Chapter 11

The next day, Yong-ge knew what his eldest and second elder brothers were doing with the bowls. Apart from hanging out with their unruly friends somewhere, they didn't do what he expected.

Moreover, the meat was stolen from their uncle's house.

Because First Uncle's wife, Aunt Wu, found out that the cured beef hanging on the ceiling beam was missing, she guessed that it was done by his eldest and second elder brothers. She came to their house early in the morning and said, "Where are those two dirty scoundrels with festering heads and pus-filled feet? Where did they hide our meat?! Those two unscrupulous ones, stealing even from their own family!"

Upon hearing Aunt Wu's words, Li Wang's expression changed, clearly recalling the incident of his two sons taking the bowls last night.

"Poor us, we only have a little bit of leftover material for the New Year. I don't care, Second Son, you have to compensate us this time, no matter what!" exclaimed Aunt Wu.

Knowing that Li Da and Li Er were not at home, Wu Guihua showed no mercy in her words. Not only did she scold Li Da and Li Er mercilessly, but she also pulled Li Wang and demanded money from him.

Li Changsheng, who came with his own mother, smiled awkwardly and said, "Second Uncle, if you know where the two cousins hid the things, just bring them out and give them back to us. My mother is very angry; she's just speaking out of anger…"

"What anger?!" Aunt Wu paid no attention to Li Changsheng's attempt to mediate and retorted, glaring, "I've endured them for a long time. It's one thing for them to steal small things normally, but this time, they stole four pairs of cow hooves, a hanging piece of beef, and a whole ten catties of beef from our family!"

"It's not ten catties…" Li Changsheng felt his mother was exaggerating. Some of the meat was undesirable parts of the cow that others didn't want, and they brought it back. In total, it was just over four catties.

In fact, this meat could be sold at a reduced price, and those families who weren't well-off would be willing to spend some extra money to satisfy their cravings. However, their family was in a relatively good condition, so they decided to keep it all and slowly consume it together as a family.

"I said it's ten catties, so it's ten catties! I personally cured the meat; don't I know?" Aunt Wu didn't want to argue with Li Wang anymore at this moment. She just wanted to teach her eldest son a lesson.

"Mother, please don't be like this. Second Uncle and we are still family," Feng-ge couldn't stand it anymore and pulled Wu Guihua, trying to persuade her. "It was the two cousins who stole, and you know it too. Second Uncle can't control them…"

Could his mother please not be so blatant? He felt embarrassed just listening to her.

Yong-ge glanced gratefully at his cousin. Although the two of them weren't close due to his elder brothers, Feng-ge always spoke up for him and his father. He was genuinely grateful.

"It serves him right if he can't control them! Who told him to be the father of those two heartless scoundrels! If sons steal things, it's only right for the father to pay the money. Did I say something wrong?!" Aunt Wu had no way of dealing with those two scoundrels, but she knew Li Wang was soft-hearted.

Moreover, Li Mancang, as the head of the household, wasn't present, tacitly allowing her to confront Second Son.

In fact, over the years, whatever Li Da and Li Er took from their house, she always made up for it from Li Wang and Yong-ge. Therefore, despite her fierce yelling, she was secretly confident.

Sure enough, when she blocked Li Wang and started arguing, Yong-ge couldn't help but feel sorry for his father. "Aunt, how much money do I need to compensate you? Just don't accuse my father…"

Money made things easier. Wu Guihua immediately spoke up, "Four pairs of cow hooves, a hanging piece of beef, and ten catties of beef, 350 wen, not a single wen less!"

"350 wen?" Li Wang took a deep breath. "Sister-in-law, even if Yong-ge and I have money, don't you think this stuff is not worth that much?"

"But it's top-quality beef!" Wu Guihua's momentum was fierce, forgetting that when she cried and complained, she had called them scraps. Now, all of a sudden, it had become top-quality beef.

"Sister-in-law, how can you be so unreasonable?" Li Wang got annoyed and said, looking up, "If you're going to say that, then I can also say that my eldest and second son never came to your house. Did you see them stealing? Did you come here to pick a fight with me?"

"How could I not have seen it? It was those two dirty scoundrels who stole. I saw it with my own eyes! If you don't believe me, Second Son, let's go find Village Head Li and let him settle this!" When Wu Guihua said this, Li Wang fell silent.

Because he knew that Li Da and Li Er had a bad reputation in the village. Although they had engaged in petty theft before, they stole insignificant things, and others didn't bother to confront them. But if their actions were confirmed this time, they would surely be the first suspects whenever something went missing in the village.

Li Wang wasn't afraid of anything else; he was only afraid of his family being expelled from the village. At least in the village, he could make a living with Yong-ge. With the village head and elders pressuring them, his two disobedient sons wouldn't dare to act recklessly.

If they were expelled, Yong-ge would surely be the first one to be sold…

Seeing that Li Wang was frightened, Wu Guihua intentionally dragged him towards the door, shouting, "Today, either we go to Village Head or you pay back the money. Second Son, don't think you can deceive your way out of this!"

Although Li Wang was shorter than Wu Guihua by half a head, he was thin and crippled, so he stumbled as Wu Guihua forcefully pulled him. His clothes were nearly torn, and his old face turned red.

Yong-ge became anxious and grabbed his father's arm. "I'll give you the money! 350 wen, right? I'll give it to you!"

