Chapter 82: Returning Home
The next day, Su Yaoguang took Zhang Pandi and her daughter back to the Jia Family.
Su Yaoguang stopped the ox cart at the village entrance and had Jiang Jing keep watch there while she escorted them back empty-handed.
Old Mrs. Jia, Mrs. Xu, was gossiping at the doorway when she saw Su Yaoguang and the others arrive. She spat out sunflower seed shells and said sarcastically, "Oh, you two still know how to come back! Wasn’t it supposed to be twenty days? It’s already been twenty-two."
After speaking, she spread out her hands, with an expression that seemed to say, "No money, no entry."
Su Yaoguang handed over a bag, impatiently saying, "I’ll give what was agreed upon. I originally wanted to give it to them, but they insisted you are the head of the family and it should be handed directly to you. You should count it carefully, because if you say there’s a problem after I leave, I won’t acknowledge it."
Mrs. Xu opened the bag, her eyes gleaming at the strings of Copper Coins.
She first counted them string by string, each hundred cents forming a large string, with the remaining 88 cents in loose change. She roughly counted them once, then cut open the strings to continue counting. Originally 888 cents, she sat outside the courtyard counting for a quarter of an hour, confirming repeatedly that she didn’t miss a single copper coin, before packing them away.
"Alright then, it’s all here."
"It’s all here, good. They’re back; I’m leaving now," Su Yaoguang said, turning to leave.
"Wait, do you still need people? Let them continue working!" Mrs. Xu shouted toward Su Yaoguang.
Su Yaoguang waved her hand, "Where would I have so much work for you? We haven’t even earned enough ourselves."
After Su Yaoguang left, Mrs. Xu shouted fiercely at Zhang Pandi, "Did you become stupid after working outside for a few days? Go fetch water and cook!"
She scanned Zhang Pandi’s ragged clothes and noticed her hands and face full of wounds, saying in disdain, "My son really has such bad luck marrying an ugly woman like you who can’t even give birth. So useless, if you don’t do more work for the family, I’ll have my son divorce you."
Zhang Pandi, eyes red with tears, sobbed and entered the house.
"And you, this useless girl." Mrs. Xu pinched Jia Chunni’s arm.
"Grandma, it hurts..." Jia Chunni pleaded through tears, "Don’t pinch me; I’ll go chop wood."
"Hurry up! Useless, just seeing you upsets me." Mrs. Xu cursed, "Just like your mom, always looking so unlucky."
After Zhang Pandi and Jia Chunni went inside to work, Mrs. Wang, who was chatting with Mrs. Xu earlier, spoke up, "Aunt, they made quite a bit of money, don’t be too harsh. If her maternal family is willing to help her, can’t she make even more money?"
"Didn’t you hear what that financially draining Su family girl said? They barely have enough work for themselves, let alone for her. It’s lucky for them to come across something like this once; how can we expect them to make wealth for our family?"
Jiang Jing saw Su Yaoguang return and asked, "Is it really safe to send Second Aunt and cousin back? What if that family is worse than we imagined?"
"Second Aunt and Chunni have to get through this. If they can’t, that family will cling to them, draining them of everything. Bear with it for a few more days, and it’ll be smooth sailing from there."
Jiang Jing and Su Yaoguang drove the ox cart back.
They still had a lot to handle at home, not just rushing orders but also preparing for the store.
She left the rush orders to Jiang Jing to organize. Jiang Jing had mastered her formulas and contributed to the improved versions, so it was no problem to leave home affairs to her. Every morning, she went to town to check on the store’s remodeling progress and discussed improvements with craftsmen.
A few days later, upon returning home, she saw Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Hua causing a scene at their doorstep.
"What are you doing at my house?" Su Yaoguang got off the ox cart, tying the ox rope to a nearby stump, and walked over to the two women.
Zhang Zhaodi was confronting them and gained confidence seeing Su Yaoguang return.
"Dear, these two shrewish women want to extort us."
"Chunni and her mother were fine at home, but after working with you for twenty days, they fell ill upon returning. Chunni is vomiting blood, and her mother went mad, wielding a knife at home and almost injuring Chunni’s father. Today, you must compensate us, pay for the doctor," said Mrs. Hua.
"I personally sent them home, and villagers can testify that they were healthy when returned. Now you’ve come five days later to tell me they’re sick. I’ve heard you don’t treat them as human at home. Perhaps they fell ill from exhaustion, and you’re trying to extort us? Let’s go to the government and have them investigate what happened."
Su Yaoguang grabbed Mrs. Hua’s wrist, dragging her toward the ox cart.
She was strong, and Mrs. Hua struggled but couldn’t break free.
"Who wants to go see the officials? We came to discuss a solution," Mrs. Hua said. "Aren’t you going to take care of such sick people?"
"Married daughters are like spilled water. Why should we care?" Zhang Zhaodi pouted, "Even if you want our family to care, shouldn’t you look for my parents? Can I, as the eldest sister, support my own sister?"
"They’re dying, and you just watch them die?" Mrs. Xu glared ferociously.
"One’s your daughter-in-law, and the other’s your granddaughter. If the Jia Family doesn’t care, should I? Enough, stop blocking the way, move on."
"You... you’re so heartless." Mrs. Xu was pushed by Zhang Zhaodi, sat on the ground, wailing. "Oh heavens, my poor daughter-in-law, my poor granddaughter, how could you be stuck with such relatives? Clearly overworked at their house and now they don’t care if you live or die!"
The villagers gathered around.
"What’s going on?"
Zhong Lanhua maliciously commented, "Zhang Pandi and Jia Chunni fell ill after returning from their house. Maybe there’s something wrong with their feng shui?"
Whoosh! A sharp axe flew over, sticking into the trunk near Zhong Lanhua.
Seeing the axe so close, Zhong Lanhua felt a chill down her neck, her face paling.
"Really nuts."
"Mom, seeing them cry so pathetically, let’s send them back. That’s the help we can offer as relatives. Beyond that, we’re not pushovers," Su Yaoguang walked over and retrieved the axe.
Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Hua were also scared by Su Yaoguang’s action.
However, they didn’t come all this way for nothing. With nothing gained, they were unwilling to leave.