Chapter 82 Deliberately Disgusting

Chapter 82 Deliberately Disgusting

On the morning of the ninth day of the first lunar month, Hao Yu, having tidied up his house, rode back to the village in an oxcart.

When a villager saw him, he immediately told him everything that Wang Sanhu's family had done.

Hao Yu was speechless. After thanking the villager, she hurried home.

When he arrived home, Xie Wanniang was in the kitchen preparing various ingredients for lunch. Hearing the knock, Xiao Yang asked who it was. After receiving Hao Yu's reply, the little girl removed the door latch and opened the door.

Hearing the noise, Xie Wanniang came out of the kitchen and greeted Hao Yu with a smile, "Uncle Hao!"

Hao Yu nodded to her, "I heard that bastard Wang Sanhu climbed over the wall and broke into our house?"

Xie Wanniang nodded as she poured him water, "Yes, I gave him a good beating."

Hao Yu had already heard about this from the villagers, and he asked Xie Wan Niang, "When will the fifty lashes be delivered?"

"The third day of the second lunar month." Xie Wanniang handed the bowl of water to Hao Yu. "The village head said that it's not auspicious to see blood in the first lunar month."

She didn't care whether she got beaten sooner or later. Anyway, with Chen Lizheng there, Wang Sanhu was bound to get a beating.

"Go to Chen Lizheng's house to get the money at noon. Remember to be careful." Hao Yu finished the warm water in his bowl. "The Wang family is always up to their tricks. The village head has cut off their way of turning against you, so they will definitely try to do something else."

Xie Wanniang nodded, "That's what A Yuan said too. Don't worry, he'll be back early today, and he'll come with me later."

If it weren't for the need to finish lunch before noon so she could collect her twenty taels of silver from the village head's house, Xie Wanniang wouldn't have started preparing lunch half an hour earlier than usual.

Hearing Xie Wanniang say that Jiang Yuan would accompany her, Hao Yu immediately felt relieved. "Alright, then you two can decide for yourselves."

Hao Yu handed over all the candied hawthorns, pastries, candies, and donkey meat sandwiches he had brought back to Xie Wanniang, and then took the flattened bundle back to his room.

Xie Wanniang was surprised that Hao Yu had also been influenced by Jiang Yuan and had started bringing her candied hawthorns. After a moment of stunned silence, a warm feeling welled up in her heart.

The group ate together. Hao Yu stayed home to clean up the mess and look after the children, while Jiang Yuan accompanied Xie Wanniang to Chen Lizheng's house.

When they arrived, there was only a little over fifteen minutes left before noon, but the Wang family still hadn't delivered the money to Chen Lizheng.

Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang were not surprised at all. If Jiang Yuan hadn't known what kind of people the Wang family were, he wouldn't have suggested that Xie Wanniang wait until now to visit.

The two greeted Chen Lizheng, whose face was somewhat dark, as well as his wife, eldest son, eldest daughter-in-law, and youngest son, before sitting down with Chen Lizheng in the main room of his house to wait for the Wang family to bring the money.

The Wang family didn't dare to wait until the afternoon to come. They delivered the agreed-upon twenty taels of silver to Chen Lizheng's house just before noon.

Because the money was pieced together from various sources, about half of the twenty taels of silver that Wang Er received from them were in copper coins.

Upon seeing Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan, the Wang family's expressions immediately turned even uglier. They threw the bag of money in front of Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang with a thud, their anger clearly evident.

Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang remained unmoved, but Chen Lizheng was so angry at their attitude that his eyebrows stood on end.

"Wang Eryou! Who are you trying to impress with all this throwing and thrashing?"

Wang Er forced a stiff, fake smile. "No, village head, you've misunderstood. This bag is just too heavy."

Chen Lizheng glared at him fiercely, "You better behave yourself!"

Although the two are not related, they have always been considered equals. Now, Chen Lizheng is so angry that he is even calling himself "father," which shows that he is really furious with the Wang family.

When Wang Er heard him refer to himself as "Laozi" (a derogatory term for a man from the same family), his face darkened. However, Chen Lizheng's intimidating expression, which resembled that of Zhang Fei (a famous general from the Three Kingdoms period), still made him feel somewhat guilty.

He dared not deliberately disgust people anymore, nor did he dare to argue with Chen Lizheng over the issue of address, for fear that Chen Lizheng would change the fine to a beating for his son in a fit of anger.

He only has two sons, and it wasn't easy raising them to this age. He didn't want to risk Wang Sanhu's life just to annoy Chen Lizheng and the others.

Thinking this, Wang Er decisively withdrew his foot, which was wildly flirting with death. "Okay, okay, I'll behave."

He pointed to the burlap sack on the table, "Village head, this is twenty taels of loose silver and copper coins. Once the goods are delivered, we'll head home."

After saying that, he tried to leave with his wife and children, which angered Chen Lizheng so much that he couldn't hold back and slammed his hand on the elm table in front of him. "You stop right there! You said this is twenty taels, so this is twenty taels? If you don't count it clearly in front of us, are you planning to let Miss Xie suffer in silence if it's short?"

Wang Er cursed under his breath, but since Chen Lizheng had been so blunt, they could no longer slip away.

The four of them quickly exchanged glances, and finally Wang Eryou spoke on behalf of the whole family, "Alright, then you can see for yourselves whether it's enough."

He said this to Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan, and the two of them didn't stand on ceremony with him.

Xie Wanniang stood up. "Please carry the bags to the yard and put them on the open ground paved with stone slabs."

Wang Erhu said impatiently, "Is this all it takes? Why are you so difficult to deal with?"

“It’s too dark here.” Xie Wanniang spoke slowly and deliberately, but with an unwavering determination. “If you find it troublesome, I can ask you to forgo the money and just give your brother a beating instead.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Sanhu's body trembled uncontrollably. He didn't want to be beaten, otherwise Jiang Yuan, that vicious and ruthless wolf cub, would definitely take the opportunity to beat him to death.

He went up to his parents and tugged at their sleeves.

When Wang Er and his wife met his pleading and fearful gazes, they had no choice but to suppress their anger and call on their eldest son to help carry the bag of money to the location designated by Xie Wanniang.

Xie Wanniang, Jiang Yuan, and Chen Lizheng followed them out of the house and came to a corner of Chen Lizheng's courtyard, which was paved with stone slabs.

Hearing the commotion, Chen Lizheng's wife, along with his eldest son and daughter-in-law, came over to see Xie Wanniang counting the money.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Xie Wanniang opened the bag and began sorting through the silver and copper coins while counting the money in a volume loud enough for everyone to hear.

Incidentally, she also checked the copper coins she handled for any damage, thinness, or smallness. She picked out all the substandard coins and placed them next to the loose silver.

After determining the number of copper coins and recording the exact figure in her notebook with a charcoal pencil, Xie Wanniang picked up the loose silver coins sent by the Wang family and checked them one by one.

Ordinary people use four common methods to check the authenticity of silver: look at its color, listen to its sound, test its hardness, and burn it.