Chapter 94 Unexpected Wealth Makes People Rich

Chapter 94 Unexpected Wealth Makes People Rich

After the ten people in the carriage left under Xie Wanniang's watchful eyes, Xie Wanniang took out twenty meat buns they had bought in the county town. "Since you don't want to stay for dinner, at least have something to eat first."

So everyone who remained there, including Wang Yuzhi's family and Zhao Yueniang's family, received a meat bun that was still slightly warm.

With the warm water brought by Wang Xiaozhi, everyone not only ate a steamed bun, but also, under the strong persuasion of Xie Wanniang and Hao Yu, ate some of the snacks, dried fruits, candies, and other things that Wang Xiaozhi had found to treat them, but they were too embarrassed to eat.

As a result, although everyone hadn't eaten, their stomachs were about 60-70% full.

After Jiang Yuan paid the money and hired two oxcarts from the village that were used to pulling carts for a living, the remaining thirteen people got up to say goodbye again and returned to Tang County together.

Not long after they left, Wang Yuzhi's family and Zhao Yueniang's family also said goodbye and left.

The two families came together in the escort agency's carriage, so Xie Wanniang and the others didn't need to prepare transportation for their return trip.

After seeing off all the people who came to express their gratitude, Xie Wanniang and the others turned back to thank Chen Lizheng and the others who came to help after hearing the news.

Considering that everyone hadn't had lunch yet, Xie Wanniang immediately took out flour, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and other ingredients, and quickly cooked a large pot of egg and vegetable dumpling soup.

They didn't have enough bowls and chopsticks, so Xie Wanniang even borrowed some from Deng Xiaoyan next door.

The men chatted idly in the main room while slurping up their bowls of savory and delicious white noodle soup, while the women gathered in Xie Wanniang's room in the east wing, eating and listening to her and Xiao Yang talk about what had happened in the county town.

After the meal, everyone understood why so many people had traveled a long way to thank them for saving their lives.

Aunt Chen patted Xie Wanniang's hand, "You girl are really brave, you even dared to rush up to the kidnapper."

Xie Wanniang laughed, "I was only able to do this because Uncle Hao and A Yuan were there. If it were just me, I would definitely find a secluded place to grab that woman and then immediately run to ask the officials for help."

It was precisely because Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan were by her side that she was able to risk her life without worry.

Aunt Chen nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, "That's right, you're a young girl, you can't just run around everywhere just because you're good at fighting."

As the old saying goes, two fists can't beat four hands, and even a tiger can't withstand a pack of wolves. Although Xie Wanniang was quite skilled, she was ultimately just a young girl who was easily fooled and taken advantage of.

That daughter of the镖师 (bodyguard/escort) was even more skilled than Xie Wanniang, but she was still drugged and could only be manipulated by those despicable kidnappers.

There are quite a few people outside who are heartless, rotten, and prone to using underhanded tricks.

Since the meat buns originally intended to thank Wang Xiaozhi and her husband were no longer available, Xie Wanniang simply picked out some items from the thank-you gifts sent by those people and gave them to Chen Lizheng and the others who came to help.

The gifts given to Chen Lizheng and his second son and his wife, as well as Chen Zhao's parents and brothers, were ordinary pastries such as steamed rice cakes and mung bean cakes, sent by those people. Each person received a packet, without any favoritism.

What was given to Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao, besides pastries of similar value, was a piece of coarse cloth as a thank you for helping to watch the house.

Unlike Jiang Yuan, Xie Wanniang was always taciturn. She clearly explained which of the gifts she prepared were for which people she was thanking for, so no one could say that she was being unfair to one group.

After all, Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao did put in more time and effort than others.

After seeing Wang Xiaozhi and the others off, Xie Wanniang and the others began to count the remaining gifts.

