Chapter 40: Fraud?

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Wei Chiyu did not take it and said, “This is too small and not suitable for me. I think it’s very suitable for you, so I’ll give it to you.”

Zhou Xiaoli was puzzled. “Then why did you order a small crossbow?”

Wei Chiyu paused for a moment. “I ordered the wrong size.”

“Alright.” Zhou Xiaoli did not doubt his words.

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She needed a suitable weapon anyway.

This small crossbow was very handy for her. As such, she happily accepted it. “How much did you pay for it? I’ll give it to you.”

Wei Chiyu pursed his lips and thought for a while. “I want to eat dumplings.”

“Ah?” Zhou Xiaoli was dumbfounded.

She then immediately understood what Wei Chiyu meant. Dumplings in exchange for this crossbow.

“Just dumplings?” Zhou Xiaoli confirmed again.

Wei Chiyu nodded.

Zhou Xiaoli couldn’t help but sighed again. A friend who viewed money as dirt, please give her another dozen of them!

She said, “Let’s buy meat then. I’ll make dumplings for you when we get back tonight.”

With that, the two of them drove towards the market.

As soon as the two of them left, Xue Tiantian ran out with red eyes.

She looked at Zhou Xiaoli’s departing figure, and a trace of viciousness appeared in her eyes.

She said fiercely, “Little wh*re, just you wait. I won’t let you off!”

She then shook off her friend who was supporting her and ran home angrily.

—

Zhou Xiaoli and Wei Chiyu went to buy pork and cabbage.

Then, they went to the pharmacy to get medicine for Zhang Lan and asked about Master Yuan.

Unfortunately, there was still no news of Master Yuan.

After leaving the pharmacy, the two of them went straight to the carpenter’s shop to customize beds, cabinets, tables, chairs, screens, and other furniture for their new home.

After leaving the furniture store, the two of them drove out of the city to go home.

Suddenly, their donkey cart was stopped by someone.

“Oh my, it’s really the girl from the Zhou family. Are you guys going home?”

Zhou Xiaoli looked over and saw three women standing by the roadside.

It turned out to be the village chief’s wife, Liu Yan, her daughter-in-law, and an old woman. She seemed to be the village chief’s neighbor, Aunt Yang.

Zhou Xiaoli smiled and replied, “Yes, we’re going home. Are you going home too?”

Liu Yan smiled and nodded. “Yes, I came to the city to get some medicine.”

Aunt Yang’s eyes landed on the donkey cart and she smiled in an embarrassed manner. “Well, Miss Zhou, we happen to be on the way. Look…”

The village chief’s wife quickly nudged her and said to Zhou Xiaoli with a smile, “Well, hurry up and leave. It’s almost evening.”

Zhou Xiaoli moved forward to make room. “Auntie, since we’re going the same way, I’ll give you a ride home.”

Upon hearing the invitation, Aunt Yang immediately smiled and narrowed her eyes in delight. “Aiyaya, didn’t I say that Miss Zhou is the most understanding girl?”

Liu Yan was a little embarrassed. She said that there were too many of them and refused to sit.

After Zhou Xiaoli expressed that the cart can take them all, she thanked her profusely and boarded the donkey cart.

Zhou Xiaoli sat in front of the cart with Wei Chiyu.

Only then did the donkey cart slowly move forward.

When they passed by a pawnshop, Zhou Xiaoli’s gaze swept past the shop and noticed an old lady at the entrance of the pawnshop.

She could not help but take a few more glances at that old lady.

The old woman was hunching over and she bowed shakily to the helper from the pawnshop.

Zhou Xiaoli’s donkey cart slowly moved past. At this moment, the old lady suddenly stood up and rushed towards the middle of the road!

“Wei Chiyu…” Zhou Xiaoli cried out in fear.

Fortunately, there were many people on the street, so the donkey cart wasn’t moving at a very fast speed. In addition, Wei Chiyu reacted quickly and immediately pulled the donkey cart to a halt, so they didn’t hit the old lady.

The donkey cart stopped and the few of them jumped down.

When the granny rushed to the middle of the road, Zhou Xiaoli’s first reaction was to check if the granny was trying to scam her.

However, when she walked over, she saw that the old lady was bent over and searching for something on the ground anxiously. She was even mumbling to herself.

“Where did it fall? Where did it fall? We can’t lose it…”

Zhou Xiaoli stepped forward and asked, “Granny, what happened to you?”

The old lady was very anxious. Without even raising her head, she said anxiously, “I-I dropped my jade. That’s my lifeblood. I can’t lose it. I can’t lose it.”

Zhou Xiaoli asked, “What does it look like? Why don’t we help you look for it?”

Only then did the old lady straighten her back. She first thanked her before describing her jade, “It’s, it’s a round jade. It’s black and has some patterns engraved on it.”

As she spoke, the old lady slapped her thigh in frustration.

“Why didn’t I hold it firmly? What should I do now? That’s my lifeblood. I can’t lose it…”

“Granny, don’t be anxious. We’ll help you look for it. You just dropped it. You won’t lose it.”

As Zhou Xiaoli spoke, she called out to Wei Chiyu and the others. “This granny is quite pitiful. Why don’t we help her find her?”

Wei Chiyu usually does whatever Zhou Xiaoli says.

Liu Yan and the other two nodded repeatedly. “Alright, we would help her find it.”

The five of them bent down and searched the ground.

After searching for a long time, there was nothing. If not for the old lady spinning around anxiously, they would have suspected that she was lying.

“Found it!”

Suddenly, Zhou Xiaoli’s voice came from below the cart.

Immediately after, she crawled out. “We found it. It’s blocked by the wheels. No wonder we couldn’t find it.”

“Granny, look, is this it?”

As she spoke, Zhou Xiaoli handed the black jade to the old lady.

When she saw the jade in Zhou Xiaoli’s hand, the old lady’s tears immediately fell. She was extremely excited. “Yes, yes, yes. This is it, this is it! Young lady, thank you so much. You’re really a kind person!”

“Granny, you’re too polite.” Zhou Xiaoli handed the jade to her. “Granny, this is your family heirloom, right? You should put it away.”

Seeing how anxious the old lady was, Zhou Xiaoli guessed that this was probably an heirloom.

However, the old lady shook her head. “No, my son bought this from a merchant at the stone gambling den. He said it was jade.”

As she spoke, she thought of something sad and tears flowed down his face. He sighed. “But my eldest grandson suddenly fell ill some time ago and urgently needed money. We have pawned all the valuable things in the family, but he hasn’t recovered yet from his illness.”

“Now, there’s only this piece of jade left at home. I want to take it to the pawnshop in the county to see if I can pawn it for some money so that I can buy medicine for my eldest grandson.”

“But who knew that the helper said that the shopkeeper had something on and was rushing to go off. They were about to close the shop and asked me to come back tomorrow. But my grandson can’t wait anymore.”

The old lady’s words were so sad that it made people cry.

Old Madam Yang sighed with red eyes. “We farmers are all like this. We can’t afford to fall sick.”

The old lady said, “That’s right. If we can’t endure it, what awaits us would be a straw mat. But my eldest grandson is still so young…”

At this moment, the helper walked out from the pawnshop and waved at the granny. “Hey, granny, come over. My shopkeeper said he would help you take a look before leaving.”