Wu Guihua was skeptical and looked at Yong-ge as he rummaged through his money pouch and took out a small piece of silver, estimated to be about half a tael. She was immediately shocked and asked, "Where did you get the silver?"

In her impression, Yong-ge worked odd jobs around, and it wasn't surprising for him to have copper coins. But it was impossible for someone to pay him in silver.

"Don't worry about where I got it from, but this small piece of silver is worth at least 500 wen. You still owe me 150 wen," Yong-ge replied.

Wu Guihua reached out to grab it, saying, "Why should I owe you anything?! Your two unruly brothers came to our house causing trouble last time, and I got injured. They even took medicine. Don't I deserve compensation?"

Yong-ge wasn't foolish; he had anticipated that she might play dirty. He quickly took back the silver and said, "If you don't owe me anything, then I won't give it to you."

Wu Guihua wanted to argue that Yong-ge's silver wasn't worth 500 wen, but Yong-ge was firm this time and wouldn't budge. He admitted that he would compensate, and even if it escalated to Village Head Li, she wouldn't gain any further advantages. Besides, she and Li Wang were relatives, and if she went too far, the villagers would definitely gossip.

After considering her options, Wu Guihua compromised and asked Li Changsheng to retrieve the money from home. Although Li Changsheng felt sorry for his second uncle and Yong-ge, he had no choice under his mother's strong influence.

Once they had the 150 wen, Wu Guihua clutched onto them tightly and refused to give them away. "Now, you should show me the silver, shouldn't you?"

What if it's not enough, or worse, if it's fake!

Yong-ge ignored her and turned his gaze towards Li Changsheng. "I don't believe you, I only trust my cousin Changsheng."

Li Changsheng looked at his mother with a difficult expression, and Feng-ge also grabbed Wu Guihua's arm and shook it, subtly blinking his eyes. "Mother, give the money to him~~"

Wu Guihua understood the meaning behind their gestures, thinking it was a suggestion to settle for what they had gained.

She thought to herself that she had already profited from this confrontation, so she handed the money to her eldest son. "Take a careful look, and if it's fake, I'll skin you alive!"

Although she said this to Li Changsheng, her eyes were fixed on Yong-ge, implying her thoughts.

Yong-ge felt indignant, but he had no choice. Why were his two brothers so unreliable? His speed in making money at odd jobs was never as fast as their spending!

The silver was naturally genuine, and the weight was accurate. Li Changsheng quickly completed the exchange.

Because she had given away the 150 wen, when Wu Guihua was about to leave, she still gave Yong-ge a scrutinizing look, implying that he might have done something wrong outside. "Could it be that your Yong-ge has done something bad out there? Where did he get the silver? He's so secretive!"

"Our Changfeng-ge hasn't even married yet. It's bad enough to have two cousins who steal and cause trouble, don't let us have one who lacks morals. It would bring trouble to our Feng-ge later on."

"Wu Guihua, what did you say! Who is not well-behaved? Who is not well-behaved? You explain it to me clearly!" 

Li Wang, an honest man, finally lost his temper. He didn't mind how Wu Guihua scolded his two unfilial sons, but Yong-ge was his soft spot.

Regardless of his crippled leg, Li Wang hobbled forward with his crutch, chasing after Wu Guihua.

Wu Guihua ran swiftly, taunting as she looked back, "I was just kindly reminding you!"

Of course, Li Wang couldn't catch up to her. Panting heavily, he stopped and saw Yong-ge. His old face immediately darkened. In front of outsiders, he naturally defended his son, but that didn't stop him from closing the courtyard door and interrogating Yong-ge about the origin of the silver.

"You honestly tell your father, where did the silver come from!"

Li Wang's thoughts were similar to Wu Guihua's. Even if Yong-ge worked hard, he couldn't earn half a tael of silver at once. It was even more impossible to exchange it from smaller denominations. In their current situation, they could barely scrape together a single silver, so how could Yong-ge have saved up?

Yong-ge realized that he couldn't escape, so he could only partially reveal the truth with a mix of truth and lies. "I saved someone some time ago, and they used this silver to thank me. Father, I really didn't do anything bad. I didn't tell you because that person is an outsider."

"An outsider?" Li Wang became a bit nervous. "How did you save them?"

Yong-ge took out a tiger bone whistle hanging from his collar. "With this. He was surrounded by a pack of wolves, so I blew the tiger bone whistle, scaring the wolves away…"

Li Wang hurriedly told him to put it away. "Didn't I tell you not to use it? You have such audacity, daring to go into the mountains!"

"Father, I only gather wild vegetables outside the mountains, I didn't go in."

Li Wang breathed a sigh of relief. "Luckily, it was an outsider this time, and he has left. Don't ever do this again. What if someone thinks your tiger bone whistle is a treasure and tries to snatch it from you? Let's see how you handle that!"

Yong-ge lowered his head, not daring to tell his father that the outsider was still in the village and planned to stay for a long time.

But at that time, he hid in the woods and didn't let Cheng Duo see him blow the tiger bone whistle. Moreover, when he went there, Cheng Duo was already unconscious, so it should be fine, right?

Besides, even if Cheng Duo saw it, it wouldn't matter. Cheng Duo was so capable, why would he be interested in his whistle…