Village Belle is Trying to Cause Trouble Again Chapter 39
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 39: The Family Separation Was Settled
Hearing that, Mrs. Xie-Qin frowned. These days, she regarded Su Tao as half a daughter, so naturally she felt sad for Su Tao. "Why did the Su family beat the child again? They don’t treat the children as human beings."
Xie Qing also frowned, and finally sighed. "Actually, it's good as well that they move out. Taozi's father is an honest and capable man."
"Yuntang, I’ll settle this matter."
He couldn’t possibly give the Su family five taels of silver for free. If the Su family was grateful, that would still be fine. But if they weren't, it would be troublesome.
Xie Yuntang naturally believed him. He pursed his lips and said, "Dad, Sister Taozi's grandma is so mean. I don't like her."
This was the first time they heard him say that he didn't like someone.
Knowing that he didn't understand why Mrs. Su-Qian beat people, Mrs. Xie-Qin raised her hand and touched his head. She reasoned with him, and said gently, "There are both good and bad people. Sister Taozi's grandma is bad, but Sister Taozi isn’t bad. Thus, Yuntang, you have to learn to judge people."
"Don't be soft-hearted toward bad people, otherwise you’ll only harm yourself."
Xie Yuntang thought about it carefully, and finally nodded obediently.
After he went downstairs, Mrs. Xie-Qin asked in a low voice, "How do you plan to settle it?"
Xie Qing put down the book in his hand and said solemnly, "I’ll hire him, just like I hired the Zhou family."
Mrs. Xie-Qin nodded, and sighed. "The Su family is really in a mess. They treat the hardworking ones so badly."
"Just wait and see. Life won’t be easy for Su Dagui and Mrs. Su-Qian of the Su family in the future. Their eldest son isn’t an honest guy. Two days ago, I heard the Zhou family mention that Su He went gambling."
When Xie Qing said those words, Mrs. Xie-Qin was startled, and her voice unconsciously became louder. "Su He still gambles? He’s already so poor."
"The poorer someone is, the more they want to be rich. Thus, the separation of Taozi’s family from the Su family might not be a bad thing." Xie Qing nodded.
"You're right. Try to help Taozi’s family as much as possible. Your son's eyes are almost glued to the door of the Su family’s house all day long because of his Sister Taozi."
"If he wasn't still young and ignorant of human affairs, I would have thought he wanted to marry that girl, Taozi."
Mrs. Xie-Qin laughed out loud when she said that. Xie Qing also smiled and said, "I saw that. I asked Zhou Sheng and the other children, and they all said that girl, Taozi, is great at catching crabs and crayfish. No one has ever played with Yuntang before, so it’s refreshing to him. "
This was the way children were. They were innocent and didn't hold grudges. They merely wanted to have fun.
"Speaking of this, I remember that Yuntang caught a butterfly. I’m still feeding it to this day. I’m afraid of feeding it to death." Mrs. Xie-Qin didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
……
Su Fu approached Xie Qing before Xie Qing went to find him.
It was still dark, and the rooster had just crowed for the first time.
Su Fu stood cautiously in the main hall of the Xie family’s house. He looked at Xie Qing who had not yet combed his hair with a look of embarrassment on his honest face. "Landlord Xie, I’m sorry for disturbing your sleep. I... I have a favor to ask of you."
Xie Qing could guess why he was here. He shook his head. "It's okay, just speak."
"Can... I sell myself to you for just five taels of silver?" Su Fu said, his face flushed with embarrassment.
If he hadn't encountered difficulties, no man would say such a thing. Selling oneself off as a slave would bring shame to one’s ancestors.
Xie Qing didn't speak for a while. It seemed that Su Fu was an honest man. After a moment of silence, he said, "I don't buy people."
"But I need people to work for me. If you’re willing, I’ll hire you for two years. When there’s no work for you, you can do other things."
Su Fu couldn't believe it when he heard that. And then, he knelt excitedly. "I’m willing, I’m willing."
"Well, I'll get you the money."
