Chapter 12: Turning the Tables

Chapter 12: Turning the Tables

"Wait!! I'll pay!" Granny Qian shouted again.

She had finally realized it—this brat was trying to scam her out of her silver!

She hadn't managed to scam anyone; instead, she had been the one played!

At this moment, she was filled with regret!

She knew the girl was half right; at the very least, if they reported this to the authorities, she and her daughter would definitely lose their jobs.

Landlord Feng valued his reputation above all else.

Wen Ran stopped again, and this time, she even started walking backward.

Wen Nuan extended her hand, palm upward: "Two taels of silver. Hurry up, we need to go back and eat. My body can't handle hunger; if I get hungry, I might fall ill, and then you'll have to pay even more for medical expenses."

Granny Qian glared at Wen Nuan, her eyes filled with a venomous, dark malice: "Aren't you afraid your mother and grandmother will lose this laundry job?"

Wen Nuan: "Don't trouble yourself with that. My mother and grandmother won't need this job anymore. Hurry up, the longer you delay, the more you'll owe in lost wages!"

Granny Qian gritted her teeth in fury. How could she possibly pay this silver!

"I don't have any silver on me right now. When your mother comes to do the laundry tomorrow, I'll give it to her then!"

Just then, an elderly woman passed by. Wen Nuan intentionally raised her voice: "Ma'am, Granny Qian doesn't have any silver on her. Could you help her ask her daughter for it?"

Hearing Wen Nuan's shout, the woman turned around and veered toward them.

Granny Qian's expression shifted instantly upon seeing the woman. She hurriedly pulled out two taels of silver and twenty copper coins and shoved them at Wen Nuan: "Two taels of silver! Now get lost!"

Granny Qian looked at the silver with such heartache that it felt as if her very organs were aching!

Wen Nuan: "Apologize!"

Don't think you can just give the silver and be done with it!

Granny Qian trembled with rage. She glared hatefully at Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Wu, teeth clenched as she spat: "You two ancestors, I am truly sorry for the misunderstanding! Is that enough?"

"Don't call us ancestors. My mother and grandmother don't have unfilial descendants like you!" Wen Nuan tucked the silver into her pocket.

The elderly woman arrived, frowning at Granny Qian: "What's going on?"

Granny Qian felt a surge of blood to her head, nearly fainting. She forced a smile and said, "Manager Feng, it's nothing. I owe them some money and am a bit short on cash, so I wanted to pay them later."

Wen Nuan gave her a cold glance and handed the clothes back to Granny Qian: "Granny Qian, you tore these clothes. Remember to proactively admit your mistake to the Master and pay for the damages!"

The reason Wen Nuan exposed her was to prevent Granny Qian from targeting the next person.

For poor families, saving two taels of silver was no easy feat.

"What! You tore the Young Mistress's clothes!" The woman snatched the clothes, her expression changing.

Granny Qian wanted nothing more than to faint and pretend she knew nothing, but she couldn't. She bowed and scraped, saying, "I... I was careless. I'll go to the Young Mistress immediately to accept my punishment!"

Granny Qian turned and fled.

...

Wen Nuan ignored them and took Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Wu by the hands to walk out: "Mother, Grandmother, you've had quite a fright. Let's go! Let's go back and eat some chicken porridge to calm our nerves!"

Granny Qian grew even more furious upon hearing this

Damn it, *she* was the one who was unfilial!

And "frightened"? "Eat chicken porridge to calm nerves"? She was the one who was frightened!

What they were eating wasn't chicken porridge; it was her blood and tears!

Those black-hearted, rotten-gutted villains!

The thought that she hadn't managed to scam those two lowly wretches, Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Wang, out of two taels, and instead had to pay the Young Mistress two taels—meaning she was out a total of four taels and had lost a foster daughter—made her feel like she was suffocating from heartache.

She truly didn't want to live anymore!

-

While Granny Qian felt like she didn't want to live, Wen Nuan and the others headed home happily.

Wen Ran was utterly in awe of Wen Nuan: "Third Sister, how did you know that dress was torn by that old hag's daughter?"

Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Wu were also curious why she hadn't said Granny Qian had torn it.

Wen Nuan: "It was a young girl's garment. That woman's hands are coarse and her fingernails are stained black; she isn't qualified to serve by a Master's side, so..."

Wen Nuan explained her reasoning.

Wen Ran looked at Wen Nuan with eyes full of admiration: "Third Sister, you're amazing. You could even guess that."

Mrs. Wang patted Wen Nuan's head: "Our Nuan'er is as meticulous as a needle. If she were born a boy, she would surely achieve great things. But being a girl is fine too."

