Farm Girl's Small Blessings

Chapter 2: Beat Him Up

Mrs. Qian had almost finished crying and caught her breath. She then opened the box, took out a small box from underneath, and showed the money inside to her son and daughter.

Inside were strings of money, quite heavy, with only two small pieces of silver left, the remnants from building this house.

Their savings were only in copper coins, and upon seeing this money, Mrs. Qian couldn't help but wipe her tears.

She counted the money, calculating over and over again, but there were only nine coins left, with the two pieces of silver adding up to one and a half coins.

Mrs. Qian then also took out the money box from the bedside table. Inside were the daily use coins. During this time of autumn harvest, the third and fourth sons went to work at the landlord's house, received their wages, but she hadn't finished counting the money they handed over for safekeeping.

But this portion of money was not much either. It was also neatly counted in strings, one hundred coins per string, with ten strings making one coin.

Their luck was really bad; there were only six strings of money in total, with about twenty to thirty scattered coins left at the bottom of the box.

Mrs. Qian looked at her daughter, then at her son. Hearing the increasingly loud cries outside, she got up, handed all the money to her son to carry out, and walked out holding her daughter's hand.

Seeing her mother coming out with the money box, Zhou Silang breathed a sigh of relief, almost bursting into tears.

Manbao could see clearly and was very angry with the fourth brother.

In the village, there were also gamblers. The third uncle's house, the third son's family in the past, lost a gamble half a year ago. He brought back the gamblers who sold his wife and children to settle his debts.

Their eldest niece was two years older than Manbao and was a close friend. So, she remembered that gambling was a dangerous thing. It might not cost her life, but it would definitely cost the lives of loved ones.

Their parents had explicitly forbidden their brothers from gambling, but now it was their turn.

Manbao was furious and stomped on Zhou Silang's face. Zhou Silang cried out, "Younger sister, younger sister, don't step on me. I-I know I was wrong!"

Mrs. Qian didn't stop her but said to her husband, "We're short of four and a half taels."

Old Mr. Zhou frowned in distress, while Mrs. Qian looked at the three daughters-in-law and said, "Take out whatever you have at home. Consider it a loan to your fourth brother, and he will have to repay it in the future."

Xiao Qian, Feng, and He went to see their husbands. Seeing their grim expressions, they took their children back to get the money.

The Zhou family did not divide their earnings; everything was shared. Xiao Qian and Old Mr. Zhou had agreed long ago that unless they died, the family would not be divided until all their children were married.

But Mrs. Qian also knew that married sons and unmarried sons were different; married sons needed some money on hand.

So, she had always been lenient with money earned from the fields, but with other earnings from various sources, she took sixty percent and left the remaining forty percent to be kept by the respective families.

For example, the eldest daughter-in-law Xiaolian worked as a kitchen helper at the school, earning at least one hundred coins a month. Apart from sixty coins handed over, the remaining money was hers.

The second daughter-in-law, the second son, learned some carpentry skills while working at the landlord's house in his early years. He also knew how to weave bamboo, and in his spare time, he could exchange what he made for some small change at the market.

As for the remaining three younger sons, there was no hope for the fourth son, who was lying on the ground. The fifth and sixth sons were still young. If they had some money, they would either be coaxed by their mother or their sister, or they would ask the second brother to buy candy at the market. Even if their clothes were searched thoroughly, they probably wouldn't find two coins.

Mrs. Qian didn't bother searching them.

The three daughters-in-law quickly brought out their private savings, but it wasn't enough. They were still two strings short.

Mrs. Qian looked at the head of the family and her sons.

Xiao Qian was the first to break down, sitting on the ground and pounding her legs. "Mother, we really don't have any more. We've taken out the money we were saving to buy mooncakes for your family during the Mid-Autumn Festival. This will ruin our family!"

Mrs. Qian was irritated by her and scolded her, "Why are you crying? I'm not dead yet. We've survived through years of disasters. Are we scared of just two hundred coins?"

Manbao thought for a moment, ran back to the main house, and found a silver lock from her treasure box. She handed it to Mrs. Qian, saying, "Mother, use mine."

Mrs. Qian's expression changed drastically. She immediately snatched the silver lock, put it away, and said angrily, "This cannot be given away. It's... it's what your father and I gave you. The Taoist said you have a precious life and need something to suppress it. This is used to suppress your fate."

Old Mr. Zhou also said, "It can't be given away."

The thug sneered, "So, this long-life lock is more valuable than your son's life? Let me tell you, whether you give it or not, we need to leave soon to return to the county town. If we can't make it back, you're responsible for our food and lodging for the night, right?"

His thugs started moving, rummaging and kicking around the yard. "Quickly give us the money. It's only right to repay the debt."

The appearance of the gamblers' men was always ruthless. How could Old Zhou allow them to search their home? He hurried to stop them.

Zhou Erlang and Zhou Sanlang also stopped holding Zhou Silang and rushed to help their elder brother.

