Chapter 28
You Can Call the Shots
“I’m afraid he won’t help us!” Zhao Chuchu was not optimistic.
The village chief had given Zhao Chuchu the impression that he was very realistic. There were only two brothers in the Xie family. Although Xie Heng was a scholar, he, after all, was “blind.”
If not, the grain and silver that the villagers owed her would not be uncollected until now. He was pretending to be deaf and dumb!
Xie Heng said softly, “Let Junjun take me to the village chief’s house later. I know how to ask him to come forward and collect the grain.”
Zhao Chuchu took a long look at Xie Heng and then shoved the silver back into his hand. “You keep it. I don’t need it,” she said.
“You still have to buy cooking oil and salt.”
“I have money.”
Zhao Chuchu didn’t like being in debt to others.
The money should have been regarded as her food expenses!
Anyway, the cash for the cooking oil and salt was nothing to her.
Yet Xie Heng still insisted.
Zhao Chuchu had to accept the money. She said, “Well, let’s eat first. You’re not hungry, but I am. ”
She served Xie Heng a bowl of congee.
Compared with how the two brothers slowly ate their food, Zhao Chuchu’s eating speed could be called a whirlwind.
She was used to eating like that and couldn’t slow down.
Zhao Chuchu had finished her food by the time Xie Heng and Xie Jun ate half their congee.
Xie Jun took a while to say, “Sister-in-law, why do you eat so fast?”
“I’m full,” Zhao Chuchu said without batting an eyelid. “Enjoy your meal.”
Then she got up and left.
Although Zhao Chuchu had the memories of her body’s original owner and was already familiar with the Xie family, she still looked around the house herself.
It was a survival instinct!
After checking the house, Zhao Chuchu felt its tiles needed to be removed, and the yard should be walled up with earth. Most importantly, the door had to be replaced.
Detoxifying Xie Jun would be a long process, and she had to live here for at least another six months.
Zhao Chuchu didn’t like her territory to be invaded, even temporarily.
Zhao Chuchu went back into the house and said, “Da Lang, let’s find someone to repair the house after the weather gets better in a few days, shall we?”
It felt too intimate for her to call Xie Heng A-Heng, my husband, or honey. She couldn’t do it when she was not acting. Xie Da Lang was the name the villagers used for Xie Heng before he became a scholar. It was because he was the eldest child of the Xie family.
“I want to build a brick wall to prevent any more petty thieves from entering the house.”
“Well, you call the shots,” Xie Heng said with a nod.
Zhao Chuchu felt quite odd. The Xie family had sold almost all their land to treat Xie Jun’s illness, and Xie Heng had pretended to be blind for many years. So where did they get the money?
It seemed that Xie Heng was not poor!
However, Zhao Chuchu was not that curious about the situation. She did not ask any more questions.
“Just tell me whatever you want to buy,” Xie Heng said again. “The money is buried under the bed in my room. You can get it if you need it.”
Zhao Chuchu felt that Xie Heng’s trust in her seemed to arrive too soon.
Wasn’t he afraid that she would take his money and run away?
After eating, Xie Heng asked Xie Jun to lead him to the village chief’s house.
Zhao Chuchu didn’t go with them. She went to dig up Xie Heng’s secret money.
Looking at the more than 100 copper coins in the earthen pot, Zhao Chuchu fell into deep thought. No wonder Xie Heng was so relieved. If not for that piece of silver, they wouldn’t have made it out of Yuanjiang County.
He was treacherous.
Zhao Chuchu weighed the last piece of silver and did not know why Xie Heng was confident to let her make the decision!
Zhao Chuchu reburied the earthen pot. She didn’t want to spend the poor brothers’ last possessions.
All she had managed to stockpile before she transmigrated were supplies, not a hard currency like gold or silver. The silver they gave her after the plague was put down didn’t make her feel safe!
She had to start planning to save some money before leaving Lengshui Village.
Yuanjiang County had suffered from the plague. Its vitality was severely damaged. It was challenging to make a lot of money in business.
She had to think of something else.
Like farming!