A Good Country Wife
Chapter 281 - 725 Demons and Monsters_1

Chapter 281: Chapter 725 Demons and Monsters_1

When Zhao Erhu came back, he saw Zhao Lingxiang sitting there with a face as dark as iron. His little wife was chatting enthusiastically with Zhao Cheng’s wife, which brought a smirk to his face. After all, she was his wife, capable of overcoming the enemy without even lifting a finger.

Xiaocui also found it strange to see her mistress Zhao Lingxiang looking like this. What happened to Lady Zhao? When she left, everything had been fine, but now she looked as if she was about to be angered to death. Even during their time at the Wei Residence, she had never seen Lady Zhao get this angry with any of the women in the back courtyard. No wonder Chunxi said the Lin Family was formidable; they truly had some abilities.

Xiaocui didn’t really care what happened to Zhao Lingxiang or if she got angry, but she worried that if Lady Zhao had nowhere to vent her frustration, she might take it out on her. That would be bad luck for Xiaocui. While Lady Zhao’s methods were not bone-breaking, being tormented little by little was hard to bear. Just earlier, her hand had gone sore from waving a fan.

"Wife, are you all right?" Zhao Erhu clearly saw that his little wife was doing well, laughing and talking with Li Xiaomei, but he still asked her, always considering his wife most important.

"Of course, I’m fine! Who do you think I am? When facing those monsters and demons, I don’t hesitate to strike them down mercilessly," Lin Yue said, then gave Zhao Lingxiang a meaningful look.

"Lin Yue, don’t go too far! Zhao Erhu, you need to control your wife. I’ve had enough of her. If not for the fact that she’s your wife, I would have torn that foul mouth of hers to shreds a long time ago," Zhao Lingxiang indulged in her verbal spat. If she really could have done it, she probably would have already acted, not become this infuriated.

"Do you have business with me?" Zhao Erhu did not show the same pleasant face to Zhao Lingxiang as he did toward his own wife, especially since Zhao Lingxiang was consistently belittling his wife. Zhao Erhu was holding back, preventing himself from throwing this woman out.

"Of course, I’m here to offer you a chance to make money. Whether you seize it or not is up to you," Zhao Yunxiang said as she took out twenty taels of silver and laid them on the table, her expression smug. She hadn’t planned on offering so much silver; the last time she bought two recipes from Chunxi, it only cost her five taels. But seeing the attitude of Zhao Erhu’s wife and knowing Erhu doted on her, she feared a smaller amount wouldn’t be tempting enough.

She thought about how for each additional tael she offered, her own stash of private silver decreased. Luckily, her master had recently increased her monthly allowance to fifteen taels. The loss wasn’t too painful, and if the task was accomplished well, the master’s reward would undoubtedly be more generous. She hoped for a pair of gold bracelets—bracelets weighed more than hairpins.

Lin Yue raised an eyebrow at Zhao Lingxiang’s ’generous’ display of twenty taels of silver. She thought, so Zhao Lingxiang must have also come for the recipes today, but what’s with this attitude? Last time, she at least knew how to be submissive. It turns out she felt ’rich’ and therefore more confident in her speech.

What should she say? It seems Zhao Lingxiang thought these twenty taels of silver were a lot, enough to let her and Zhao Erhu tolerate her arrogance. Was this woman’s imagination too wild? She was definitely thinking too much, too wishfully. One would think being a concubine of the wealthy Old Master Wei and accompanying him to the Capital City for years, she would have seen more of the world and not be so shallow. Twenty taels weren’t even enough to buy her clothes and embroidery.

Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue exchanged a glance, clearly sharing the same sentiment, yet Zhao Lingxiang mistook their reaction for being moved by the twenty taels of silver she had presented, a smug look spreading across her face, "Well? Zhao Erhu, this is twenty taels of silver, enough for your family’s expenses for several years. Just give me the recipe for the food your family makes, and the silver is yours. Your family can continue to sell the food and earn an extra twenty taels. Isn’t this a great opportunity that doesn’t come around often?"

Not only Lin Yue and Zhao Erhu, but even Li Xiaomei, who was standing nearby, looked at Zhao Lingxiang with a strange gaze. After all, the old witch of the Wei Family had always been jealous of Zhao Erhu’s family and refused to show weakness in front of her daughter, let alone mention anything related to Zhao Erhu’s family. Thus, Zhao Lingxiang was genuinely unaware of the current situation of Zhao Erhu’s family. She might have noticed that they were living somewhat better than before, judging from their improved attire, no longer dressed in tatters like in the past. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have wrongly estimated that twenty taels of silver was a substantial amount for Zhao Erhu’s family.

Zhao Erhu was a proud man who, unlike Lin Yue, didn’t enjoy purposely teasing Zhao Lingxiang. He felt there was nothing worth discussing with the Wei Family’s dimwit daughter, who had come to their home to make a fool of herself. Zhao Erhu didn’t want to waste time needlessly and directly sent her away without any courtesy, "Aunt Zhao, our family has no intention of selling the recipe, so please leave promptly. And do not come back again."

Upon hearing Zhao Erhu’s words, Zhao Lingxiang, who had been confident and smug, suddenly turned pale and somewhat incredulous, "Zhao Erhu, what do you mean? You’re not satisfied with twenty taels of silver? Don’t be too greedy. Before leaving home, the master only gave me this much silver. How much more do you want?"

"Aunt Zhao, the recipe is something my daughter-in-law came up with after much hard work. We won’t sell it for any amount of money. It’s best you leave now, or don’t blame me if I throw you out."

"Zhao Erhu, what did you say? You dare... You try to lay a finger on me!"

Xiaocui saw Zhao Lingxiang and Zhao Erhu arguing and knew that if it continued, they would surely be thrown out. She cursed Aunt Zhao inwardly for being so desperate for silver, knowing full well the master had given two hundred taels, yet she only offered twenty to them. Xiaocui hurriedly tugged at Zhao Lingxiang’s sleeve from behind.

"Aunt, you and Erhu are blood siblings. Whatever it is, you can talk it out amiably. Quarreling like this only harms the relationship. As for the matter of silver, we can discuss it slowly. The master isn’t stingy. If Erhu’s demands are reasonable, the master will surely agree."

Cooling down after Xiaocui’s persuasion, Zhao Lingxiang also understood that if she didn’t get the recipe, she wouldn’t be able to claim a single tael of the two hundred the Wei master had provided. With a heavy heart, she pulled out another thirty taels of silver from her sleeve and slammed them onto the table, wincing at the pain it caused her heart!

"What Xiaocui said is right. Our master is an honest man. With the great business and wealth of the Wei Residence, we don’t care about this bit of silver. I’m adding another thirty taels of silver. Take it or leave it, fifty taels for the recipe. Not a fraction more," Zhao Lingxiang resolved, assuming that Zhao Erhu and his wife were posturing to ask for more silver, expecting to bargain with her. Internally cursing their greed, she compromised nonetheless for the sake of bringing the recipe back to the Wei master.

Seeing Zhao Lingxiang acting as though she’s been cut open and sold for meat, Lin Yue idly flicked the silver on the table with her finger, looking at Zhao Lingxiang with a mocking, half-smile.

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