“Wah wah wah… my hand… why is this paw of mine so damn itchy…”
“Wah wah… hic… I…”
“I shouldn’t have, I really shouldn’t have…”
“Why did I have to be born with such a pair of beatable paws…”
Xie Wuni’s mentality completely shattered as she cried with pig-like squeals. While wailing loudly, she kept spewing endless streams of curses from her mouth, but this time all the insults were directed at herself.
When she cursed Xie Jinzhu, she spared no effort.
When cursing herself, she treated herself with equal harshness, wishing she could use up all her strength.
It must be said, her energy was still quite strong—she cried for half an hour without showing any signs of tiring!
Hearing the things she was saying about herself, Xie Jinzhu genuinely found this person quite interesting. Squatting beside Xie Wuni, she said, “Fifth Sister, it’s not that serious.”
“How is it not serious?”
Xie Wuni cried until her eyes swelled up like walnuts, slapping her thigh in despair as she wailed, “Two taels of silver!”
“Do you know how much money two taels is?”
After howling this, she realized Xie Jinzhu had just earned more money than she could make in her entire lifetime. Xie Wuni let out another wail and cried even more sorrowfully.
“You have the ability to earn big money, how could you possibly understand how hard it is to save up copper coins one by one?”
“I have no talent for making big money, and I even caused you to lose potential earnings… Oh heavens! I have no face left to live…”
Xie Wuni cried as if the sky were falling and the earth collapsing.
Old Mrs. Xie awkwardly curled up her limbs, sitting on a small stool, her eyes dull and wooden, completely unaffected by Xie Wuni’s crying and shouting.
After Boss Bai left, each of these grandmother and granddaughters had their own peculiarities.
Xie Xiao Qi, who walked with her arms and legs swinging on the same side, appeared very calm on the surface—at least nothing seemed wrong outwardly, except that before going out, she had insisted on locking Xie Jinzhu and the others inside the house.
Xie Jinzhu reached out and pushed the door locked from the outside, making conversation: “Why did Seventh Sister insist on locking us in?”
“Is she worried about robbers breaking in to steal during broad daylight?”
Old Mrs. Xie suddenly snapped back to reality and immediately spat several times: “Nonsense!”
“Your Seventh Sister was clearly afraid that with silver in hand, you’d become like a flea on a hot pan—unable to sit still at home and would run out to squander it!”
Who didn’t know Xie Jinzhu was a spendthrift?
Old Mrs. Xie had previously been blinded by the halo of the Golden Grandson, but the old lady’s mind wasn’t muddled.
Curled up, Old Mrs. Xie looked even more like a small, withered bundle. The gaze she fixed on Xie Jinzhu seemed increasingly strange.
“Are you really from the Old Xie Family?”
Being able to earn this much silver at once—was the Old Xie Family’s ancestral grave really emitting auspicious smoke?
Xie Jinzhu’s heart skipped a beat, but she retorted as a matter of course: “If I’m not, then who is?”
“Old lady, although I’m not the eldest grandson, surely I as a person can’t be fake. Are you disowning me now?”
If people found out the soul inside this shell had changed, someone would surely capture her to burn as firewood.
Xie Jinzhu wasn’t stupid, so she immediately changed the subject: “What exactly happened to Second Sister?”
Once Old Mrs. Xie confirmed the family truly had silver, she didn’t even pause to catch her breath before immediately sending Xie Xiao Qi to fetch someone.
Xie Jinzhu was genuinely curious about what had happened.
Who would have thought Old Mrs. Xie suddenly froze, her eyes reddening before she even spoke.
Seeing the situation turning unfavorable, Xie Jinzhu covered Xie Wuni’s continuously wailing mouth: “Stop crying.”
“Old lady, you…”
“Hey, old lady, why are you crying?”
Xie Jinzhu was putting out one fire only for another to flare up. She had just hurriedly snatched the handkerchief soaked by Xie Wuni’s tears to wipe Old Mrs. Xie’s face when she heard the old woman sobbing, “My Er Ni… Er Ni might not even survive…”
“Heaven strike them dead!”
“How dare those damned scoundrels treat my Er Ni like that? If anything happens to my granddaughter, I’ll fight those beasts to the death!”
“I won’t let them off!”
Xie Jinzhu felt her temples throbbing and instinctively asked, “What exactly happened?”
“Second sister, she…”
“Where is she? Where is she?”
The lock hanging outside the door rattled as someone grabbed it, and Second Aunt’s anxious voice came through: “Where’s the silver?”
“Xiao Qi, you’re not fooling us, are you? Is there really money?”
