Chapter 100: Chapter 100 The Vigor of Dragons and Tigers
In the early morning, as the sky began to lighten, Madam Xie and her two daughters climbed out of their warm beddings. After tidying up, they prepared to set out for the market.
Xuexue remembered that the rice they had snatched from the Mo family last time was almost gone, and on top of that, the home needed everything from firewood, rice, oil, and salt to lamp oil and candles. She doubled back to her room and dug under the bed; soon, she unearthed a bundle of items.
This bundle of gold and silver jewelry was exactly what Xuexue had managed to rob from Auntie Sun the night she had been framed and set up.
After taking out two taels of silver, Xuexue thought it should be enough. In the countryside, things weren’t expensive, and two taels of silver was no small sum in such a remote and impoverished place.
A strong man working hard for a day outside would only earn twenty copper coins. Two taels of silver amounted to two thousand copper coins; to the eyes of the poor, it was a substantial fortune.
“Sister, Mother is calling for you to hurry up!”
Chuner called out with her childlike voice from outside.
Xuexue raised her voice in response, tucked the two taels of silver into her bosom, then carefully reburied the bundle and patted the ground firm. She even spread some old ash and dirt on top to make it less apparent that the earth under the bed had been recently disturbed.
“Xuexue, close the door. Let’s go,” Madam Xie said when she saw Xuexue emerge, lifting the load to carry as she and Chuner moved ahead.
Xuexue replied, locked the door behind her, and followed on foot to catch up with Madam Xie and her sister.
“Mother, let’s not walk today; we should take the ox cart instead. Chuner hasn’t fully recovered yet, and I’m afraid it’ll be too much for her,” Xuexue said while walking beside Madam Xie.
Madam Xie thought about it and agreed; taking the ox cart to the market was only a copper coin per person, not much. She nodded and said, “Hmm! Alright, today we’ll take the ox cart.”
“Yay! That’s great; we get to ride in an ox cart!” Chuner, being a child with a small age and everything new and exciting to her, immediately began dancing around Madam Xie, cheering joyfully.
Seeing Chuner, who had been through life and death, so lively and vigorous, both Madam Xie and Xuexue smiled knowingly at each other.
Soon after, they arrived at the village entrance where, on market days, there were always ox carts waiting.
By the time they got there, the ox cart was almost full. The Mo family trio barely managed to get on, making it just right for a full load.
The middle-aged man driving the ox cart saw this and chuckled, waving his whip and shouting loudly, “Everyone sit tight, we’re setting off!” After speaking, he gave the ox a firm lash with the whip: “Giddy up!”
The ox cart slowly started moving.
The Mo family mother and daughters had become a popular topic of conversation in Mo Family Village during their time, and the moment they got on, everyone looked at them curiously.
Xuexue ignored the gazes and settled down next to Chuner.
Indeed, Chuner had almost been beaten to death by Old Lady Mo, followed by Madam Xie’s dismissal, with the two daughters moving into the old residence. In the eyes of the country folk, a household with only women and no men to hold the fort was already enough to stir up idle gossip.
To make matters worse, Xuexue was nearly tricked into drinking sugared water laced with aphrodisiac by Auntie Sun. Some of the gossiping busybodies, with plenty of time and nothing better to do, tried on several occasions to pry juicy stories from the simple-minded Chuner.
But Chuner, young yet cunning, never let slip a single word.
“Xuexue, you look quite different than before. Tell us, did something happen the other night? Don’t be scared; just tell aunty here, and I’ll stand up for you,” a plump woman on the cart asked with an appearance of concern.