Ah Tie’s face was deathly pale, and his lips were purple, showing he was severely cold.
Yun Jiao first pulled Ah Tie over to the kitchen stove to warm up and sent Liu Lang to fetch his old cotton-padded jacket.
Then she found a few pieces of ginger herself and put them in the pot to boil ginger soup.
After Liu Lang brought the old cotton-padded jacket for Ah Tie to put on, Yun Jiao finally asked Ah Tie, "Where’s your new cotton-padded jacket?"
Ah Tie kept his head down and remained silent.
Yun Jiao frowned, "Where did the jacket go? You have to tell me something; I hate it when people keep everything to themselves without saying a word."
Upon hearing this, Ah Tie finally raised his head, tears in his eyes, and said, "The jacket was... was forcibly taken by my stepmother."
"I was gathering firewood on the hillside and ran into my stepmother, who was also gathering firewood. She said I was just a servant and didn’t deserve such good clothes; the jacket should be given to her as an offering."
"She took the jacket and also took the firewood I gathered."
Yun Jiao laughed in anger, "Alright, I was always guarding against this happening, just didn’t expect it to come so soon!"
She had purposely given Zhao Lizheng a tael of silver to request him to record Ah Tie’s contract of servitude at the government office, just in case in the future when Ah Tie’s life improved, his father and stepmother would come leeching off him.
In her heart, she never regarded Ah Tie as a servant; she always intended for Ah Tie to follow her and become an employee at the pharmacy, learning a skill for self-sustenance.
She planned that in a few years, once fully rid of Ah Tie’s parents and before Ah Tie got married, she’d go to the government office to cancel the contract.
Ah Tie was originally of good status, so changing back was easy.
But she never expected that Ah Tie hadn’t even started earning wages as an employee yet, and his stepmother would be so greedy to snatch away a new cotton jacket.
Mrs. Chen came over just in time to hear Ah Tie’s words.
When Liu Lang was looking for the cotton jacket and couldn’t find it, it was her who found it, and she asked Liu Lang about it but didn’t get a clear answer.
Mrs. Chen listened and became extremely angry, rolling up her sleeves, "I spit on this! The clothes I painstakingly made stitch by stitch, and she dares to steal them! Watch me tear her apart!"
Yun Jiao grabbed the enraged Mrs. Chen, "Mom, wait, let me get the contract of servitude, and then we’ll go together."
Heh, with the contract in her hands, Ah Tie was her personal property, making it easier for her to talk.
Next door, Jiang Youzhi heard his mom was about to get into a fight, and Yun Jiao was planning to join.
Afraid the two women would suffer, he hastily shouted to Liu Lang, "Liu Lang, you follow mom and them, be careful, make sure they don’t suffer any loss."
Liu Lang responded heartily, "Third Brother, don’t worry."
Yun Jiao returned to the room to fetch the contract of servitude, instructed Ah Tie to keep an eye on the ginger soup, and then stormed out with Mrs. Chen.
Liu Lang strode with an air of determination behind the two women, feeling he was on a mission to support them, particularly invigorated.
Gu Chuan and San Ya, hand in hand, followed behind Liu Lang.
San Ya whispered, "What if mom and big sis get into a fight later? Will you help?"
Gu Chuan nodded vigorously, "Of course, no one can hit my sister."
San Ya glanced at him and shook her head, "But you’re so small, you can’t beat anyone."
Gu Chuan, unconvinced, said, "If I can’t beat them, I’ll bite them."
San Ya disapprovingly looked at him, bent over to pick up a stone, and clutched it in her hand, "I won’t bite, it’s too dirty. Big sis said people’s bodies have lots of germs."
Gu Chuan walked awhile, and secretly picked up a stone too, hiding it in the sleeve of his jacket.
Mrs. Chen marched down the road with determination, obviously intending to go confront someone, and bumped into someone who asked, "Yo, Aunt Chen, where are you heading in such a hurry?"