Besides the pastries and a piece of coarse cloth they had given away, they still had a total of eight packages of ordinary pastries, two boxes of high-end pastries, six catties of brown sugar, two baskets of eggs, two chickens, two fish, half a pig, two bags of rice, two bags of flour, six boxes of tea, six jars of fine wine, three pieces of coarse cloth, six bolts of fine cloth, a set of six pieces of silver jewelry, and three hundred taels of silver from the two families.

"Huh!" Xie Wanniang was truly astonished by the extravagance of the two families when she saw the silver jewelry and silver ingots in the box.

She pointed to the carved, red-lacquered wooden gift boxes, "The Meng family, who have only one son for three generations, gave a total of two hundred taels of silver, while the Pu family, whose son was also abducted, gave one hundred taels of silver and a set of silver jewelry."

Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan nodded. "Besides these, they also gave us cloth, wine, and tea."

Xie Wanniang sighed, "Good heavens, I've worked myself to the bone all year, and I still don't earn as much as we did catching a kidnapper last night."

No wonder there's an old saying: "A man can't get rich without unexpected wealth, and a horse can't get fat without night grass."

She looked at the other items in the storeroom. "The Wang family gave us rice, tea, cloth, and a box of pastries, while the Zhao family gave us pork, flour, wine, and cloth."

Hao Yu nodded, "The rest were given by other families, and they were all generous gifts for their family circumstances."

"They're all honest people," Xie Wanniang remarked. As for the families who didn't come, it didn't matter; she wasn't saving people for payment anyway.

"The silver is easy to divide; it'll be exactly one hundred taels each for the three of us. As for the other things..."

"Here's the jewelry, but you get two hundred taels of silver," Hao Yu interrupted her. "You put in the most effort and took the biggest risks, so you should get the lion's share."

Jiang Yuan nodded in agreement, "That's right."

Xie Wanniang was very touched, but she felt she couldn't do that.

"How about this, I keep the jewelry, and we each get one hundred taels of silver?"

Hao Yu shook her head. "I'll say it again: you can have the jewelry, but you can take two hundred taels of silver."

Jiang Yuan also said, "This is what you deserve."

Seeing their firm stance, Xie Wanniang had no choice but to propose a new solution: "How about this, once we start building the house, I'll cover the cost of vegetables and meat for both of you. I'll maintain the same standard of food, so you won't have to work for other families."

Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan nodded in unison, "Okay."

Xie Wanniang breathed a sigh of relief. "As for the rest of these things, we'll each have two bolts of fine cloth, and I'll use the coarse cloth to make new clothes for you two and Xiaoyang. The wine will all go to Uncle Hao, and we'll each have two boxes of tea. The flour, rice, and meat will all be stored in the storeroom as before."

Hao Yu offered a different opinion, "Let's each have two jars of liquor. A Yuan is about to finish his mourning period, and you two will be living on your own from now on. You never know when you might need some liquor."

Xie Wanniang shook her head, "We can buy more if we need it later. You can keep this wine for the wedding banquet."

Jiang Yuan also said, "Yes, you're getting married soon, so it wouldn't be right not to prepare some drinks."

Hao Yu replied, "I'll just go to town and buy it there."

These are all good wines. Using them at a wedding banquet would not only be a waste of money, but the villagers would also talk about them behind their backs.

As for the other things, "Take a look at what pastries we have, and eat the ones that don't keep well first."

Xie Wanniang nodded, "Alright then. Let's leave it at that for now."

Jiang Yuan then said, "Then I'll go buy meat and wine for you."

Hao Yu patted him on the shoulder, "Don't worry, none of you will be idle."

Whether it's Jiang Yuan, Xie Wanniang, Wang Xiaozhi, or Chen Zhao, they all have to come and help him.

After the group divided the belongings, Xie Wanniang, with Jiang Yuan's help, carried all of her personal items—two hundred taels of silver, a set of silver jewelry, two bolts of fine cloth, two boxes of tea, two jars of fine wine, and three pieces of coarse cloth that she planned to use to make clothes for the other three people—back to the room where she was currently living.