The group walked toward the village, chatting and laughing.

Soon, they passed in front of the old Wen family house.

Mrs. Zhu had just woken from her afternoon nap and was planning to head to the village entrance to chat with the other women.

Seeing them pass by, she immediately slammed the courtyard gate shut with a "bang!"

Old Lady Yongfu loved gossip, so Mrs. Zhu had already heard the news: Mrs. Wang and the others had ruined the landlord's daughter's clothes and had to pay silver.

Where would this family of lowlifes get the money to pay? She was worried they would come in to borrow money from the old man!

Mrs. Zhu intentionally shouted loudly to Old Man Wen inside the house: "Old man, there's no money left in the house! If you dare spend money recklessly on those lowlifes using the money my son earned, I'll take my sons and divorce you! Live by yourself! Some people are just shameless, even having the nerve to spend the filial offerings given by other people's sons!"

Mrs. Wang was startled by the slamming door, and upon hearing the words inside, her face turned dark with rage. She spat on the ground and strode forward.

Seeing that Mrs. Wang was upset, Wen Nuan pulled her hand and shouted loudly: "Grandmother, don't be angry. Very soon, someone will be calling you 'ancestor'!"

Mrs. Wang couldn't help but chuckle at that: "Fine, Grandmother will wait for it!"

Inside, Mrs. Zhu rolled her eyes. She opened the courtyard gate only to find that the group had already turned the corner and disappeared. She spat again: "Calling that wench 'ancestor'? Keep dreaming! Lowly people with calloused hands—how could someone like her ever touch the fabrics of a wealthy family? Let's see which grandson she has to sell this time to cover the cost!"

-

Upon returning home, Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Wu were shocked to find a large pot of chicken porridge waiting for them.

There was also a wild rabbit and a basin of snails in the courtyard.

"Where did this chicken come from? Did you go up the mountain and down the river?" Mrs. Wang frowned, her expression serious.

She felt that letting Ran'er look after Nuan'er was simply unreliable!

It was a child's nature to love to play, and once they started, they forgot all about danger.

Wen Ran immediately said, "I caught the wild chicken on the mountain, and I gathered the snails from the river."

"Ran'er, you're still young. Didn't I tell you a few days ago not to play in the river? And why gather so many snails?" Mrs. Wu felt a wave of lingering fear thinking about when Nuan'er had fallen into the water.

Mrs. Wang added: "Exactly. You two children, playing in the river—what if something happened? From now on, if anyone dares to play in the river, I'll break their legs!"

Mrs. Wu: "And besides, there are no wild chickens near the foot of the mountain. Did you go deep into the mountains?"

Wen Ran shook her head like a rattle: "No, definitely not! We found them right near the foot of the mountain!"

Wen Nuan quickly soothed the two agitated women: "Mother, Grandmother, we weren't playing in the river. These snails can be picked up just by bending over at the riverbank. We didn't go deep into the mountains either. My health is improving, and I can't just lie around all day. I need to move more to get better. I didn't want to wander around the village, so I asked Ran'er to take me for a walk at the foot of the back mountain, and then we found two wild chickens and a rabbit. The autumn harvest is coming soon, and everyone is going to town to repair farm tools, so no one is likely to go up the mountain these few days. The mountain chickens are probably brave enough to come out."

Hearing this, Mrs. Wang's expression softened slightly. The two children were usually well-behaved, and Wen Nuan, in particular, never lied, so she believed her: "Don't ever play in the river or go deep into the mountains, do you hear me?"

Wen Ran nodded obediently: "I understand."

Wen Nuan also nodded: "I understand too."

In any case, she hadn't gone to the mountain or the river to play; she had business to attend to.

Mrs. Wang wanted to say more.

Wen Nuan decisively changed the subject: "Can Grandmother eat the porridge now? I'm hungry."

Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Wang had intended to give more instructions, but upon hearing this, they dropped everything: "You haven't eaten yet? Then eat quickly."

Mrs. Wu hurried to ladle the porridge.

There was a large pot of chicken porridge; Wen Nuan had used an entire chicken to make it, leaving one chicken and one wild rabbit to eat with Wen Jiarui and the others when they returned in the evening.

Mrs. Wang walked in to see it and felt a bit of heartache. With so much chicken meat, it could nourish Nuan'er alone for many days!

Thinking of this, she went to stir-fry the cleaned Chinese cabbage nearby.

The children would eat chicken porridge, but she would just have some cabbage and a bit of porridge water.