Chapter 518: Chapter 518 Reporting Good News Chapter 518: Chapter 518 Reporting Good News Madam Xie had no choice but to set down her shoulder pole and walked back into the room to get several taels of silver pieces out, all of which Xuexue had given her for self-protection. Now, it was going to benefit Old Lady Mo.
“Mother-in-law, this is all I have, and now I’m giving it all to you.”
Old Lady Mo took the silver, and although she was not completely satisfied, it was certainly better than nothing. As she put the silver into her bosom, she fiercely threatened Madam Xie, “You’re not allowed to tell Xuexue or Big Bull about my visit today. If I find out, you’ll be sorry.”
“Hmm!”
Madam Xie obediently nodded. In fact, she didn’t want to tell Xuexue either, thinking it was just a few taels of silver. Better to give it away than to worry Xuexue knowing about it.
“What are you doing standing around like a block of wood? Hurry up and help me carry back the watermelons to my home!” Old Lady Mo bellowed again.
“Yes.”
Madam Xie quickly shouldered the basket and hurried toward the Mo family’s home.
“You stupid old hag, why are you hurrying so much? Don’t you know to wait for this old lady?” Old Lady Mo, with her aging arms and legs, couldn’t catch up and got even angrier. She yelled at the top of her lungs.
It seemed walking too fast was wrong, and walking too slow was met with scolding; this old woman was truly hard to please.
Many villagers who saw this scene shook their heads, “Old Lady Mo is bullying Madam Xie again behind Big Bull and Xuexue’s back. If they find out, there’s sure to be another uproar at the Mo family.”
“This old hag has a lot of nerve, knowing full well how tough Big Bull is, yet she still dares to provoke Madam Xie.”
Big Bull’s strength was well known; he could kill a tiger with one punch, and tales of his might had spread all around the neighborhood.
“It’s her own doing; let her be. Sooner or later, she’ll regret it.”
The villagers gossiped among themselves, all talking about the mess the Mo family had gotten themselves into. They had been a happy family, but she had torn it apart. Now, her eldest son was neither human nor ghost, and after the incident with Aunt Sun, he had become even more withdrawn, not daring to meet people.
Old Lady Mo felt smug inside, thinking today had been a great success. Not only did she have two big watermelons to eat, but she had also grabbed several taels of silver.
In this rural area, several taels of silver was a lot of money. A strong man working outside would only earn a few hundred Copper Coin for a month’s labor, while one tael of silver was equivalent to a thousand Copper Coin.
Today, Old Lady Mo had earned a few thousand Copper Coin, so of course she was happy.
At sunrise, Shopkeeper Fan’s carriage indeed appeared just as promised. He had not been in the village long when he ran into the village head. Coincidentally, he too was heading to Xuexue’s melon field, so he got into the carriage and went with Shopkeeper Fan to find Xuexue in the field.
With the experience from the day before, they were a lot calmer, and their duties were clear. Xuexue was in the field picking ripe watermelons, and Big Bull was responsible for carrying the watermelons to a spot where the carriage could stop.
The side of the road was lined with big, round watermelons, just waiting to be loaded onto the carriage.
“Clip-clop, clip-clop.”
The carriage slowly arrived at the edge of the field. The paths in the field were all narrow dirt tracks, which kicked up quite a bit of dust as the carriage wheels rolled over them.
The carriage driver carefully stopped the carriage. There was no helping it; these field paths were too narrow. One careless move, and the carriage could topple into the field, causing trouble.
Shopkeeper Fan and the village head got down from the carriage and were both pleasantly surprised to see the watermelons lined up along the road.
Especially Shopkeeper Fan, this would save a lot of time not having to pick and load the watermelons from the field directly, which was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly.
Yesterday in town, the watermelons had sold very well. Following Xuexue’s instructions, Shopkeeper Fan had cut open a watermelon to let customers have a taste before buying, and surprisingly, this approach worked exceptionally well. They had sold out a whole carriage of watermelons the day before.
Shopkeeper Fan approached them, not only to load watermelons today but also to deliver good news, “Ay, Brother Niu, you’re really early today, and you’ve picked so many watermelons!”
When Xuexue saw Shopkeeper Fan and the village head coming, she hurriedly put down what she was doing and walked over from the field.