint? Come here and let Mother see. Where did they hit you with the cane?”
Madam Jiang’s voice was choked with tears as she hurriedly checked Su Qingli from head to toe.
“Mother, I’m fine. They didn’t beat me.”
Looking at Madam Jiang’s anxious face, Su Qingli felt a sharp ache in her heart.
Madam Jiang was not even fifty years old, yet her hair was already streaked with gray and her face was covered in wrinkles, making her look almost sixty.
It was all because she had spent so much time worrying about the original owner.
Just as Su Qingli was about to speak, Su Changqing came out carrying a bundle on his back. He walked up to Su Changle and said, “Take good care of the family. From now on, this family will depend on you.”
Su Changle froze.
“Big Brother, where are you going?”
“I heard that disciples from Medicine King Valley are looking for people to serve as medicine subjects. They can pay thirty taels of silver each time…”
“Big Brother, are you crazy?” Su Changle became anxious before he could even finish.
“In the past few years, several people from the neighboring village went to serve as medicine subjects. How many of them came back in one piece?
“Some had their hearts and lungs cut out. Others were turned into human poison experiments. They couldn’t even leave behind a complete corpse! Why would you…”
“This is the last time I’ll help her.”
Su Changqing glanced coldly at Su Qingli, his voice bitter.
“Consider it repayment for the favor of her saving Su Jinsui and the child. After this, we’re even.”
Su Qingli’s heart ached.
Her eldest brother clearly hated her deeply, yet he was still willing to undergo human experimentation just to help her repay her debts.
“Big Brother…”
“It’s all paid off! The debt is completely paid off.”
Su Changle hurriedly pulled out the land deed and stuffed it into Su Changqing’s hands.
“We got the land deed back too! Our family is fine now!”
Su Changqing lowered his head and stared at the piece of paper. The bright red official seal made his eyes sting.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his throat seemed blocked. He could not force out a single word.
The bundle slipped from his shoulder and fell to the ground with a thud.
Madam Jiang immediately snatched the land deed and examined it several times, making sure the official seal was genuine.
Tears suddenly streamed down her face.
“Really… really got it back?”
“We got it back.” Su Changle smiled. “The debt from the high-interest loan has also been completely paid off. We don’t owe them a single penny.”
“How did you get it back? And where did you get the money to repay the debt?”
Su Changle explained everything.
Throughout the explanation, Su Qingli simply stood to the side without saying a word.
After hearing everything, Madam Jiang pulled Su Qingli into her arms and cried so hard she could not speak.
Su Qingli quietly stuffed the remaining silver into Madam Jiang’s hands.
“Mother, I was foolish before. I won’t cause trouble anymore.”
Madam Jiang continued crying, repeatedly saying, “Good… good…”
Su Changle’s eyes were red as he snorted.
“If you cause trouble again, no one will clean up your mess for you.”
Su Changqing said nothing. He bent down, picked up the bundle from the ground, and turned back into the house.
Momo, who had been waiting impatiently, stuck her head over.
Only then did Madam Jiang notice all the things piled onto the ox cart. She was both surprised and delighted.
“Why did you buy so many things?”
“These are all things that the Cheng family owed us. We might as well take them.”
Su Qingli was about to help unload the cart when Madam Jiang stopped her.
She could only say, “I’ll go check on Sister-in-law and the baby.”
With that, she took the cloth and went inside to see the child.
The door was open. Su Changqing was sitting beside the bed, holding Cheng Sujin’s hand. Both of them had red eyes and had clearly just been crying.
When they saw Su Qingli enter, they immediately let go of each other’s hands.
Cheng Sujin was even startled enough to try sitting up.
“Little Sister, you… you…”
“Big Sister-in-law, don’t move.”
Su Qingli pressed her back down, checked her pulse, then lifted the blanket and examined her carefully.
“Big Brother, go get a basin of hot water. I’ll wipe Sister-in-law down.”
“This…” Su Changqing hesitated.
Su Qingli did not get angry. She simply looked at him.
After hesitating for a moment, Su Changqing still got up and went outside.
Cheng Sujin felt extremely uneasy, unsure what her sister-in-law was planning to do.
Su Qingli turned to look at the baby.
The chubby little girl was wrapped in a swaddling cloth and sleeping soundly.
Su Qingli touched the baby’s little cheek and asked, “When was the last time she drank milk? How much did she drink?”
“This morning.” Cheng Sujin felt somewhat guilty whenever she talked about the baby. “She drank goat’s milk. Maybe she doesn’t like it, because she only drank half a bowl.”
Su Qingli frowned and picked up the baby to examine her.
The little girl woke up from being disturbed and only whimpered a couple of times. She could barely even cry.
“Little Sister, the baby was sleeping. Don’t disturb her.”
Cheng Sujin was extremely nervous.
“Sister-in-law, the baby fainted from hunger. She’s not sleeping.”
Su Qingli was helpless.
“A newborn baby needs to be fed at least once every two hours. Even if she falls asleep, you have to wake her up to feed her.”
“What?”
This was the first time Cheng Sujin had heard this. She immediately panicked.
“Is the baby all right?”
“She’s fine. She’ll be fine once she drinks some milk.”
Su Qingli gently soothed the baby.
“Do you have milk now?”
Cheng Sujin nodded shyly.
“Yes. Give her to me.”
Just as the baby began nursing, Su Changqing returned carrying the basin of hot water.
His face immediately flushed red, and he did not dare look over.
Cheng Sujin also turned her face away, her eyes darting around awkwardly.
When Su Qingli lifted the blanket, Cheng Sujin almost cried out.
“Little Sister, I’m dirty, you…”
“It’s fine.”
Su Qingli had just crouched down when she saw Su Changqing awkwardly trying to leave.
She immediately called out to him.
“Big Brother, where are you going?”
Su Changqing scratched his head.
“I… I’m going to the fields.”
“Sister-in-law is in confinement and can’t be left alone. Why are you going to the fields?”
“I…”
“Come over and learn. You’ll have to do all of this in the future!”
“Oh!”
Looking at his serious little sister, Su Changqing’s resistance unexpectedly faded.
Su Qingli demonstrated how to wipe the body and how to provide postpartum care. Su Changqing obediently listened and watched.
This scene shocked Cheng Sujin.
On one hand, she felt embarrassed.
On the other, she was astonished.
In the past, whenever this sister-in-law saw her, she would either roll her eyes or ignore her.
The only time she was friendly was when she held out her hand asking for money.
But now, she was crouching down and wiping her body without showing even the slightest bit of disgust, as if she had become a completely different person.
After finishing, Su Qingli had Su Changqing take the basin of water outside and pour it away.
Su Changqing stared seriously at the basin of bloody water and carefully carried it outside.
After the baby finished feeding, Su Qingli took her into her arms and gently patted her back to burp her.
The gentle expression on her face left Cheng Sujin stunned once again.
In a daze, she suddenly remembered something she had heard beside her ear while giving birth.
A strange thought suddenly popped into her mind:
Could it be that Little Sister was being so nice to her and the baby because she secretly wanted to sell the child?