Just as Xie Xiao Qi was about to respond, Second Aunt exclaimed nervously, “Oh no!”
“Xiao Qi, did you block the windows when you went out? Could that worthless wretch have taken the silver and climbed out the window to escape?!”
Eldest Aunt hurriedly pulled back the person about to check the windows: “Oh, don’t get so worked up yet. Xiao Qi, did you check?”
Xie Xiao Qi lowered her head, focusing seriously on unlocking the door, and said earnestly, “I locked everything tight. There’s absolutely no way she could get out!”
Whether it was the door or the windows, anywhere a person could possibly slip out, she had blocked it all!
Even if Xie Jinzhu tried to dig a tunnel, she wouldn’t be able to escape!
The large lock finally clicked open, and Second Aunt rushed in frantically: “Where is Xie Jinzhu?”
“Xie Jinzhu, she…”
“Ahem.”
Xie Jinzhu stood behind the door and smiled faintly: “Second Aunt, I haven’t run away.”
She had already earned solid silver—what reason did she have to run?
Second Aunt let out a huge sigh of relief, rushed over, and grabbed Xie Jinzhu’s arm: “Where’s the silver?”
“Your seventh sister said you earned money. Give me ten taels of silver, quick!”
Xie Jinzhu grasped Second Aunt’s hand, which was trembling from excessive force, and without a word, placed two heavy objects into her palm.
Ten taels each.
Tears welled up in Second Aunt’s bloodshot eyes. Without another word, she turned to rush out: “Quick… take the silver and get medicine and a doctor for my Er Ni, hurry!”
“This is a matter of life and death. Any more delay and someone could die!”
Xie Wuni and Xie Xiao Qi had no idea what was happening, standing there dazed and bewildered.
Xie Jinzhu grabbed Second Aunt, who had stumbled on the threshold and nearly fallen, half-dragging and half-supporting her as she strode outside: “I’ll go with you to find a cart. You can explain slowly on the way.”
Eldest Aunt couldn’t get a word out, watching helplessly as Xie Jinzhu supported the weak-kneed Second Aunt and walked away.
As Old Mrs. Xie’s sobbing faded into the distance, Eldest Aunt sighed and sat down, asking, “Wuni, where did the silver really come from?”
“Did you all really see with your own eyes how Jinzhu earned it?”
Xie Wuni had long forgotten about crying. Hearing this, she scurried over to Eldest Aunt and began chattering excitedly: “Mother, our Xiao Ba is amazing now!”
“Those black lumps she made—that ink stuff—were immediately taken a liking to by the owner of Fangyuan Zhai. She sold a whole bunch at once and earned a lot of money!”
“That owner even said he’d buy from her from now on. As long as she can make it, he’ll take it all. She can earn so much silver! Xie Jinzhu has really made something of herself!”
Eldest Aunt listened in stunned silence, and after a long while, she exclaimed in surprise, “Really?”
“It’s truly wonderful that Jinzhu is so capable…”
Xie Wuni was both overjoyed that the family finally had money and worried about what exactly had happened to Xie Er Ni, pestering Eldest Aunt with endless questions.
Eldest Aunt pushed her away, saying, “I haven’t slept a wink all night. You all keep an eye on things for now. I’m going to rest for a while.”
Xie Wuni still wanted to chase after her and ask more, but Xie Xiao Qi stopped her: “Fifth Sister, let Eldest Aunt rest for a while.”
Though they still didn’t know what had happened, seeing Second Aunt’s state made it clear that things might be worse than they imagined.
At times like this, saying less meant making fewer mistakes.
It was better to wait patiently. If they couldn’t help, at least they wouldn’t cause more trouble.
Meanwhile, Xie Jinzhu, relying on her ability to spend money, borrowed the only oxcart in the village. She settled Second Aunt and Old Mrs. Xie onto the cart, grabbed the whip, and drove forward.
Second Aunt was still crying.
Old Mrs. Xie angrily jabbed her forehead: “Stop wailing!”
“Your daughter is lying there waiting for you to bring money to save her life! All you do is wail—who’s going to pull her back from the gates of hell?”
Second Aunt had long since cried herself senseless over the past two days. Clutching the silver in her hand, she despaired: “My poor girl…”
“That heartless Liu family!”
“If anything happens to my girl, I…”
“Don’t you dare curse her!”
Old Mrs. Xie was so furious she slapped Second Aunt’s arm again.
Second Aunt forced herself to stop crying. Looking at Xie Jinzhu driving the cart, she angrily raised her hand and slapped Xie Jinzhu’s arm: “It’s all your fault!”
“Everything is because of you!”
“If it weren’t for what you did, how could my Er Ni suffer like this!”