The three of them found a bull cart, and upon arriving home, they saw that their house was packed with people; it turned out that the ten female workers who had returned early were all waiting for them there.
"Boss, about today’s events, please don’t blame us."
"We really had no choice!"
"We did put our thumbprints on the agreement, afraid of losing five hundred taels of silver, which is why we pushed the blame onto your sister-in-law!"
On the way back, those ten female workers felt that by shifting the blame onto someone else, they might have saved themselves, but they also wondered if the boss would still hire them for work in the future. They had acted out of fear, and so they all waited together.
"How dare you show your faces at my home! Ah?" The sister-in-law confronted these people with anger, "You ungrateful lot, without our family, would you have earned any silver?"
"Without a second thought, you sold me out! If I hadn’t made it back today... if I hadn’t made it back... you’d all better leave! Get out!" The sister-in-law, saying this, began to push the group of female workers out.
"Ladies, it was because someone wanted to learn how to make spicy pickled cabbage and sauerkraut that you were taken. I apologize for the scare. Since everyone is alright, let’s go home for today!" Yang Ming, seeing that his sister-in-law was losing control, quickly told everyone to leave.
"Boss, we really didn’t mean it, please don’t take it to heart!"
"Then we’ll head back first, we are truly sorry!"
Only after hearing Yang Ming’s words did the female workers leave the Yang Family courtyard.
After they had gone, the sister-in-law collapsed to the ground in a daze. "Sister-in-law!" Xiaoxiao immediately went to help her.
"Little sister-in-law, sob, sob," the sister-in-law cried, holding onto Xiaoxiao. There had been no issue, but seeing those people, she lost control, filled with fear. This was her first time facing such a situation and she was truly afraid that she couldn’t hold on!
Xiaoxiao held the sister-in-law, gently patting her back, consoling her, "Cry it out, you’ll feel better after crying."
Xiaoxiao truly began to see her sister-in-law in a new light. Typically a loudmouth who loved to gossip, when it came to matters of her own family, she managed to keep her mouth shut – something Xiaoxiao herself might not have been able to do.
That night, Xiaoxiao lay on the heated brick bed, by now accustomed to chatting with Yang Ming under the covers.
"Yang Ming, is your classmate a bit dim-witted? Is there something wrong with his head?" Xiaoxiao sat up and pointed to her temple.
"Think about it, only a fool would buy cabbages at a high price! Who harms themselves in an attempt to deal with others?"
"And this time, why did he abduct so many people? It would have been better to quietly approach one or two people and tempt them with money, wouldn’t it? Doing it all without anyone noticing."
"And if he wasn’t dim-witted, how could it be that he didn’t get the recipe but ended up being beaten by the sister-in-law?"
"And that time, he was supposed to be pleading with you, right? But with that performance, I can’t compliment him. So, to sum up, your classmate is an idiot!"
"Hmm, you make a good point!"
"However, what about Yang Wei’s issue? That doesn’t seem like something a fool could do, does it?" Xiaoxiao then scratched her head, somewhat confused.
"..." My wife’s analysis is correct. Could it be that besides Li Fugui and Old Master Li, there’s someone else who wants this recipe?