Xie Qing went to get the contract. He gave Su Fu the money after Su Fu put his fingerprint down.
Xie Qing thought of something and said, "And if you want to rent some land, go find the village chief. I’ll let him know."
"Master Xie, thank you very much." Su Fu didn't expect him to help them so much.
Xie Qing shook his head. "Don’t mention it. You may go back."
He was not helping them. He was doing it for the sake of his son's kindness.
Su Fu didn't want to keep Xie Qing from his sleep, so he got up and went home.
Lin Sanzhu came up to Su Fu with Su Dou in her arms. Her voice was a little hoarse. "Is it enough? If it's not enough, sell me too."
The two of them stayed up all night just to raise five taels of silver.
If they left their daughter behind in the Su family, life would be hellish for her.
Su Fu was a little excited, but he restrained his voice. "It's enough, dear. The Xie family hired me for two years instead of buying me. Landlord Xie is a good person."
"Really?"
Lin Sanzhu was a little overjoyed, and quickly said, "The Xie family are really good people. We must thank them properly in the future."
"Yeah, and he also said that if I want to rent land, I can just go to the village chief’s house and let him know. Dear, let's rent more land when the time comes. I'm not afraid of hard work. We’ll definitely be able to live a good life."
"Okay, that’s great."
Actually, Su Tao was not asleep either. She knew very well that Su Fu and the others couldn't come up with five taels of silver, so she had already thought about it. If they failed to raise the money, she would run away.
She didn't expect Su Fu and Lin Sanzhu to offer to sell themselves for her. She felt a little complicated for a moment.
If they treated her well, she would definitely treat them well.
But she wouldn't stay here.
……
As soon as dawn arrived, Mrs. Su-Qian called the village chief over to be a witness to the family separation. There were many people around the entrance of the courtyard, and it was a little noisy for a while.
All the Su family’s members were present in the yard. Su Tao accidentally caught a glimpse of Milksop standing at the door, looking like a little gossiper.
She stuck her tongue out at him. She wouldn't be grateful to him.
Xie Yuntang reciprocated with a simple smile, which was very endearing.
Su Tao took a deep breath. He was really going to drive her up the wall.
Naturally, Su Dagui had to initiate the family separation. He didn't expect Su Fu to refuse to yield. He said with a livid face, "Since Su Fu’s family insists on moving out, then let's split up. According to the rules of the village, no assets will be divided if the separation occurs before the age of thirty. I won't break the rules."
"You can't take away anything except your clothes."
"You also have to give us five taels of silver." Mrs. Su-Qian was afraid that she wouldn’t receive the five taels of silver, so she hurriedly interjected.
Instead of receiving anything, Su Fu’s family had to pay five taels of silver. Everyone at the door sighed. The Su family had pushed their luck.
But no one said anything. After all, it was their family’s matter.
Su Fu nodded and took out the taels of silver from his arms. However, he did not give them to Mrs. Su-Qian immediately. Instead, he looked at the village chief and said, "Village Chief, please be my witness. I didn't take anything from the house today. My parents asked me to give them five taels of silver. As their son, I’ll give them the money."
"But I will not fork out a penny to support them in the future. I don’t care even if they say that I’m unfilial!"
Suddenly, the sighs at the door became louder. However, no one thought that Su Fu was wrong. The Su family had gone overboard indeed.
The village chief glanced at the sullen-looking Su Dagui, sighed inwardly, and then nodded. "You’re the second son. After you move out, you aren’t obliged to support them."
He paused, before saying a few more words to help Su Fu. "The Su family, isn't five taels of silver too much?"
"How is that too much? They’ve sponged off us for so many years." Mrs. Su-Qian didn't think that she was in the wrong at all.
Mrs. Su-Qian’s self-justified expression made Su Tao grit her teeth. Just you wait, wretched old woman. You’d be finished once the family was separated.
Author’s Note: Don't pity the male protagonist. He wasn’t pitiful at all. He liked to be bullied by the female protagonist.
The heroine wasn’t a bad person either. She was quite kind.
