Chapter 26 Not a Wrongful Seed

Chapter 26 Not a Wrongful Seed

If Xie Wanniang accepts her bad luck, that's fine. But if she wants to take it seriously, Shuanzi's family can turn the tables and say how hard Xiaoya has worked all these years, and how greedy and heartless Xie Wanniang is.

Anyway, just as Xie Wanniang said, it's impossible for Xie Wanniang to make a big fuss every time by bringing other villagers to help appraise and testify about how many things Xiaoya gave her and how much they were worth.

Making such a fuss over something that's not even worth two copper coins—not only is she unable to afford it, but even if she could, people would still call her crazy.

When she's entangled in bad debts, not only will she not get any credit for spending money to save people, but she'll also have to swallow her anger and suffer in silence because of the ulterior motives of the Shuanzi family, or she'll be smeared by the Shuanzi family and looked at with strange eyes by the villagers.

Shuanzi's mother was embarrassed, but she still wanted to try one last time. "That's not what I meant. If you think wild vegetables and firewood are worthless, you can have her help you with the chores. Xiaoya is very hardworking; she can do all the chores around the house."

Xie Wanniang took a deep breath. "What's the difference between having her do chores for me and having her deliver firewood and wild vegetables to me?"

The problems she was worried about still exist!

Xie Wanniang looked at Chen Lizheng and Doctor Chen, "Uncle Lizheng, Master, I'm sorry, I won't buy Xiaoya anymore, and I won't save her. The child belongs to them, they can do whatever they want with her."

Shuanzi's mother panicked upon hearing this, "No! Miss Xie, please have mercy..."

Xie Wanniang dodged her second pull, "I just said that Xiaoya's illness can't be delayed any longer, but you, as her mother, are not worried about saving the child at all. Instead, you're taking advantage of me because of my good intentions."

She wanted Xie Yuanzhong Wan Niang to pay for Xiao Ya's medical treatment, and she also wanted to keep Xiao Ya at home to continue working. She also wanted to wait until Xiao Ya grew up so that she could make money off her again under the guise of marriage. This woman, who seemed honest and weak, was actually the first woman to agree with Shuanzi's father giving up Xiao Ya. She was a little clever, but not much.

"Miss Xie!" A cry rang out, and everyone turned to look in the direction of the voice, seeing Xiao Ya being held by her older sister and convulsing more and more frequently.

Xiao Ya and her second sister also came out. The two girls had red eyes from crying. After walking up to Xie Wan Niang and their parents, the two girls knelt down in front of their parents with a thud.

"Little Ya is dying!" Liu Daya cried out to her parents.

This was the first time in her life she had ever spoken so loudly to anyone, let alone to her own parents. She was already prepared to be beaten when she shouted it out.

However, before her parents could react, a loud boy's voice came from outside the crowd, "Make way, make way, everyone make way."

The crowd parted to make way for the man Shuanzi's father feared most—Fifth Grandfather Liu, with a dark, sullen face, leaning on a cane and protected by his two grandsons, who slowly walked over.

Before coming over, the old man had already heard about what had happened from Qiangzi, the cousin of Zhuzi who had secretly gone to invite him. At this moment, he didn't say a word of nonsense and directly repeated the question that the village head had asked Shuanzi's father before.

"Will you pay for Xiaoya's treatment yourselves, or will you sell Xiaoya to Miss Xie and have her pay for her treatment?"

Shuanzi's father had already behaved himself for fear of incurring public wrath, and now, frightened by the old man's dark face, Shuanzi's mother dared not have any more ulterior motives.

She shrank back behind Shuanzi's father, pretending to be a weak woman with no opinions of her own, who put her husband first.

With nowhere to hide, Shuanzi's father had no choice but to bite the bullet and answer, "I...I'll sell the little girl to Miss Xie."

He made this decision not only because treating Xiaoya's illness would increase their financial burden for the next few years, but also because, given Xiaoya's tendency to threaten suicide at the slightest provocation, he felt she would definitely fall ill again and again in the future.

The money owed for her medical treatment, the money needed to support her in the future, and the money needed if she gets sick again...

Shuanzi's father, who felt he was more likely to lose money no matter how he calculated it, decided without much hesitation to leave Xiaoya with Xie Wanniang, an outsider.

The Fifth Master didn't ignore Shuanzi's mother, who jumped in to cause trouble halfway through. He asked with a stern face, "Little Ya's mother, what do you have to say?"

"I...I'll listen to the child's father."

As soon as Shuanzi's mother finished speaking, Fifth Master immediately looked at Xie Wanniang and said, "Little girl, go and get ten copper coins."

Xie Wan's mother was stunned, while Shuanzi's parents' expressions changed drastically. In disbelief, they exclaimed in unison, "Fifth Grandfather!"

Fifth Master glared at the two men and said, "Shut up, both of you!"

He explained to Xie Wanniang, "We can write Xiaoya's indenture later. The child can't wait any longer. Once you've paid the money, you can take Xiaoya with you."

The old man's clothes were patched upon patched, his back was hunched, his face was full of wrinkles, and his expression looked much fiercer than the others present. But Xie Wanniang could tell that this old man was much more reliable than Shuanzi's parents.

She looked at Jiang Yuan, who immediately took out ten copper coins from his sleeve and handed them to Fifth Grandfather's eldest grandson.

Fifth Grandfather then looked at Doctor Chen and Daya and Erya, "You two take Xiaoya to Ayuan's house. Doctor Chen, I'll have to trouble you with my great-granddaughter."

Dr. Chen nodded and, along with the three Liu sisters, went to Jiang Yuan's house.

Jiang Yuan did not take Xiao Ya to Xie Wan Niang's place. Instead, he took out a set of unused old bedding and had Daya and Er Ya take Xiao Ya to another room opposite Xie Wan Niang's room.

This is a new guest room that he cleaned up after Xie Wanniang moved in. Since it was only cleaned up a few days ago, the room is very clean now.

Leaving aside how Doctor Chen and Da Ya and Er Ya treated and cared for Xiao Ya, Xie Wan Niang turned her attention to Chen Lizheng after Jiang Yuan and his men left.

Chen Lizheng understood and asked his second son to go home and fetch him writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

Taking this opportunity, Grandpa Liu Wu taught Shuanzi's parents a lesson. He berated them mercilessly, but they dared not show the same fearlessness they displayed when dealing with the village head.

After much scolding, Fifth Grandfather finally finished, and Shuanzi's father stammered tentatively, "Fifth Grandfather, it's not that I don't love Xiaoya, it's all because of poverty..."

He wiped away his tears and sincerely complained about being poor for a long time. Seeing that Fifth Master did not get angry at him for complaining about being poor, he cautiously glanced at the pitiful ten copper coins that Fifth Master's grandson was playing with in his hand.

"Look, how much money do you think that girl surnamed Xie has to give me?"