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang also followed their brothers with fervor, and the villagers of Qili Village couldn't stand to see their fellow villagers being bullied, so they all stepped forward to help.

Surprisingly, the thugs had never seen so many brothers in a gambler's family. Seeing the villagers surrounding them, they didn't dare to go too far. They just pushed and shoved a bit, but their anger was still rising.

The village chief sighed and stopped everyone, saying, "Alright, it's just two hundred coins short. Jin, I'll lend it to you first. Remember to pay me back later."

He then asked his son to go home and get the money.

After pooling together this money, the box was filled. Except for the two small silver pieces, the rest were copper coins. The thugs didn't mind and directly counted the copper coins, stuffing them into bags.

Finally, they threw the silver pieces and said, "This silver can be exchanged for more copper coins than this amount. You should know that in the money exchange, this one and a half silver can now be exchanged for twelve strings of coins. So..."

Old Mr. Zhou walked up and kicked Zhou Silang, asking, "Were you gambling with copper coins or silver?"

"Copper coins, copper coins."

Old Mr. Zhou directly grabbed his fist and punched him, angrily asking, "Was it copper coins? Was it copper coins?"

Zhou Silang was bruised and bloody, with a bleeding nose, crying out, "Yes, they are copper coins, just copper coins."

Old Mr. Zhou didn't stop, punching him repeatedly and asking, "Are they not copper coins? Are they not copper coins?"

Zhou Silang cried and begged, "Yes, they are copper coins, big brother, they are copper coins. They deceived you, they deceived you."

Seeing Old Mr. Zhou relentless, and Zhou Silang being beaten like this, the thugs felt awkward and collected the silver pieces, nodding, "Alright, copper coins it is."

They then turned to leave.

Zhou Erlang stood in front of them and asked, "What about the promissory note?"

The thug sneered, handed it to him, patted his shoulder and said, "A family like yours can't cover the debt. It's best to keep an eye on your own brothers. Otherwise, your luck might not be so good next time. There are many families in this world who have been ruined by gambling."

The Zhou brothers all looked unkindly at Zhou Silang.

Zhou Silang curled up on the ground, seeing the gazes of his brothers, burying his head and crying softly.

Finally, the thugs left.

Old Mr. Zhou and his eldest son thanked the villagers and saw them off, especially thanking the village chief, promising to invite him for a meal sometime.

After seeing off the people, Old Mr. Zhou had Zhou Liuliu lock the door, then picked up the carrying pole and continued to beat his son.

Mrs. Qian was worried that her daughter would be frightened, so she took her back to the room early. However, it didn't have much effect, as the child kicked off her shoes, climbed onto her bed, and watched with great interest as her father beat her fourth brother.

Mrs. Qian, already in poor health, was heartbroken and exhausted after all this turmoil. She didn't stop her daughter from watching and asked the three daughters-in-law to make some food. Since morning until now, they hadn't eaten a grain of rice. The adults could bear it, but the children couldn't.

After arranging things, she called her daughter over and put the silver lock on her, saying, "Didn't I tell you not to take it off? This is what your father and I gave you to suppress your fate. You must not take it off in the future, understand?"

Manbao reluctantly said, "It's uncomfortable to wear."

Mrs. Qian thought for a moment and said, "You can take it off at night, but you must wear it during the day."

Manbao reluctantly agreed. Seeing her mother looking worried, she asked, "Mother, what about fourth brother?"

"Leave him be. Let your father beat him. Only after a few rough years will he learn not to gamble. It serves him right if he ruins himself by gambling."

"If he dies from a beating, it might as well be the gamblers who beat him to death. At least, we would save some money."

Mrs. Qian choked up and said, "You child, your mouth is just like your father's, showing no mercy."

"Huh, is my father that clever?"

Mrs. Qian didn't answer that question but said, "He must be beaten. Without a beating, he won't learn his lesson. If he repeats it, how much money will he take from the family?"

"If fourth brother only remembers to eat and not the beatings, it's useless even if he's beaten to a pulp. Unless his legs are broken and he can't walk."

"No, we'll have to support him in the future," Mrs. Qian was also afraid that Old Zhou would beat their son too severely. She sighed and shouted out the window, "Alright, even if he's beaten to a pulp, we still have to pay for medical expenses. We don't have a single coin left in the house."

The slapping sounds outside slowly faded away. Old Mr. Zhou glared at his son with frustration, kicked him, then had the eldest and second sons drag him back into the room.

Manbao, inside the house, said to her mother, "Mother, I have a good idea. It can punish him without costing the family money."

"What idea?"

"Let fourth brother go clear new land and then have him plant crops there. He can use the money he earns to repay the family and his brothers' wives. He owes the family and his brothers' wives fifteen taels of silver."

Mrs. Qian was puzzled, "Clear new land? How did you come up with that idea?"

"Wasn't it the village chief who suggested it? The government wants us to clear new land, and all the land we clear will be ours. We won't have to pay taxes for the first three years."