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Lin Yuan watched him with amusement, just in time to be spotted by Xia Zheng, who abruptly stopped undoing his buttons and quickly covered his chest, raising an eyebrow and snorting, "What are you looking at, little girl? Don’t even think about it, I will not strip in front of you, hmph!"

"Who wants to see you strip! Rascal! Rogue!" Lin Yuan’s face turned red, and she turned away, too angry to look at him anymore.

To show his sincerity, Lin Jiazhong gritted his teeth and cut the flesh, taking out ten taels of silver, and under Xia Zheng’s strong demand, he also wrote an IOU.

Of course, being the cautious Mr. Accountant that he was, he wrote two copies—one under his name, owing forty taels of silver, and another under Lin Jiaxiao’s name, owing fifty taels of silver.

Li Feng’e’s hopes of seeking shortcuts were brutally crushed as she signed her and her husband’s names. At the same time, she inwardly cursed this sneaky and nasty eldest brother-in-law.

Having obtained the IOUs and compensation from the two brothers of the Lin family, Xia Zheng swaggered with the papers in hand and smirked at Lin Yuan, "Little girl, it’s your turn."

Lady Ma had stuck around just for this moment and began to join in the clamor, "Right, Little Disaster Star, now it’s your turn! We all gave silver, now it’s your turn to give silver!"

Li Feng’e also smiled triumphantly, pretending to have an epiphany as she sarcastically said, "Big sister, you must be confused, their family is so poor even the rats have moved out. How can they come up with one hundred taels of silver, haha. Little Disaster Star, why don’t you beg me?

Considering that we once lived under the same roof, I could introduce you to a good place, how about that?

I’ve heard that quite a few brothels in town like to take in chicks like you.

Come on, auntie will introduce you to the right contacts, shall I? "

It was a stab right in the heart!

Lady Liu clutched her stomach, biting her lips to keep from fainting with anger, "You, Laosan’s wife, are those words fitting for an aunt to say?

Listen to me, I, Liu Xianshu, would rather starve or die of fatigue than sell my own daughter to such a place!

You, all of you, get out! This is my home, and now that we have no relationship, don’t even think about coming here to bully my daughter again! "

Since the relationship was already severed, Lady Liu no longer had to be courteous to these unfeeling in-laws on behalf of her husband. If she hadn’t been hindered by her physical state, she would have been willing to follow Da Ya’s example, wielding a stick to tear apart Li Feng’e’s foul mouth!

Lin Jiaxin, fearing for his wife’s pregnancy, quickly consoled Lady Liu and had Lin Wei and Lan Hua help her into the house. However, Lady Liu worried about the debt of one hundred taels of silver and still refused to leave.

Actually, to Lin Yuan at present, one hundred taels of silver was virtually a drop in the bucket; she had already earned six hundred taels of silver from her tofu recipes alone, just from Lao Fan.

But today, she couldn’t reveal that. They had just split from the family and severed ties; if she suddenly pulled out so many silver notes, wouldn’t that just be a clear invitation for these mean people to covet what she had?

Moreover, seeing Xia Zheng’s overly confident swagger, Lin Yuan had an unsettling hunch.

Based on today’s events, it was clear that Xia Zheng knew she was the sponsor providing tofu to Fuman Building; initially, she thought he mentioned the one hundred taels to help her, but now it seemed more likely that the rogue had deliberately set this trap for her.

How much tofu would she have to make for free just to pay off the one hundred taels of silver?

Damn it, she could only now realize, belatedly, that she had been tricked by this scoundrel!

"Hmph, we’ve already cut ties, so say what you will!" Li Feng’e didn’t stoop to argue with Lady Liu. Right now, all they wanted was for Lin Yuan’s family to become poorer and more unfortunate; they would be happy only if they could trample them underfoot!

"Alright, hurry up and pay back the silver! If you can’t, at least write a debt note!" Lady Ma hummed with a sarcastic tone.

Lin Yuan couldn’t bother to bestow them with a glance, much less bear looking at Xia Zheng’s disappointing swagger. Was it necessary to corner her like this, just because she had hit him with a pebble and bitten him?

"Young Master, please understand, my family doesn’t have an accountant like Lin Jiazhong, nor an aunt like Li Feng’e who can connect with the Madam County Magistrate.

As you can see, my parents are in poor health, and I have two younger sisters to support.

If you don’t mind, how about I sell myself to you as a maid? "

Seeing Lin Yuan’s demure demeanor, Xia Zheng immediately felt amused. Having her as a maid would be great! She could wash his feet, bathe him, attend to him while he sleeps, and most importantly, cook for him!

However, before he could happily nod in agreement, Lin Yuan had already chuckled and said, "I knew someone as generous and noble as you wouldn’t stoop to forcing a village girl like me. Besides, with my clumsy hands, I’d only be a burden even if you took me back."

Xia Zheng was left choking, unable to swallow or spit out his words. That little wretch! She had to interrupt right when he was about to laugh out loud. The timing was too perfect; she was definitely doing it on purpose!

Lin Yuan rolled her eyes and silently glared at him; she was indeed doing it on purpose.

Lao Fan watched the smokeless battle between the two with secret amusement. He knew he had done the right thing by bringing over Xia Zheng, the Little Tyrant. The moment these two met, they were bound to clash.

Since the high hat had been put on, Xia Zheng really couldn’t make Lin Yuan be his maid. Moreover, with many people interceding on her behalf in the courtyard, Xia Zheng couldn’t afford to be too petty.

In the end, they signed a debt note, but the term wasn’t three days—it was one year. The old village chief had originally secured three years for her, but Lin Yuan herself reduced it to one year. Truth be told, she did have the money now, but she didn’t want to reveal her wealth so easily.

The Lin family’s commotion for the day finally came to a close.

Seeing there was nothing exciting left to witness, the villagers began to slowly pack up and prepare to head home.

Lin Jianling, who was already feeling terribly unwell, now only wanted to return home and lie down on the kang to rest. As Lady Yang supported him, she muttered to herself, "Why is his face so pale? Did he suffer a heatstroke?"

Just as the Lin family was preparing to go home, a scream from the entrance followed by a staggering figure bursting in was heard. When the figure saw Lin Jiazhong, he kneeled down, sobbing with a mix of snot and tears, "Father, something terrible has happened!"

Lin Yuan was closely monitoring the Lin family with her shrewd eyes. At the sound of the cry, she first thought someone was wailing in grief, but upon recognizing the person, a cold smile appeared on her lips.

She knew the show wasn’t over just yet!