Hearing Yang Chuxia speak , Auntie Li didn’t dare to speak loudly anymore, but she still kept muttering to herself that it was too expensive, even corn and beans were only eight cents a pound.
Yang Chuxia had excellent hearing and clearly heard her words. She scoffed, "Aren’t broad beans different from regular beans?"
Auntie Li immediately stopped muttering.
Yang Chuxia was afraid that Auntie Li might come up with some more tricks, so she didn’t leave after speaking and sat by watching Fugui and Xiu’er sort out the broad beans.
But some people are just so brazen, or rather, thick-skinned. She was sitting right here, and yet they still dared to create trouble. What could she do?
"Auntie Li, if you didn’t bring enough money, you can go back home and get some. Once you bring the money back, I will give you the seeds," Xiu’er continued to speak politely to Auntie Li at the front.
Auntie Li frowned and said, "You little girl, you’re even more aggressive than your master. Do you think I can’t afford a few dozen coins? I just forgot to bring them. Why can’t I take the seedlings home and bring the money back later? I’m not going to shortchange you."
"Auntie, wouldn’t it be the same if you just went back home and brought the money instead?" Xiu’er replied, "I’ll put the seeds aside for you, and you can bring the money when you’re ready. It’s only a few dozen cents, and your house isn’t far away. It would only take a moment to go back and forth."
"Heh, you little girl, even a lowly maid like you dares to talk back to me ?" Auntie Li thought to herself, "If I can’t handle your master, can I not handle a little girl like you?"
"Auntie, I am just a maid following my master’s instructions. Miss told me to collect the money, so I have to collect it. You don’t give me the money, and I don’t give you the goods. Miss didn’t say anything about taking the goods first and paying later. Auntie, you don’t look like someone who is penniless, so please don’t make it difficult for a little girl like me," Xiu’er was unhappy about being called a lowly maid. She thought to herself that although she was a maid, she wasn’t a servant of the Li family. What right did Auntie Li have to call her names?
"Are you looking down on me? Even a lowly girl like you dares to look down on me? Do you think I don’t have any money? Do you think I’d try to cheat your family out of their things?" As soon as Xiu’er finished speaking, Auntie Li began cursing loudly.
However, this time she was a bit smarter and didn’t target anyone from Yang Chuxia’s family, only scolding Xiu’er, "You lowly girl, you dare look down on this old lady just because you were bought with a few taels of silver? Tell me, do I look like someone who would take things without paying?"
As Auntie Li was scolding, Ms. Li Junior, Yang Jinhai’s wife, chimed in from the side, glancing at Yang Chuxia who was sitting nearby.
"You little girl really don’t know how to do things properly. Sister-in-law Li just forgot to bring the money. She takes the things home and then comes back with the money. What’s so stubborn about that? No wonder Sister-in-law Li thinks you’re afraid she’ll cheat the silver. If I were in her shoes, I would think the same way!"
Yang Chuxia watched coldly as the two women took turns berating Xiu’er, who was on the verge of tears.
She snorted, "Since that’s the case, why don’t you pay for Auntie Li’s few dozen cents yourself? Your house is quite close to Auntie Li’s, so it would be convenient for you to collect the money later. Plus, Auntie Li wouldn’t have to make an extra trip. How does that sound?"
Ms. Li Junior heard this and awkwardly replied, "I don’t have that much spare change. The money my mother-in-law gave me to spend is all counted."