The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 253 - 242: One Pot

Chapter 253: Chapter 242: One Pot

Old Zhou made his way home, clutching his purse. When he reached his doorstep, he waved goodbye to the village head and, after closing the door, promptly pulled out the purse.

When Old Master Bai had stuffed the purse into his hand, he had felt something was off. Upon opening and pouring it out, a ten-tael silver ingot fell into his palm.

Zhou Silang, who was cleaning up the yard, saw it and his mouth fell open wide. His first thought was, "Dad, did you pick up the Bai family’s money bag on the road?"

In the entirety of Qili Village, who else but the Bai family could produce a ten-tael silver ingot?

Old Zhou shot him a glance, "Do you think your dad is that sort of person? This is compensation from the Bai family to ours."

Zhou Silang’s eyes nearly popped out as he asked, "Why?"

Old Zhou ignored him and headed straight to the main house. Zhou Silang hurriedly dropped what he was holding and followed.

Old Zhou relayed exactly what Old Master Bai had told him to the family, speaking with a relaxed and happy tone, "So it’s nothing to do with us. I have no idea who the Old Madam of the Bai family has offended back in her hometown to be going through such lengths to find someone."

Ms.Qian asked, puzzled, "Is it really not about Erlang?"

Zhou Yin was the second oldest at home, and Ms.Qian had always referred to him as Erlang.

Old Zhou nodded, "No, the Bai family has no reason to lie to us, plus they have already conducted their investigation."

Ms.Qian let out a sigh of relief, and only then did she look at the money in his hand.

Old Zhou handed the purse and the silver ingot to her with a smile, "Now we’re good, all the money we spent has been earned back, and we can even fix the roof."

Ms.Qian nodded, "Let the children rest for a couple of days and then we’ll have them buy tiles."

"Agreed!"

Zhou Wulang, upon hearing that there was money at home, rushed over to ask, "Mom, can we get our pooled money back now?"

"No," Ms.Qian replied expressionlessly as she put away the silver ingot, "Gifts that are given away can’t be taken back, just like money for public matters. Anyway, that money was ultimately going to be spent on the house."

Zhou Wulang was a bit disappointed, and so were his brothers. But despite the disappointment, everyone was in a good mood since the sword hanging over their heads had disappeared.

So Zhou Silang suggested, "Mom, with such good news, shouldn’t we buy some meat to celebrate?"

Ms.Qian thought it made sense and pulled out a handful of copper coins for him, saying, "Go. Buy plenty."

Zhou Silang, delighted, snatched the money and left the chores in the yard to head for Dali Village, of course, taking his wife with him.

Ms.Fang was a bit curious and whispered to him, "Is it about one of the younger uncles?"

Zhou Silang stiffened, realizing that while they instinctively avoided talking about these matters in front of Manbao, they hadn’t avoided Ms.Fang.

Scratching his head, he knew it was a big issue and shouldn’t be carelessly spoken of, but his wife was part of the family and he couldn’t hide it from her.

After some thought, he said, "I’ll tell you later. Oh, and don’t tell your parents about this. If they knew there was a fight at our place, they’d worry about you. Plus, this matter concerns the Bai family; it’s not our place to chatter about it."

Ms.Fang nodded.

Zhou Silang then changed the subject to meat, "What do you think, should we go to your place to buy mutton, or should we buy pork?"

Ms.Fang glanced at him, "What do you think?"

Zhou Silang instantly grinned pleasingly, "Of course, mutton is better. Besides, you haven’t visited your parents in a while. Just now mom said to bring some eggs there. Your family doesn’t keep chickens, so you rely on buying eggs..."

Ms.Fang felt pleased and responded softly.

Since the matter was the Bai family’s issue and not the Zhou family’s, the village head naturally wouldn’t keep it a secret, so upon returning, he went to see several elderly folks and some household heads, also to put their minds at ease.

The visitor hadn’t come for Zhou Yin; it was about the Bai family and had little to do with them.

Once it was clear that the blame lay elsewhere, everyone breathed a sigh of relief as if the dagger that had been hanging over their heads had fallen to the ground.

Zhou Yin was not just Zhou Jin’s brother but also a member of Qili Village and of the Zhou Clan. Everyone in the village, one and all, had kept the secret of the past buried.

Thus, they were all somewhat implicated and couldn’t help but worry.

Now that the Bai family had taken the blame, they all relaxed and realized they had received gifts twice that day; one from the Bai family and one from the Zhou family.

Some began to wonder if they should return the portion they had received from the Zhou family. Zhou Dazhu was in two minds; not to mention the basket of rice and eggs, those two hundred copper coins alone were not a small amount. Since the incident was unrelated to the Zhou family and the Bai family had given condolence money, they thought they should return it, right?

After all, life wasn’t easy for any family.

Nevertheless, the village head waved off the idea, "Forget it. Even if you tried to return it, they wouldn’t accept it. Plus, you weren’t the only one hurt. If you give back the gift and others don’t, what would that imply? Let’s leave things as they are for now. The mistake has been made; after a couple of days, have your younger brothers go buy the tiles with Erlang to fix their roof."

Ms.Qian was educating her sons and daughters-in-law, "Any returned items, no matter who sends them back, are not to be accepted. Although those people came for the Bai family, the fight happened in our house, and they acted because of us."

Ms.Qian continued, "We’re also guilty; hence, we should bear half the responsibility. Once gifts are given, there’s no taking them back."

Zhou Dalang and Junior Ms.Qian responded quietly in agreement.

After finishing her talk, Ms.Qian realized that Manbao was not there and turned to ask Junior Ms.Qian, "Where’s Manbao?"

"She went to the Bai residence with the young master Bai. With the chaos at home, I thought it would be good for her to play there for a while."

Ms.Qian nodded and then addressed Zhou Sanlang, "Is Manbao’s roof fixed? It might be summer, but it’s still chilly at night. If the roof leaks and the cold wind blows, what if she gets sick?"

Zhou Sanlang hesitated, "Four used up all of Manbao’s thatch."

Ms.Qian glared.

Zhou Wulang then quipped cheerfully, "It’s what Manbao said; she likes the roof open because she can watch the stars and the moon at night. I fell asleep too quickly last night and didn’t count how many stars I could see."

Ms.Qian, sighing in resignation, waved it off, "Fine, it’s just for a couple of days. Let her stay with me for those."

Manbao, none the wiser, had spent half an hour reading, asking Keke about things she didn’t understand. Keke explained what he could and sought answers from his database for the rest, providing her with the most appropriate explanations.

After studying for quite a while, Manbao’s attention waned. She began to sway from side to side, becoming restless.

Bai Shanbao was also secretly slacking off.

Suddenly, their gazes met and they both burst into smiles, abandoning their books and hopping off their chairs.

Bai Shanbao said, "I’m feeling a bit thirsty."

Manbao responded, "I’m a little hungry."

Bai Shanbao proposed, "Then should we take a break?"

Manbao readily agreed.

They poured themselves some water, found snacks to eat, and began to chat about everything under the sun. Manbao even invited Bai Shanbao to stay at her place that night, "You can sleep with me, and then we can watch the stars together. I fell asleep too quickly last night and didn’t get to count how many stars there were."

Bai Shanbao was quite tempted, but being a bit older than Manbao, he was already aware of the differences between boys and girls, so he shook his head, "Your mother wouldn’t allow it."